EURO 2012 - The Road to the Olympic Stadium

Four years go by fast! But it's back, it's bigger and there is more controversy then ever before!



I doubt this thread will get much attention because ZU has people from all over Earth and not just Europe but this is for anyone who has even the slightest interest in the Euros this year and Europe is essentially the centre of Football and the more popular teams such as Spain, Germany, Netherlands and Portugal will be followed by people from India to Canada. If one person comes on this page besides me I will consider this thread a success! This a thread for y'all and myself to discuss the matches, the results, the players, the controversies and of course the final. This post will be edited through the tournament to bring the information up to date.

For anyone who isn't really into Football/Soccer but would like to know more essentially Euros is a micro version of the World Cup. It's hold every four years with in one (or more) countries with in Europe. Prior to the tournament itself there are qualifying stages in which every team across Europe fights for their place in the group stages. This tournament marks the return of England and Denmark following the pairs absence from the 2008 championship in Austria and Hungary. It also marks the first tournament for Ukraine as a independent country and the first appearance of the Republic of Ireland in 24 years!

Essentially, during the Group Stages the four teams will play each other once, the two teams with the highest points within their group will get through to the knock-out phase. If they lose any matches during the knock-out phase they will obviously be knocked out. The knock-out stage is made up of three sequences; the Quarter-Finals, the Semi-Finals and finally, the Final.

Spain are currently the dominant force in International Football after winning both Euro 2008 and the World Cup in 2010. However, due to injuries to key players such as Puyol and David Villa it remains to be seen whether they can maintain their title. According to William Hill, Germany are favourites to win with the odds at 3/1, Spain come in at 11/4. Bad news for Greece and Czech Republic as they swim at the bottom of William Hill's table both coming in with a 100/1 chance of winning Euro 2012.

If you want more information in regard to the tournament either ask me or check out Wikipedia's page which has links to the teams current roster as well as stadia that will visited throughout the tournament. UEFA Euro 2012 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Enough of all that though! Here are the teams and the group they've been seeded into;

Group A
Russia
Poland
Greece
Czech Republic

Group B
Denmark
Germany
Portugal
Netherlands

Group C
Spain
Italy
Republic of Ireland
Croatia

Group D
Ukraine
Sweden
France
England

Here are the dates of the matches as well as which team will be playing which.



I will update the Group Standing at the end of each day, I could do it after each game (twice a day) but I'm lazy so I'll do it once a day.




(If anyone wants me too add anything to this post just let me know in this thread or in a private message )

Spain v Italy is gonna be a great game, I'm really looking forward to it.

Also, I can't believe the Netherlands blew it against Denmark. That's basically a must-win in Group B (ie. The Group of Death) and the easiest chance for 3 pts they're going to get. They caught a break with Portugal falling to Germany, though, I thought for sure Pepe had scored in the dying seconds of the first half (robbed by the cross-bar).


Every year I pull for England as well as some random team. This year I've chosen Sweden, and they actually have a chance to advance if France collapses like they did in 2010. Too bad England will have to play Sweden in the opening round. Ah well,

GO SWENGLAND!

I can see Spain Italy going two ways, one way is that both teams play attractive, attacking football the other way is that Spain hold possession, Italy park the bus and Balotelli loses his composure and gets sent off. Actually, either way I'm looking forward to that match as well!

I know it was a dreadful game for Netherlands, Robben squandered every chance he got and Van Persie was dire, I had a bet on 3-1 to the Netherlands and I was pretty certain I was going to win it! I actually thought Denmark were better off the ball then on it!

Oof, I wish I could choose a team. I have to back England really, looking forward to seeing SUPER DANNY WELBECK. Hope the racists don't get the Young, Cole, Walcott and SUPER DANNY WELBECK though. There's literally zero expectation on England this tournament so hopefully they will pull through and be able to play a natural game without the pressure they usually have to deal with. Secretly everyone in England thinks we will because of this but you're not allowed to tell anyone because the media will start over-hyping us again

Thanks for commenting though! I thought I was going to be updating for nobodies use but my own

I'm supporting either Germany or Russia this time.
Probably Germany. I was with Germany for Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010. Hope they get to beat Spain this time, if ever they get to play against each other.

