Thursday 28 June 2012

Spain v Portugal - Player Ratings


It's fair to say that my pre match excitement levels for this game weren't met by the entertainment on show.  That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the game.  It was 2 teams playing at a very high level and the tactical battle was fascinating.  However, a few more near misses and memorable moments would have been nice.  I don't subscribe to the "Spain are boring" theory, but I think the way they play often leads to the opposition employing boring tactics to try and combat them.  To Portugal's credit, this approach worked very well.  It wasn't until Extra Time that the tiki taka masterclass started, and even then Portugal dug in and took the game to penalties.

I didn't pick the easiest game in which to rate the players out of ten.  After all, how do you score Iker Casillias? He didn't save a save to make in 120 minutes! But them's the rules so, I'll have to give it a go..

Let's set out a few parameters first - 5/10 is the average, 1/10 means he played, but didn't touch the ball and 10/10 means he won the game all on his own.

Portugal

Rui Patricio 6.5/10  Solid handling throughout, but it wasn't until Extra Time that he had to make any serious saves.  His close range block from Iniesta was outstanding, as was his save from Alonso's penalty.  Patricio has enhanced his reputation over the last 3 weeks.

Joao Pereira 7/10  Rock solid throughout the competition and last night was no different.  Didn't get forward as much as usual but put in numerous tackles and blocks.  Good distribution.

Pepe 8/10  One of the stars of the tournament and a MOTM contender last night.  Barely put a foot wrong in defence, but also intelligent with the ball.  Kept it simple but rarely misplaced a pass.

Bruno Alves 5.5/10  Outshone by Pepe, but he still did his bit to protect the Portuguese goal.  Not such an accomplished passer and guilty of a few aimless hoofs, but every team needs a no nonsense man at the back.  Looked nervous during shoot out and not a big surprise he missed.

Fabio Coentrao 6.5/10 A class act and surely one of the first names on the team sheet.  Gave nothing away in defence, but his link up play with Ronaldo wasn't as effective as in previous games.  A contender for best left back in the competition.

Miguel Veloso 5/10  Worked extremely hard and helped nullify the Spanish midfield.  Barely a factor in Portuguese attacks.  Ran out of steam and no surprise he was replaced in Extra Time.

Raul Meireles 4.5/10  Very similar to Veloso, ran himself into the ground but offered very little with the ball. A bit of a disappointment as he a better attacking player than he showed here.  Not a great tournament for the Chelsea man.

Joao Moutinho 7.5/10  Perpetual motion.  Seemed to be following the entire Spanish midfield around the pitch.  Won the ball on countless occasions and very good distribution.  Was the instigator for most of the Portuguese attacks.  Hit his penalty well, but denied by a great save.

Nani - 4.5/10  Wonderful penalty, but the proceeding 120 mnutes were largely frustrating.  Made a couple of trademark runs in the first half but was up against a superb full back and struggled to make much impact.

Cristiano Ronaldo - 5/10  Didn't get many chances to run at the Spanish defence and well shackled by Arbeloa.  Never the less there were still flashes of Ronaldo's brilliance.  One run and cross in the first half was particularly brilliant.  Very poor from free kicks and wasted at least 5 good opportunities.  Also, blazed over the chance to score a last minute winner.

Hugo Almeida - 2.5/10 Anonymous, aside forma couple of good defensive headers.  Contributed almost nothing to the Portuguese attack.  It's hard to see them winning a tournament until they find a world class front man.  Substitute din normal time.

Subs:  Nelson Oliveira - 3/10  Carried on where Almeida left off!  Slightly better movement, but he failed to have much impact.

Custodio - 4/10 Carried on where Veloso left off, but was mainly chasing shadows as Spain took hold of midfield.

Varela - Only had 6 minutes so unfair to mark him.


Spain

Iker Casillias 5.5/10  Caught a few crosses but that was about it.  Portugal didn't manage a shot on target.  Made a great save form Moutinho's penalty.  More long kicks than usual, as Portugal closed down the space effectively.

