We Preview the 4 groups, seeking to break them down and come up with expected outcomes in the end and then select our winner; we would also look at the players to watch and also pick out where a surprise or two may be in store.
Group A
Group A consist of one of the co Host and three previous winners; its a group filled with plenty tournament experience. The Poles will aim to at the minimum get to the knock out rounds and from then on, anything can happen especially with the home support firmly behind them. The Russians are once again led by a Dutch man just like at the last Euros, the boys from the Kremlin will be keen to show that their absence from the last World Cup has taken nothing away from them as a top football nation. The Greek team will aim to put smiles back into the faces of Millions of people suffering from the economic turmoil that has befallen their home land; a repeat of their 2004 heroics will be a welcome distraction. The Czechs have a good blend of youth and experience and have a good chance of advancing from this group.
Group A Verdict
Fernando Santos has his work cut out to inspire a nation in economic turmoil by emulating the exploits of the Class of 2004, the Greek have a balanced team with the team not any different from the 2004 team with many of the main protagonists still the mainstay of the current squad. The Poles will heavily rely on their 12th man, the home crowd to cheer them on, the squad consist of a number of young players who have set the major leagues alight. Can Franciszek Smuda survive the pressure and harness the home support to their advantage? I firmly believe that the farthest the home side goes the better for the entire tournament; with this in mind, I will pitch for Poland and Greece to make it out of Group A. I just believe the distraction of Advocaat leaving after the Euros will affect the Russians and the Czech blend may not be good enough to ensure passage to the knock out round.
Players to watch in Group A
Kostas Fortounis (Greece), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Igor Akinfeev (Russia), Tomas Pekhart (Czech Republic).
Group B
This is the group of favorites, i would say; but then what do i know? Everyone has called it the group of Death and i will just try to agree. Never before has a German side had such an abundance of exciting young talent, if you ask me; the German blue print needs to be found and copied thoroughly. In Europe they produce the most coaches and this has translated in the pool of young players that Joachim Low has at his disposal. The Netherlands have added sheer physicality and brute force to their game; they remain a very entertaining team; they scored the most goals in qualifying and have the top scorer from qualifying coupled with two strikers that topped the goal scoring charts in two of the toughest leagues in Europe. The Portuguese have Cristiano Ronaldo and for them to succeed he has to have the tournament of his life, Paulo Bento steadied the ship well, although they were given a tough time by the Danes in qualifying and only made it through the play offs. The Portuguese major problem lies in finishing department, ever since Nuno Gomes and Pauleta; they've not been able to produce an international striker of note instead they have cloned winger after winger; as it is supply is not a problem its the end product that's the problem so Ronaldo will need his shooting boots to be at their best. Former European Champions Denmark will be looking to sneak in under the radar just like they did in 1992; a lot of people have written them off, but Morten Olsen will cherish been in such a position.
Group B Verdict
The depth of the Germans is second to none in this competition, in their 23 man squad they can call on various match winners at any period in time, they are everyone's favorites and i just hope overconfidence would not creep into Low's German camp.For the Dutch, so long as Bert Van Marjwik makes up his mind on who to lead the attack and what midfield pairing to play, the Dutch are definitely in good hands; their defense may be the major point of worry for them, as long as there is adequate protection in front of the back four, i think the Dutch will be ok. The over reliance on Ronaldo may end up been the down fall of the portuguese team, other members of the team have to step up and be counted if they will have any chance to make it through this group. If you woke me up and told me to pick who would make it out of this group, in a split second i would say German and Holland as they are the logical two; but then this is not about logic; a surprise may be on the cards in this group; however that is just my gut feeling trying to have its way as usual; simply put The Netherlands and Germany will make it through the renowned group of Death.