I am a huge football fan and while I at most miss 5 games in a season (including friendlies and foreign games) of my team (Royal Antwerp F.C., Belgian 2nd league), I usually don't care much for international games.

To me, football is something you have to watch in the stadiums. I never could get really enthousiastic for a game on the tele.

But if I had to pick one country I can sympathise with, I'd pick the English. Every game they play, they have an army of fans following them and they really chant troughout the whole game. They bring an atmosphere to the tournament that isn't measured by any other country and it reminds me a bit of my own team.

Originally Posted by Iron Fist

I'm supporting either Germany or Russia this time.
Probably Germany. I was with Germany for Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010. Hope they get to beat Spain this time, if ever they get to play against each other.

I have nothing to say to you. Get out my thread.

Originally Posted by DJFoxHound16

I am a huge football fan and while I at most miss 5 games in a season (including friendlies and foreign games) of my team (Royal Antwerp F.C., Belgian 2nd league), I usually don't care much for international games.

To me, football is something you have to watch in the stadiums. I never could get really enthousiastic for a game on the tele.

But if I had to pick one country I can sympathise with, I'd pick the English. Every game they play, they have an army of fans following them and they really chant troughout the whole game. They bring an atmosphere to the tournament that isn't measured by any other country and it reminds me a bit of my own team.

I don't' even know you but just by supporting England (whether for sympathy or for the undying loyalty we have for our country despite knowing we'll almost definitely lose) you've gone about 1,000 places above Iron Fist in my virtual, not really Friend counter. Well done

I agree with what you said about games feeling more important and genuinely better when you're actually there, I used to try and go down to St. James' Park (or Sports Direct Arena as it's now known) at least 5 times a season. Royal Antwerp hey? Do you still got a few Man United youth players come through your team every few years? Because you've had Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson before, no?

Sorry about Ashley Young the other day mate

GERMANY FOR LIFE.
In the 2010 World Cup, I did support Spain, but I must admit that it hurt to see Germany lose, because they played excellently thorough all the matches and they too woudl've deserved to win. If they win this year, I'm getting drunk on German beer.

And ehehe hahaha Poland vs Russia, looking forward to a potential tension there. xD

Originally Posted by Nestlé

GERMANY FOR LIFE.
In the 2010 World Cup, I did support Spain, but I must admit that it hurt to see Germany lose, because they played excellently thorough all the matches and they too woudl've deserved to win.

Yes, I agree. Germany played excellently, I still remember their match against Argentina. I lol'd at all the people who put their money on Argentina. Germany played really well in the tournament, but they got a bit too passive in the final match imo.

---------- Post added at 08:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:26 PM ----------

Originally Posted by Toby

I have nothing to say to you. Get out my thread.



...just by supporting England (whether for sympathy or for the undying loyalty we have for our country despite knowing we'll almost definitely lose) you've gone about 1,000 places above Iron Fist in my virtual, not really Friend counter. Well done

Dude, you really should have named your thread 'England National Football Team fan thread' instead of 'Euro 2012' if all those not supporting England would have to 'get out' your thread

Originally Posted by Toby

Royal Antwerp hey? Do you still got a few Man United youth players come through your team every few years? Because you've had Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson before, no?

It has been quiet for a few years, but they've picked it back up and last season we had John Cofie on loan.

Originally Posted by Toby

I used to try and go down to St. James' Park (or Sports Direct Arena as it's now known) at least 5 times a season.

A Magpie I see. I saw them play once a few years ago, it was a friendly at Dundee United. We were playing Dundee FC the day after, and we thought it was fun to go to an exra game, away end offcourse

lol torres

why bring him to the cup.
When was the last time he was in shape?

Originally Posted by Iron Fist

Dude, you really should have named your thread 'England National Football Team fan thread' instead of 'Euro 2012' if all those not supporting England would have to 'get out' your thread

I kid, I kid! It's the Spanish I can't stand. I like Germany's team at the moment truth be told, I'm looking forward to seeing how Ozil, Gotze, Muller/Podolski and Gomez/Klosé/Reus play to be honest! Hopefully Germany will play more interesting football against Denmark or Netherlands though, that game last night was so boring until the last 20 minutes!

