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.