Euro 2012 (Now its getting Interesting)

It is safe to say that this edition of the European Championship can be tagged 'Saga Fest', if its not crowd trouble or racial tension, its Referees getting calls wrong or players gagging players from making one derogatory remark or the other or the unnecessary display of an unauthorized sponsor's logo. 


Despite the off the field issues, we have had a feast of good football, little wonder some pundits rate the Euros above the World Cup purely on the level of football and match ups it serves up. Based on our preview before the start of the tournament and the predictions made, a 63% predictive accuracy is not bad at all, especially taking into consideration no one would have expected that not one of the host nations made it passed the group stage as well as the calamitous collapse of the Dutch, who happen to be one of my favorites along with many other pundits.

With the Quarter finals upon us, we take a look back at the highlights of the group stage, the low-lights, who's hot and who is not; we then select our team of the group stage as well as preview the Quarter Finals pairings.

Group Stage Highlights


Group A
Poland, as co host started quite brightly but seemed to lose steam as the tournament progressed; great flashes especially on the right side of midfield and in Robert Lewandoski they have a striker that is definitely heading to the top, but then it is safe to say we may have expected too much from Poland as they entered the tournament as the lowest ranking team of all 16 teams. 


The sad story of the tournament has to be Russia, they started the tournament like a house on fire, putting up such a dominant performance in their opening game against the Czech Republic, the pace in their attacking play was quite infectious which got a lot of pundits drooling over the chances of the Russians in the tournament. I had pointed out that the fact that their manager was leaving at the end of the competition may have an effect on the squad, not to say that's the reason for their exit, which i believe can be attributed to a huge dose of bad luck. Greece on one hand are just Greece, they do just what's enough to get by, this worked for them in 2004 and they just slipped in through the  quarter final back door. The Czechs just showed that they possess an amazing mental strength within their team, to come back from such an embarrassing defeat in the first game and then win the other group games to top the group is quite commendable.

Group B
I have taken a lot of stick for agreeing with the tactics of the Dutch Manager, Bert Van Marwijk; but then I did not expect the team to be this collectively poor. I noted clearly my lack of confidence in the Dutch defense and this was well exploited by their opponents. More so, the internal rancor within the Dutch camp can be used as a major factor for the lack of Dutch courage. 


Denmark started the competition with the desire to slip through unnoticed from this group and almost did with their surprise victory over the Dutch in their opening game; fought gallantly against the Portuguese, all be it thanks to some capitulations in front of goal by Portuguese star man Ronaldo. In my opinion, the Portuguese were lucky to get out of this group and their desire to play to their strengths utilizing the pace that they have in the wide areas and showed a desire to play primarily on the break. In Germany, you have the stand out team of the competition so far, they've looked quite comfortable and do not seem to have gotten to third gear.

Group C

The first game of the group was obviously a tactical match up, with two managers setting their teams up to cancel out the other team; Vincente Del Bosque shocked us all by showing a desire to emulate an approach Barcelona showed sometime during the season by not playing any striker; in my opinion; forget the Torres goals against Ireland; the manager does not seem to trust the strikers he has at his disposal (do you blame him, Spain's all time leading goal scorer is out of the tournament injured). Italy, just as i stated are a team in search of an identity; however the deployment of the 3-5-2 was quite fantastic and the evolution of De Rossi was good to watch in that system, however; i felt Di Natalie should start up front for the Azzuris and  of course Pirlo has been masterful. It was sad to see the Croats get knocked out of the competition because they played some good stuff, a lot of the players showed that they can be considered International Quality, but then the departure of the manager after the competition could have been a major factor. The Irish were absolute rubbish, so much for the Converciano trained manager, however they have definitely got the best fans  at the tournament.

Group D

Well England got through the group in less than spectacular fashion, they've employed a very strict approach of been quite compact and somewhat Chelseaque in approach; but Captain Gerrard has led by example in all the games. The English have executed their progress by simple going through the motions as effectively as possible. 

