Euro 2012 Group C: News & Analysis

Discussion in 'Group C - Spain, Italy, Croatia, Ireland' started by mfw13, Dec 2, 2011.

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  1. Pyros

    Pyros Member

    Sep 6, 2009
    La Coruña
    Club:
    Valencia CF
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Our LB is fine with Jordi Alba, so that only leaves two.
     
  2. Sempre

    Sempre ****************** Member+

    Mar 4, 2005
    NYC
    Club:
    AS Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    At 13-1, Italy may be decent value to a betting man. In Prandelli they have a coach who has improved morale and imposed a more attacking game, and they'll bring both good forwards (Balotelli, DiNatale, Rossi, if he recovers) and what's more, a deep midfield (Pirlo, De Rossi, Marchisio, Montolivo, Nocerino, Aquilani, Motta). Buffon seems to be back to top form and Chiellini will anchor a defense that conceded only two goals in the qualifiers.

    But, as always, match-ups are key. If Italy matched up better with their group C opponents (Spain, Ireland, Croatia), I'd give them a better shot of making a serious run at this tournament. But the match-ups aren't good and this is a relatively inexperienced team. I could see them crashing out of a tight group, and putting together a more serious challenge at WC 2014. We'll see.
     
  3. the one and only

    Jul 15, 2011
    Yeah the double Pivot stuff isn't what's up, but it might be very useful if they decide to play with only 3 at the back.

    Villa will be back by then, but i doubt we'll see the worldcup 2010 villa. He wasn't really in form even before his injury. As for Torres, his form in the past 2 years suggests he should be no where near the team. But they have other very good options in Soldado, Llorente and even Negredo imo.

    As for Left Back position, they have Jordi Alba. Monreal and Arbeloa can also cover that position.
     
  4. the one and only

    Jul 15, 2011
    As good and high profil as some of those names are, do you actually think today that they're better or as good as Xavi/Busquets/Iniesta/Silva/Alonso/Fabregas/Mata/Carzola/Villa (if fit)/Soldado/Alcantara...???
    Or even Schwinsteinger/Kroos/Khedira/Ozil/Müller/Gotze/podolski/Klose/Gomez...???
     
  5. gummy-bear83

    gummy-bear83 Member

    May 24, 2010
    Piombino, Tuscany.
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy

    Match-ups are made to be broken....we haven't beaten Croatia so far....sooner or later we'll be able to do it....
     
  6. gumbacicc

    gumbacicc Member+

    Dec 7, 2004
    USA
    Spain gets the edge, as far as individuals are concerned; but that didn't seem to matter much when most of their first team played in the friendly loss to Italy. Games aren't played on paper.

    Germany have quality, no doubt; but I'd put Italy right there with their talent. We all know what happens when Italy plays Germany when it matters.
     
  7. Fabio Grosso 2006

    Fabio Grosso 2006 BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Sep 2, 2009
    Club:
    AC Milan
    As Ive mentioned I wouldnt be surprised if we crash out at the group stage or if we win the lot either. Tough group and even if we get out a probable match up with France/England beckons. If we're nopt banged up after the group stage we certainly will be after a bruising encounter in the qtr final.

    Need a fit Rossi and Cassano.
     
  8. TFC17

    TFC17 Member

    Mar 20, 2009
    Cassano won't be healthy, barring setback Rossi should be. Our attack and mid-field stack up fine against anyone either way. I'm more concerned about the defense. Criscito, Maggio and Chiellini are the only 3 defenders I have confidence in. We have a huge hole at CB beside Chiellini, but if Barzagli continues his great form for Juventus, he'd fix that.

    The group will be tougher than any knockout games IMO. Ireland is no pushover, Croatia is typically frustrating for Italy and Spain is Spain. I could see us coming out of the group unconvincingly, but then going on a run.
     
  9. Hulk_Hogan_Italia

    AC Milan
    Italy
    Aug 17, 2005
    Toronto, Canada
    It looks like Cassano is healthy and has played great for Milan these past couple of matches
     
  10. unclesox

    unclesox BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 8, 2003
    209, California
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Carles Puyol is to have right knee surgery on May 12 and will require six weeks recovery. He has been ruled out of the Spain team for EURO 2012.
    SPORT
     
  11. gummy-bear83

    gummy-bear83 Member

    May 24, 2010
    Piombino, Tuscany.
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Good news for Italy... and are there news concerning David Villa? will he be called?
     