Originally Posted by DJFoxHound16

It has been quiet for a few years, but they've picked it back up and last season we had John Cofie on loan.

A Magpie I see. I saw them play once a few years ago, it was a friendly at Dundee United. We were playing Dundee FC the day after, and we thought it was fun to go to an exra game, away end offcourse

OH was it one of those unofficial tournament kind of things? I've never heard of John Cofie truth be told, was he any good? I might scout him on Football Manager. Good to hear that relationship's still strong though!

Originally Posted by Tomcat_ha

lol torres

why bring him to the cup.
When was the last time he was in shape?

What ever do you mean?

Netherlands lost to Denmark. Persie is a moron and Robben shoots from the other side for the feild. Netherlands seriously had 40 million goal attempts and missed every single one and Denmark piddled around and got one goal by more so luck than anything and won the game.

And then even GERMANY didn't score a goal till the 11th hour of the game against Portugal.

Originally Posted by Toby

Hopefully Germany will play more interesting football against Denmark or Netherlands though, that game last night was so boring until the last 20 minutes!

It's Holland vs Germany on Wednesday. Freaking germans need to die but yeah that's not going to happen most likely. Germany against Holland is either going to be a very good match (by which I mean both doing good) or Persie is just going to suck again and Holland won't put goals in.

So I root for Ireland to beat Croatia, just for kicks today. And surprisingly it's actually tied right now.


EDIT: Woop. Not anymore.

Second best match after Russia Czech Republic, now I can spend all night worrying about either getting dominated by France or pulling a victory.

Ah, I need to update the first post too!

Both games were great today, but for different reasons.


Spain-Italy was such a close game (hell, even the goals were like 3 minutes apart) and so tense. Spain moves the ball beautifully and I was really impressed with Italy's stalwart defense. I was not expecting that from them.

I tuned in 10 minutes late and completely forgot about Torres until halfway through the second half. He actually played all right, but he has no finish to speak of in international games. Too bad Villa isn't playing, he's one of my favourite players.


Croatia-Ireland was great just for all the goals! It's been such a low scoring affair since game#1, 3-1 is practically a blow-out.

VAMOS ESPANA.

Pretty obvious who I'm going for. Good game today for them, they played so well. I think they can win this cup. <3

Looking forward to watch some good games this week. France and England should be interesting.

My job requires me to work on weekends. I was so upset that I was going to the miss most of the EURO action (my friends tend to ruin events for me by texting me the results), but what to my wondrous eyes should appear? Daily, live coverage on all the televisions at work! My customer service skills may have suffered, but my football addiction is alive and well. Fair trade!

I would love to see a Spain-Germany rematch. I still remember my heart breaking when Germany lost in 2010. Deutschland!

I'm pulling for Germany and England- both teams play amazing football. Plus, I’m slightly biased because I lived in both places for a bit. Best time of my life.

Originally Posted by McC

My job requires me to work on weekends. I was so upset that I was going to the miss most of the EURO action (my friends tend to ruin events for me by texting me the results), but what to my wondrous eyes should appear? Daily, live coverage on all the televisions at work! My customer service skills may have suffered, but my football addiction is alive and well. Fair trade!

I would love to see a Spain-Germany rematch. I still remember my heart breaking when Germany lost in 2010. Deutschland!

I'm pulling for Germany and England- both teams play amazing football. Plus, I’m slightly biased because I lived in both places for a bit. Best time of my life.

Thank God you got your right to football! I was scared for a moment there wasn't going to be a happy ending!

Did you watch England France? If you didn't catch it and didn't have it recorded don't read the next bit! I can't believe Milner missed that shot! Can't help but feel Walcott would've been able to score it, so annoyed, I had England to win 2 - 1 down as one of my bets!

Time to update the initial post again!

Oh yeah lol, England vs France, I looked forward to it -- it was, in all honesty, a bit boring match. :'> Though I was really touched by the enthusiasm of the English supporters; I heard them singing often!

2-0 to Czech Republic!

Greece better Czech themselves before they wreck themselves!

Two days off, and all the UEFA EURO for me!

The Czechs played excellent - I'm not a big fan of Greece. Too many dives.

As for the Poland-Russia game, the tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife. How about the mini-riot before the match?! Some intense stuff.