Roy Keane, the former Manchester United and Ireland midfielder, has made his predictions for Euro 2024.
Keane has rules out Portugal’s chances of winning the tournament, instead tipping England, France, and Germany as the three favorites to lift the trophy.
Germany got off to a flying start on Friday evening, thrashing Scotland 5-1 in their Group A opener.
England and France begin their campaigns on Sunday and Monday respectively, with England facing Serbia in Group C and France taking on Austria in Group D.
Keane’s predictions is a blow to Portugal’s hopes, but he’s not alone in thinking they’ll struggle to make an impact.
The team’s lack of depth and reliance on an aging Cristiano Ronaldo have raised concerns about their ability to compete with the top teams.
Spain, another team with a rich history in the tournament, will also “come up short” according to Keane.
He believes they’ll struggle to make an impact in the latter stages of the competition.
When asked about Portugal’s chances?
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Keane said:
‘I don’t fancy them.
‘They’ve got obviously brilliant, talented attacking players.
‘But again I go back defensively, I’ve got France, England and Germany ahead of them.’
Speaking about 41-year-old Portugal defender Pepe, who is playing in his ninth major tournament for his national side.
‘He’s still playing, fair play to him, an amazing player and an amazing career.
‘But I think he’ll get caught out.’
Asked about Spain’s chances, Keane replied:
‘We know the qualities they have, again you always worry about that, they’ve got some brilliant, young talented players.
‘Again, you think Spain will be in the mix but you just think they’ll come up short.’
However, former Scotland and Liverpool midfielder Graeme Souness insists Portugal are one of Euro 2024’s ‘dark horses’ alongside the Netherlands.
‘England, France, I come back to tonight’s game, I’m not sure how good Germany are because we [Scotland] were so bad,’ Souness said.
‘I think the dark horses would be Portugal and Netherlands, no one is talking about them, they’ve had some good results.
‘Right now, Germany are a very dangerous team if they get momentum behind them, playing at home, had a great result tonight, so momentum is definitely with them, they’ll be dangerous.
‘But I think England would be a match for that Germany team.