Players to watch from Group B
Marco Reus (Germany), Kevin Strootman (Holland), Cristian Eriksen (Denmark), Nelson Oliveria (Portugal)
Group C
The World and European Champions, Spain have it all to do in a tricky group; the pressure is firmly on them as it is expected that they will make their current double a treble of International championship victories. Injuries to the likes of David Villa and Carlos Puyol will weaken the Spainards in two very key positions; Villa is their all time leading goals scorer, Puyol has played for both club and country with his heart; they will definitely be the missing ingredients in the Spanish menu to be served at the Euros. The Italians are a team with an identity crisis, never before has an Italian team been so out of sorts with the approach and personnel to be used at a major competition, this is also not helped by the ongoing probe back home into match fixing which has implicated a number of notable figures. This Italian team has not identified who will be the focal point of its attack, its blessed abundantly in Midfield, but defensively, I cannot say much. The Irish, who happen to be under Italian tutelage have over the years built themselves to be a somewhat compact and structured team. There has however been an introduction of youth to the fold, this may freshen up the Irish and with a bit of that Irish luck, they may just do well. The Croats under Slaven Bilic have a good strong side that has gradually over time also injected to valuable youths to the fold to partner the old experienced heads within the squad, the defense remains the problem area for the Croats, slow and largely lacking pace.
Group C Verdict
The imminent departure of Slaven Bilic may have a negative effect on the Croatian team, a lot has not really changed in the team, but as earlier stated defensively they have a huge problem; fortunately they have Luka Modric in their team to potentially turn things around. Asides the identity crisis the Italians have, i still feel they can make it pass this group, however a lot will depend on the outcome of the first game against Spain, lose that and the Azurris could be on their way home. Spain are obviously the favorites in this group and unlike ESPN's Tommy Smyth, i am not clouded by National pride/patriotism; the Spaniards will make it out of this group, something tells me that whoever wins the Ireland v Croatia game will join Spain in the knock out round.
Players to watch in Group C
Jordi Alba (Spain), Angelo Ogbonna (Italy), Nikica Jelavic (Croatia), James McClean (Ireland)
Group D
In Group D, England finally go to a tournament where for me expectations are modest, does it have anything to do with the appointment of the manager a month or so before the tournament. One thing that i know for sure is that Roy Hodgson will look to utilize the resources at his disposal to the best use and build a very compact, disciplined and structured England side. A lot of people may not like it, for now that is the only direction England can go, especially with its alarming bad luck with injuries lately. Sweden, of course have the Great Zlatan Ibrahimovic at their disposal; a striker of true international quality, he can win matches on his own for the Swedes, but then he can always get support from the likes of Kim Kallstrom and Sebastian Larsson. Sweden were renowned for somewhat been too defensive under Lagerback, but now under Erik Hamren; they've developed a more attacking style. France have a good talent pool, but it is still yet to be seen if this set can emulate the class of 1998 or 2000; the major source of worry would have been defensively for France but Phillipe Mexes has developed a good partnership with Rami and this is a major plus; as long as the French do not have another fiasco like at the World cup, they can definitely be considered contenders. Andriy Shevchenko's international swan song right in front of his own country men, spurred on my Millions of Ukrainians to cause a major upset in this group and they are capable of that, but would not.
Group D Verdict
The Ukrainians will enjoy the party, but will not be able to take it beyond the three group games, France will definitely make it out of this group, second place will be between England and Sweden, hence their meeting will be very crucial in deciding the team to make it through to the quarter finals. Confidence will be pretty low in the English camp with the players they've lost to injuries as well as the off field issues; however the dampened expectations may just work in England's favour.
Players to watch in Group D
John Guidetti (Sweden), Denys Harmash (Ukraine), Alex Oxlade Chamberlain (England), Yann M'villa (France)
The Dark Horses
In 1992 and 2004, Denmark and Greece were crowned Champions of Europe; in the most unlikely of circumstances. Lightening struck twice in that instance, so why not a third time; hence, we will be monitoring with keen interest the progress of Ireland and Poland as my dark horses.
Semi Final Pairings Prediction
Germany V France
Spain V Netherlands
Final Prediction
Germany v Netherlands ( Germany will end the Euros as champions by playing the best football of the tournament)
Player of the Tournament
Mesut Ozil
Top Scorer
Karim Benzema
Conclusion
We have looked forward to the Euros to come around for 4 years and we just cannot wait, now my record in predictions have been quite average lately, I just hope i would not jinx the Germans. It promises to be a fantastic tournament with plenty of goals and watch out for a lot of teams embracing the 4-2-3-1 formation.
Note
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Adeyemi Adesanya
Follow @yemimanutd
Tactics IQ Limited
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