Are England Actually Value At 12/1 For Euro 2012 Glory?

The title of this post may suggest that I’m mad, but could England really be worth a wager at 12/1 to be crowned Euro 2012 Champions? At the odds available they may actually be backable!

If you cast your mind back to World Cup 2010, you may or may not remember that the Three Lions were as short as 11/2 to win the biggest international tournament there is.

That’s right.. England were half the odds they are at this very moment to win the World Cup. Brazil were there, Argentina were there, and if you can recall, we had goalkeeper problems, Wayne Rooney was in a world of his own, and we were counting on the fitness of a certain Gareth Barry to increase our hopes of success.

It all seems absolutely crazy two years on, but this is the position we are currently in.

Now I’m not for one second advising people to pile into England at 12/1, but there may be a little bit of sense in having a punt on Betfair. Why? Here’s why..

If England qualify from Group D against rivals France, Sweden and Ukraine- their price will plummet. A drop in price is expected of course, but this is England we are talking about.

If England win their group, every man and his dog will now think that Roy Hodgson’s men really do have what it takes to win the tournament. England are no longer the team with a donkey up front and a winger without a goal or assist all season. They are England – next European Champions.

This is how we work in England. It doesn’t take much to get us excited, and we are eternal optimists when we are given a glimmer of hope. The 12/1 will soon turn into 5/1 or 6/1 should we manage to get out of the group.

So what do we know about England? Well we aren’t as bad as we make out for starters. Two defeats in 15 games since the last World Cup is hardly disappointing considering many experimental teams and formations have been used.

Roy Hodgson’s appointment wasn’t the one the nation was crying out for, but it is an improvement on Fabio Capello’s iron fist style, and the players morale will be lifted for sure.

We face Norway on Saturday in a warm up friendly, and you can guarantee that if we beat them, the 12/1 will soon disappear.

England are unlikely to win Euro 2012. Fact. But there is money to be made out of them not winning Euro 2012. Fact.