Alvaro Arbeloa - 6/10  Supposedly the weak link, but didn't play that way.  Kept Ronaldo quiet and passed the ball sensibly.  Provided some width to Spanish attacks and had a decent early chance, but decided to take it with his left foot , when a blast with the right may have been a better idea.

Gerald Pique 6/10  Doubled up on Roanldo on occasion and distributed the ball well.  Not a very taxing night, but Pique looked as accomplished as usual.  Also took a lovely penalty.

Sergio Ramos 7/10  Handling Almeida was a formality, and Ramos was solid throughout.  Not as good coming forward as Pique, but gets an extra point for his outrageous penalty.

Jordi Alba 6.5/10  Boundless energy for 120 minutes and was always available for a pass.  Beaten by Nani a couple of times, but always covered by his centre halves.  Great tournament for Alba.

Sergio Busquets 4.5/10  Not a great night for the Barcelona man, distribution was patchy and this wasn't the Spanish midfield at it's finest.  Broke up a few Portuguese attacks but we've come to expect a bit more from Busquets.

Xabi Alonso 4.5/10 Hard to criticize his penalty, as it was a wonderful save.  During normal time, Alonso struggled to have much influence and was a peripheral figure.  Came into it more in Extra Time as Spain took control of midfield.

Xavi 4/10  A rare, poor game from the world's best central midfielder.  He never got into his usual rhythm as Portugal disrupted the Spanish passing game. The message is clear for whoever faces them in the final - stop Xavi and Spain are are nowhere near their best.

David Silva - 3.5/10  Another off player who had an off night.  Drifted inside to try and get into the game but it was no surprise when he was taken off.  Not helped by a lack of movement from Negredo up front.

Andrea Iniesta 6.5/10  As usual, Iniesta was a joy to watch. Lovely flicks and tricks as he tried manfully to get something going for the Spanish.  If there's one criticism of Iniesta it's that he didn't get any of his shots on target.  Had a couple of decent chances.  Buried his penalty confidently.

Alvaro Negredo 3/10  Excellent hold up play to create a chance for Iniesta, but that was about it.  Did nothing to justify his inclusion and I can only assume that Llorente is terrible in training or carrying an injury.  Highly unlikely that Negredo will start the Final.

Cesc Fabregas 4/10  Not a great contribution from Fabregas as he struggled to get into the game.  Scored the winning penalty with an inch perfect shot.

Jesus Navas - 5.5/10  Passed it efficiently and got into the game well, even forced a good low save form Patricio.  Provided more of a spark than Silva.

Pedro 6/10  Offered a much needed injection of energy.  Made a number of incisive runs, although his end product wasn't great.

That was definitely one of the more enjoyable methods of reporting I've done this month.  Not easy to decide the score for some players, but I think I've got it spot on by awarding Pepe, Moutinho and Ramos the highest scores.  The lack of high scores from the "superstars" on each team goes a long way to explaining the lack of goals in this game.  None the less, I found it an interesting game to watch and Spain just about deserved their spot in the final.

Tonight I'll be compiling a head to head report of the strikers on show during the Germany v Italy game.  That should be interesting, as I'm expecting a lot more goalmouth action, and a hard fought Germany victory.



Tuesday 26 June 2012

England v Italy - Twitter Watch


Contrary to what Mark “Lawro” Lawrenson thinks, Twitter is a great invention and a lot of good comes out of it. There’s a fair chance that you’re reading this article because of a Twitter link (OK, maybe that’s not a good thing!), a lot of the best sports articles I read are via Twitter links. It also allows people to communicate with like minded souls and chat about what interests them. I’ve “met” plenty of football, NFL and cricket fans via Twitter and had lots of interesting conversations. It’s also simple to use, which is great for an IT ignoramus such as myself.

