Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsteiger has picked Spain as the team to beat at Euro 2012.
Close to full recovery after suffering a calf injury during Germany's final warm-up game against Israel, Schweinsteiger is expected to play an integral part of manager Joachim Low's plans at Euro 2012. Although the Germans have been tipped to wrest the trophy from Spain, the Bayern Munich midfielder still considers the defending champions as favourites for this edition of the tournament.
"For me Spain are the best team. Spain give fans and the rival team the permanent sensation of having an extra man on the pitch," Schweinsteiger shared with AS.
"However, those kind of teams aren't invincible."
Germany lost to the Spaniards in the final of Euro 2008. Despite his pick for this year's competition, Schweinsteiger has fired a warning to their rivals that the German squad are focused on causing an upset.
"The young players have given a special self-confidence to the team [the German squad], while the fighting spirit and the will remains intact. We also have more quality now," he said.
"Now we are more flexible and we are faster."
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Rank | Team | W/D/L | Pts |
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Cities & Stadiums
The Top 3 Teams of Previous Tournaments
Year | Winners | Runner-up | Third place |
---|---|---|---|
2008 | Spain | Germany | Russia / Turkey |
2004 | Greece | Portugal | Netherlands / Czech Republic |
2000 | France | Italy | Netherlands / Portugal |
1996 | Germany | Czech Republic | France / England |
1992 | Denmark | Germany | Netherlands / Sweden |
1988 | Netherlands | Soviet Union | Italy / West Germany |
1984 | France | Spain | Denmark / Portugal |
1980 | West Germany | Belgium | Czechoslovakia |
1976 | Czechoslovakia | West Germany | Netherlands |
1972 | West Germany | Soviet Union | Belgium |
1968 | Italy | Yugoslavia | England |
1964 | Spain | Soviet Union | Hungary |
1960 | Soviet Union | Yugoslavia | Czechoslovakia |