  12. unclesox

    unclesox BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 8, 2003
    209, California
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
    Del Bosque has said that he will wait until the last possible moment to decide in order to give Villa as much recovery time as possible. (the deadline to submit the final 23-man squad is Sunday 27 May) Everyone associated with the matter, from Villa himself to the medical staffs at both Barcelona and Spain, are all optimistic.
     
  13. pmannion

    pmannion Member
    Staff Member

    Apr 13, 2001
    Newfoundland
    Nat'l Team:
    Ireland Republic
    Republic of Ireland Squad:

    Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Aston Villa), Keiren Westwood (Sunderland), David Forde Millwall).

    Defenders: John O’Shea (Sunderland), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa), Seán St Ledger (Leicester City), Stephen Ward (Wolves), Kevin Foley (Wolves), Stephen Kelly (Fulham), Darren O’Dea (Celtic).

    Midfielders: Keith Andrews (West Brom), Glenn Whelan (Stoke), Darron Gibson (Everton), Damien Duff (Fulham), Aiden McGeady (Spartak Moscow), Stephen Hunt (Wolves), Keith Fahey (Birmingham), James McClean (Sunderland).

    Forwards: Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy), Kevin Doyle (Wolves), Simon Cox (West Brom), Jon Walters (Stoke), Shane Long (West Brom).

    Standby: Darren Randolph (Motherwell), Paul McShane (Crystal Palace), Paul Green (Derby County), Seamus Coleman (Everton), Andy Keogh (Millwall).
     
  14. d3rd3vil

    d3rd3vil Member

    Jan 3, 2012
    Nat'l Team:
    Germany
    I guess Italy and Spain will both win against Croatia and Ireland. But I would love to see Ireland and/or Croatia to win against Spain ^^
     
  15. Loomis

    Loomis Member

    Apr 10, 2012
    Zagreb
    Club:
    AS Roma
    Nat'l Team:
    Croatia
    I am not so sure about Italy, Croatia is their weak spot
     
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  16. slnaclubvn

    slnaclubvn Member

    Mar 2, 2012
    Club:
    AC Milan
    I think the final ranking will be:
    1. Spain (7 points)
    2. Croatia (6 points)
    3. Italia (2 points)
    4. Ireland (1 point.)
     
  17. Fabio Grosso 2006

    Fabio Grosso 2006 BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Sep 2, 2009
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Going to be a cracker of a group. Of course I want Italy to do well, but I was lucky enough like many of you to witness the Azzurri win the world cup. You can't ask for more than that. I'm just happy we are involved in a great group with exciting match ups. Balotelli is the key for Italy. If he fires we'll get through the group, although we have the genius in Cassano. Again, anything is possible with Italy, a first round exit or win the lot! I'm feeling we are going to beat Spain, the other side of me says we'll get thumped lol. Either way a great, great Euro It shall be and I'm effin excited!

    Peace to you all;)

    By the way, Croatians, I love ya's and have many Croatian friends. Italian's and Croatian's are alike in many ways. Love their food, friends and family, very religious and have good respect etc. Gonna be a wild night when we play you haha could see us losing again lol.
     
  18. cromagnum

    cromagnum Member+

    Aug 13, 2007
    No idea what to expect from Croatia..There is a major overhaul going on with the football federation..The coach Slaven Bilic is stepping down after Euros to take over for Lokomotiv Moscow..The president has also resigned and Davor Suker will take over as president..Not a very popular person Suker is these days as Croatian people consider him a greedy crook who only cares about money..Difficult to say if these changes will affect the players or not..Fans are basically disgusted with football as its basically being taken over by the mafia and the government knows this but does not care..We have good players but we have a difficult group and morale is very low in the country right now unlike 2008 when morale was very high..Im not expecting to get out of this group and i see dark times for the Croatian national team in the future..
     
  19. Pichi

    Pichi Moderator
    Staff Member

    Dec 17, 1999
    San Jose, CA
    Club:
    Real Betis
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Vicente Del Bosque has named the 21 players selected for the preliminary list.

