Let us put the NBA conference finals, 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifier & London Olympics Games all aside. With just few more days, UEFA Euro 2012 will begin.
UEFA Euro held every 4 years. The final tournament features 16 nations, the last European Championship to do so (from Euro 2016 onward, there will be 24 finalists). For this edition tournament, 16 national teams are divided into 4 groups which each group consists of 4 national teams.
The quarter-final fixtures will be include :
A1 vs B2 (1)
B1 vs A2 (2)
C1 vs D2 (3)
D1 vs C2 (4)
*noted : alphabetic refers to group and number refers to the final position
Then semi-final fixtures will be as following :
Winner of (1) vs Winner of (3)
Winner of (2) vs Winner of (4)
*noted: winner of number in bracket refers quarter-final winner
The grand finale will be both winner at semi-final to face against each another in Olympic National Sports Complex, Kiev in Ukraine. The winner will earn a ticket to the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup hosted by Brazil.
This edition UEFA European Football Championship will be a huge challenge for the contenders due to injuries and off-field problems.
And according to Dutch playmaker, Wesley Sneijder said that Euro will be more difficult to win than to World Cup, where Holland finished as runners-up two years ago. It is because Euro don't have the team from any other continent when it is hard to speculate whether a team will going to take three points and as now only left the strong teams.
Some information on the 16 national teams:-
Group A
Poland : the co-hosts most probably will be the underdog of the tournament to lift the trophy for the first time after great performances from them in the friendlies. Robert Lewandowski, the man that every defenders should mark on to avoid him to score.
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| Borussia Dortmund hitman who scored 30 goals in all competition for the German champions and domestic cup winner. |
Greece : the UEFA Euro 2004 champion, and will they lift the trophy for the second times by fielding in mostly the domestic leagues player?
Russia : will the Russian reach the final this year after an extraordinary performance from them by defeating the 2006 World Cup winner, Italy in the friendly match as it boost their morale and confidence? Not even a lost in their last 5 friendlies matches and will they repeating the history by defeating Greece again in this edition Euro as both national teams met before in 2008 Euro Championship.
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| Andrei Arshavin will lead his national team throughout this tournament and he is the one of the 21 domestic league players out of the 23 players final squad list. |
Czech Republic : placed third in the Euro 2008 final group stage and hope to qualify to next round with the help of champions league winner, Petr Cech and Czech playmaker who just recovered injury, Tomas Rosicky.
Group B : dubbed as Group of Death
Netherlands : Euro 2008 quarter finalist and World Cup 2010 runners-up hope to go further more than just group stage. It will be a difficult task for Bert van Marwijk's side but he fielded his side with mostly from European top leagues players.
Denmark : ranked world number 10 but yet is the lowest compared to other 3 national teams in Group B which is a real tough test for the Danish to qualify to next round as in grouped with the fellow title contenders.
Germany : not a single defeat in qualifying round for Euro 2012, the German side still trying their best to lift the trophy after 16 years trophy drought. Ended up as finalist in the last Euro championship and more than just a group stage in the last few editions of World Cup, Philipp Lahm has to do something with his head coach, Joachim Loew to bring pride to the Germans.
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| after trophy-less season with Bayern Munich for two consecutive seasons, he need some secret recipe while lead his team in this tournament |
Portugal : "Ron just can't do everything by himself", insisted the Portuguese defender, Pepe as referring to their team captain, Cristiano Ronaldo. Only a win in their last 5 friendlies matches still doesn't satisfied Paulo Bento as preparing for the Euro 2012.
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| managed to scored 112 goals for Real Madrid in La Liga 2011/12 season, so will he continue to score for his national team? |
Group C
Spain : a BIG question for them. can the World and European champion defend their European championship title despite the absent of the Spanish all-time goalscorer, David Villa and one of the world greatest defender, Carles Puyol due to injury. can La Roja cope with it despite the huge blow for their squad and can Fernando Torres regain his form?
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| will the history being repeated as Spain looking for a victory for three consecutive editions. |
Italy : knocked out by the European champion in the last edition of championship at quarter final, can Azzurri looking for a revenge against the Spanish side in the group stage? Lost 3 matches in their last 5 friendlies matches and faced off-pitch scandals linked to match-fixing just a week before the tournament, Prandelli's men need to stay strong and overcome it as they are one of the title contenders.
Republic of Ireland : qualified for the first time in 20 years and the Irish are looking forward to to qualify to the next round by fielding in English Premier Leagues-based players in the name list.
Croatia : able to qualify to quarter final in the Euro 2008, and Croatia will be trying to repeat the history.
Group D
Ukraine : as a host nation, Ukraine is automatically qualified for Euro 2012 which will mark their debut in the European Football Championship. Fielded 21 players from domestic league out of 23 players in the name list is the test for their domestic league players to perform at their best at their home ground included all-time goalscorer, Andriy Shevchenko.
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| Sheva : the dangerous Ukrainian hitman |
Sweden : leaded by Zlatan Ibrahimovic , the Serie A 2011/12 season topscorer plays an important role in attacking and score goal for his national side.
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| played for 3 different Italian giant clubs included Juventus and Internazionale, while currently playing for AC Milan as well as Spanish giant, Barcelona |
France : placed last in group stage for both Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010. Laurent Blanc has a tough job to do and changes Les Bleus history with better record.
England : under Fabio Capello's controls, not a single defeat for the English side during qualifying. Roy Hodgson, newly appointed head coach just few days before the tournament need to solve Three Lions main problem on goalscoring. England will be without Wayne Rooney, who suspended for two-match and several key players included Frank Lampard due to injuries. The English side has a strong defending side but the main concern is on who can score for the team although Roy fielded all English Premier League players in his squad.
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| Roo : suspended for the first two matches which against France and Sweden |
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