Naturally enough, Twitter has been a hive of activity during Euro 2012. This is both a good and bad thing. On the plus side, you get some genuinely interesting comments from knowledgeable fans and, if you’re lucky, a few thing to make you laugh. The downside is that you also get a multitude of inane comments and ignorant thoughts.  My “favourite” during the last 2 weeks has been the utterly pointless tweets that occur when a major incident happens – “Goal”, “Rooney”, “Good save”, “That was close” etc – I‘m not entirely sure what these add to the piece, or why the tweeter feels the need to tell the world what is painfully obvious.  

The build up to the England - Italy game was full of positive tweets from England fans.  Seemingly the fortunate victories over Sweden and Ukraine had given people a surge of optimism.  "#believe" was a popular hashtag and my pre match timeline was full of "This is our time" and "We can do this".  There was the usual abuse of the BBC coverage, but that's been the case throughout the competition, the overwhelmingly feeling as of optimism and even confidence that England would win.

Anthems are a popular source of Tweets at present and this game was no different. The Twitter world seems to love the fact that the England squad "sing" God Save The Queen.  Personally, I couldn't give a toss.  Ronaldo remains tight lipped during the Portuguese anthem and it doesn't seem to do him much harm.  I can't see how singing a Royalist song can improve your performance or your team spirit.

Danielle De Rossi's early blast against the woodwork, drew the usual array of "stating the obvious" tweets.  "What a hit", "that was close" and "great strike" were all on my timeline.  Surely if I'm watching the game I know it was a great strike and if I'm not watching the game then I don't care! The first 20 minutes were largely controlled by England and the tweets were full of praise - "Best spell of the tournament", "Deserve a goal for this" - and I was in full agreement, it was as impressive as England had looked at a major tournament since 2004.

Unfortunately, the dominance was short lived and Italy soon wrestled control away.  There were signs of worry on Twitter as well as some negative comments about a couple of the players. "What is the point of Milner?", "Rooney looks unfit" and "Ashley Young is terrible" were some of the more perceptive comments.   Still, people were keeping the faith at half time and the majority of tweeters still believed England could go on and win.

That hope rapidly dwindled during the second half as Italy missed a string of decent chances.  The first tweets of "Same old England" occurred around the hour mark and there were numerous calls for Theo Walcott to come on.  I could see where they were coming from, both Milner and Young were struggling to get into the game, but I wasn't convinced Walcott was the answer.  England's problem was ball retention and closing down the space in midfield.  Neither of those things are Walcott's forte.  Odd as it seems, Stewart Downing may have been a better bet in the circumstances.  Downing is no world beater (or even full back beater!), but he does work hard and can play simple passes.  No doubt Twitter would have gone into meltdown had Downing made an appearance! Instead, Walcott appeared and did a great impression of a 65 year old man trapped in a twentysomethings body.

As the game entered Extra Time and England sat deeper and deeper, Twitter was a mix of fair minded resignation -  "No complaints when we go out", "Italy far the better team" -  and a realisation that England could hang on for penalties.  There wasn't a huge amount of annoyance or anger at the situation, just a realisation that England were a long way away from being a top international side.
Of course, there was some optimism that England would prevail in the shootout.  Indeed, I thought that would be the case, after all the outplayed team often wins on penalties.  Chelsea in the Champions League final and England against Spain at Euro 1996 being 2 prime examples.  Unfortunately for England, this time the best team won, and tweeters had no complaints about the result.  "Italy deserved it", "Best team won, but Germany will beat them", "got what we deserved" were some of the more generous comments.  Others looked for scapegoats, Messrs Rooney and Young coming in for the most abuse.  Rooney in particular was singled out for his lacklustre performance - "Why is he an automatic pick?", "drop him for the qualifiers", "looks unfit and overweight".

I had to agree with most of the comments, Rooney was left on, whilst the more impressive Danny Welbeck was sacrificed.  The thinking is that Rooney is capable of a moment of inspiration, he can turn the game in an instant.  But the reality is that he hasn't done any such thing in a major tournament since Euro 2004.  The problem with dropping Rooney is the lack of depth England have up front.  Who do you bring in to replace him? Sturridge, Bent, Defoe?  It's hardly a glittering array of talent.  Besides Rooney is still relatively young.  I'd keep him in the side, but he's on a short leash.  A strong season for the likes of Welback, Andy Carroll and/or Sturridge and Rooney will see his place under threat.

