Euro 2012 - Final - Preview

Euro Cup final is here. After Germany crashed unexpectedly against an attacking Italy inspired by Balotelli, I had to go with Spain. As much as I dislike Italy for their defensive playing style, they are an extremely dangerous side and have been impressive in this tournament.


I am supporting Spain.. let's hope for the best!!

Euro 2012 - Group Stage Analysis And Future Predictions

What a tournament we have had till now with as many as 14 teams still in contention before the last round matches were to be played. Except for Ireland and Sweden, each and every team could have hoped to qualify for the next round going into their final group matches – just incredible!

So I made some predictions before the tournament – some were on the spot, some went the other way – you win some you lose some :) 2GCXWN55SN9W

Group	Teams	Predicted Qualifiers	Actual Qualifiers
1	Czech Republic	Czech Republic	Czech Republic
	Greece
	Russia	Greece	Greece
	Poland
2	Germany	Netherlands	Germany
	Portugal
	Denmark	Germany	Portugal
	Netherlands
3	Spain	Spain	Spain
	Croatia
	Italy	Croatia	Italy
	Ireland
4	France	England	England
	England
	Ukraine	Ukraine	France
	Sweden

Group 1 results were on expected lines but not withstanding the last minute jitters. I was hoping the Czechs would cruise through to the quarters but the Russians had other plans. They routed the Czechs 4-1. The Greeks also made last minute amends and some inspirational performance saw them edge past Russia. All said and done you can’t help but feel for Russia, they deserved to be in the knock-outs. Overall one of the most competitive and entertaining group of the tournament – you can imagine how tough it was from the fact that every goal in the last two matches being played simultaneously was altering the equation of who would go through.

Euro Cup Day 6

[Group2] [Portugal vs. Denmark] [Anticipated Result – Portugal wins 2-1]

One of the most thrilling contests of the tournament so far. A win would have sealed Denmark’s place in the next round and Portugal desperately needed to win this one to stay in contention. Both teams fought hard and the better one on the day won but just by a whisker. It was a roller coaster ride with both teams taking a combined total of 25 shots at the goal. Nicklas Bendtner scored two goals for Denmark but couldn’t get the result they wanted.

[Final Result – Draw – 3-2]

Denmark	Portugal
Nicklas Bendtner (41')	Pepe (24')
Nicklas Bendtner (80')	Hélder Postiga (36')
	Varela (87')

[Group2] [Netherlands vs. Germany] [Anticipated Result – Netherlands wins 2-1]

Euro Cup Day 4 & 5

[Group4] [England vs. France] [Anticipated Result – England wins 1-0]

Maybe it was the Chelsea effect rubbing over but England didn’t show enough hunger to win the game. Their strategy seems to be score draws against stronger opponents and try to scrape through to the next level. But this may backfire in the long run. I couldn’t catch up this match on TV but anyways it would have been a waste of time.

[Final Result – Draw – 1-1]

France	England
Samir Nasri (39')	Joleon Lescott (30')

[Group4] [Ukraine vs. Sweden] [Anticipated Result – Ukraine wins 1-0]

Euro Cup Day 3 - Thoughts and Analysis

[Group3] [Italy vs Spain] [Predicted Result – Draw with 1-1]

Before the game started, I was thinking Spain would win 1-0 but after looking at the starting line-up was more inclined towards a draw as Spain strangely decided not to have a striker in the main lineup. And that did cost them dearly as they made so many good moves in the first 20 minutes but were unable to finish. What else you can hope for when you are playing against a side which is known for their defense. With some lenient refereeing making the game rough, it was more physical than artistic. Italy got a few good chances but was denied by brilliant saves by Casillas including the one towards the end of the first half.

Balotelli missed a sure shot chance at the beginning of the first half and he was then rightly called off. The move immediately paid off with Di Natale giving Italy the lead. That gave the Spaniards some inspiration and they soon equalized through Fabregas. Finally better sense prevailed and Torres was brought in. You could see some earnestness after Torres came in but may be it was a little too late. The second half also saw the referee being a little stricter and saw as many as 7 yellow cards. Overall it was an entertaining second half but a little disappointing as Spain didn’t win it.

