Guest Post: A Guide to Euro 2012

A Guide to Euro 2012

1. Competition The UEFA European Football Championship is the four-yearly international tournament that takes place every leap year over the summer. 2 countries will host the tournaments and will feature 14 other nations who qualified over a 15 month period.

In Europe, it is the second biggest international tournament after the World Cup. Germany is the most successful nation in the history, winning the tournament a prestigious 3 times (twice as West Germany) and featuring in the final a record 6 times. Only Spain and France have won it on more than one occasion (twice) and no nation has ever successfully defended their crown.

The tournament kicks off on Friday 8 June in Warsaw as hosts Poland take on the 2004 winners Greece, before the tournament concludes on Sunday 1 July in Kiev.

2. Hosts Poland and Ukraine are our hosts for this summer's tournament, meaning a European Championship is being played in Eastern Europe for the first time. Each country is providing 4 stadiums in 4 different cities, with capacities ranging from 30,000 to 60,000. 5 of these stadiums were built in preparation for this tournament, whilst the other 3 have all been renovated over the past couple of years.

The forecast is set for a hot summer with 16 countries battling it out for one prize. Question marks have been raised over the transport and infrastructure for fans to follow their nation in Poland and Ukraine, but the players are all prepared to deliver an exciting tournament.

3. Favourites Of the nations who are going to win the tournament, I expect it to be from one of these three:

Spain The defending champions Spain are the bookmakers' favourites to defend their title. Coached by Vicente del Bosque who guided them to World Cup success two years ago in South Africa, the majority of the Spanish squad remains in place. However, they enter this tournament with two big losses. Centre back Carles Puyol has been ruled out of the tournament with an injury which has forced a shuffle amongst the back four. And top scorer 4 years ago, David Villa too is absent through injury. Fernando Llorente and Fernando Torres are vying for an opportunity to start.

Spain's Tiki-taka style of football will be on display again, with Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Pedro Rodriguez are all in Spain's 23-man squad for the tournament; the same 5 that started the 2010 World Cup final. It is unlikely that all 5 will start this tournament, with the likes of Cesc Fabregas, David Silva and Juan Mata all pushing them closely for a place in the starting lineup.

Germany Runners-up to Spain 4 years ago, Germany are the second favourites in Poland and Ukraine. They face a difficult group to begin with, alongside the Netherlands, Portugal and Denmark, who, like Germany all rank in the top 10 of the FIFA World Rankings as of 5 June (being updated on 6 June). Coach Joachim Löw has a number of gifted players to select from. Mario Gomez, Miroslav Klose and Andre Schürrle are all competing for the 1 central striker position in the starting XI.

Behind the striker, Germany plays 3 attacking midfielders in support. Germany is overwhelmed by the number of players who can fill these positions. Schürrle is one himself, as well as Lukas Podolski, Mesut Özil, Thomas Müller, Mario Götze, Toni Kroos and Marco Reus. All top, top players. Bastian Schweinsteiger use to play as a winger before dropping back to a holding midfield role that he plays very well alongside Real Madrid's Sami Khedira. Germany has some question marks in defence. Per Mertesacker has been injured and playing poorly at club level, could be a starting centre back. And Jerome Boateng who is a natural centre back by nature could be forced to play right back once more.

Netherlands The Netherlands finished runners-up to Spain in the World Cup two years ago. They enter this tournament with a number of players similar to that which started the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg. Included are two strikers coming off of a free-scoring season domestically; Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scored scored 48 goals in all competitions for Schalke 04 this past season, and Robin van Persie who scored 37 goals for Arsenal. Whoever gets the nod up front can expect plenty of supply from the likes of Wesley Sneijder, Arjen Robben, Rafael van der Vaart and Ibrahim Afellay.

The Dutch too have a few question marks in defence. Giovanni van Bronckhorst retired after the World Cup, and his replacement at left back, Erik Pieters was ruled out of the tournament through injury just before the tournament was due to begin. He could be replaced by 18-year old Jetro Willems or 33-year old Wilfred Bouma. It's Bert van Marwijk's call. Also, neither centre back, Johnny Heitinga or Joris Mathijsen are gifted with great height. So 6'2” Feyenoord centre back Ron Vlaar is making a late push for a place in the starting XI.

4. Weakest Nations With every tournament a couple of the weaker nations qualify. Here are four nations I reckon will not make it out of their group:

Czech Republic Group A has their own claim for being the “group of death” at this tournament. When the draw was made, it was hard for most people to decide which team was the strongest and which was the weakest. However, there is one nation that stands out in this group for being weak and that is the Czech Republic.