As for England overall, I think they actually overachieved at Euro2012.  If you look at the quality of the 4 performances, then a penalty defeat in a quarter final was better than what they deserved.  Some players emerged with credit - Cole, Hart, Lescott - whilst others continued to frustrate - Rooney, Young, Walcott.  Hodgson did well with what he had at his disposal, but his tactics in the quarter final were far too negative and just invited pressure.

Overall, the quarter finals didn't quite live up to the high standards of the Group stages and each game had a team employing very negative tactics. Still, it's left us with the best 4 teams in the competition to contest the semi finals. The final word from Twitter is a tweet I posted about half an hour after the final whistle: "Fantastic semi final line up.  Should be 2 cracking games.  Can't wait!"


Sunday 24 June 2012

France v Spain - Ref Watch

2 weeks ago, I was expecting a match report concerning a referee, to be full of ranting about controversial decisions and general ineptitude.  As it turned out, the quality of referring has been one of the pleasant surprises of Euro 2012.  In fact, the biggest referring error occurred in the first half of the first match.  Since then, the only real moment of controversy was the "goal that never was" in the England v Ukraine game.  Although on that occasion, the problem was with the linesmen and 5th official, not the referee.


The situation has been helped by the players.  There has been a relative lack of diving and not a single dangerous challenge worthy of a red card. Yes, there have been a few fouls that have gone unnoticed and dodgy decisions, but aside from employing Borgs to officiate games that will always be the case.  Overall, the standard of referring has been a massive positive during Euro 2012.


So, when it came to writing about Nicola Rizzoli's performance in the Spain-France match I was at a bit of a loss of talking points.  There was a bit of a talking point in the first half when Cesc Fabregas was "wrestled" to the floor in the penalty area, but as has been the case throughout the competition, Rizzoli preferred to let the game carry on where ever possible. Febregas had been touched, but it was minimal, and whilst it's plausible it caused him to lose balance, it was by no means clear cut. Result - no penalty.
I much prefer this method of officiating to the whistle happy displays we've seen in previous tournaments.  The ref shouldn't be the star of the show, and like a good centre half, the less you see of him the better he is doing.

In fact, Rizzoli was largely anonymous throughout, he booked 3 players but they were all obvious decisions.  He also awarded only the 3rd penalty of the whole competition, when Anthony Reveillere fouled Pedro in the last minute.  It could be argued that Pedro was looking for it and already on his way down when contact was made. But, simply put, the defender made a clumsy challenge, didn't get the ball and made contact with the attacker.  It was hard to argue the French corner, in fact there was barely a murmur of protest.  Although, given the French performance, I don't think they would have bothered arguing had it been a complete cock up from Rizzoli.

We're now 3 quarters finals down and it's fair to say that the 3 most impressive teams have made it to the last 4.  I've not been overly taken by Spain's performances thus far, but even on an off day they have enough quality to see them through.  It's going to take something special from Portugal to prevail on Wednesday.  Ronaldo needs to be magnificent and the supporting cast need to back him up.  Can they do it? Maybe, but my money will firmly be with the Spaniards.
As for Germany, let's just say that they won't be losing too much sleep over the outcome of the England v Italy match.  They will be supremely confident of beating either side, and after the way they demolished Greece, it's hard to argue against them.

Next up, I'll be looking at the Twitter reaction to the England Italy match in Kiev.  Expect plenty of procrastinating and sarcasm!

Germany v Greece - Crowd Watch!

Easy task today, I just had to look at the crowd during the Germany Greece game!  Simple.  Luckily for me, the TV directors at Euro 2012 seem intent on showing as many crowd shots as possible, so writing about the crowd is a relatively easy task.  Admittedly, 90% of the crowd shots are of pretty ladies
wearing very little, but hey I can't argue with the directors.