Euro Cup Day 2 - Thoughts and Analysis

[Group2] [Netherlands vs Denmark] [Predicted Result – Netherlands will win 2-0]

The game started with top notch artistic football from Netherlands – delicate footwork, one touch passes. Danes didn’t have much possession but didn’t look out of control as well. Dutch made a few good moves but the Danes successfully kept them off the net. There were hardly any attacks from the Danes worth counting except a header in the opening minutes. The back-pass in the 18th minute could have done the trick for the Dutch but the referee didn’t think it was deliberate. But fortunes took a turn when Krohn-Dehli made a beautiful move and made it 1-0 for the Danes. And the Dutch came alive into the game. The Dutch kept attacking relentlessly with Robben hitting the post in the 36th minute to his bad luck. The Danes too got a couple of more chances to score at the end of the first half but couldn’t convert

Euro Cup Day 1 - Thoughts & Analysis

[Group1] [Greece vs. Poland] [Predicted Result – Greece will win 1-0]

2 Goals, 2 Red Cards, 1 Missed Penalty and such a hard fought wonderful match with all the ingredients of a roller coaster – what else can one ask of the open match in a tournament. Absolute delight!! After Poland took the lead in the 17th minute through Lewandowski the Greeks were looking clueless but they soon got their act together. And despite the unfortunate send off for Papastathopoulos after two harsh yellow cards, they still kept fighting and kept the spirits alive. 

Greek substitute Salpigidis scored the leveler right at the start of the second half. But the drama was not over, and then came the send off for the Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny in the 68th minute and a penalty to seal the game off. But some jittery nerves and good anticipation from the new goalkeeper Przemyslaw Tyton kept the score at par. Overall the Greeks were unfortunate for the harsh send off and then an almost certain penalty (handball) being denied. But they are to be blamed themselves a bit as well for missing a straight forward penalty.

Predictions For Euro 2012

The Euro 2012 is about to start in a day or so. I am making some predictions just for fun, let’s see how they hold out. 

Group Stages 

Group1:
This is the group of the minnows and that makes it somewhat exciting too as it very difficult to predict who will move ahead. I am backing the Czechs to top the group as they have one of the best goalkeepers in the world - Petr Čech – who on his day can guard his fortress like a wall. Also hoping Greece to get inspired by their 2004 win (though they had a forgettable 2008 campaign) and finish second in the group. 

A Sporty Evening...

Recently got a chance to watch a FC Dallas Vs. Inter Milan soccer match in Plano here. Didn’t have really high expectations of the match, but it turned out to be quite a good one ending in a 2-2 draw. I always wanted to see a soccer match in a stadium and this was my dream come true. I also got a chance to strike off an item in 50 things I want to do list :)

Plus watching big names like Samuel Eto'o, Maicon and Materazzi was an added bonus even though I and Jai paaji spent most of the time figuring out what jersey number was which player and the dear lady accompanying us spent most of her time in queues buying water to keep us hyderated on a hot humid evening.... it was all great fun.

But what amazed me the most was the atmosphere of the stadium and the support for soccer and the local team. Even though US is not known to be a soccer nation and most people don’t even know the rules of the game leave alone following it, the turnout was huge. Each goal scored by the home team was followed by huge fireworks and great applause. The stadium facility was nicely built and well kept….no doubt these guys take home the most medals in each Olympics. If they can do so much for a neglected sport by US standards, God only knows how much they put in for the sports they love…got to watch a American Football match now….

I hope the same happens in India some day…Kids see sports as a career and parents support them and some portion of those 36000 crores earmarked for the CWG goes into sports infrastructure and facilities……

Thank you South Africa for a great great world cup!!!

