Euro 2012 Draw Results and Analysis
The groups are set for Euro 2012 and if you are a Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, or Denmark fan you are probably none too happy. Those four nations were placed into the ‘Group of Death’ that always seems to appear in every Euro or World Cup tournament. A quick look at how the draw played out for all 16 nations taking place in the tournament in Poland and Ukraine this coming summer.
Group A- Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic.
Co-host Poland could not have asked for a kinder draw, being placed into far and away the easiest group of the four. Part of the draw was that both Ukraine and Poland were one seeds and therefore automatically avoided Netherlands and Spain, the other top seeds. This worked out pretty well for the Poles chances to advance.
There is no real clear favorite, but Russia would probably have to be given the early edge in this group. The Russians edged out Ireland to win a pretty simply Group B in qualifying. Andrei Arshavin can be lethal, he made his name at Euro 2008, and has solid support with Roman Pavlyuchenko and Yuri Zhirkov.
Greece would likely be the next favorite, especially with the history of winning Euro 2004 on their side. The Greeks won an awfully easy Group F, with only Croatia and Israel as real competition. Angelos Charisteas, Theofanis Gekas, and Loukas Vyntra are among the stand-outs. The Greeks always present disciplined and structured play and are very difficult to score against.
Hosts Poland will have the advantage of playing every match in their home nation. Poland automatically qualified as co-hosts. They will look to improve from their last major competition qualifying, when they were an embarrassing 5th of 6th in 2010 World Cup group qualification. Euro 2008 was their first appearance at the competition and the Poles registered a draw and two losses. Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny and defender Dariusz Dudka provide strength at the back. Robert Lewandowski will be relied on for goals.
Czech Republic used to be a power in Europe, but they barely qualified for this competition. The Czechs finished second in their group, just ahead of Scotland and wayyyyyy behind Spain. However they impressively handled a good Montenegro side in the play-offs, winning 3-o over two legs. Veterans Peter Cech, Milan Baros, and Tomas Rosicky lead the team, perhaps for the final time.
It is very difficult to make sense of this group. The weakest team is Poland, but they have a big advantage of being at home. Anyone could beat anyone and I would not be surprised to see any combination of teams come out of this group. But I will go out and make my early prediction (subject to change in the May/June previews for the tournament) that Russia and Czech Republic will make it to the quarter-finals.
Group B- Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal
Here you go, the Group of Death. Four excellent sides, all of whom I would give serious consideration to as favorites in Group A. Netherlands and Germany have two of the best histories of any nation in international football. They combine for four championships and three runner-up finishes, to speak nothing of semi-final appearances. Netherlands finished runner-up at the 2010 World Cup, Germany was third. Then there is Denmark who won the whole thing in 1992 and Portugal who were 2nd in 2004. This group is LOADED.
Netherlands will be co-favorites although they suffered a chink in their armor when they lost 3-0 to Germany in a friendly. The Dutch won all but one game in their qualifying group, a meaningless last-day loss to Sweden. They outscored opposition by 29 goals in qualifying. Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Rafael Van der Vaart and Mark van Bommel are just the tip of the iceberg in talent. Any Dutch player on the squad is capable of being a star.
Germany is in sensational form under Joachim Low. Ze Germans won every qualifier and outscored the competition 34-7. Like the Netherlands everyone who makes the squad of 23 and then some have the capability of starting and winning. Bastian Schweinsteiger, Manuel Neuer, Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski, Mario Gomez, and Thomas Muller are just a few of the many, talented names.
Portugal barely qualified, edging out Norway on goal difference for second in their group. They then struggled to a 0-0 draw in the first leg of qualifying against Bosnia and Herzegovina. But a controversial red card and an explosion of offense in the second leg led to a 6-2 win and Portugal making it back to the European championship. Make no mistake, despite the struggles, this is not a team anyone wants to face. Cristiano Ronaldo is in sensational form. On the opposite wing is Manchester United star Nani. Raul Meireles, Joao Moutinho and Pepe provide plenty of other talent. This isn’t the team that had Luis Figo on it, but it is still one to be reckoned with.
Denmark makes their return to the Euro’s after missing out for the first time ever in 2o08. They won Group H, which included Portugal, by 3 points and did so by allowing just 6 goals in 8 games. A young team, the Danes have an experienced keeper in Thomas Sorensen. Liverpool defender Daniel Agger captains the squad and Simon Kjaer will help him in the back line. Martin Jorgensen, Dennis Rommedahl, and Christian Poulsen provide plenty of experience. Nicklas Bendtner will be relied on for goals.
Like Group A any of the four teams could qualify, but this group seems a little more clear-cut, thanks in part to the sensational form of the Germans and Dutch. Still it would not be a total shock to see one of the competitions three favorites (Spain being the third) bow out in the group stage because of Portugal or Denmark. Early prediction: I can’t not pick Germany and the Netherlands to advance. They are too good.
Group C- Spain, Italy, Ireland, Croatia
This group is not far off from being the Group of Death. When you have the reigning Euro and World Cup champs and a traditional power in your group, that tends to happen. Add in a couple of talented, attack-minded sides who have nothing to lose and all the games in this group will be exciting to watch.
Spain is the obvious favorite for this group and the whole competition having won it in 2008 and following it up with a World Cup in South Africa. The Spanish cruised to 8 wins in 8 games in qualifying, albeit in an easy group. Like Germany and The Netherlands they have an embarrassment of talent. Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, Xabi Alonso, Juan Mata, David Silva. And that’s just the midfield. Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique are the best of a very good defense. David Villa and Fernando Torres are good up front. Iker Casillas is as terrific in goal as he has ever been. There is no weakness in this side.