Pre match, there were 2 gigantic flags on display behind the goals.  I've been to 3 international tournaments, but never been under the flag  It's on my football fan "to do list", which may seem slightly odd, but then again so are most of the items on my list (That's for another blog!).  The Greek flag was upside down but I guess that's a bit hard to a) notice and b) rectify, when you're one of the 2,000 people underneath it.  The slightly bigger German flag looked like it was made of some kind of waterproof material, a useful thing to have should a storm occur during the match. I scored the flag contest as a small victory for the German fans.

Fancy dress is another common occurrence at major tournaments, and this game was no different.  The Greek fans were leading the way on this front with a number of supporters wearing gladiatorial attire.  I'm always amazed that some of the items of clothing are allowed into the ground, given the extensive list of prohibited items, it seems odd that helmets are allowed in.  See also the trumpet that a German fan was carrying. Surely you can do more harm (and not just to ears) with a trumpet then a plastic bottle of water?



The exception that proves
the rule!
Like most fans, I'm not endeared by the Countdown to Kick Off.   It's another of the artificial, crowd rousing methods that are creeping into the sport.  Football fans don't need to be told when to cheer or when to get excited.  We don't need to hear Tom Harks after a goals has been scored and we certainly don't need to be told when kick off is approaching!  Having said that, a fair few fans seem to think it's fun to join in with the kick off countdown, so maybe I'm in the minority.


Not surprisingly, the German fans were larger in number and volume, as their team dominated throughout.  There were plenty of shots of attractive German fans  - often wearing face paint - whenever there was a goal, but equally there were many shots of sad looking attractive Greek women with tears running down their flag.  In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if the cameras miss a goal at some point in the competition for this reason.

Overall, though it was a great atmosphere and a fun game of football.  Crowds are an important element of football and the wonderful atmosphere at the majority of games over the last 2 weeks has helped make it a memorable tournament.

Friday 22 June 2012

Czech Rep v Portugal - Pilar Watch

The purpose of today's match report is to focus on an individual player's performance during a game.  Whilst there was a temptation to just pick Ronaldo for the exercise, in the interests of fairness, I decided to randomly pick from the 20 outfield players on show...so here is my report on the performance of Vaclav Pilar in last night's Czech Republic v Portugal Quarter Final:


For those of you unfamiliar with Vaclav Pilar, he is a 23 year old left midfielder, who plays for Wolfsburg. He has only been playing for the senior national team over the last year, but has made a big impact. He scored in the play off win over Montenegro and netted twice in the Group stages. I’d been impressed with Pilar prior to the Portugal game; he was a bit of an old school winger – short, fast, tricky, but liable to disappear completely for long periods of play! He reminded me a bit of ex Gillingham winger John Hodge (apologies to non Gills fans), who was one of my favourite players growing up.

Following an individual’s performance is rather distracting. It certainly affected my enjoyment of the game as I was continually looking for Mr Pilar and not really concentrating on the match. I don’t think I could ever be one of these Opta types who spend entire matches tracking a player.

"I'm playing with Milan Baros"
Against Portugal, Pilar lined up on the left of midfield, he was supported by full back David Limbersky. Limbersky was given the task of keeping Nani quiet and it was clear from an early stage that Pilar’s main duty was to help out in his department. As an attacking threat he was severely limited, but he did well in covering Limbersky and tracking Portuguese right back Pereira. Limbersky was often following Nani all over the field, so it was up to Pilar to cover at full back. For a player more adept at coming forward, he did an admirable job defensively. He also looked comfortable on the ball and played a number of neat passes in midfield. Unfortunately, he was unable to get much chance to run at Pereira or join in with the rare Czech attacks.
This pattern continued in the second half, although Portugal were mainly focusing on the other side of the field where Ronaldo and Coentrao were causing problems. Pilar did get one chance to run at the defence and he showcased his skills with a brilliant run that beat 3 defenders and took him into the penalty area, sadly his low cross was cut out by Pepe and the move broke down. That was about it as far as Pilar’s attacking threat went. In fact, during the final 30 minutes he barely got a kick!

