Greece

Group A

 

Best finish Champions 2004

 

Current FIFA Ranking;  15

 

Greece are grouped along with Russia Poland and Czech Republic in group A which is comparetively the easiest in this years Euro. The unexpected champions of the Euro 2004 is considered the underdogs in this group. Coached by the Portugese Fernando Santos the Greece team lacks the individual talents. The Greece had a pretty good qualification campaign were they topped group F with 24 points from 10 games and remained undefeated throughout. The Greeks emphasise on teamwork and not on individual brillance as they did from 2004 and it is reflected in the qualification campaign as they came undefeated with a so called highly rated squad.

The Greece squad is built upon its defence as in 2004 with a impenetrable unit which has only conceded 5 goals in the qualification. The defence is built upon Avraam Papadopoulos of Olympiacos and Sokratis Papastathopoulos of SV Werder Bremen both good at tackling the opposition attackers. The defence of the Greece have good strength and workrate which is hard for the opposition attackers to breakthrough. Vassilis Torossidis of Olympiacos plays at the right side of defence and he is dangerous with his crosses to the box and can close down the opponent. 

Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis will play at the midfield and his longshots would be a threat to the opposition. Kostas Katsouranis of Panathinaikos Athens can play as a centre midfielder or as a defensive midfielder and helps his defence with his tackling capabilities. Sotiris Ninis of Panathinaikos would play at the right wing with Giorgos Samaras who played on leftwing for Celtic for most of the season the doing the same role for Greece aslo. Fanis Gekas of Samsunspor would play as the centre forward. The man behind the goal looks a bit of worry for Santos as none of the goalkeepers had been impressive this season but Santos decides to go with Kostas Chalkias.

Manager :Fernando Santos

Fernando Santos predecessor Otto Rehhagel had done near impossible task of winning the Euro with Greece and Santos is undaunted by the fact. Santos has in his Greece team a strong defensive impenetrable which had conceded only 5 times in the qualifications. Santos was able to build a efficent unit which doesnot include any highly talented players and is yet to lose with in a Competative match and had only lost once to Romania in a friendly.

Fernando Santos have no previous experience as coach of a national team but the performance of his team doesnot show any signs of his lack of experience of managing a national side. Santos had injected to the Greece squad young players like Giannis Fetfatzidis, Kyriakos Papadopoulos, Sotiris Ninis to an ageing squad.

Formation

 The team can play either 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 formations of play according to the opposition, the team relies on teamwork rather than the individual brillance to make things happen. The Greece team plays with a solid defensive framework with its attack beginning from the back. Greece will sitback patiently and defend and build their attack by direct play. The centrebacks Avraam Papadopoulos and Sokratis Papastathopoulos along with fullbacks Vassilis Torossidis and  Jose Holebas would be entrusted to close down the opponents in the Greeks area.

Ninis and Samaras would provide the chances for attack along with captain Karagounis. Fanis Gekas will lead the Greek charge upfront and would be supported by occasional movement of Samaras from the leftwing. The Greece team which lacks creativity and flair upfront are the team which scored the least of the qualified nations for the Euro. Sotiris Ninis would be trusted with the task of adding some creativity and flair to the side. Kostas Katsouranis would play either in central midfield or a bit back as a defensive midfielder depending on the opposition.

Squad for the Euros:

Goalkeepers: Costas Chalkias (PAOK), Michalis Sifakis (Aris), Alexandros Tzorvas (Palermo).

Defenders: Vassilis Torosidis (Olympiakos), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Werder Bremen), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiakos), Jose Holebas (Olympiakos), Stelios Malezas (PAOK), Giorgos Tzavelas (Monaco), Yiannis Maniatis (Olympiakos), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Schalke).

Midfielders: Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos), Costas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos), Giorgos Fotakis (PAOK), Costas Fortounis (Kaiserslautern), Yiannis Fetfatzidis (Olympiakos), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos), Grigoris Makos (AEK Athens).

