Euro 2012 Quarterfinals

We are now down to the last quarterfinal to be played between England and Italy. So far all the favourites in their respective matches have made it through.

Portugal defeated the Czech Republic 1-0 thanks to a 79th minute goal from their captain Cristiano Ronaldo who looks to have brought his domestic form with Real Madrid to Euro 2012. The Czechs lacked a cutting edge in the final third especially with their captain and playmaker Tomas Rosicky missing with an Achilles injury. So much so that they only managed 2 shots all game and neither of them were on target. Hard to win a match like that ain’t it?!

Germany emphatically defeated Greece 4-2 although that scoreline was a tad generous for the Greeks. With Greece playing very defensively and deploying one lone striker similar to the Czech Republic, Germany dominated possession and it was only a matter of time before they broke through. German captain Philipp Lahm provided that six minutes before the break as he cut in from the left and let fly with his right foot from outside the 18-yard box. His shot swerved and dipped away from Greek keeper Michail Sifakis who just managed to get a hand to it but it was not enough to keep it out.

Ten minutes after half-time Germany were shocked as Giorgios Samaras beat his marker and got on the end of Dimitris Salpingidis’ low cross and slid the ball under the diving German keeper Manuel Neuer. However, they could not repel the relentless German attacks and within six minutes Sami Khedira timed his run perfectly into the box to meet Jerome Boateng’s cross and volley into the roof of the net with Greek defenders left flat-footed.

Seven minutes later Miroslav Klose, preferred in place of joint tournament top goalscorer Mario Gomez, headed home into an empty net as Sifakis decided to come out but got nowhere near the ball. In the 74th minute Marco Reus, another of the three changes that Joachim Löw made to his starting line-up, justified his selection with a sweet volley that crashed in off the underside of the bar to make it 4-1. The Greeks then had a penalty in the 89th minute converted by Salpingidis after Boateng was harshly ruled to have handballed inside the area as he jumped and had his back to the ball trying to block it. It was of little consolation sends the Greeks back home to pick up the pieces of their game, and economy.

Tournament favourites Spain are also through after a 2-0 win over a disappointing France who went with a 4-5-1 formation just like the Czechs and Greeks, leaving Karim Benzema isolated upfront. The French barely tested Spain and ended the match with four shots, one on target. Despite Spain lining up again with 6 midfielders in their 4-3-3 formation and using Cesc Fábregas as the ‘false nine’, they were allowed to control proceedings and duly took the lead in the 19th minute as Xabi Alonso was left free in the area to meet Jordi Alba’s cross with a downward header into the far post. Alonso then crowned his night in which he earned his 100th international cap with a second goal from the penalty spot after Pedro was brought down in second half injury time.

Seems to be a pattern here! Set out a defensive stall with a 4-5-1 formation and kiss the tournament goodbye!

Spain next take on Cristiano Ronaldo, oh and Portugal, whilst Germany, now having made the semi-finals of four major tournaments in a row, await the winner of the final quarterfinal.

So what can be expected from the England-Italy match? I would imagine that Roy Hodgson would stick to his 4-4-2 formation, using a flat four in midfield with two wingers in Ashley Young and most likely James Milner over Theo Walcott. Wayne Rooney will lead the line alongside his Manchester United teammate Danny Welbeck. Mind you, Hodgson has been known to utilise a 4-5-1 though, most recently with West Bromwich Albion, and if he does that it would spell disaster!

Italy too will stick with their version of a 4-4-2 having moved away from the 3-5-2 formation at the start of the tournament which includes a diamond midfield. Expect Andrea Pirlo to play in the holding midfielder role as a deep-lying playmaker with Daniele De Rossi and Claudio Marchisio in front of him. Brazilian-born Thiago Motta is struggling with a hamstring strain and could be replaced in the ‘No. 10’ role by Alessandro Diamanti or more likely, Riccardo Montolivo. Cesare Prandelli will bring in Mario Balotelli upfront alongside Antonio Cassano after he scored with a spectacular volley in their previous match. Expect some fireworks there! Balotelli will be up against a few of his Manchester City teammates who surely know what buttons to press that will make him see red!