The Ukrainians would still have a lot to say about their disallowed goal against the English, but showed they could rough it with the big boys and this was quite commendable. Sweden, on their part saved their best for last, despite been already eliminated from the competition with their Captain scoring the goal of the tournament so far in the game against France. The French have showed Jerkyl and Hyde form in the competition so far, great against England in the opening game, even better against the host and completely abysmal in the final game against Sweden.


Group Stage Verdict

The Group stage was exciting and I know the knock out stages will be quite intriguing; however a huge consideration needs to be given to this head to head rule used to separate teams in the group stages; i think its unfair and a return to goals difference been the first option to separate teams will be much welcomed. Last Night's controversy with respect to Ukraine's attempt on goal that the referees adjudged not to have crossed the line just buttressed the need to implement goal line technology in Football, there's too much at stake at some of these games not to put the technology in place now.

Group Stage First Eleven (4-3-3)


Tyton (Poland), Gabre- Selassie (Czech Republic), Coentrao (Portugal), Hummels (Germany), Lescott (England), Denisov (Russia), David Silva (Spain), Pirlo (Italy), Dzagoev (Russia), Gomez (Germany), Mandzukic (Croatia)

Fans of the tournament

The Irish supporters showed why we follow and love this Sport, Football said Spain Manager, Vincente Del Bosque . The Irish continued to cheer and chant even though their team was down by 4 goals to Spain. What great spirit from the Irish.

Player of the Tournament so far


Alan Dzagoev

Disappointment of the Tournament


Klass Jan Huntelaar

Goal of the Tournament so far


Zlatan Ibrahimovic v France


Quarter Finals Match ups


Czech Republic v Portugal


For me, this is an unlikely match up and if you ask me again, i still say no, both teams had no chance to get here, but then they are here. Portugal will hope that Ronaldo has the same kind of game he had against Holland and something tells me if the Czech do not sort out their defense to cater to the strengths of the Portuguese, we may have a similar out come as their result against Russia due to the similarities.

Verdict:  Portugal to go through to the Semis as long as Ronaldo has another stunner.

Germany v Greece


The Germans are the in form team of the tournament currently, but against Greece anything can happen. The Greeks have shown that they are a team that can perform when least expected, the Germans have a lot more in reserve that we are yet to see in this tournament and a very good variety at that.

Verdict:  Germany all the way.

England v Italy


It will be interesting to see if Prandelli will revert to the 3-5-2 used for the first two games or go with a 4-3-1-2 that got them through the group. England can actually win this,but how is the problem, because there are a number of questions to answer; will Rooney start? will Milner and Young start? What approach will Hodgson employ? This game has a shoot out written all over it and Italy has more match winners in their team compared to England.

Verdict:  A penalty shoot out to settle this and we all know that's a lottery.

Spain v France


What French team will turn up is the major question here; Spain haven't hit second gear and have not looked their commanding best yet. In the knock out rounds this may just change; the real Spain may just appear, we really do not know the direction Del Bosque will take because he is yet to play a number of his wild cards at this tournament and everything points in favour of the defending champions. The French need to snap out of their slumber ASAP, with the collection of players at Laurent Blanc's disposal although they will miss Mexes which may be pivotal. I think Menez should start this game to exploit the limited international experience of Jordi Alba at left back for the Spaniards; the french can snatch this from the Spaniards.

Verdict:   Spain to win in extra time

Conclusion


This is when it really gets interesting and we are sure that the level of football will better that we have witnessed thus far, some surprises may just be around the corner.


Note

Tactics IQ Soccer Fiesta is around the corner, for team registration, sponsorship and advert details; please  follow @TacticsIQ, @tweetTimi or @seyimanu on twitter or call 08188876613, 08023507006

Adeyemi Adesanya 

Follow @yemimanutd

Tactics IQ Limited

We appreciate your thoughts and comments on all our blog posts, please keep them coming….

Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/tacticsiq

Like the page on facebook: www.facebook.com/tacticsiqlimited