Forwards: Georgios Samaras (Celtic), Dimitris Salpigidis (PAOK), Costas Mitroglou (Atromitos), Nikos Lymberopoulos (AEK Athens), Fanis Gekas (Samsunspor).

Key Player

Sotiris Ninis

The 22 year old right winger has the flair and the creativity that the dull Greece side lacks and hence he is the key for the Greece to have any sucess in this years Euro. Ninis was in the squad of Greece in World Cup in SouthAfrica in 2010 were Greece were packed off after their group matches, as a unused substitute. Ninis is a player who have got dazzling skills, with a good variation of pace to trick the defenders, good vision to pickup teammates in advanced positions and also pocess a good long range shooting skills.

He had signed for Parma on a free transfer so that their is no concern for him about the future when he arrives on Poland Ukraine for the Euros. Fernando Santos is counting on Ninis for the work on other end of field which is the area of concern for Santos. Ninis was the UEFA Player of the tournamnet at the U-19 level European Championship in 2007 were Greece progressed till the Finals.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos

The centre back impressed all through the qualifications were the Greece defence showed good defensive work by conceding only 5 goals. He has been the backbone of the Greece defensive framework which is relied heavily to take anything from the opposition. He has been instrumental in the Greece theory of  "giving the opponents nothing rather than taking anything from them".  He was omitted by Otto Rehhagel for Euro 2008 from the provisonal squad.  The 23 year is good at marking and closing down opposition and is strong and brave to throw into tackles. He is good in the air which give the opposition players trouble to get ball into the boxes.

He had made good partnership with Avraam and they would be a hard defence to breakthrough.

Key to Quater finals Performance of the Attacking Unit

The Greece have a good defence which would closedown any opponents but the concern is about their attacking abilities as the Greece had not been good in front of goal all through qualification campaign and their attacking unit should pickup theirlevel of play so that they can secure important points to move through the group stages. Any how it is more of a concern as the attack has to score against Germany, Netherland or Portuguse which they may meet if they move to knockout stages.

UEFA EURO 2012 Group A fixtures
Friday 8 June: Poland v Greece, 18.00CET, Warsaw

Friday8 June:                               21.30 IST
Tuesday 12 June: Greece v Czech Republic, 18.00CET, Wroclaw

Wednesday 13 June:                                         21.30 IST

Saturday 16 June: Greece v Russia, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Sunday 17 June:                                00.15 IST

This blog will be covering footballing side of Euro 2012 hosted in Poland Ukraine to its best possible way.Your comments and criticisms are welcomed.

Russia

Group A

 

Best finish Champions 1960

 

Current FIFA Ranking 13

 

Russia is grouped along with Czech republic, Greece and Poland  in  group A as the hot favorites to proceed to the the knockout stages as group winners. The team which is currently ranked 13 by Fifa had a good qualification campaign winning 7 matches and drawing 2 and emerged winners from Group B. The only lose the Russian suffered were against Slovakia. Russia were the surprise package at the 2008 Euros when they reached the semifinals. This time around the expectations are high on the Russian team. Dick Advocaat and his team would be expected to match or even outshine what Guus Hiddink did in 2008.

The Russians have a attacking unit and plays attractive football with Captain Andre Arshavin of Arsenal with the role of playmaker in the advanced attacking midfielder role. Aleksandr Kerzhakov will be playing as the striker who will be a threat to the opposition defence. The former chelsea fullback Yuri Zhirkov would be the key player for plans of Dirk Advocaat in the defence. Dirk Adocaat has been able to built up an Russian squad based on the domestic Russian league were 20 players of his squads are from Russian Priemier League.

The midfield consist of the Roman Shirokov creating the chances for the forwards and also have the ability to score the goals. The defence is lead by the experienced 32 year old Sergei Ignashevich of CSK Moscow. Russia have a reliable shot stopper in Igor Akinfeev and the opposition players would have to work hard against the defence of Russians.