I have refrained from writing this past month as there was a lot happening around me which kept me preoccupied and then of course there was the World Cup…the only real world cup I would say as this is probably the only event for which each and every country of the world vies for and participates – that includes playing a lot of qualifiers till you reach the last 32 which go into the ultimate battle to be the champions of the beautiful game.


Now that the football extravaganza has come to an end it is time to reflect upon what has transpired in the last one month. I‘ll not go into facts and figures but stick to my takeaways from the World Cup.

First and foremost, the biggest takeaway is the victory of Spain. I had predicted at the very beginning that Spain might win this one which of course nobody believed at that time and not many were convinced even until they defeated the most favored Germany very convincingly like they were playing a bunch of school kids. It is incredible how a team which has scored only 8 goals in the entire tournament managed to be the champions. I personally do not favor the defensive genre of soccer which Italy and now Brazil uses. But Spain might have scored less but their soccer was never boring they played a beautiful passing game all through which was delight to watch. The only chink in their armour was that they were missing another striker apart from the exciting David Villa since Torres was injured and out of touch for most of the tournament. But they never let anybody expose that weakness and managed to cover it up with their beautiful midfield play. Although the entire team played extremely well the following players need special mention: Casillas, Ramos, Iniesta and Xavi.

Spain were the ultimate champions but the revelation of the world cup was Uruguay – what great team work, what great fighting spirit and never-say-die attitude and of course the player of the tournament Diego Forlan – what an incredible player who single handedly inspired the whole team to play the football of their lives. I know many people would start pointing fingers at Suarez for that handball. But honestly, that looked more of an instinctive reaction than a deliberate attempt. I think he got duly punished as per the rules. All this finger pointing is because Gyan wasn’t able to convert the penalty for Ghana. Had he done that everyone would have forgotten the incident. I believe all the booing by the crowd was unnecessary and embarrassing. Suarez I believe is a talented young player with a great future. Somehow Uruguay of Forlan and Suarez reminded me of Chile of Salas and Zomarano – you could never write them off against anyone.

Germany was playing like a dream and at one point even I thought the cup belonged to them. But they somehow lost their game against Spain. Was it psychological pressure because of what the tentacled Oracle predicted or something else….we would never know. But it’s true they were in the best form of their life before Spain left them clueless in the Semis. Muller was one of the best players of the tournament. On paper I believe they had the strongest team.

It would not be fair to leave Netherlands out but compared to Spain they had a much easier path to the finals. And they always have been good enough to be touted as the best team never to have won a World Cup and they kept the reputation alive. The only highlight for me was their win over Brazil. And Robben and Sneijder showed that they were class players but the rest of the team was pretty unimpressive. They might still have won the cup on the shoulders of Robben and Sneijder had they concentrated on their game than on the fouls. Probably it was part of their plan to upset Spain’s flow through some rough play but they overdid it. It is at this point Spain showed how mentally strong they were as they stuck to their game unflustered.

Argentina was my other favorite but they were absolutely clueless in the game against Germany. Messi was difficult to spot on the field; he hardly came near the ball that day much less display the magic he is known for.

This world cup all in all proved one thing for sure that football is a team game and no single Messi, Ronaldo, Rooney or Kaka can make you the Champions. But on the other hand it also proved that if you have one inspirational leader like Forlan, Honda or Gyan and the team is ready to rally around him and support him, you can still certainly make a mark.

Rest France were a shame, Italy disgraceful, Brazil strong but too tied up with their defense, England had the firepower but not the will, Portugal was just relying on Ronaldo, Serbia - I had high hopes and Ivory coast disappointed . But this cup had more positives than negatives – A new Champion, the meteoric rise of Uruguay and Forlan, exciting discovery of players like Gyan, Muller, Ozil, Donovan etc. Honda was a revelation.



Thank you South Africa for a great great world cup!!!

PS: I found this slideshow published by The Huffington Post which IMHO is the most complete summary of the World Cup 2010 : http://huff.to/dAk4Os