Euro Cup – Group A
Written by @bdolan12
Euro 2012 kicks off June 8th in Poland / Ukraine and will culminate July 1 with a champion being crowned. This will be the last installment of the tournament before the field is expanded to 24 teams four years from now so expect the 16-team field to provide excellent entertainment and inevitable drama. I’ll be breaking down each group and offering some predictions and analysis of each group starting with today’s installment.
Group A: Poland, Czech Republic, Greece, Russia
Snap shot: Group A appears to be the weakest of the four groups and certainly the most wide-open of them all. The group isn’t home to any elite European power or traditional blue blood so the question remains which up and coming nation will seize the opportunity on the big stage?
Group A Schedule
Friday, June 8 12 EST: Poland vs Greece
Friday, June 8 2:45 EST: Russia vs Czech Republic
Tuesday, June 12 12 EST: Greece vs Czech Republic
Tuesday, June 12 2:45 EST: Poland vs Russia
Saturday, June 16 2:45 EST: Greece vs Russia
Saturday, June 16 2:45 EST: Czech Republic vs Poland
Poland
FIFA ranking: 65
The co-hosts hope to take advantage of a favorable draw on home soil. Poland looks to get off to a hot start with the opening game of the tournament against Greece. With automatic qualification ensured, the squad has not played many competitive matches over the past few years. The team leans heavily on young forward Robert Lewandowski, one of three players on the squad who play for German Bundesliga champions Borussia Dortmund. Lewandowski had an excellent season for Dortmund and will attempt to make the difference up front for the Polish team. In addition to the young striker, the Polish side also features Arsenal goalkeepers Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski. Playing at home against less than spectacular opponents will give Poland a legitimate shot at advancement from Group A, a realistic goal playing in familiar surroundings.
Czech Republic
FIFA ranking: 26
With a decent showing in qualification (which ended with a 3-0 aggregate victory over Montenegro in a playoff), the Czech Republic hopes to get through Group A and advance to the knock-out phase. If they are to succeed, it will surely hinge on their best player and biggest star, Petr Cech. The Chelsea goalkeeper, fresh off of a penalty shootout victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League Final, is one of the best goalies in the world. In the midfield, Arsenal’s Tomas Rosicky aims to to shine after a long overdue healthy season for the Gunners. However, goals may be a problem for the side as they might rely on veteran Milan Baros and hope for a spark from CSKA Moscow youngster Tomas Necid. The Czech team likely won’t provide very entertaining soccer but with good performances from Rosicky and Cech, they should have enough to advance through group play. Their biggest challenge? Drawing a result right out of the gates against group favorite Russia.
Greece
FIFA ranking: 14
The Euro 2004 Champions would love for history to repeat itself with another miraculous championship run. The Greeks are known as a team that will sit back defensively and try not to concede goals (or score them). With a squad that lacks star power, the cautious approach makes for very vanilla soccer, a far cry from the nation’s economic state. Greece needs strong performances from defenders Avraam Papadopoulos and Kyriakos Papadopoulos, say those names 3x fast, in order to achieve success. Sotoris Ninis can offer creativity from the midfield but the Greeks do not have a reliable in-form striker that is a sure fire bet to finish off crucial scoring chances. The key for Greece will be to grind results and avoid falling behind any of their opponents early, something they couldn’t avoid in the last World Cup. With a true dearth of goal scorers, I don’t see much success from this squad but every time they take the field an under bet is worth exploring.
Russia
FIFA ranking: 11
The Russians must be considered favorites to win Group A but is it warranted or have they fallen into this role merely by default? The squad consists of a solid defense and plenty of options going forward. While a vast majority of the team plays their club football in Russia which can be cause for concern, a few names are easily recognized from their experience in the English Premier League. To start, Andrei Arshavin will hope for another dazzling performance in a tournament that he starred in four years ago. After inconsistent displays in England with Arsenal since then, Russia will need some good play from Arshavin if they are to succeed. Up front, Russia boasts Roman Pavlyuchenko, who sparingly plays for Tottenham, and Pavel Pogrebnyak, who emerged this season for Fulham with some good displays in front of goal. Russia should emerge and win Group A, setting up a possible quarterfinal matchup with Germany, Holland. or Portgugal likely looming. One of the intangible advantages the Russians have over their competition is that the majority of their players should be rested. The Russian domestic league takes a break through winter and unlike many of the players in La Liga or the EPL, legs should be fresh and ready to roll.
Betting opportunities : Russia to beat Poland in the 2nd group game may offer us a ton of value especially if Poland performs well against Greece in their tournament opener.
Player to watch: In a group that lacks big names and top goal scorers, my eyes will be on Andrei Arshavin to see if he can provide some of the magic he displayed for Russia in Euro 2008. I look for Arshavin to have some good performances and lead the Russians to the top of Group A.
Expected order of finish: Russia, Czech Republic — Poland, Greece
Todd’s Take future bets : Russia and Czech Republic to win the group both at + odds, Russia at 20-1 or greater to win Euro 2012
Looking for more team specific breakdowns? All links courtesy of www.thebiglead.com
Poland. Czech Republic, Greece, Russia
