Analysts at Raiffeisen have used statistical data to assess the cash value of national football teams and their chances in the European Championship.
Romania's national football team is valued at 87.2m euros with 1/34 odds to win Euro 2008, according to a report by Raiffeisen Research, the research arm of Austria's Raiffeisen group.
The group's analysts used statistical methods that are normally applied when assessing stock or inflation rates in order to calculate the value of teams participating in Euro 2008 and their odds of winning the championship.
The calculation was based on economic factors such as GDP/capita, this year's estimated growth rate, and annual beer consumption, as well as the teams' position in FIFA rankings and bookmakers' odds.
Although according to bookmakers' projections Romania's chances of winning Euro 2008 are not high, the national team can be encouraged by supporters' enthusiasm, given that Romania boasts the fastest GDP growth rate of all participants (5.5%, the projection for 2008), while in terms of beer consumption the country does not lag behind, as indicated by a position among the top 10.
In terms of beer consumption, the Czechs take home the trophy, with annual beer consumption standing at 160 litres/capita.
Romania will play in Group C together with some of the toughest and most valuable teams in the competition: Netherlands (appraised at 187.85m euros), Italy (369.55m euros) and France (368m euros). The total value of the group tops one billion euros.
The value of players representing Romania stands at 223.73 million euros, while the average value per player stands at 436,121 euros, according to the Austrian group's analysts, who used www.transfermarkt.de, www.bwin.com, and Canadean as sources.
During the '90s, when Romania's economy was doing much worse than it does now, the natio
