National Teams

Only 15 days remain before the start of Euro 2012, and we here at soccerprose are getting anxious. This is arguably the second most important international competition behind the World Cup. It also provides us with an opportune time in between World Cups to get our international soccer fix before we go crazy. With that all being said, we now bring you the fourth part of our four part series on all the groups at Euro 2012.
Group D is one of the hardest groups to choose the two teams that will advance. The group consists of France, England, Sweden, and Ukraine. All of these teams, excluding Ukraine, have a good shot at advancing past the group stages.
France is likely the favorite and is looking to have a good showing following their disastrous 2010 World Cup. They have experience winning the Euro trophy previously. In both 1984 and 2000, France was named European champions and they are hoping to reach that mark again at Euro 2012. Their qualifying record was nothing spectacular, but neither are any of the teams that are in this group. They won six games, drew three times, and lost once. They also scored 15 goals while only conceding four. Although they do not concede many goals, they have had a difficult time scoring, averaging only 1.5 goals per game. They are going to need a good tournament from Karim Benzema if they are to go far. He had a good season for Real Madrid, scoring 21 goals and adding seven assists in 34 games. A problem for France could be injuries. Bacary Sagna is out of the tournament after breaking his leg, and Loic Remy is struggling to get fit after suffering a thigh injury.
England is an interesting team in this group and for the tournament. The appointment of Roy Hodgson as manager was controversial and he followed his controversial appointment with an interesting squad selection for Euro 2012. It is a very defensive-looking squad and there are not many goal-scorers other than Rooney. This could be a problem since Rooney is suspended for the first two games of the tournament. However, England’s goalkeeper, Joe Hart, and the defense are very strong, which could help England. If England is going to advance far in this tournament, they are going to need to use a similar blueprint to how Chelsea was able to win the Champions League. They must defend strongly and hope to get a goal on the counterattack against the run-of-play. If England are to make it out of the group stage, they could be an interesting team to watch, especially if they are able to defend as well as Chelsea did in the Champions League, since they have John Terry, Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill, and Frank Lampard all in the squad.
The last two teams in the group are Sweden and Ukraine. Sweden had a fairly successful qualifying campaign, winning eight and losing two. During their qualifying, they scored 31 goals and only conceded 11. Sweden has a good shot at making it through the group stages as well. Sweden has shown that they can play with good teams. In qualifying they lost to the Netherlands 2-1 in their first meeting, but were able to keep the game close. In their second meeting, they beat the Netherlands 3-2, so they have the ability to beat big-name teams in the tournament and cause some issues. Ukraine, on the other hand, has almost no chance of making it past the group stage. This is the first time they have qualified for the Euro’s and it is only because they are co-hosting the tournament. In the lead-up to Euro 2012, Ukraine won only five games out of 18. They also lost to France, Italy, Sweden, and the Czech Republic, which are some other teams in this tournament. Therefore, the future looks bleak for Ukraine at Euro 2012. However, looking on the bright side, they won’t have to travel far to get home after being bounced from the tournament.
For Group D, I see the men in England jerseys and the men in France jerseys advancing. I do think this will be a close group between the top three teams, but ultimately, I think France is too talented and England’s defense is too strong. England, contrary to what most people think, will go far in this tournament and shock a few people. Expectations are lower than usual for the Three Lion’s and that could help take some pressure off, so they can perform better. Group D should be a fun group to watch no matter who advances (assuming you’re watching from a neutral perspective).

Written By: Eric Stoyanov, Contributing Writer, soccerprose.com

This year’s Euro tournament provides something different than what we are used to, England are not one of the favorites. Even though England has been unsuccessful at the international level for years now, they have at least been seen as a potential team to win. Now England are stuck with a somewhat controversial managerial appointment in Roy Hodgson followed by an interesting team selection. Here is the England roster for the Euro tournament:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, Robert Green, John Ruddy.

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, Joleon Lescott, John Terry.

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Stewart Downing, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Scott Parker, Theo Walcott, Ashley Young.

Strikers: Andy Carroll, Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck.

