The various national teams would have arrived at their bases in Poland and Ukraine for the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2012. Matches will be held at stadia in the joint host countries, four in Poland (Warsaw, Gdańsk, Wrocław, Poznań) and four in Ukraine (Kiev, Lviv, Donetsk and Kharkiv).
The 16 participating countries are Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Russia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine. I think Croatia, Denmark and Sweden will progress maybe up to quarter-finals and France, Portugal and Russia maybe up to semi-finals. As much as I don’t mind Hodgson, I won’t be supporting for England and as much as I have a soft spot for the Irish, I don’t see them progressing far. Similarly, I don’t see either host progressing far but perhaps it’s because I don’t know many Polish and Ukrainian players. It’s tempting for me to root for the Netherlands and I would have but for despicable players like Robben, Sneijder and van de Faart (Vaart). I also dislike most Barcelona players so I won’t be rooting for Spain either. Greece have a boring defensive approach to playing and while Italians are usually guilty of this, at least the hot Italians make up for the boringness. If I’m a betting person, I think Germany will be in the finals, the question that remains is whether or not they will lift the trophy.
The tournament will kick off tomorrow and end on 1 July so there’s plenty of time to revise our predictions as to who will progress and who will be sent home packing in the early stages. It all boils down to consistency, teamwork and performance on the pitch, and to some extent, the referee, linesmen and the players themselves. No cheating, no diving, no rolling around on the ground acting and this will be an entertaining tournament.
Let’s see how it all goes then!
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