To Finish Bottom of Group Tips for Euro 2012

History is written by winners, and this summer, there will be much talk about the team that gets to be crowned as Euro 2012 champions. In a fast, knockout-format tournament, there is less time to mind the ones left behind; fans will have to keep moving on and stop minding the losers at least until the tournament ends. Well this is no consolation, but for at least a few moments now onward, let’s talk about the teams likely to finish at the bottom of their respective groups in this tournament.

Group A

There will be an air of fortune in all of Group A after evading the biggest European sides that have been rampaging through one major tournament after another. Russia will be the happiest of them all – and Czech Republic too, if we consider their all-time Euro record – with an experienced squad that has played together too often to not perform well as a team. The Russians too have found defensive stability in the leadership of Dick Advocaat.

The Czechs are more or less as capable as the Russians, and should be able to challenge for one of the two top spots. The Poles however could mount a challenge, and should be treated as possible qualifiers. Given their current roster – and the fact that they are co-hosts – there’s much more to Poland that their inconsistent history. If they play consistently in the group stages, there’s a good chance that they could spoil the Russia-Czech Republic domination.

This leaves us with Greece, 2004 surprise champions that have fizzled out during qualification. Honestly, they do not look like the team that won the tournament eight years ago; they do pull off drab but efficient results that reeks of efficiency. Now the question is, how far can they go before they finally crash and burn?

Group B

We promised not to talk much about winners, so let’s leave Germany and Netherlands out of the spotlight for now. After all, you couldn’t really imagine these two teams occupy the third and fourth spots of the group. Instead let’s take a look at how Portugal and Denmark match head-to-head.

Portugal features loads of talent that has disappointingly failed to play together as one strong unit. Cristiano Ronaldo is good – arguably the best player to ever play the game – but he can’t do it all. Against the likes of German and Netherlands, he could literally be eaten alive. There’s a ray of hope though that couldn’t help but nag you with the idea that Portugal has a surprise up in their sleeves in one way or another. But for now you’d better be content with the idea that they are not the expected cellar-dwellers in this group.

Denmark is a better team (the word ‘team’ defined as a group of players that are able to play together) than Portugal at the moment, but with players not looking so sharp lately, they could lag behind big time. As it looks, Denmark’s hopes of avoiding a bottom-of-the-group finish this summer could boil down to a heads-up match against Portugal, and to a lesser likelihood, down to goal difference. For now the choice is simple: logic says that Denmark will finish at the bottom of Group B.

Group C

Like Group B, the third group of Euro 2012 has an almost-automatic qualifier in Spain. The Spaniards are of course the defending champions and recent World Cup winners. This leaves us with Italy, Croatia, and Republic of Ireland in a three-way death-match insofar as a bottom-group finish is concerned.

Of these three you could cross the Italians and the Croatians out as possible ‘goats’ in this tournament. Croatia is even realistically capable of spoiling Italy’s pre-knockout stage charge, but Italy is undoubtedly ahead in terms of experience, quality, and Euro pedigree. Pending their head-to-head match-up, you can count on either of these teams to occupy group C’s second and third spots.

Republic of Ireland won’t bow out of this tournament without a fight; still you can’t help but feel sorry for them. Giovanni Trapattoni will surely spring tactics that can jolt Spain, Italy, or Croatia, but at the end of the day, they don’t have enough firepower to seal a string of wins. If they do come back with the same defensive intensity they are known to possess (and possibly add strikers in the mix that can maneuver even the best defenses) then they would definitely be a different story four years from now.

Group D

England and France will battle each other out for the spoils of war in Group D – both teams are expected to make an easy entry into the knockout stages at the expense of Ukraine and Sweden. Between the two it’s still a toss-up as to who would earn a consolatory third-place group finish.

Minus the home advantage, Sweden is simply better than the Ukrainians. The Swedes do have Zlatan Ibrahimovic on their side, and a practical coach in Erik Hamren. Hamren has tried experimenting with the team during qualification, and it’s a safe bet to say that he has built a balanced side for this summer’s affair.

Ukraine will be relying on old-reliable Andriy Shevchenko to supply them the much-needed goals. At 35-years old, this could be Shevchenko’s last tournament; once the best striker in Europe, he is expected to say goodbye with a bang. Then again Shevchenko can’t win it all on his own, much less prevent a fourth-place finish in the group (that is unless his teammates join in and play extraordinarily as well).

All odds are from Bet365.com (£200 FREE BET!).