The first day of rest
in two weeks of fantastic action, time to take a breather and take stock of the
action so far.
The
Group stage is at an end, twelve frenetic days and forty-eight pulsating games
later and we have arrived at our first rest-day. With no Euro action for us to
feast on this evening, many face a night of classic withdrawal as football fans
across Europe and the wider world struggle to pass the hours without the dulcet
tones of match commentary to soothe those aching bones. Still, the pause is but
a short-one, with only twenty-four hours until the quarter-finals get underway,
meaning there’s no need to fret too much just yet. So, on this day of rest,
just to keep the interest up and in an attempt to keep boredom at bay, I
thought I’d pen this article looking at how the groups finished, the winners
and losers and having a brief glance at how the quarter-finals shape-up.
Group
A which featured Greece, Czech Republic, Russia and co-hosts Poland, was,
without doubt, on paper, the weakest
group of the four. Russia were huge favourite to come out on top and, after
thumping the Czechs 4-1 in their first game, looked a shoe-in for the quarter
finals. Poland began in positive fashion, taking the lead early on in the
opening game of the tournament against Greece. With the greeks the having a man
sent off in the first half for two very soft yellow card decisions, it seemed
as if the Poles, many peoples’ favourites to finish in second place in Group A,
would get off to a winning start.
Greece,
however, revel in upsetting the proverbial apple-cart, as they did in 2004 when
they defeated hosts Portugal in the opening fixture, and fought back, snatching
an opportunistic equaliser. Moments later, after Szczesny’s ill-timed challenge
had earned him a straight red card, the Greek captain, Karagounis, had the
chance to put his side ahead from the spot, however the substitute keeper, in
what was his first action, saved the penalty and kept his side in the game. 1-1
it finished.
In
the second round of matches, the Czech’s re-found their composure and, after
two goals in the opening six minute, went on to record a 2-1 victory against
Greece. Russia, after weathering an early storm, took a first-half lead against
Poland. The Poles, however, determined not to lose against their most hated
enemy, took advantage of a less than convincing second-half display from the
visitors and Jakub Blaszczykowski scored a stunning equaliser. With that match
finishing all square, the final match between the Czechs and the Poles was a
straight shoot-out.
Started
brightly with energy and created a few chances but, as the game progressed,
they ran out of steam and a disjointed second half performance allowed the
Czechs to take control. The superior quality in the Czech ranks shone through
and in the end they emerged as, fairly comfortable 1-0 winners, sending the
co-hosts spinning out. In the other game, Russia only needed a draw to go
through but, after dominating the first-half completely, a horrible defensive
lapse from a routine throw-in situation allowed Karagounis in to score for
Greece. Try as they did, Russia could not get the equaliser that they
desperately needed, and it was the Greeks and not the Russians who would
qualify behind the Czechs, causing a massive upset in the process.
Group
B, the “Group of Death” containing Holland, Germany, Portugal and Denmark.
Germany were the clear favourites to win the Group, with Holland certainly the
bookies’ favourites to finish second. The opening games were drab affairs,
Germany edged past a cagey Portugal thanks to a late Mario Gomez strike,
securing three points. The Dutch, on the other hand, despite creating
innumerable clear-cut opportunities to score,
could not hit the back of the net for love nor money. Denmark, no
slouches in their own right, were fully committed and determined and played, as
they did for the whole tournament, selflessly for each other as a team,
something which allowed them to defend their one goal lead successfully.
Holland, in marked contrast, did not, and that may go a long way towards
explaining why they could not respond to set-backs throughout the tournament.
Germany,
playing Holland in game two, duly showed their class and, after van Persie
missed an early sitter, took control of the game. A 2-1 win cemented the
Germans at the top of Group B after two games, with Portugal narrowly beating
Denmark 3-2 after a cracking battle in the other game. Going into the last
round of matches in the group, Holland needed a two goal win over Portugal to
qualify, with the aid of a German victory over Denmark.
Despite
taking the lead early on, Holland were poor and very soon Portugal were in full
control of the game. Two goals from Ronaldo, his first strikes of the
competition, secured a Portuguese win
and thus, progression to the next stage. That progression was at the expense of
the Danes who, after going behind to Germany, responded quickly with an
equaliser and had chances to win the match at 1-1 but failed to capitalise on
them. Had they done so, Deutschland would have been facing the most unlikely of
eliminations, as it transpired, however, Germany took their chance when it came
and ran out 2-1 winners, topping the group with a perfect record, the only team
in the competition to have achieved that.
