Perhaps this is how Dutch people should think this weekend as they face the challenge of having to beat Portugal by a comfortable margin in their last group game next week. If they lose, they are on their way home. And, even if they do win easily, they will need to rely on Germany beating Denmark.

Next week, I am hosting a GSAM client call with the head of our European Equity team on the above title, where I will merely point out that, using the most conservative valuation techniques you can think of, European equities appear to be rather cheap. On the so-called CAPE (Cyclically-Adjusted Price to Earnings ratio) method, some Club Med countries are now at staggeringly low valuations, with Italy and Spain both more than 70 pct below their long term average.

Greece-Russia to Grexit:

Will Greek people vote for the more centrist parties this weekend? Will Greece pull off two major surprises next week, and (1) beat Russia in football, and (2) cause a rally in European markets? I don’t know the answer to either, but it would be rather nice. The nation needs a lift.

Anyway, could make a nice bit of half-time reading! Go here for the whole report.

There may be little Italy can do on its own to protect itself. Prime Minister Mario Monti, appointed by the president to succeed Silvio Berlusconi in November when Italy’s 10-year yield exceeded 7 percent, has implemented 20 billion euros of austerity measures, overhauled the pensions system and revamped the county’s labor markets and service industries.

Monti’s efforts helped shave more than 200 basis points off the 10-year yield by February, before the turmoil in Greece and Spain’s banking woes began driving up rates.

Meanwhile, the Greece crisis continues its slow crawl to completion, and appears likely to dampen Wall Street's second-quarter revenue for a third consecutive year, making job cuts and reduced pay all the more likely. Again, Bloomberg:

Greece is prompting declines as banks face questions about whether they’re experiencing a so-called secular, or lasting, shift in their capital-markets businesses amid new regulations and slower global growth. The industry will see little-to-no growth in the total revenue pool over the next few years and needs to cut 20 percent to 30 percent of its managers, Boston Consulting Group Inc. said in an April 26 report.

It probably only gets worse from here, as markets responded coolly to news of a Spanish bailout this weekend, seen by many as little more than a temporary fix. Meanwhile, the Greek elections are nearing, with all hell liable to loosen on the results. To which we'd say, you know, enjoy the soccer.