As you can see, this is not the most threatening lineup that you’ll see at Euro 2012. The defense should not be an issue. Joe Hart has had a good campaign in a Manchester City jersey and Gary Cahill and Joleon Lescott should be able to keep the center of defense strong. The problem for England is going to be getting goals. With Wayne Rooney suspended for the first two games of the tournament, the goal scoring will be left to Andy Carroll, Jermain Defoe, and Danny Welbeck. Of course midfielders and defenseman could add some scoring, but these are the pure strikers on the squad. The three scored 24 goals with seven assists playing in a combined 90 games during the Premier League season. That is not many goals produced from your strike force, especially considering Wayne Rooney scored 27 goals in 34 games this season.
The midfield is comprised of more defensive midfielders than true attacking midfielders, with the exception of Theo Walcott and Ashley Young. The midfield also has older players like Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard. Another problem for the players in England jerseys , as well as their fans, is the fact that they must play France and Sweden without Rooney. France is the favored team to make it out of the group, but if England drop points to Sweden, they are unlikely to make it past the group stage of the Euro’s.
It looks as though it will be a short tournament for the England team. I do not think they will let up many goals with a solid defense and goalkeeper, I just don’t see where goals are going to come from during Wayne Rooney’s absence. Their best hope is to not concede and hope to get a goal against the run of play, similar to how Chelsea was able to win the Champions League. If they are able to get favorable results until Rooney gets back into the squad, I could see them going far and potentially surprising teams. Unfortunately, I do not see them winning either of their first two group stage games, which will ultimately lead to them failing to make it through the group stage, resulting in more heartache for England fans.

Written By: Eric Stoyanov, Contributing Writer, soccerprose.com

*Credit BBC Sport for England Squad information and ESPN Soccernet for statistics.

At the time of writing this, there are 38 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes, and 55 seconds until the start of Euro 2012, but hey, who’s counting? I, for one, am anxiously awaiting the beginning of the tournament, since it is the best international tournament after the World Cup. Therefore I have decided to put together a four-part preview series, talking about each group at the Euro’s.
First up, since alphabetical order is the most logical order, is Group A. Group A consists of Greece, Russia, Czech Republic, and Poland. Other than Poland, each team in this group has tasted European success one time in the tournaments history. Greece is the most recent winner, having won the tournament in 2004. The Czech Republic won the tournament in 1976. Russia won the Euro’s in 1960. Poland has never won and has only qualified once in 2008. They are hoping the home crowd can carry them to European glory.
The first team to discuss is Greece . In 2004, Greece stunned everyone and were crowned champions of Europe. However, their next performance did not go so well. At Euro 2008, Greece failed to win a single game and scored one goal, not making it out of the group stage. Now, it looks as though they have recovered from their poor performance and have had a good qualifying campaign. Out of the 10 games they played to qualify, they won seven, drew three, and didn’t lose a single match. They also scored 14 goals, while allowing only 5. Therefore, it looks as though they have restored their ability to find the back of the net.
Russia is the next team to discuss. Their last appearance in the tournament was 2008, when they had an amazing run to the semi-finals. They lost to the eventual champions Spain, but it helped gain some fans for Russia, as well as put players on the map, such as Andrei Arshavin. Russia, like Greece, had a very successful qualifying campaign. They won seven matches, drew two, and lost once. They scored 17 goals while conceding only four. It will be interesting to see if Russia will be able to make a similar run again without Guus Hiddink at the helm.
The Czech Republic had an identical qualifying record as Russia, which is quite extraordinary. They won seven matches, drew two, and lost only once. They also scored 17 goals, while only conceding four. This should make the Russia vs. Czech Republic game extremely interesting since, statistically, they are identical. The Czech Republic are also looking to rebound from a poor 2008 tournament, where they failed to make it out of the group stage.
Finally, we get to the host country. Since the hosts automatically qualify for the tournament, Poland did not have to go through a qualifying campaign. Instead, they opted to play friendlies against some tough opponents. Some good results from friendlies included beating both Argentina and the Ivory Coast. They also drew against Germany, Mexico, Portugal, and South Korea. Even though they did not have to qualify, they played some quality opponents to prepare for Euro 2012. Poland, before this tournament, has only made one appearance in the Euro’s. In Euro 2008, they failed to make it out of the group stage in their sole appearance.
Even though this group does not feature the big names that other countries have, these matches should be interesting and fun to watch. All of the teams involved in this group have had similar qualifying campaigns. They have scored a good amount of goals, while not conceding many, which is always a good idea when you are trying to win a tournament. Therefore, I do not see any 5-0 games, but rather 1-0 or 2-1 type games. If I had to make a prediction on who will advance, I would have to go with Russia and Poland. Even though this is only the second time Poland have played in the tournament, I think the home crowd will propel them through the group stage. I also think Russia has the quality to make it out of the group stage. This should be an interesting group to keep an eye on and all the games should be close and intense.

Written By: Eric Stoyanov, Contributing Writer, soccerprose.com