In fairness to Pilar, he was a bit of a victim of the Czech game plan- Men behind the ball and play for penalties. It didn’t deserve to work and thankfully it didn’t work. For Pilar, it was a disappointing end to an excellent tournament. His goal against Russia was a lovely run and finish, whilst he made a clever run across the area for his goal against Greece. Add to that, a few incisive runs, sharp passing and some solid defensive work, and you’ve got the makings of a very effective, if slightly lightweight player. He’s sure to be a regular for club and country for years to come.

Hope that wasn’t too dull to read. Not one of my favourite reports as it was pretty restrictive and didn’t really give much of a flavour of the overall game. For what it’s worth, I was greatly impressed by Portugal. They’ve got one of the best back fours in the competition, an excellent player maker in Moutinho and an in-form superstar in Ronaldo. The expected semi final clash with Spain could be a classic.
The Czechs are limited but game, they will see this as a successful tournament, having seen Ronaldo destroy Holland, they decided to play very defensively and it killed the game as much of a spectacle.

Talking of which, it’s Germany v Greece tonight. The Greek bus is reversing into the goalmouth as I speak!

Wednesday 20 June 2012

Group Stage Round Up - Filling in the blanks

There are no Euro 2012 matches today, so it's the ideal time to look back at the Group stage and pick out some memorable players and moments.  It's been arguably the most entertaining Group stage of any European Championship and has given us a number of talking points.  But before I get to my review of the Group stages, there are a couple of matches I haven't yet covered off.....

Spain v CroatiaMan for man Spain are the best team in this competition, so why do we have to endure performances like this.  Spain have an annoying ability to parody themselves.  Critics say they pass too much and don't shoot enough, so what to Spain do?  They pass even more and turn down numerous shooting opportunities.  This game was particularly frustrating in that regard.  The highlights largely consisted of intricate passing moves ending with an attempt at a pass in the penalty area being intercepted by one of the 10 Croatian defenders.
The policy almost completely backfired as Croatia had 2 good penalty shouts and Rapatic missed a simple header after great play form Luka Modric.
So Spain go through and if they play to their potential it's hard to see anyone stopping them, but if they get any more indulgent they could come unstuck.
As for the Croatians, they have provided a lot of entertainment in Group C.  They are the best team not to qualify for the quarter finals.  Their football has been pleasing on the eye and had they been placed in Group A or D they would have comfortably progressed.


France v SwedenThis was the France we all know and loathe from the last World Cup.  A woeful performance in which Sweden could and should have won by more. On numerous occasions the heart of the French defence was exposed for pace and committed some basic areas.  Up front, Karim Benzema has played well dropping deep, but hasn't scored yet.  Frank Ribery and Samir Nasri have played well in patches, but I can't imagine Spain will be losing much sleep.
The Swedes produced their best display of the competition and outplayed France for large spells.  Ibrahimovic scored on of the goals of the competition and has now score 6 goals in 9 Group games at the Euros.  The problem Sweden have is that, Zlatan aside they are a pretty average bunch.  The likes of Kallstrom, Larsson and Isaakson are decent players but not likely to threaten the big teams on a regular basis.  One win in three is probably about right for this side.
 
That was the Group stage, so what have been the highlights?  Here are my 10 favourite moments from Euro 2012 so far:


1.  Opening Night - Group A was supposed to be the Group of Meh.  4 teams that didn't set the pulse racing, so not much was expected from Day 1 of Euro 2012.  How wrong we all were.  First of all, Poland came flying out of the blocks, then there was controversy, then a Greek fightback and finally a reserve keeper saving a penalty.  As if that wasn't enough, the Russians then produced a dazzling display of flowing football to trounce the Czechs. It was rounded off by a brilliant strike form Roman Pavlychenko and Russia suddenly became peoples dark horses for glory.  The Czechs meanwhile looked on the way out.  It's been a long 2 weeks!


