European Championship thread

[cutch]

The Football season is over next week but fear not the European Championships

GROUP A
Poland
Czech Republic
Greece
Russia

Fri 8th June Poland v Greece
Fri 8th June Russia v Czech Republic

Tue 12th June Greece v Czech Republic
Tue 12th June Poland v Russia

Sat 16th June Czech Republic v Poland
Sat 16th June Greece v Russia

GROUP B
Holland
Denmark
Portugal
Germany

Sat 9th June Netherlands v Denmark
Sat 9th June Germany v Portugal

Wed 13th June Denmark v Portugal
Wed 13th June Netherlands v Germany

Sun 17th June Portugal v Netherlands
Sun 17th June Denmark v Germany

GROUP C
Spain
Republic of Ireland
Croatia
Italy

Sun 10th June Spain v Italy
Sun 10th June Rep of Ireland v Croatia

Thu 14th June Italy v Croatia
Thu 14th June Spain v Rep of Ireland

Mon 18th June Croatia v Spain
Mon 18th June Italy v Rep of Ireland

GROUP D
Ukraine
France
Sweden
England

Mon 11th June France v England
Mon 11th June Ukraine v Sweden

Fri 15th June Sweden v England
Fri 15th June Ukraine v France

Tue 19th June England v Ukraine
Tue 19th June Sweden v France

Euro 2012 Quarter Final

Thu 21st June (A) 1st Group A v 2nd Group B
Fri 22nd June (B) 1st Group B v 2nd Group A
Sat 23rd June (C) 1st Group C v 2nd Group D
Sun 24th June (D) 1st Group D v 2nd Group C

Euro 2012 Semi Final

Wed 27th June Winner A v Winner C
Thu 28th June Winner B v Winner D

Euro 2012 Final

Sun 1st July

Think Germany will win this, hope Ireland do well though but can't see it myself.

[lion king 2]

i'm hoping for some kind of upset as well. i'm tired of seeing the same old faces dominate European international games

[boonebaker]

Can't ****ing wait for this. Obviously Group B is the "death group". But Germany and Netherlands should have no real problem surviving it. They open the group with each other, I believe, which should be a great game. I've got a bet between a friend where he has England and Spain and I have the field, although I said I was fine with just taking Germany and Netherlands. Spain has to be the favorites, but Germany has looked great lately and all of their players have been looking great in their leagues. It wouldn't surprise me to see Russia and/or Ireland survive their groups and make some noise in the Knockout stages.

[boonebaker]

I was mistaken, Germany and Netherlands face off in the second "round" of the group stage. On a side note, I just ordered my Wesley Sneijder jersey. Now I just have to decide if I'm pulling for Netherlands or Germany so I can know which jersey to where, Sneijder or Schweinsteiger.

[cutch]

edited the OP to include the fixtures and the draw for the later rounds.

[boonebaker]

I need some fresh footie chatter, I've been dwelling on the disappointment of the CL Final for long enough.

Only 14 days left before kickoff....I feel like there should be a solid buildup for this. The unfortunate thing/biggest talking point so far is the number of players missing the tournament due to injury. Just off the top of my head, David Villa and Carlos Puyol are out for Spain, Jack Wilshere and Scotty Parker are out for England (not to mention Rooney is banned for the first 2 games, which is going to make it tough to survive the group stage), France is missing basically their back line - Sagna, Abidal, Kaboul, in addition to Remy and Diaby, the Dutch thankfully are only going to miss Erik Pieters, and Germany just has some players that are banged up, most notably Miroslav Klose, but I don't think anybody has anything that will prevent them from playing.

[lion king 2]

the more i read about the euro, the less excited i get. i don't keep up with european soccer that much outside of the epl, and even on that only some teams so the euro kind of just seems like its going to be a repeat of the last world cup to me. i'm mainly hoping torres dazzles so he can have momentum for next season.

[boonebaker]

the more i read about the euro, the less excited i get. i don't keep up with european soccer that much outside of the epl, and even on that only some teams so the euro kind of just seems like its going to be a repeat of the last world cup to me. i'm mainly hoping torres dazzles so he can have momentum for next season.

The last World Cup is what really got me back into soccer after stopping playing around age 12. Since then I've become absolutely obsessed, dedicating nearly as much time to it as I do to MLB, which is a ridiculous amount. So while I'm no expert on most of the European leagues, I know and watch enough of them to be very pumped about this EURO, even more so now because I need to see a star performance from Bastian Schweinsteiger after letting me down so hard in CL.

As far as Torres in the EURO, I think it certainly helps him that David Villa is hurt. Apparently, Adrian had a hell of a U-21 EURO last year, but I'm not sure if he can carry that success into the senior side, which means the scoring could be left to Torres. I think this tournament will either be the climax of a career saving resurgence, going back to early Aprilish (seems about when he started getting his **** together a little at Chelsea), or the sputtering end to a disastrous fall.

[johncfc]

I am an Ireland supporter. We are ****ed. Croatia, Spain, and Italy????

We will be lucky if we can get a draw. Trappatoni has really organized the side well, and we are hard to break down. However, I can't really see us doing enough to win a game. I predict we will keep the scoreline close in all three games (maybe not Spain) but be on the losing side.

Regardless, I will enjoy seeing the lads play.

Everyone seems to be picking Germany as the team to win after Spain. I think it may be Holland's time though.

[boonebaker]

I am an Ireland supporter. We are ****ed. Croatia, Spain, and Italy????

We will be lucky if we can get a draw. Trappatoni has really organized the side well, and we are hard to break down. However, I can't really see us doing enough to win a game. I predict we will keep the scoreline close in all three games (maybe not Spain) but be on the losing side.

Regardless, I will enjoy seeing the lads play.

Everyone seems to be picking Germany as the team to win after Spain. I think it may be Holland's time though.

Don't sell the Irish short. I have them as a surprise breakthrough to escape the group stage behind Spain. Italy is not very good right now, nothing like the normal powerhouse they've been in the past. Spain is strong, but not as strong as they've been the last few years, especially without Puyol and Villa. The game between Ireland and Croatia, which is the afternoon game on Sunday, will decide who advances in Group C. Spain should take the group, with the winner of Ireland/Croatia taking the second spot, it will get really interesting if they draw. I have absolutely no faith in Italy doing anything in this tournament, especially if those racist Ukrainians run off Balotelli (if you haven't heard, Balotelli said he will walk off the field if he hears a single racist comment directed towards him).

And in case you guys didn't see the Netherlands game this weekend against Northern Ireland, here's the great highlights. Absolutely beautiful free kick goal from Sneijder for the 2nd goal.