Euro2012: Who are the favourites?

The 2012 European Championships kick-off tonight with co-host Poland taking on 2004 champions Greece at the new National Stadium in Warsaw. We all are hoping for three weeks of great football action, an exciting tournament; but who are the favourites going into the tournament?

On top of the list are surely defending champions Spain, but the Spaniards don't look as strong as they were four years ago in Austria & Switzerland or at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. La Furia Roja seem to have crossed their zenith with dependable star striker David Villa and long-time captain Carlos Puyol missing the tournament due to injuries. Especially upfront Spain looks vulnerable as they often won key matches through Villa goals, now Fernando Torres and the others will need to show what they are capable off but it will be once more about the midfield combination of Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez plus how well Xabi Alonso can cover for them.

2008 runners-up Germany go into the tournament with their youngest team ever in a Euro or World Cup with an average age of 24,4. But Germany is still mainly the same team which played a great tournament at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. These players have gained two years of experience with Germany winning all their Euro2012 qualification matches and young talent like Mario Götze and Marco Reus coming into the team. Their group looks tricky, but if they can survive that then anything is possible.

The Netherlands are in the same group as Germany and need to overcome Portugal, Denmark and their old archrivals from across the border. The Dutch have one of the best attacking units in the world. If you can count Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Robin van Persie, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Ibrahim Afellay and Dirk Kuyt then any opposition will have respect. The only issue is that the Dutch defence looks suspect, which could give chances to their opponents.

The surprise element could be a resurgent France, who are the 2010 FIFA World Cup disaster in South Africa will look to rebuild the positive image of the Equipe Tricolore. Led by Bayern Munich's Franck Ribery and Real Madrid's Karim Benzema the French under coach Laurant Blanc are unbeaten in over 20 matches and have played some good football recently. The question is if they are ready to test the big boys.

And could there be a real upset? Could there be a repeat of 2004 when Greece shocked everyone and went on to win the title. Anything is possible with especially a focus on the co-hosts Poland and the Ukraine. Especially Poland look to have a group from which is could progress and then cause some upsets led by their German double winning trio of Robert Lewandowski, Jakub Blaszczykowski and Lukasz Piszczek from Borussia Dortmund.

The action starts tonight, so lets enjoy the football and let the best team win...