Manager : Dick Advocaat

Advocaat would have a hard time as the manager of the Russian team for the Euro 2012 as he would he measured against what Guus Hiddink achieved with Russia in Euro 2008. The Dutchman have taken his home country Netherland to the semifinals in 2004 on his second stint. Dick Advocaat is tactically sound manager and likes to play attacking football. Advocaat has vast experience coaching national teams has he has previous stints with Netherland, South Korea, Belgium and the U.A.E.. Advocaat's stint with the Russians is almost sure to end with this tournament.

Advocaat's stint in Russia started after sacking of Guis Hiddink when Russia failed to qualify for the worldcup 2010 in South Africa. The task ahead of Advocaat is harder than what he has achieved by qualifying the Russian's for the Euros. Anyhow drawn in a relatively easy group and a good bunch of players Advocaat would be hoping Russia would perform well in this years Euro.

Formation

Dick Advocaat had not been too experimental with the Russian team during the qualifiers and the friendlies and has sticked with a bunch of players. The Dutch had experimeted with both 4-3-3 and 4-3-2-1 during the qualifiers and the friendlies. The man to lead the Russian attack would be the captain Andry Arshavin from the left flank and together with the former Russian young player of the year Alan Dzagoev it would a good attack for the Russians. These players in the flank would supply the needed balls to the forward  Aleksandr Kerzhakov. Roman Shirokov and Konstantin Zyryanov would play in the midfield and Igor Denisov will be playing deep in the midfield as a ball winning midfielder for Russia.

In Vasili Berezutski and Sergei Ignashevich of CSKA moscow Russia will have two strong brave and hard tackling halfbacks who have formed a good defence partnership for both club and country. 

Offensive fullbacks Yuri Zhirkov and  Alexandr Anyukov are athletic and they have the pace and stamina to make constant threats to the oppositions by their run through the sides for the entire 90 minutes and Akinfeev at the goal it is hard for even worldclass strikers to beat him on one on one chances and the Russian number one have the reflexes to save even the unexpected.

Squad for the Euros:

 

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeyev (CSKA Moscow), Vyacheslav Malafeyev (Zenit St Petersburg), Anton Shunin (Dynamo Moscow).

Defenders: Alexander Anyukov (Zenit St Petersburg), Alexei Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Roman Sharonov (Rubin Kazan), Vladimir Granat (Dynamo Moscow), Kirill Nababkin (CSKA Moscow).

Midfielders:Igor Denisov (Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Shirokov (Zenit St Petersburg), Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit St Petersburg), Yuri Zhirkov (Anzhi Makhachkala), Alan Dzagoyev (CSKA Moscow), Igor Semshov (Dynamo Moscow), Denis Glushakov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Marat Izmailov (Sporting), Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow).

Forwards: Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal), Alexander Kerzhakov (Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Lokomotiv Moscow), Alexander Kokorin (Dynamo Moscow), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Fulham).

Key Players

Andry Arshavin

Even though not at his top of his game as in Euro 2008 the dribbler from Russia still has the ability to pass through the defences. The  31 year old who was on loan to his old club Zenit St Petersburg to regain his lost form is still a bet for many to do what he and the Russian squad did in Euro 2008. 

He has the creativity by which he can create chances from nothing. His dribbles through the opponents were a treat to watch and that was what it made Arsene Wenger to sign him back in 2008. In form and if he raises his game by a few notches as he will when playing for Russia they will be a force to reckon with.

Alan Dzagoev

Alan Dzagoev the 22 year old playing at CSKA Moscow was once the hottest young player in Europe as his play has attracted attention of any Big western European clubs. Dzagoev is a player who pocess amoung many abilities good ball control and and excellent vison to pickup his teammates. He is as creative as his country man Arshavin and he is good in air as well as is a deadball specialist. The modest and hard-working player naturally plays as an attacking mid fielder behind the centre forward feeding the ball and looking for oppurtunities to score can also play down the right flank with the same effect. The last 2 years has not been as he would have liked this Euro could be the breakthrough for the 22 year old.