I expect that this will be the first game of the tournament to see extra-time and a penalty shootout. Now we all know about England’s record in the penalties at major tournaments…

Do not be surprised to see a Spain versus Germany final now with Spain making history in the end.

Random fact: There were 2.5 goals more per round in the English Premier League than in the Serie A last season.

C'est La Vie!

The final group matches were concluded today as England laboured to a 1-0 victory over co-hosts Ukraine. England manager Roy Hodgson had suggested leading into this match that they would look to control the game but instead, were on the back foot as they faced relentless waves of Ukrainian forays forward. Ukraine knew a victory would see them through to the quarterfinals but started the match without their star striker and talismanic captain Andriy Shevchenko who picked up a knock in their loss to France.

After serving his 2-match suspension, England’s own talisman Wayne Rooney returned to the starting line-up chomping at the bit and duly delivered the winning goal with a simple nod-in from a yard out in the 48th minute. Captain Steven Gerrard put in his usual teasing cross which deflected twice, fooling Ukrainian keeper Andriy Pyatov who really should have done better at his near post to get his foot to the ball, and ended up at the back post for the onrushing Rooney.

Rooney could have had more than one goal but having barely played in the last month and a half, it was obvious that the lad was lacking sharpness. In order for England to stand a chance of making the semi-finals, he will need to improve along with their wingers James Milner and Ashley Young who went missing for large parts of the game.

Ukraine however will feel aggrieved that they were denied an equaliser when the officials deemed that John Terry had cleared the ball off the goal-line despite replays showing clearly that the whole ball had in fact crossed the goal-line. It begs to wonder, what is the point of the goal line official who had a clear view of the incident?! The sooner goal-line technology is brought in, the better I say. Had that goal been correctly awarded, who knows how the game might have turned out? It easily could have been Ukraine in the next round had they gone on to win.

Sadly for Ukrainian fans, veteran attacking players Shevchenko and Andriy Voronin announced their international retirements after the match but the future looks good judging by the performances of their next generation, players like Andriy Yarmolenko, Marko Devic and Artem Milevskiy.

As a result of the win, England ended up top of Group D and avoided a quarterfinal meeting with Spain, taking on Italy instead. Their task is made slightly easier with Italy’s defender Giorgio Chiellini ruled out of Euro 2012 after picking up a hamstring injury in the match against the Republic of Ireland. France will take on Spain as they failed to at least match England’s result, going down 2-0 in a disappointing defeat to an already eliminated Sweden.

The French were second best throughout, never getting into stride going forward and resorting to long shots mainly. The Swedes were resolute in defence and dangerous going forward. In the 54th minute, Sweden captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic executed an exquisitely timed scissor-kick volley from just inside the 18-yard box to score a sensational goal. Probably the best goal of the tournament so far with the ball flying into French keeper Hugo Lloris’ bottom right-hand corner and leaving him diving at thin air.

A lethargic France seldom looked likely to take control of the match, and with it the destiny of Group D, back to their advantage. Substitute Olivier Giroud should have had an equaliser for France but he headed a corner over the bar from close range.

Sweden made the score-line pretty in injury time when substitute Samuel Holmén hammered Andreas Granqvist's cross against the bar and Sebastian Larsson was on hand to emphatically volley the rebound into an unguarded net.

Laurent Blanc will be hoping for a better performance from his men if they are to stand a chance against Spain.

Olé!

Italy went into their final group match against Ireland knowing only a victory could see them make the quarterfinals and duly delivered. Despite the 2-0 scoreline, Italy were made to work it as Ireland delivered their best performance of the tournament.

Antonio Cassano headed home from set-piece specialist Andrea Pirlo’s 35th minute corner but it was not until the 90th minute when substitute Mario Balotelli put the game to bed with a well taken volley on the turn from another Pirlo corner. Leonardo Bonucci cleverly covered Balotelli’s mouth and calmed him down as he looked to be mouthing off about something which could have got him in trouble, something that seems to follow Balotelli wherever he goes.