    Goal Keepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid CF) y José Manuel Reina (Liverpool FC) y David De Gea (Manchester United FC)
    Defenders: Álvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid CF), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid CF), Raúl Albiol (Real Madrid CF), Jordi Alba (Valencia CF SAD), Ignacio Monreal (Málaga CF), Juanfran Torres (C.Atlético de Madrid SAD) y Álvaro Domínguez (C.Atlético de Madrid SAD).
    Midfielders: Xabier Alonso (Real Madrid CF), Santiago Cazorla (Málaga CF SAD), Beñat Etxebarria (Real Betis Balompié), Francisco R. Alarcón ‘Isco’ (Málaga CF), Javier García (SL Benfica) y Bruno Soriano (Villarreal CF SAD).
    Forwards: David Jiménez Silva (Manchester City FC), Jesús Navas (Sevilla CF SAD), Álvaro Negredo (Sevilla FC SAD), Roberto Soldado (Valencia CF SAD) y Adrián López (C. Atlético de Madrid SAD).

    These are the players that will report to Las Rozas on 21 May and the team will travel to Austria on 22 May for their training camp where they are scheduled to play friendlies against Serbia in St. Gallen Switzerland on 26 May and South Korea in Bern on the 30th. The team will return to Spain on the 31st of May.

    As the training sessions continue Del Bosque plans to send home players who no longer fit in his plans. At this time there are no players from Chelsea who plays in the CL final this weekend, as well as there are no Barca or Athletic Bilbao players selected as they will be playing in the Copa del Rey final on 25 May. Any Chelsea players selected will be required to report to St. Gallen on the 25th of May. Del Bosque plans on naming the final list on 27 May. Spain is also scheduled to play one friendly on 3 June against China in Sevilla, before heading to Poland for Euro 2012,

    Aupa Espanha y La Furia Roja!
     
  20. Fabio Grosso 2006

    Fabio Grosso 2006 BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Sep 2, 2009
    Club:
    AC Milan
    I don't, because you guys still have the quality and always will produce great footballers.
     
  21. Pichi

    Pichi Moderator
    Staff Member

    Dec 17, 1999
    San Jose, CA
    Club:
    Real Betis
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    Added to the list are Mata and Torres from Chelsea. They will report to Austria later this week and will be available to play in the South Korean friendly.
     
  22. Rob_420

    Rob_420 Member

    Jun 2, 2006
    Montreal
    Club:
    SS Lazio Roma
    That would be sad as Croatia have a good footballing tradition since their inception, the best of any former Yugoslav nation.

    With that being said I keep hearing Croatia as a team that can make some noise but I can't see it. I see them bombing out of this group with 1 point. They have some quality in midfield but I watched them in the qualifiers against Greece and they were terrible, and this match was to win the qualifying group. The Greeks could've won that match by 3-4 goal margin. They picked themselves up and shocked the Turks in Turkey 3-0, but I don't know how much stock to put in that. The Turks were very poor in that match and Croatia really were the hungrier side probably due to revenge for Euro 2008 and they snatched the away goal in the 2nd minute. But that match aside the Croats have been really poor since their loss in Euro 2008.

    I think Ireland can surprise some people. They've been a tough opponent for every team they've faced since Trap and Tardelli took over the Greens. They don't blow anyone out but they finished 2nd in a tough group where teams like Slovakia, Armenia and Macedonia can prove formidable especially as the 3-5 best teams in the group. They're unbeaten in their last 12 games. They will be tough to breakdown for sure, the only question is whether they can find enough goals to advance?
     
  23. unclesox

    unclesox BigSoccer Supporter

    Mar 8, 2003
    209, California
    Club:
    FC Barcelona
  24. cromagnum

    cromagnum Member+

    Aug 13, 2007
    Well Greece bunkered that game for the most part and on there first corner in the second half scored..After that Greece got confidence and just took over..Bilic messed that game up with poor tactics choosing to play it safe and go for the draw..Croatia has good players but like you said rarely has played well since euro 2008..Maybe Jelavic will give us a spark as he has been on fire in the EPL..Teams have been focusing on Modric not giving him any time or space on the ball..Take him out of the game Croatia just lacks any ideas to create chances..I have a feeling you will be right and Croatia will go out in group stages with one point..My bigger concern is where Croatian football is going..We are a small country but we always have been able to produce good players..With all the corruption going on in Croatian football i don't think we will qualify for a major tournament for a long time..
     
  25. Pichi

    Pichi Moderator
    Staff Member

    Dec 17, 1999
    San Jose, CA
    Club:
    Real Betis
    Nat'l Team:
    Spain
    It looks like his replacement will be one of the following three players: Muniain, Pedro or Adrián López. Only Lopez is currently with the NT training as the other two will be playing in the Copa Final this weekend.
     

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