Key to Semifinals - Raise the level of game

The road to the knockout stages remain clear for the Russian if the play to their calibre. A potential quaterfinal against runnersup of group B is on the cards and would be the first and the hardest test for the Russians. It would be against either Germans, Dutch or the Portugese. Any of the last two is the most likely. It would take a hard toll on the Russians as they would be against one of the favorites of the Euros. Dick Advocaat's team should take their game to a higher level to get a favourable result against these teams. Their players should use the group games to rise up their level of play and key players should hit their form to get anything from either Dutch or Portugese.

UEFA EURO 2012 Group A fixtures
Friday 8 June: Russia v Czech Republic, 20.45CET, Wroclaw

Saturday 9 June:                                       00.15 IST,

Tuesday 12 June: Poland v Russia, 20.45CET, Warsaw
wednesday 13 June:                          00.15IST,
Saturday 16 June: Greece v Russia, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Sunday 17 June                                  20.45IST

IST Indian standard Time

This blog will be covering footballing side of Euro 2012 hosted in Poland Ukraine to its best possible way.Your comments and criticisms are welcomed.

Czech Republic

Group A

Best finish : Runners up 1996

 

Current FIFA Ranking : 26

 

Czech Republic qualified for the Euro 2012 finals beating Montenegro in the Playoffs after finishing second behind Spain in group I of qaulifications with 13 points from 8 matches.They are drawn in group A along with co hosts Poland , Russia and 2004 European Champions Greece. Czech Republic remains the favorite to top the group with a stable unit and with lot of European experience.

Czech Republic team for this Euro have resemblence of the team of 2004 when the team reached the semifinals with players such as Pavel Nedved , Karel Poborsky. This Euros team have the creative enthusiasm of the team of 2004 lead by Nedved. Coach Michal Bilek have a team with the right mix and good stability with many players having European experience which will make it easy for the Czech Republic to reach the knock out stage without any upsets being suffered. Thomas Rosicky is the Captain for the Czechs and the Arsenal attacking midfielder well knows that the team have the ability and talent to go far in the tournament. There are 7 players from the Gambrinus liga ( Domestic league of Czech Republic) and the others are are from rest of Europe.

The Czechs relies on  Tomas Rosicky to orchestrate its attack with Milan Baros of Galatasaray being relied for the goals. Jaroslav Plašil captain of FC Girondins Bordeaux plays at the middle of the park and provides the attacking players upfront the balls they need.  Tomás Sivok of Besiktas who lead the defence would be hard for the attackers to break through. The attacking minded left back Michal Kadlec would be the key player in the defence and can often lead the charge on the break.Petr Cech after winning Champion Leugue with Chelsea would be fully charged and opposition forwards needs to work hard to get past this inform worldclass keeper.

Manager : Michal Bilek

Michal Bilek needs to prove things with this Czech Republic team. Bilek was appointed after  Ivan Hašek who was in temporary charge of the team stepped down. michal Bilek had a new look team taken for the European qualifiers but had a disasterous start to the qualifying with 4 straight losses resulting in increased frustrations and he looked like he could not even last the qualifications. His team's poor performance raised many questions about the qualification to the Euros.

A much neede win against Scotland was followed by win at Liechtenstein the team entered the Playoffs and reached the Euros by defeating Montenegro. Michal Bilek has the strong support of his players and he once responded to it by saying " There wassometimes too much criticism and sometimes it wasn't justified. I am gald that I have stayed with the team".