Ireland entered the tournament with 11 clean sheets in their previous 14 games and were expected to put up a wall of resistance similar to Greece, however ended up conceding 9 goals in their 3 games at Euro 2012. More surprisingly, they were very susceptible from set-pieces and leave Euro 2012 wondering what went wrong.

Spain and Croatia were both sitting on four points heading into their final group match and a draw for Spain would have been enough to see them qualify for the next round. A draw may also have been enough for Croatia depending on Italy’s goal difference after their match with Ireland. Spain, in contrast to Ireland, turned in their worst performance of the tournament as Croatia kept them at bay for long periods. Despite Spain dominating possession, chances were at a premium with Croatia content to sit back and soak up the Spanish pressure.

With Italy ahead in Poznan, matters remained finely poised in Gdansk as a goal from one side was enough to eliminate the other. Substitute Cesc Fabregas calmed Spanish nerves in the 88th minute as he lifted a ball over the Croatian defence to send Andrés Iniesta clear on goal. Iniesta left Croatian keeper Stipe Pletikosa stranded as he unselfishly squared the ball to substitute Jesús Navas who was left with the simplest of tap-ins into the vacant goal.

Croatia pushed for an equaliser that would have sent them through as news of Italy’s result filtered through but the Croatians simply ran out of time, leaving Spain top of Group C and Italy in second place.

The Spanish will have to life their performance if they are to defend their title especially with a possible matchup against England or France the quarterfinals.

If, as expected, France defeat Sweden and England see off the challenge of co-hosts Ukraine, then it will be Spain versus England and Italy vs France in the final quarterfinal matchups. You can read more about the conclusion of Group D here.

Group of Death conclusion

The Netherlands’ shocking tournament continued as they were defeated 2-1 by Portugal. Needing to win by a two goal margin to stand a chance of making the quarterfinals, Bert van Marwijk succumbed to public pressure and started both Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Rafael van der Vaart with the latter taking the captain’s armband. With the new attacking formation, things got off to a good start as van der Vaart, or VDV as the English press like to refer to him as, scored a peach of a goal in the 11th minute.

However, as predicted, Cristiano Ronaldo broke his tournament duck in the 28th minute after a sensational throughball from Joao Pereira and until late in the game, it looked like the predicted scoring draw was also going to happen. But with 16 minutes left, Ronaldo put the final nail in the Dutch coffin as he slotted home his second goal of the tournament. That also sealed second spot in Group B for the Portuguese.

To be honest, given the tactics employed by van Marwijk and the farcical defending, the Netherlands never stood a chance. At one point, even Dutch full-back Gregory van der Wiel tried to help the Portuguese out as his ridiculous backpass ended up being a perfect ball to Portugal’s Helder Postiga waiting between the centrebacks! Postiga failed to score as he put the ball wide with only keeper Maarten Stekelenburg to beat. If you lose your first two games, you really do not deserve to make the next round!

Portugal will take on the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals and be confident of claiming a semi-final berth.

As expected, Germany finish top of Group B after dispatching Denmark 2-1 in their final group match. Needing just a draw to qualify for the next round, the Germans controlled most of the game and took an early lead through Lukas Podolski in the 19th minute. However, Denmark were not going to lay down easily and equalised through Michael Krohn-Dehli five minutes later.

With ten minutes to go German defender Lars Bender, starting in place of the suspended Jerome Boateng, coolly slotted home his first international goal. That ended Denmark’s hopes of qualification as only a win would have been enough to see them through given Portugal’s win against the Netherlands.

Germany should have no problems making the semi-finals with only Greece in their way in the next round.

In a few hours, Group C comes to a conclusion and you can read more of that here.

Greece bailout!

Greece captain Giorgos Karagounis turns Group A on its head with the winning solitary goal against Russia! Just when you thought that Russia were the favourites to advance to the quarterfinals and Greece were packing their bags to start their summer holidays, up pops Karagounis to bailout Greece. I’m talking about their football team of course! Who knows who will bailout Greece from its economic meltdown…

The only sour note for Karagounis is that he is suspended for the possible match-up with Germany in the quarterfinals after picking up a controversial yellow card for simulation in the penalty area despite replays showing that it was a blatant penalty.

