At the end of the group stages, it managed to throw some surprise packages into the quarter finals while some favorites made it through as well.
Group A:
This group was meant to be a weakest
group and one of the easiest to predict, as Russia were supposed to ease
through the groups and possibly make a good run in the tournament. Add to that,
their final opponents Greece were bottom of the group with one point. However
Greece won the game through a solitary Karagounis goal in a game which Russia
dominated but were wasteful with their chances.
This result left the Czechs in a must
win situation to progress, and Poland were already needing a win, so this was a
do or die game for either team. in the first half the Czechs were largely
outplayed by Poland but the scores were still level. After half time the Czechs
started to dominate the tempo of the game, and with Poland running out of steam
the Czechs capitalised through a calm Jiracek’s finish. With that to go along
with the Russia defeat, Czechs finish on top of the group and Greece sneak in
second, to send Russia packing.
Group B:
This group was labelled “the Group of
Death”, and as it stood with one game to go, all the teams still had a chance
of making it. Amazingly enough the Dutch who have lost both their games can
make the final eight if Germany beat Denmark (highly possible) and they beat
Portugal by two goals. Also leaders with two wins Germany is still wasn’t sure
if they would make it through, as if Denmark beat them and Portugal won they
would be in trouble.
So with the Denmark vs Germany,
Germany were dominating in the Danes half and Lukas Podolski put the Germans in
front in the 19th minute. But five minutes later Krohn-Dehli’s
second goal of the tournament brought the Danes level. With the game dragging
on, first the Danes had a good penalty appeal turned down after Badstuber
pulled Bendtner’s shirt. But soon enough the Germans broke clear, as Ozil’s through
ball intended for Klose, but it was too far for him, however the full-back
Bender, got there and coolly slotted home his first international goal to give
the Germany the winner.
In the other match, the winless Dutch
were facing Portugal. It was looking good for the Dutch after 11 minutes, as
Van Der Vaart with inch-perfect shot into the bottom left corner to give
Netherlands hope. That was good as it got for the Dutch, as Portugal started to
find a way back into the game with Ronaldo finally making a mark in the
tournament with a composed first touch and slick finish after a defence
splitting pass from Pereira. The Dutch backline was looking even more fragile
now and the attack play becoming ever more wasteful, as they wasted some good
opportunities. It was Portugal again with a counter attack from the wings and
ended with Nani supplying Ronaldo to finish off the Dutch. Ronaldo missed out
on a hat trick as he hit the woodwork. But with the Dutch not showing enough
clinical finishes, they paid the heavy price, they came into the tournament as
heavy favourites but exit winless and without a point in group play.
So it is the Germans who top this
group and get to play Greece in the quarter finals. While Portugal sneak in
second place to play the Czechs. I’m expecting both these teams to dispatch
their Group A counterparts with ease and book a place in the semis.
Group C:
Italy vs Ireland, it was always going
to be a tough game for either team, as the Italians needed a win to have a
chance of progressing and the Irish have nothing to play but pride. As expected
Italy dominated for most of the game, with Pirlo pulling most of their strings.
With 10 minutes to go in the second half, Italy finally got the break with
Pirlo’s near-post-delivery that Cassano met with a glancing header. The
Italians could have been more goals up, if it hadn’t been the Irish bodies that
kept popping up. Then nearing the end of the match, the Irish finally laid
siege to the Italy goal for a while, but came up short thanks to Buffon. But it
wasn’t to be for the Irish as late sub Balotelli hooked home a Pirlo corner to
seal a 2-0 victory.
In the match between Spain and
Croatia, Croatia put up a good fight against the reigning champions but was
undone late on in the game to see them crashing out. Unsurprisingly Spain
dominated possession throughout the game, made quite a number of chances only
for Croatia to be defensively brilliant and Croatia counter-attacked down the
flanks and produced good chances of their own to try and win it. It would have
been a very tense game for either supporters, but relieve came for the Spanish
as Fabregas again played a major influence on the game, as he lobbed the ball
to put Iniesta clear and he squared it for Navas to tap it in.
The table finishes with Spain on top
as expected and Italy sneak in to second place. From these two teams I would
say that only Spain will make it past the quarter finals stage, as I don’t see
Italy having enough attacking to finish off France (their likely opponents, if
France tops their group).
Group D:
It may have ended a good night for
England, but at from the first half they were pegged back as Ukraine
relentlessly attack the England goal early on. When England finally got some
chances to score they faltered as Rooney obviously showing a lack of match
sharpness, missed a good chance to put England in control. But made up for it
after half-time as a danger low cross delivered by the excellent captain
Gerrard, which took two deflections and went through the Ukraine keeper to
finally find Rooney barely a yard from goal to nod home his 29th
England goal. That put England with a bit of breathing space and as a couple
minutes later Sweden got in front against France leaving England on top of the
group. Later on in the game there was to be some drama as Ukraine had ‘ghost’
goal, as John Terry hacked Devic’s half-blocked shot away from the line. England
would feel that its justice for them after their own Lampard ‘ghost’ goal
against Germany in the last World Cup. But England managed to hang on to a 1-0
victory to amazingly stay unbeaten.
While in the other game between France
and Sweden, there was to be an upset as the Swedes put on their best efforts,
as they were already heading home and the French delivered their worst
performance as they go to the quarter finals. This game wasn’t really dominated
by either team, but the Swedes countered France’s attack well. As in the second
half they broke away, with Larsson delivering a drifting ball in from the right
which Ibrahimovic met with a spectacular volley to put Sweden ahead. France
were wasteful with their shots and paid the prize as in injury time Sweden made
it worse for them by Larsson volley home a simple chance to make it 2-0.
Luckily for the French, England
managed to beat Ukraine allowing France to qualify in second behind the Three
Lions. So the prize for the French is that they get to face off against World
Champs while England should be relieved that they are playing Italy and not
Spain. France will really need to up their game if they are to have a hope of
beating Spain, but Spain haven’t looked as impressive as in the past (expect
the Ireland game), so it could be close game between the two. But I would say
that Spain should manage to get past France. While England will be tested by
Italy I would think and hope that England should hold the Italian attackers at
bay, as I feel that the English defence is a lot more solid than Italy’s
attack. And with that England could snatch a goal or two and make it to the
semis.