Formation  

 Michal Bilek used 4 3 3 and 4 2 2 2 formations but  Czech Republic had lack of width and they donot pocess the right set of players to use this formation.Michal bilek then settled with the 4 2 3 1 with captain Tomas Rosicky playing as the centre attacking midfielder behind Milan Baros or Tomas Necid who just returned back after injury on time for the Euros. The performance of the deep lying midfielder Jaroslav Plasil has given them the extra creativity to the team. With Tomas Sivok of Besiktas and Roman Hubnik of Hertha Berlin at the heart of defence the Czech Republic has 2 offensive fullbacks in Michal Kadlec and Selassie who can lead the charge on the break. Czech Republic under Michal Bilek are a organised side that likes to counter attack. With Chelsea's Petr Cech at the woodwork the Czech Republic can keep the Europe's best strikers at bay.

Squad for the Euros:

Goalkeepers: Petr Cech (Chelsea), Jaroslav Drobny (Hamburg), Jan Lastuvka (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk).

Defenders: Theodor Gebre Selassie (FC Slovan Liberec), Roman Hubnik (Hertha Berlin), Michal Kadlec (Bayer Leverkusen), David Limbersky (FC Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Sivok (Besiktas), Marek Suchy (Spartak Moskow).

Midfielders: Vladimir Darida (FC Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Hubschman (Shakhtar Donetsk), Petr Jiracek (VfL Wolfsburg), Daniel Kolar (FC Viktoria Plzen), Milan Petrzela (FC Viktoria Plzen), Vaclav Pilar (VfL Wolfsburg), Jaroslav Plasil (Bordeaux), Frantisek Rajtoral (FC Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal).

Forwards: Milan Baros (Galatasaray), David Lafata (FK Jablonec), Tomas Necid (CSKA Moskow), Tomas Pekhart (FC Nurnberg), Jan Rezek (Anorthosis Famagusta).

Key player

 

Petr Cech

 Petr Cech was the goalkeeper of the tournament in Euro 2004 but had a shakey tournament last time. But after the must inspired Champions League victory with Chelsea and signing of a new contract this shot stopper would be be entrusted to keep the strikers at bay. Petr cech is the best player in the Czech lineup and a exceptional performance from him would make Czech Republic reach levels that Peter Schmeichel and Oliver Khan did with their respective countries.

Key to Quaterfinals -Creativity of chances

The Czech republic have been decent at the back conceding only 8 goals in the qualifiers. The Czech republic looks real short of the creativity needed to take the game to the opposition and create the chances for the attacking players. Tomas Rosicky's injury is a blow for the Czech and also the form of their powerful, tall striker Necid who just returned after injury. 

UEFA EURO 2012 Group A fixtures
Friday 8 June: Russia v Czech Republic, 20.45CET, Wroclaw

Saturday 9 June:                                     , 00.15 IST,

Tuesday 12 June: Greece v Czech Republic, 18.00CET, Wroclaw

Tuesday 12 June:                                          , 21.30 IST

Saturday 16 June: Czech Republic v Poland, 20.45CET, Wroclaw

Sunday 17 June                                                00.15 IST

 
IST Indian Standard Time

This blog will be covering footballing side of Euro 2012 hosted in Poland Ukraine to its best possible way.Your comments and criticisms are welcomed.

Poland

 

Group A

 

Best finish Group Stage 2008

 

Current FIFA Ranking;  65

 

Poland the co host of Euro 2012 along with Ukraine gained automatical qaulification to Euro 2012. Drawn in a relatively easy group and the support of the home fans would make them a team to fancy a reasonable chance for the knockout stages of the Euros. A team with a relatively vulnerable defence would have to rely on its attack to give the best outcomes.

Borussia Dortmund forward Robert Lewandowski is considered to be the key for them for have a good performance. Lewandowski who was not even the first choice for Dortmund after his Euro 4.5M move a year later in 2011 - 12 season scored 30 goals from 47 matches and considered as the key figure in attack at Dortmund. His team mates at Dortmund Jakub Błaszczykowski, the captain of the Polish team along with Lukasz Pisczek would be dangerous in the break. Arsenal's Wojciech Szczeny would have a lot of work to do between the bars to cover up for his defenders deficency and would probably have a busy time stopping shots of opposition.