With Dick Advocaat having masterminded a 16 game undefeated streak, Russia could not make it 17 games as even a draw would have been enough to see them into the next round.

The Czech Republic take out top spot in Group A with a 1-0 over co-hosts Poland as both teams came out for the second half knowing only victory would do given Greece had taken a first half lead against Russia. Petr Jiracek scored the winning goal with an assist from Milan Baros, although there was late drama when Poland captain Jakub Blaszczykowski went through on goal and lifted the ball over Czech keeper Petr Cech only for Czech defender Tomas Sivok to head off the line. The final whistle was immediately blown after that, heralding scenes of jubilation from the Czech Republic who will face a possible match-up with Portugal in the quarterfinals.

In a few hours, the Group of Death will come to a conclusion and you can read more of that here.

EURO 2012 Final Group Matches Preview

Two games down and one to go for the teams in Euro 2012. The current standings in each of the groups are as follows:

Group A

Russia, the pre-tournament favourites to finish as group winners, are living up to their billing. They should easily see off Greece in their final group match to seal top spot. Who follows Russia through to the quarterfinals will come down to the other final group match between the Czech Republic and co-hosts Poland. As per the pre-tournament preview, Poland seal that second spot with a comfortable win over the Czechs.

Group B

The Netherlands, my pre-tournament pick as the Euro 2012 winners, are in a lot of strife as the “Group of Death” lives up to its name! They have simply been impotent upfront and farcical in defence. Given the results in this group so far, any team is still mathematically in with a chance of qualifying! Although Germany top the group with 2 wins out of 2, should they lose to Denmark and Portugal defeats the Netherlands, the Germans could face elimination depending on the resulting goal differences!

For the Netherlands, the equation is simple. They need to beat Portugal by a 2-goal margin and rely on their neighbours Germany beating Denmark. Although the Germans only need a draw to qualify, they will not go out to play for a draw and should see off the Danes. Germany have been solid and it just goes to show that friendlies are not a true indicator of form as teams tinker with personnel and tactics.

So will the Netherlands finish second behind the Germans? It will be a hard ask given their poor performances so far. Expect a scoring draw for this one with Cristiano Ronaldo to break his tournament duck and that should be enough to see the Portuguese into the quarterfinals.

Group C

As expected, Spain are top of the group, and after seeing off Croatia in a tight final group match, will finish as group winners. Italy will finish second by putting a couple past Ireland’s shocking defence which is as leaky as a sieve, surprisingly so given that they only conceded 7 goals in 10 games during the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Even Fernando Torres, the £50m striker who could hardly hit the side of a barn for most of the season, put 2 goals past them! The Irish have nothing left to play for except salvaging some pride.

Group D

France should top this group with a win against Sweden who, like Ireland, have nothing left to play for except pride. England and co-hosts Ukraine will battle it out for the second spot with the Ukrainians needing a win to make it through to the quarter-finals. The Ukrainians, led by their star striker and captain Andriy Shevchenko, have been impressive on home soil and cannot be discounted! However, with Wayne Rooney back for England after his 2 match suspension, he will be chomping at the bit to be let loose on the pitch and do not be surprised to see his name on the scoresheet!

So how will the quarterfinals pan out? Let’s have a look:

Quarterfinals

Russia	Vs	Portugal
Germany	Vs	Poland
Spain	Vs	England
France	Vs	Italy

Semi-finals

Germany	Vs	Spain
Russia	Vs	Italy

Finals

Spain

Vs

Italy

Given the Netherlands’ dismal performances so far in this tournament, it has opened the door for Italy to make it into the finals against tournament favourites Spain who will become the first team to win the Euros twice either side of a World Cup! They have played some sexy passing football so far and on that basis, should be deserved winners for playing attractive football!

On a side note, Alan Dzagoev will finish joint top goalscorer on the back of Russia’s run to the semis. Joint with whom you ask? The German with the not so German name, Mario Gomez!

 

Euro 2012 Prediction

The tournament is just about to get underway in a couple of hours and so here are my predictions!

Group A

Russia topped their group in qualifying for Euro 2012, conceding only 4 goals in 10 matches, and they will top this group as well.

