EURO 2012: GROUP GUIDE

Betway’s Guide to the Groups at Euro

Group A

The opening match of Euro 2012 will be the Group A meeting between 2004 winners Greece, and co-hosts Poland.

The Greeks will have a tough task on their hands against Poland who will be backed by the majority of the partisan home crowd in the National Stadium in Warsaw, but with a recent history of upsetting the odds, Greece will be aiming to get off to a good start. Also in Group A are Russia and the Czech Republic.

Russia will be hoping to emulate their impressive showing at Euro 2008 where they reached the semi-finals, only to be beaten by eventual winners, Spain.

The Czech side has established big-name players such as Cech, Rosicky and Baros, yet consistently struggle to perform as a team, only securing their passage to Euro 2012 via the playoffs and scoring only twelve goals in the whole qualification campaign, the lowest of all finalists.

Group B

Group B is known as the “Group Of Death” with good reason, featuring international heavyweights Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Denmark.

Although the Portuguese are the only side in this group who have never captured the European Championship trophy, they are not to be overlooked. With Cristiano Ronaldo looking to make his mark on the international stage, the Portugal support will be optimistic and expectant.

Netherlands have world-class attacking players of their own, with both Arjen Robben and Robin Van Persie in fantastic domestic form yet no domestic trophies, they will be hoping to make amends at Euro 2012.

The Danes sole international success came at Euro ’92 where Peter Schmeichel lifted the trophy after a fantastic tournament. It seems the legacy of a solid defence is being carried on by the Danish class of 2012, after conceding only six goals in qualifying it will be up to Nicklas Bendtner to make the difference up front to turn tight matches into wins.

Germany are a team who know a thing or two about winning, lifting the European Championship trophy three times, the last at Euro ’96. The German’s will be hoping to go one better than in Euro 2008 where they finished as runners-up to an all-conquering Spain side, and with a squad that features talent and determination in equal measure with Ozil, Lahm, Schweinsteiger, Khedira and Gomez, this German side will be amongst the favourites for the trophy.

Group C

It is hard to see the current World Cup and European Championship holders Spain not making it out of Group C, leaving one space available for either Italy, Croatia or Republic of Ireland to reach the knock-out stages.

Italy look like a solid bet having only conceded two goals and picking up 26 from a possible 30 points in qualifying, however the Italians seem to have a lack of options up front with Rossi injured and Cassano recovering from a heart complaint.

Attacking options are no such problem for Croatia, with Spurs’ Luka Modric pulling the strings behind a pairing of any two of Olic, Eduardo, Mandzukic or Jelavic, all of whom are in good domestic form.

This leaves the Republic of Ireland with an uphill task, but Trapattoni can call on some big-game players of his own in Shay Given and Damien Duff as well as all-time Irish leading goalscorer Robbie Keane, all of whom will be looking to impress in what could be their last major international tournament.

Group D

Co-hosts Ukraine, captained by legendary striker Andriy Shevchenko, do battle in Group D with Sweden, France and England for the right to progress to the last eight.

The Swedes will look to their talismanic striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic for that bit of class to turn matches in their favour, along with the creative influence of Sunderland’s Seb Larsson.

The France team will be led out at Euro 2012 by captain and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, under the watchful eye of World Cup 1998 winning captain-turned-manager Laurent Blanc. With the French side being almost unrecognisable from the one that flopped in South Africa in 2010, gallic hopes are high for a repeat of the glory years experienced in the not too distant past.

A country that has to look long into their past to find footballing glory on the international stage is England. 1966 being the year the English last won a major tournament, the recent appointment of former Fulham, Liverpool and West Brom boss Roy Hodgson will aim to bring calm to a side that has been accustomed to ups and downs before and during major tournaments.