Franciszek Smuda is sound about his teams chances as he said "of course we have a chance to progress from the group to the quaterfinals" and he also said the first game with Greece is the most important for Polish.

The Polish have good reasons to think positive as they beat Argentina 2-1 in june and a holding a strong german team to a 2-2 draw in septamber and holding the Portuguse lead by C.Ronaldo to a goalless draw in February.

Manager : Franciszek Smuda

  

Franciszek Smuda took over in 2009 following the sacking of Leo Beenhakker. Smuda was critised for the calling up French-born duo Damien Perquis and Ludovic Obraniak and Eugen Polanski and Sebastian Boenisch who played in Germany at U - 21 level. The reason Smuda had for this calling up is the lack of talent in Poland. Poland had divided opinion on Smuda some sections defended his decisions while some others critised for his management.

Smuda's first job after taking as the head coach was to play " offensive and attractive football".He suddenly decreased the age of the team calling up many youth players in to the Polish setup. The Poland suffered 8 games without a win but starting with a 3-1 win over Côte d'Ivoire the Poland team had a good run under Smuda winning over Argentina drawing against European superpowers like Germany and Portugal.

Formation

Franciszek Smuda would employ the 4 2 3 1 formation with Robert Lewandowski playing as the  lone forward for the Euros. Jakub 'Kuba' Błaszczykowski and Obraniak will feed  Lewandownski  with aerial crosses for the long forward and Rafal Murawski and Polanski  will play at the centre middle of the park. The team would play pressing game under Smuda but has real lack of worldclass talent in the defence  hence could struggle to check the opposition and to control possession. Any how The Poland  would really be a danger when on the break with Lewandowski upfront and with the pace of Kuba. Lukasz Piszczek is the key player in defence in otherwise a error prone defence of central defenders Damien Perquis, Marcin Wasilewski and the left back Jakub Wawrzyniak.

 

Squad for the Euros:

Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczesny (Arsenal), Przemyslaw Tyton (PSV Eindhoven), Grzegorz Sandomierski (Jagiellonia Bialystok)

Defenders: Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund), Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw), Marcin Kaminski (Lech Poznan), Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan), Sebastian Boenisch (Werder Bremen), Damien Perquis (Sochaux).

Midfielders: Eugen Polanski (Mainz), Dariusz Dudka (Auxerre), Adam Matuszczyk (Fortuna Düsseldorf), Adrian Mierzejewski (Trabzonspor), Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Ludovic Obraniak (Bordeaux), Maciej Rybus (Terek Grozny), Kamil Grosicki (Sivasspor), Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan), Rafal Wolski (Legia Warsaw).

Forwards: Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Artur Sobiech (Hannover), Pawel Brozek (Celtic).

 

Key Players 

 

Robert Lewandowski

The  Borussia Dortmund Forward had a great season in front of goal having scored 30 goals for the German Bundesliga Champions from 47 games in all competition. The 23 year old spearhead of the Polish attack is easily the key player for the Poland. He main strength apart from his goal scoring abilities are his teamwork and high work rate. Lewandowski pocess good pace to outrun his opponents and is dangerous on the break. His teamwork with his Dortmund team mates Piszczek and Kuba has been extra ordinary. The long polish is a aerial threat in the box and his off the ball movements are threat to the opposition. He is happy to move around the box when not in possession and looks to sneak in his teammates to space with his dummy moves. The main hopes of the Poland team and the Polish fans rely on the shoulders of the young forward.

