[Archived] Euro 2012

[Stuart]

In case anyone's interested and / or not seen the draw

GROUP A

Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic

GROUP B

Holland, Denmark, Germany, Portugal

GROUP C

Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Croatia

GROUP D

Ukraine, Sweden, France, England

[Hasta]

I'd not seen it so thanks. Forgot about it to be honest.

Group B looks tasty.

[T4E]

Winners of which group play which runners up etc?

[Emge]

Exciting draw. That group A and B are quite something!

Good enough draw for England, a team I always follow with great passion each tournament. Hope you will do well this time!

[T4E]

(Please don't use that word again) being Danish.

[Amo]

Another ######-easy group for England.

[Stuart]

Another ######-easy group for England.

Not convinced. Plus we'll probably underestimate our opponents and have one eye on the knockouts before going out in third spot.

Winners of which group play which runners up etc?

QF1: Winners A v Runner up B

QF2: Winners B v Runner up A

QF3: Winners C v Runner up D

QF4: Winners D v Runner up C

SF1: QF1 v QF3

SF2: QF2 v QF4

So assuming we qualify (hoho) we need to win the group to avoid Spain in QF.

[Audax]

Croatia and Portugal in recent years have given England problems, England did defeat Croatia not long ago but now, Slaven Bilic I believe is back managing Croatia so they are probably back and they tend to do well in these tournaments, afterall, in '08, they defeated Germany in the group stage.

Group A looks like whoever is a hot team should take it. The Czechs haven't been good in a tournament for years, Greece won the Euro in '04, Poland will play at home, Russia was good in the last tournament and defeated Netherlands when Hiddink managed Russia. Russia should advance.

Group B, Portugal is a good team but in recent years, drawn in World Cup and Euro qualifiers with Denmark, I believe Denmark has defeated them two times. My personal view is that Germany is really, the best team around right now, they whipped Netherlands in a friendly, Netherlands hasn't been playing that well lately, Sweden also defeated them so we will see if they get their sharp play back. I don't think Sneider or Robben have been playing as well either and I don't care for Dejong. But they are the Dutch after all and can't be ruled out. The Portugal/Netherlands World Cup match from 2006 was one of the ugliest in recent years and had a ton of yellow cards issued and that sort of thing. Germany may well be booed though playing in Poland. This might play into things.

Group C is plenty hard as well for Ireland, there odds went down upon the draw, something like from 40 up to 66. Those other 3 teams should be tough, Spain, Italy and Croatia.

http://www.soccerway.com/international/europe/european-championships/2012-poland-ukraine/group-stage/

Here is the list of fixtures, Ireland plays Croatia first. Spain vs. Italy in the other match of that day, like to see that one, I'll bet it will be a draw, Spain's offence vs. Italy's strong defence. You know how bad it is if a team loses their first game and in a group like this, it could really be hard to bounce back for any team. Ireland should be able likewise to get a draw or better vs. Croatia.

Group D is about as fortunate as can be expected but before England recently defeated Sweden, was it on an own goal? They hadn't defeated them in decades, lots of draws. England should finally defeat France and that is the 3 Lions first game. Ukraine will be playing at home, so we will see. France defeated England at Wembley not to long ago, England can win but should be grooming the younger players really, respect to all and not so much with the old guard.

All of the groups are often hard in the Euro.

My analysis whether you asked for it or not!

[speeeeeeedie]

England got a decent group. We'll draw with France and Sweden and have to beat Ukraine to go through.

Unlike most on here I'm excited.

[BuckyRover]

We're going to win.

Can't wait. Thinking of getting a tour bus to travel over there

[jimw1988]

Happy enough with the Irish draw.

If we manage to beat Croatia in our first game, I can see us beating the Italians in our last.

We have played Italy three times under Trap and have not lost. Trap knows them inside out.

They are a shadow of the great Italy teams of the past.

We always raise our game against big teams and love the underdog tag. We will be underdog going into every game.

Cant wait to see Richard Dunne batter into Silva,Torres and Modric over the next few months.

Ireland vs England in the quater final. You heard it hear first!

[rebelmswar]

(Please don't use that word again) being Danish.

I actually snorted.

[ABBEY]

What time are England games and dates? Not looked yet.

[K-Hod]

Could have been a lot worse for England I must admit.

Even so, if we do fail, I'll not be too surprised, expectations are low for me!

[Rovermatt]

Can't wait for this. Love the Euros.

[McClarky]

Oh no, another easy group to either get knocked out of or to stumble through to get knocked against proper teams later on. I heard we had got Germany and Italy which would have been far better I think.

[Baz]

GROUP A - Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic

Official Group of Death - Holland, Denmark, Germany, Portugal

GROUP C - Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Croatia

GROUP D - Ukraine, Sweden, France, England

Good draw for England I reckon.

[speeeeeeedie]

What time are England games and dates? Not looked yet.

Monday June 11th 5pm - France

Friday June 15th 5pm - Sweden

Tuesday June 19th 7.45pm - Ukraine

[ABBEY]

Cheers

[Audax]

Okay, I can look this up but it appears all of the England games in group D are in Ukraine. So why is England's home base in Poland? And if there are 6 months still to the tournament, can this not be changed?? See, people are saying England will have to travel long distances to their games, even by air, still long distances. I'm not clear on this.

Also, maybe I'm wrong, I thought England was in pot I to begin with, with Netherlands and the hosts Ukraine and Poland, so they could have known where they would be playing.

Maybe this doesn't matter to begin with but a few articles have mentioned how England will have to travel distances for the group stage games.

Ireland being in group C may also be playing all of their group stage games in Ukraine as well. I don't know where their home camp is.

[Mattyblue]

You've got to love the FA, drawn in Kiev and Donetsk in the far east of Ukraine and we are based a 1000 miles away in Kracow!

The Swedes swapped their Polish base for a Ukranian one the day after the draw.

[RoyRover]

About as hard a group that Ireland could have asked for. They will really struggle to get out of the group. But I'm actually happy that they have drawn these teams. It will be really exciting to see them play against some of the best players in the world. Our best chance of points will be against the Italians and the Croatians.

I think England have a tough group. France under Blanc are starting to play like a France team should and they would be most peoples favourites to win the group. Then it's between the other three for second spot. England always struggle against Sweden, especially in tournaments and then playing the Ukraine in front of their own fans. Big ask. This is a far tougher group than what they got in the World Cup and we all saw how they struggled there.

[Lathund]

Also, maybe I'm wrong, I thought England was in pot I to begin with, with Netherlands and the hosts Ukraine and Poland, so they could have known where they would be playing.

England were never in Pot 1. Still wouldn't know where you'd be playing; Poland and Ukraine would know, the other two teams wouldn't.

[Rovermatt]

Listen to the crowd noise in this clip whenever the Ukrainians get the ball. It'll be a tasty atmosphere when England take on the hosts in Donetsk. They should win though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CRx3HS33Rg&feature=player_embedded#!