Euro 2012 Group A: News & Analysis

They did win two German Cups though! And in 2002 with Waldoch as team captain. But I agree, this is not a fraction of the success of the current Borussia contingent.

 

I agree. Wawrzyniak always seems to make stupid mistakes. The one against Germany was simply unforgivable. If Boenisch is able to play at 100% he should start instead of Wawrzyniak, despite his lack of playing time.

 

I agree....I just wasn't sure whether Boenish was fit again...i know that he some problems with getting into the first eleven before the injury...to be honest..i have not see him play loads
i trust both of your judgments ..not sure if there is a LB in all of Bundesliga that would not start over Wawrzyniak for the Polish NT...

 

schalke (or scheisse) had nothing to play in the last game...that was Boenisch second start of the season..he warmed the pine nearly the entire spring round of the season....not exactly a regular was Boenisch..but yes...if fit..he is an upgrade over Wawrzyniak

 

WOW
Najlepsza jedenastka sezonu Bundesligi wg "Kickera":

Bernd Leno (Bayer Leverkusen) - Łukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund), Mats Hummels (Borussia Dortmund), Roel Brouwers (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Filip Daems (Borussia Moenchengladbach) - Sebastian Kehl (Borussia Dortmund), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Monachium) - Jakub Błaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund) Marco Reus (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Franck Ribery (Bayern Monachium) - Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund)

 

That's truly amazing. I never thought that I would live to see the day when three Polish players would feature in the top 11 of one of the world's best leagues. And to keep this on topic, I can't see any players from our group opponents in the top 11 of any other of the Big Five.

 

And on a more somber note, because there is always a touch of gray in every silver lining:
http://www.sport.pl/pilka/1,65080,11714551,Premier_League__Szczesny_od_5_tygodni_gra_z_bolem.html (link in Polish, will try to find one in English later)

Wegener says that Szczesny has been playing on painkillers for the last five weeks...

Evidently his shoulder is shot. Good job Smuda.....if Szczesny can't play, we are screwed, unless he calls up Boruc, which he won't do...

 

The table is rather balance. In recently years, Poland is a medium team in Europe but as a co-host, their power becomes more formidable. While Greece and Russia are often play good in Euro. 3 team will competion to have 2 ticket. Cezch will not chance.

 

Jury still out on Smuda...
Boruc..somewhat unfairly was banished from NT...dont care what anyone says but Artur has always spilled his guts on the field.....
Not sure what the present medical condition of Szczesny is but I am expected him to play...the kid is a special competitor...he will play unless his shoulder is physically detached...it's a concern though..no doubt..

 

Yup...that is truly brilliant....somewhat sad when looking at all years back..it's about damn time..
at the end of the day...it's a collective effort...and I hope the team come together playing at home..

let's not forget...a team can get hot and go deep in this shorter tournament..there is no reason why we can't pull of dark horse run a la Denmark in 1992 or Greece in 2004...

 

So the Czech roster was announced today (well there is still a battle for the 3rd GK spot):

GK
Petr Čech (Chelsea), Jaroslav Drobný (Hamburg), Jan Laštůvka (Dnipro), Tomáš Grigar (Teplice)

Defenders
Theodor Gebre Selassie (Slovan Liberec), Roman Hubník (Hertha Berlin), Michal Kadlec (Bayer Leverkusen), David Limberský (Viktoria Plzeň), Daniel Pudil (Cesena), František Rajtoral (Viktoria Plzeň), Tomáš Sivok (Besiktas), Marek Suchý (Spartak Moscow)

Midfield
Tomáš Hübschman (Shaktar Donetsk), Petr Jiráček (Wolfsburg), Daniel Kolář (Viktoria Plzeň), Milan Petržela (Viktoria Plzeň), Václav Pilař (Viktoria Plzeň), Jaroslav Plašil (Bordeaux), Tomáš Rosický (Arsenal), Jan Rezek (Famagusta)

Forward
Milan Baroš (Galatasaray), David Lafata (Jablonec), Tomáš Necid (CSKA Moskow), Tomáš Pekhart (Nurnberg)


It's a solid squad, definitely capable of advancing from this group, but also capable of finishing last (pretty much describes group A). My two main concerns are over reliance on Baroš for goal scoring since Necid is still trying to recover form, and the defense since both of our projected starting fullbacks (Kadlec and Selassie) can be a bit adventurous going forward at times, which may leave us exposed on a counter attack.