Lewandowski's sense of positioning is not his advantages and the pressure on his shoulders would be an added weight to the 23 year old forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wojciech Szczesny

The 23 year old shot stopper of Arsenal is oen of the main elements for the Polish chance of making through groupstages. The brave 195cm shotstopper has good command  of  his area. He is excellent in dealing with crosses and highballs  in to the penalty area.His ability to rush out along with his bravery makes him a hard goalkeeper to beat. The young cool goalkeeper has the potential to serve the Poland many years to come.  He is a cool, collected young man and he goes into the tournament as one of the stand-out goalkeepers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key to Quaterfinals - Performance of Defence

The defence looks weak on paper but the Polish defence have a good defensive record in the friendlies the played. The Polish defence have keptin check the attackers of Portugal, Mexico, Argentin, German, France.The Borussia Dortmund rightback Lukasz Piszczekas been the star performer of the defence so far. Wasilewski is a dependable defender. While he not the quickest, he has a good positional sense and is a tough opponent. The 26 year old Werder Bremen left back Sebastian Boenisch has good pace which would help them in the break. The chance of Poland making to the Quaterfinals heavily rely on its defence.

UEFA EURO 2012 Group A fixtures
Friday 8 June: Poland v Greece, 18.00 CET, Warsaw

Friday 8 June                               21.30 IST   Neo Prime
Tuesday 12 June: Poland v Russia, 20.45CET, Warsaw

Wednesday 13 June:                        00.1 5IST,
Saturday 16 June: Czech Republic v Poland, 20.45CET, Wroclaw

Sunday 17 June:                                              00.15IST,

This blog will be covering footballing side of Euro 2012 hosted in Poland Ukraine to its best possible way.Your comments and criticisms are welcomed.

Euro 2012 Groups

The draw for the final tournament took place on 2 December 2011 in Kiev, Ukraine.The sixteen qualified finalist were were divided into four seeding pots, using theUEFA National Team coefficent ranking. As co-hosts, Poland and Ukraine were automatically placed in Pot 1.

The groups for Euro 2012 after the draw were 

 

Poland, Greece, Russia and Czech Republic consist of comparitively easy group A. Czech Republic remains the favorite to top the group followed by the Russian side lead by Dirk Advocaat. Greece can be considered as the underdogs of the group with nothing to lose. Poland even though co-host have only an slim chance of moving up through the group stages.

Netherlands ,Denmark, Portugal and Germany are the teams in the so called group of death or group B of this year's Euros. Germany anyhow remains the favorites to lead the group tables and it all lies on the hands of defences of both Netherland and Portugal to resist the attacking of the teams. Any how for me Portugal would be the team for the quaterfinals along with Germany and the Danish are too short of talents for making any suprises.

Defending champions Spain is grouped with crisis striken Italy, Croatia and Ireland in Group C. Spain and Italy are the teams to go through but Croatia have every chance to make it to the quaterfinals instead of the Italians who face match fixing allegations in domestic league. Ireland led by the Trapattoni has no chances of making it to the quaters.

Cohost Ukraine, Sweden, England and France are the teams in group D. A  resurgent france team lead by Blanc are likely to go to the quaters as leaders followed by the underachieving England team. Sweden are the likely team to cause an upset in the group were as the Ukraine does not have enough to see off the group stages. 

This blog will be covering footballing side of Euro 2012 hosted in Poland Ukraine to its best possible way.Your comments and criticisms are welcomed.

 

Euro 2012

              

    

 

The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2012, will be the 14th European Championship for national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament will be hosted by Poland and Ukraine between 8 June and 1 July 2012. It is the first time that either nation has hosted the tournament.

The joint Poland–Ukraine bid was chosen by a vote of the UEFA Executive Committee at a meeting in Cardiff on 18 April 2007, defeating both Italy and a Croatia–Hungary bid. Poland–Ukraine became the third successful joint bid for the European Championship, after those of Belgium–Netherlands (2000) and Austria–Switzerland (2008). Italy had been considered favourites to win the hosting but incidents of fan violence and a match fixing scandal were widely cited as factors behind their failure.

This blog will be covering footballing side of Euro 2012 hosted in Poland Ukraine to its best possible way.Your comments and criticisms are welcomed.