My Thoughts on Groups A & B

European Championships

            It’s already been covered by the Mabbit, but I did want to throw in my two cents for what I believe might happen at the Euros this year, and for anyone that is interested in the tournament, but doesn’t know that much about the sport.  I’ll just give a little synopsis of each nation, plus a player in which you may be interested in following.

Group A

Poland:  One of the hosts.  They played relatively well in the 2008 Euros, albeit in an easy group.  The draw was very kind to them, and the expectation could very well be the QF’s.

Neutral standpoint: Their football isn’t very entertaining, but it suits the players that they do have.  They play a defensive 4-3-2-1 like most of Europe right now, and will look for Robert Lewandowski to provide them with the goals.  Their attacking 3 of Lewandowski, Jakub Błaszczykowski, and Ludovic Obraniak could do enough to get them out of the group.  Not a sexy team though.

Player to watch:  The aforementioned Robert Lewandowski.  He’s already at a club (Borussia Dortmund) that will play Champions League football next season, but with a good tournament, he could go on and play for a Juventus, Manchester United, etc.

Greece: Our surprising 2004 Euro winners.  To this day, no one can explain how it happened.  Speaking of unentertaining football... if you want to see how methodical football can win titles, look no further than this bunch. However, this time I have them crashing out early.  Teams know what to expect now.

Neutral standpoint:  Don’t bother.  Only the die-hards can appreciate how the Greeks win matches, and even I don’t appreciate it fully.  It’s 8 behind the ball, unless they get a corner or a free kick.

Player to watch:  Kyriakos Papadopoulos.  Love the name.  His football skills at CB are impressive as well.  Hope for Schalke to make Champions League next fall; many good young talent wear their colors. 

Russia: Probably everyone’s favorites to come out of this group.  They have the most name recognition, and have gotten to the semi-finals in the past.  I, too, think that there is hope for this nation, but realistically they are going to have to beat one of Portugal, Germany or Holland to get to the semi-finals this time, and that probably won’t happen.  Fun to watch though.

Neutral standpoint:  Hard for Americans to get behind the Russians, and I get that.  At times, they do play an entertaining brand of football, and on their day, Andrei Arshavin and Alan Dzagoev are two of the more exciting players in the world.  If their morale is up, you may be witnessing another Greece ’04, but with more goals.

Player to watch: Pavel Pogrebnyak.  After Fulham signed him in the winter, Dempsey got better.  He scored his fair share of goals too, and is a handful to deal with.  Outside of the Greeks, no one in this group might be able to do it.  Way outside shot at Golden boot, but if I had some money to play with...

Czech Republic: Well, at least their goal keeper is in top form. (Petr Cech)  A lot of these players do decent work for their club sides, but I will say that they are probably not worthy of being at these finals.  They are in a transitional stage; beyond their top 3-4 players, there is nothing to get excited about.  At least for a few years.

Neutral standpoint:  Pass.  Not as in to another teammate, but as in don’t get interested.

Player to watch:  Although Petr Cech probably lost the Turkey game in 2008 on his own; they will not get a point unless he is at his best.  He has been for the last 3 months, so it is possible.  A deep, deep underdog to get to the quarters.

Group B

Holland: They’re as orange as the sun is hot.  And until the WC final, they were very, very good.  They beat Brazil in that tournament, and have also beaten England and Germany on the road since then as well.  On their day, convincingly one of the best sides in the world.  Just short of the talent level of a Spain, Brazil or Germany.

Neutral standpoint: If you really want to get into soccer, I mean really, really do, then this is the team for you.  While not great defensively, their attacking prowess is so above the rest of the world, that one could say they defend by keeping the ball. (Similar to Spain, yet very different).  They aren’t afraid to get physical, but I would say prefer playing direct, attacking football.  It can be very fun to watch, and is a big reason why I’ve been a fan since the late 90’s. 

Player to watch:  All of them.  Seriously though, probably Arjen Robben.  You may have already seen him in the Champions League final, but he wasn’t very good.  He also missed chances in the World Cup vs. Spain as well, but make no mistake, it’s because of his abilities that allow him to get in those situations in the first place.  My favorite player currently that doesn’t play for United.

Germany: To whom I owe everything.  You see, without the Germans, my passion for soccer would be lukewarm at best.  My year there changed everything about how I feel for the sport.  And this team is brilliant.  In fact, they’ve been brilliant since I left, and in many different ways.  Before, they were a “1 for all” type team.  His name was Michael Ballack.  And he did do it all.  Now, they are an “all for 1” nation.  They have 11 great parts, no player more important than any other.  And they should be champions.

Neutral standpoint:  Another difficult nation to cheer for and I get that.  But if you want to see counter-attacking football at its best, look no further.  If you want to see clinical finishing from all areas of the attacking playing field, here they are.  If you enjoy goal keeping factories, then have I got the country for you.  Here there are.  Take ‘em or leave ‘em. 

Player to watch: Probably Miroslav Klose.  This is his final hurrah.  Since 2002, he has been Germany’s one and prolific striker.  He has tied the Brazilian Ronaldo for most goals in World Cup history.  He is the underdog striker. (Ask your soccer friends to name the top 10, hell 20 strikers of the 21^st century, and I bet they forget about him).  He does back flips.  Watch and enjoy.

Portugal:  I wish I could love them, I really do.  They have/had a great group of players, and they always seem to get close only to self-destruct, or lose it at the last (see 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006).  They have more flair than probably any other European nation.  Great individual talent, and fun players to watch (Cristiano Ronaldo, Figo, etc.) Yet they’ve never won a thing.

Neutral standpoint:  Perhaps the ultimate underdog.  They should have won something by now.  It’s almost like they’re intimidated, but not by the opposing team, but by the moments.  They should’ve beaten Greece, and no one will argue that.  They very easily could’ve won both the Euro 2000 championship and the 2002 World Cup.  Player egos and circumstance got in the way.  But just know, you’re not pulling for the most humble of nations.

Player to watch: Cristiano Ronaldo.  This could be his moment.  Messi hasn’t had one on the national level.  CR7 hasn’t either.  For either of them to take it to the next level, they need one of these trophies.  Shine Ronaldo, shine.

Denmark: Tough.  Very tough.  In Group A, I would almost consider them favorites, or no worse than co-favorites with the Russians.  Here... they might not score.  They may find it hard to maintain possession for more than 40% of the time.  They are very well coached, and will be hard to break down though.

Neutral standpoint:  Hard to hate the Danes.  They have the world’s next superstar in Christian Eriksen.  Many of their players ply their trade in the English Premier League.  If this tournament is your starting point, you could do worse than pull for the Danes.

Player to watch:  Might as well talk about him.  Christian Eriksen plays for Ajax in the Dutch League.  He is very hard to see, because they were never on American TV this past season outside of Gol TV during their Euro Cup run. (Which lasted 2 games) But for those of you that have heard of Zinedine Zidane, or Roberto Baggio, or Rivaldo, here’s the next one.