I think this will be an interesting group, very evenly matched with some different styles of play. I will confess that I know very little about the current Polish and Greek teams. I'm going to hold off on any bold predictions until the pre-tournament friendlies.

 

rosicky has played some of his football for Arsenal this past season...quite remarkable actually considering the extent of his injuries since he left BVB

 

Indeed, it's been great to see him return to form after being out so long.

 

man worked his socks off to come back....big reason why he was given an extension at Arsenal....
one of big reasons why we finished third this season

 

I am somewhat intrigued by Necid...wonderful talent....
any other players you think might 'turn some heads" at Euro or next season?

 

I think Selassie and Pilař are almost certainly on there way to bigger leagues next year, and this will be a big opportunity for them to show what they can do. Selassie had a great year in Gambrinus Liga, and has really emerged as very good fullback. Pilař was actually set to move to Wolfsburg in winter, but he's currently on loan and wasn't released from his contract. If there is to be a true break out performance, one of these two would be my guess.

Jiráček has plenty of ability, but his form kind of slipped this spring. Necid is a great talent, but he really hasn't completely bounced back from his injury. Lafata had a tremendous club season, but has never really shown much for the national team.

There a few players that just missed the roster that are certainly on their way to bigger things, most notably is Ladislav Krejčí from Sparta Prague.

 

good info ASU

 

Fernando Santos anounced the 25-man squad that will participate in the training ground before the euro 2012


Greece squad

Goalkeepers: Costas Chalkias (PAOK), Michalis Sifakis (Aris), Alexandros Tzorvas (Palermo/ITA)

Defenders: Vasilis Torosidis (Olympiakos), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiakos), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Schalke/GER), Stelios Malezas (PAOK), Jose Holebas (Olympiakos), Giorgos Tzavellas (Monaco/FRA), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Werder Bremen/GER)

Midfielders: Alexandros Tziolis (Monaco/FRA), Grigoris Makos (AEK), Giannis Maniatis (Olympiakos), Kostas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos), Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos), Giorgos Fotakis (PAOK), Kostas Fortounis (Kaiserslautern/GER), Panagiotis Kone (Bologna/ITA), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos), Giannis Fetfatzidis (Olympiakos)

Forwards: Giorgos Samaras (Celtic/SCO), Dimitris Salpigidis (PAOK), Fanis Gekas (Samsunspor/TUR), Nikos Limberopoulos (AEK), Kostas Mitroglou (Atromitos)




chalkias is definetely the biggest surprise and the worst choice but he will be the 3rd choice so hopefully we won't see him play
if i had to bet i would say that tziolis or makos and kone or fortounis will be the 2 players that will be cut from the final squad(hopefully tziolis and kone)

 

got my days off from work....ordering some proper lager...good friends..and hopefully Poland beats Greece 3-1 on Lewandowski's hat-trick...causing Wenger to reach into the board's pockets to create one of the most attacking trios in EPL ...RvP - Poldi - Lewy

 

Ι don't think that we(greece) will concede so many goal in a game except if we are self destructive....


Our defenders and defensive midfielders(if kyriakos papadopoylos plays there) are in their best form propably of their careers(expect kyriakos who propably is going to evolve even more)
On the other hand,our goalkeepers are in their worst form(Tzorvas hasn't played since december and sifakis lost most part of the season due to injury)


Anyway i won't be suprised if we lose 1-0 or a very "tight" 2-0 but i think that the first match of world cup 2010 is a very good reminder for our players so that they will be concentrated and we will not concede that match

 

Normally we have to yawn a lot when Greece plays. Just because they don't score ^^

Hopefully this time we will see some goals

 

another clean sheet for Poland....defense slowly coming together
watch out

 

Wow! There was a whole discussion regarding this!
It was a typo. If I wrote it in Serbian it would be SSSR

Just looked at the Polish team and the only names I recognize are Szczesny, the Dortmund trio, Obraniak plus Perquis rings a bell... Doesn't seem like a particularly strong team. On paper compared with the Czech Rep. they look pretty anonymous.

 

Czech Republic won our first warmup match 2-1 against Israel. A pretty good result considering we held out many of our projected starters (including Kadlec, Čech, Plašil, and Rosický). The biggest news from the match is that we made a change to our final Euro Squad, as fullback Daniel Pudil will not be going to Euro 2012. Vladimír Darida, a young midfielder from Viktoria Plzeň that was originally called to camp as an alternate has taken his spot.

 

Poland beat Slovakia 1-0 in pre-Euro friendly.