Coached by former Czechoslovakia 1990 World Cup goalscorer, Michal Bilek, the Czech Republic lack any quality going forward. Milan Baros relies on good support to score goals and doesn't get that from his country these days. He top-scored back in 2004 with the likes of Pavel Nedved in the side, but failed to score a single goal 4 years later. Tomas Rosicky adds something to their midfield, but otherwise there's not much in the way of goals from this current group of players.

Denmark Somewhat overrated at the 10th best country in the World according to the FIFA World Rankings in my opinion, this group of Danish players fall somewhat short of the group that won this competition back in 1992. Perhaps they would do well as 4th seeds in another group, but they've been handed the impossible task of progressing from a group that contains the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal.

Denmark is relying on Nicklas Bendtner up front for goals. And Arsenal fans will tell you you're heading for a failure if you rely on him. In way of support, Christian Eriksen is one of the best rising stars in football, but he cannot run the midfield alone. It's questionable as to how much possession the Danes will get against the likes of Netherlands and Germany in their group for starters. Eriksen has a decent player in William Kvist alongside him, but otherwise this Danish squad is very weak in comparison to their group rivals.

Republic of Ireland Giovanni Trapattoni's Republic of Ireland heads into the tournament on a 14-game unbeaten streak. This run includes a 2-0 win in Italy, a 0-0 draw with Croatia and a lot of results against the lesser nations. Morale should at least be on a high. Drawn in a group with the World Champions, as well as Italy and Croatia, Ireland have been handed a tough group.

The Republic of Ireland plays a defensive 4-4-2 formation. Both of the central midfielders will be looking to win the ball for the Irish side, whilst the creativity and goalscoring chances will come from the two wide men and the two strikers. Expect a frustrating performance against a Spanish side that play to retain possession, the Irish need results against Croatia and Italy to progress. Whilst the Croatians have a weak defence and the Italians have off-the-field problems, they're vulnerable but I don't see the Irish having enough talent to pick up the required results.

Ukraine Of the two-hosts, Ukraine enters Euro 2012 as the least-prepared. The Poland national team has seen a number of young players been given the opportunity and break through over the past couple of years. Ukraine are still playing with 35-year old Andriy Shevchenko up front and even have a 36-year old goalkeeper with 1 cap in their final 23-man squad.

Ukraine's youngsters haven't pushed on as well as they would have hoped, but they still have two to look out for in this tournament. Andriy Yarmolenko and Yevhen Konoplyanka are both 22 years old, attack-minded players who may be able to produce a couple of memorable moments for the co-hosts. In a group with England, France and Sweden, I do not see how Ukraine can make it to the knockout stages.

5. Players to Look Out For

Mesut Özil One of Germany's key players in their 2009 Euro under-21 championship winning side and in the senior national team's semi-final run at the 2010 World Cup. Mesut Özil is coming off a domestic season with Real Madrid having won La Liga and providing more assists than any other player in Europe's top 5 leagues. Still only 23-years old, Özil is one of the best playmakers in the world, and provided he doesn't get unfairly taken out by the Dutch and Portuguese in the group, he is set to light up this tournament.

Ibrahim Afellay Ibrahim Afellay is a gifted player who will run at defences and can provide simple cutbacks for his team mates, as well providing crosses into the box. With gifted control and dribbling skills, Afellay's strength is running at players. Like international team mate Arjen Robben, he's also very light and goes down easily. Theatrical is another word. He'll frustrate opposition fans as he looks to win his side soft free kicks and penalties.

David Silva A 2011/11 English Premier League champion with Manchester City, David Silva's quick feet and excellent technical ability has set the best football league in the world alight. He is set to do the same in the European Championships this summer. One of the many number of current Spaniards with these abilities, Silva is difficult to mark as he is always looking to move into space. A clever player, he also scores from midfield. There are many attacking Spanish players who will create highlights in this tournament and David Silva is sure to be amongst them.

Frank Ribery The Bayern Munich winger is coming off a heartbreaking Champions League final loss where he limped off with an injury. After reaching the 2006 World Cup final, Franck Ribery has had a couple of disappointing international tournaments. Now 29 years old, this could be his last European Championships. In a group that includes in a fragile England defence and an inferior Ukraine side, France and Franck Ribery are expected to deliver. With his quick feet and good finishing, watch Ribery do just that.

Andrea Pirlo The current Italian side isn't blessed with as many world class players as they have been in previous tournaments. Coach Cesare Prandelli has a defensive side set up. But going forward, one player the Italians can look to create chances and entertain is Andrea Pirlo. Arguably the difference between Juventus winning the league and AC Milan finishing second in this past season's Serie A, Pirlo is blessed with great technique and phenomenal passing ability. Wait for the ball to arrive at his feet this summer and enjoy what the 33-year old does with it.
Written by Barrie.