Behind them will be co-hosts Poland who go into Euro 2012 with the second youngest squad at the tournament. Despite their youthfulness, they have players who will offer more of a goal threat than Greece or the Czech Republic, who are heavily reliant on the creativity of their captain Tomas Rosicky and the goals from Milan Baros who is under an injury cloud.

Poland will look to their captain Jakub Blaszczykowski and striker Robert Lewandowski, who scored 22 goals in the German Bundesliga, to carry on the form that helped their club Borussia Dortmund to the title last season.

Greece will set out to defend, something they did well in the qualifiers having conceded only 5 goals in 10 games. However, as New Zealand showed at the 2010 World Cup, three draws do not get you into the next round! Just like the Greek economy at the moment, this team will be at the bottom.

Group B

The so-called “Group of Death” featuring the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and Denmark. Given the quality of players across the board, this is also the glamour group. From one of the greatest players in the world in Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, to the Netherlands’ Robin van Persie, both of whom are coming off barnstorming domestic seasons. As the chants go, “He scores when he wants”!

van Persie has a bit more star support in the likes of Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder however! The Dutch also have Klaas-Jan Huntelaar who finished as top goalscorer in the German Bundesliga with 29 goals for Schalke. Then there’s a German team playing dynamic, free-flowing football and currently averaging three goals per game. Oh, and a young rising star in Denmark’s Christian Eriksen.

So how does this group pan out then? Germany is only one of two teams with 100% records in qualifying but the Dutch also had a 100% record until they lost their final match against Sweden having already sealed qualification. The Germans conceded 7 goals in 10 games whilst the Dutch conceded 8 goals in 10 games. On that basis, most bookmakers have the Germans favourite to top this group. However, given their recent defensive frailties in the pre-Euro friendly internationals, I am going to pick the Dutch for top spot and Germany second.

Although Denmark beat Portugal twice during qualifying and ended topping the group, I think Portugal will get revenge here and finish above the Danes.

Group C

Easy group winner to pick here. It is the other team to finish with a 100% record in qualifying, the current European and World Champions, Spain. Ole! Despite the loss of David Villa upfront, Fernando Torres seems to have realised where the goal is just in time!

Italy will finish second, provided they do not play Mario Balotelli who, by all accounts, will be a liability! Defensively, the Italians were very solid during qualifying, conceding only 2 goals in 10 matches and ending up undefeated. Of course, the downside is that they have the ‘calcioscommesse' scandal back home affecting their domestic football.

Croatia will finish third, just ahead of Ireland.

Group D

When I reviewed the England squad announcement in my last blog, I wrote that France would top the group with England behind them. I think that will still be the case provided England does not pick up further injuries. They have already lost Gareth Barry and Gary Cahill, and Roy Hodgson has only called up one adequate replacement in Phil Jagielka. No disrespect to Martin Kelly, and Rio Ferdinand aside, there were easily other choices that Hodgson could have made.

So it would not surprise me if Sweden sneaks into that second spot. Remember, England play Sweden in the second group match with Wayne Rooney still suspended. At least for English fans’ sake, Andy Carroll has also realised where the goals are, much like Torres!

Co-hosts Ukraine will not present much threat to these three teams and will finish last.

Quarterfinals

So therefore the QF matches will be:

Russia	vs	Germany
Netherlands	vs	Poland
Spain	vs	England
France	vs	Italy

Semi-finals

Germany	vs	Spain
Netherlands	vs	Italy

Finals

Spain

vs

Netherlands

Looks like we will have a repeat of the 2010 World Cup final!

Can Spain become the first team to win the Euros twice either side of a World Cup? Given their depth of talent, they possibly could. However, I think the Dutch will get one over Spain this time round!

That's assuming that the Dutch haven't walked off the pitch beforehand of course! This is something that their captain Mark van Bommel has stated they will do in the face of racism and a stance I agree with. Hopefully they do not get punished given the comments from UEFA President Michel Platini.

In this day and age, in such a multicultural society, there simply is NO place for racism.

KICK IT OUT - LET'S KICK RACISM OUT OF FOOTBALL