Italy will try to revert to the form that’s traditionally seen them as one of the best at major competitions. A quarter-final exit in 2008 was disappointing, but nothing compared to the group stage exit in the 2010 World Cup. The Italians cruised in a tricky qualifying group, winning by 10 points and conceding all of 2 goals in 10 games. Gianluigi Buffon captains a side from between the goal posts. Mario Balotelli, Gilardino, and Giuseppe Rossi will be tasked in getting goals. Danielle de Rossi leads a good midfield. A young defense could be the biggest problem when faced with more attack minded sides like Spain and Croatia.
Ireland is back in a major competition for the first time since the 2002 World Cup, although they should have qualified for the 2010 World Cup if it were not for an all-time bad call by a ref. After finishing narrowly behind Russia in the group, the Irish dominated Estonia in the play-off. A 4-0 first-leg win marked the second leg all but moot, and a 1-1 draw ensured passage to Poland and Ukraine. Giovanni Trapattoni will manage his side against his home nation of Italy. His side will rely on Shay Given in goal and John O’Shea and Kevin Kilbane to lead the defense. Damien Duff, Darron Gibson, Aiden McGeady and James McCarthy lead a deep midfield. Captain Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle are two excellent forwards.
Croatia is not the side that once took 3rd at the 1998 World Cup, but they might be as good as the side that made the quarter-finals at Euro 2008. The Croats defeated Turkey 3-0 in the qualifying playoffs after finishing just behind Greece in the group. Josip Simunic will lead a good defense. Darijo Srna captains the side and is an excellent play-maker along with Ivan Rakitic. Ivica Olic and Eduardo are both serious goal-scoring threats.
Another group with a lot of talent and it should provide a slate of excellent games. Spain is an obvious pick to advance, it is too difficult to see them dropping points in two games. The other three provide some interesting thought. Yes Italy is excellent, but both Ireland and Croatia are very solid. I am going with my upset pick of the tournament (again this is just a preview, subject to change when the tournament approaches in May/June) and say Ireland will join Spain in the quarter-finals.
Group D- Ukraine, Sweden, France, England
This could be the most interesting group, because of the rivalries that have been drawn into this group and the presence of one of the co-hosts. The historical rivalries of England with both France and Sweden should be fun affairs to watch. Not a Group of Death, but there is certainly plenty of talent in this one.
England returns to the Euros after a shock miss in 2008. The English weren’t at their best in qualifying, but did not lose and won the group that had no pushovers by a comfortable six points. As always there is plenty of talent, albeit questions, with the England side. Old guards John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, and Ashley Cole will combine with youngsters Phil Jones, Leighton Baines, and Glen Johnson to lead an always good English defense. England finally has an adequate replacement for the long-retired goalie David Seaman with the emergence of Joe Hart. Midfield has Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard (if healthy), Gareth Barry and Ashley Young. Youngster Jack Wilshere could make a bid for a starting spot. The big question is at forward where Wayne Rooney is currently suspended for the entire group stage for a red card that wasn’t. With Rooney England is a threat to win the whole tournament. Without….good luck to Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch, Danny Welbeck and Darren Bent.
France is trying to regain some respect and pride after an embarrassing time at the 2010 World Cup. Combined with a group stage exit, the French had a player kicked of the team and a host of players suspended in the aftermath of a player protest. Laurent Blanc has his young squad playing well, edging out Bosnia to win their qualifying group. Hugo Lloris is an excellent keeper. He will have a solid, though not great, defense in front of him, led by Eric Abidal, Patrice Evra, and Philippe Mexes. The strength is in the midfield where Franck Ribery and Florent Malouda take charge with some help from Samir Nasri and Yoann Gorcuff. They are thin at forward, where Karim Benzema is the best option.
Sweden is in their fourth straight Euro championship, but have only once made it out of their group and never past the quarter-finals in the last three. The Swedes qualified as the top runner-up, avoiding a potentially tricky playoff. Offense was prominent for Sweden, they scored 31 goals in 10 qualifiers. AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic leads the attack while Kim Kallstrom and Anders Svensson provide the play-making. Olof Melberg has a wealth of experience at center back, but the rest of the defense is relatively untested. Andreas Isaksson is a very good keeper. This is likely the last major tournament for several of the aforementioned players and they will want to go out strong.
Ukraine is the better of the two co-hosts, but they may have a harder time qualifying than Poland, simply because the group is much more difficult. An automatic qualifier, Ukraine has had mixed results in friendlies, drawing Sweden and Germany, but getting dismantled by the Czech Republic and France. Ukraine hasn’t played a competitive match since 2010 World Cup qualifying and it may cost them. As always they will lean on legendary forward Andriy Shevchenko who will likely retire from international football after the tournament. Shevchenko has over 100 caps and 46 goals to his name. He will need help from players such as Oleh Husyev and Andriy Yarmolenko to produce goals. Oleksander Kucher leads an inexperienced defense that could prove the sides downfall. Oleksander Shovkovskiy is the likely keeper.
As are all the groups in such a talented competition, it is tricky to pick who will advance out of the group. Despite the likely absence of Rooney I like England to progress, simply because they are very deep across the board at every position and clearly have the most talent. My head likes France to advance with them, but my gut tells me they won’t. I am going to take co-hosts Ukraine to surprise a few and make it out of the group along with England.
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I’m waiting for Euro 2012…