2.  Heavyweights go toe to toe - Spain v Italy wasn't a slugging match as such, but it was a high quality encounter containing beautiful passing, lovely goals and a comedy cameo from Torres.  Perfect Sunday afternoon viewing.  Pirlo's pass for Di Natale's goal was the most the best bit of skill of the entire Group stage.


3. Andriy's Swansong - Not much was expected of Ukraine, a view that has reinforced but the first hour of their opening game.  When Ibrahimovic gave Sweden the lead it looked like the home side were heading for defeat...step forward national hero Andriy Shevchenko.  2 expertly taken header later and the hosts had 3 points and the legend of Shevchenko had grown even more.



4. Blaszcykowski's Blast - The other hosts were also up against it the following night.  a goal down and heading to the bottom of the Group, they needed some inspiration. It was provided by the Captain Jakub Blaszczkowski, he drifted in form the right and delivered a bullet of a shop into the top corner.  The stadium erupted, the captain looked elated and Poland believed again.


5.  Bendtner's Pants - Even when he plays well, Nicklas Bendtner is still a figure of fun.  Here he scored 2 headers to bring the Danes back from 2 nil down.  Ultimately it was in vain as Varela gave the Portuguese a late victory.  It was one of the best games of the competition, but what will it be remembered for?  Bendtner lowering his shorts to reveal a sponsor's name! 


6. Gomez shows his class - Mario Gomez has been scoring bucket loads of goals for years, but doubts still remained about whether he could do it on the biggest stage.  To some people, he was still the man that missed an open goal at Euro2008 and fluffed a host of chances in the Champions League Final.  That perception changed in one half of world class finishing. Both of his goals were finishes of the highest order, and whilst Gomez only had the ball for 22 seconds during the whole game, it was enough to show what a great striker he is.


7. The Second Half of Sweden-England - OK, the quality wasn't great, but for sheer excitement this takes some beating.  It was more akin to a Premier League game than an international fixture as both teams took the direct approach.  Both of the Swedish goals were due to some woeful defending, but England regrouped and sub Theo Walcott was the catalyst for an heroic comeback.  It was capped off by a sublime finish from Danny Welbeck, and Sweden crashed out.


8.  Greece do it again - All 4 teams had a chance to progress from Group A, but Russia were in pole position, whilst Greece were the rank outsiders after 2 largely uninspired performances.  Suddenly it became 2004 again as the Greeks somehow found a performance when it mattered and Russia ran out of steam.  Talisman Giorgos Karagounis scored the only goal and played like a man possessed, unfortunately he will miss the 1/4 Final after a harsh booking for diving.  Greece will be massive underdogs against the Germans, but then again they were in the same position against France 8 years ago.


9.  Holland Implode - Van Persie, Robben, Sneider, Van der Vaart, Huntelaar, Afellay.  Dutch coach Bert Van Marwijk had an array of attacking talent to choose from.  Sadly the same could not be said for the Holland defence.  Both Germany and Portugal could have scored plenty as the Dutch fell apart. This was especially evident against the Portuguese as Christiano Ronaldo had a field day. The Dutch response was to argue amongst themselves and play like a collection of individuals.  The new coach (assuming BVM loses his job) has a tough task ahead.


10.  Stats! - Some very unusual stats emerged from the Group stages. There were no goalless draws, every team scored, nobody scored a penalty and there were only 3 red cards.  There were also a couple of odd quirks. The Czechs won their Group, despite losing 4-1 in their opening game and ending with a negative goal difference. The Irish equalled the record (with Denmark circa 2000) for worst Group performance after finishing with 0 points and a GD of minus 8.  Perhaps must surprisingly of all, a team containing Georgias Samaras qualified for the Quarter Finals, and if that doesn't make Euro2012 completely unpredictable I don't know what does.