More football

Mr. Eugenides is dipping his toe into the waters of international football, and is supporting Greece at Euro 2008.

This blog is backing Portugal all the way (and I may well change the colour scheme of the header to match, I haven't decided yet). And I'm not just saying that because I've bet on them to win the thing at 7/1 with Ladbrokes, oh no.

Other bookies are of course available, with Hills, Blue Square and Betfred placing Portugal at 7/1 as well. The Tote and Corals have them at 15/2, but I don't have an account with them and I can't be arsed setting one up while I've got a healthy sum resting in my Ladbrokes account. Also they don't have a shop near me so I've taken the weaker odds. But your local independent betting shop might also offer the better price. In either case, Portugal's current squad and coach do make their odds rather tempting.

Anyway, Germany are the bookies' favourites, at 4/1 at Ladbrokes, Hills, Betfred and Blue Square. Coral offer poorer value 7/2, while the Tote offer a pointless 3/1.

I've just thrown that last bit in for info - I'm not encouraging gambling and this post really is just a warning that the venom content might reach unprecedented levels should Portugal end up on an earlier plane home than they wanted.