Group
C contained Ireland, Croatia, Spain and Italy. No prizes for guessing who went
out first. Yes, it was Ireland! The Irish, having arrived at the tournament on
the back of some magnificent defensive displays, were unable to reproduce them
in tournament conditions against superior quality. In the end, Trapattoni’s men
lost all three of their encounters, scoring just one goal and conceding nine,
the second worst performance by any team ever in the history of the European
Championships (after Yugoslavia in 1984) I’m reliably informed. Spain and Italy
produced a high quality game in the opening group game, which ultimately ended
1-1 whilst Croatia’s victory over Ireland saw them top the group after one
game.
Italy
and Croatia produced a less high quality although still thoroughly engrossing
game in the second round, which again finished in a 1-1 draw, whilst Spain
thrashed Ireland 4-0 in the other fixture. Entering the last round of matches,
Italy needed to beat Ireland to ensure qualification and, if that happened,
nothing less than a victory for Croatia over Spain would allow Bilic’s men to
progress, thanks to UEFA’s intensely confusing co-efficient system.
Despite
belief from some, including myself, that Ireland may have been able to snatch a
draw against the Italians, this did not come to pass. Although the Irish were
far better in their final game, perhaps because the pressure was off, Italy did
just enough, as per usual, to win the game. For my money, Croatia deserved to
beat Spain and were certainly not helped by some unkind penalty box decisions
from Wolfgang Stark. However, in the end, Spanish possession eventually yielded
a 1-0 win, which saw them top the Group C, followed by Italy, with Croatia very
unfortunate to be going home.
So
to Group D, which involved France, England, Sweden and Ukraine. France and
England were the big favourites to qualify, in that order, and, meeting in the
Group D opener, produced a cagey game which resulted in a 1-1 draw. Co-hosts
Ukraine opened up against perennial also-rans Sweden. After going a goal behind
early in the second-half, Ukraine rallied and, buoyed on by fanatical home
support, responded with two quick-fire goals from national icon, Andriy
Shevchenko. Shevchenko, at one time the best striker in Europe, if not the
world, is a hero in his homeland and, now playing for Dynamo Kiev, it was
fantastic to see this former giant of the game rise to the occasion on the
biggest stage of all.
Unforunately
for Sheva, France would prove tougher opponents than the Swedes and the striker
was powerless to prevent a 2-0 reverse. In the other second round game,
possibly the match of the tournament so far, England triumphed 3-2 over Sweden.
The English took the lead in the first half through Andy Carroll, in his first
game of the competition, but were pegged back and then overtaken by two Olof
Mellberg goals. The introduction of Walcott for Milner swung the game back in
England’s favour and after scoring one and making the other, Walcott helped his
side to a famous win, knocking out the Swedes as a by-product.
Going
into the final round, France were
assured of qualification provided they didn’t lose heavily to Sweden.
Ukraine faced England, without the injured Shevchenko, knowing only a win would
keep them in. Sweden, already eliminated, exposed the French frailty at
centre-back, with Mexes given a torrid time. Although the French had chances,
they looked laboured at times and Sweden’s pressing gameplan bore fruits as
they ran out 2-0 winners. Ukraine, unfortunately for them, went down to a Wayne
Rooney goal in his first game of the tournament.
It
was a poor match with neither side creating many chances, however, Ukraine made
the running and can count themselves semi- unfortunate not to have registered
an equaliser as midway through the second half, after a break-away, the
Ukrainians had the ball clearly over the line before John Terry cleared the
danger. The reason I say semi is that the player in question appeared to be
offside from the initial pass, something which was also not spotted. So Ukraine
went down, but they did so with a fight and Zlatan got his wondergoal, that an
ego the size of his commands but, ultimately, it is England and France who come
through the group and, somewhat surprisingly, in that order.
As
a good friend of mine has been known to say, “and that was that”. The group stage
is over, eight teams are gone and eight remain. There are surprises in both the
eliminated pile and the safe set but these are the nations still in contention:
Czech Republic, Greece, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Italy, England and France.
The quarter final match-ups are as follows: Czech Rep vs Portugal (Thu),
Germany vs Greece (Fri), Spain vs France (Sat) and England vs Italy (Sun). These are all intriguing matches for varying
reasons and just which teams will emerge to reach the semi-final is a matter up
for discussion and debate across the continent, in my next post I’ll add my
tuppence to the argument.
By Neil Patterson
Email: neil.b.patterson@gmail.com
Facebook: http://goo.gl/MJce0
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Neil1980
