Euro 2012 - Group Stage Summary

Sports - Football - Euro 2012 - Picks of the Group Stage

Top game: Portugal's dramatic 3-2 win against Denmark thanks to Silvestre Varela's last-gasp winner kept their qualifying hopes alive whilst the Danes showed their always up for a fight and everything else but easy to beat. Another five-goal thriller saw Roy Hodgson's side beat Sweden 3-2 and end their hoodoo as England had never beaten the Scandinavians in a competitive match before. The win also showed that England are a scoring force even without their main striker Wayne Rooney thanks to Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck. The opening game of the competition between Poland and Greece was the most competitive and aggressive with two goals and two red cards which saw the game end all level, 1-1 in goals and 10-10 in players.

Top team: The big favourites in form of defending champions Spain and runners up Germany have grinded out the required results so far, the latter being the only side with a 100% record of three out of three wins, but both have failed to impress me so far. They were not their usual self, the usual impressive force nobody can stop, hold back nor defend. I thought Sweden were great when they beat France 2-0 and in a confident and stylish fashion, eventhough they were already out of the competition at that point. At least they gave their fans something to cheer for in the end, something for their money and unconditional support. I think sometimes players and sides forget who they are playing for.

Top player: Two of the most expensive players in Europe took their time to get into gear. Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo and Chelsea's Fernando Torres did not really feature much in the opening game for their sides with the prior's name not on the scoreboard till the last group game and the latter not even starting in the opening game but making up for it the next match with two out of four goals in the 4-0 thrashing of Giovanni Trapattoni's Ireland side. Top scorers so far with three goals each have been Germany's Mario Gomez, Croatia's Mario Mandzukic and Russia's Alan Dzagoev, top providers with three assists each have been England's Steven Gerrard, Russia's Andrei Arshavin and Spain's David Silva. The top goalkeeper with most saves has been Ireland's Shay Given with 17 saves.

Top goal: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's opening goal against France was a stunning strike. I switched over from the England-Ukraine game to check the score and caught a very special goal, the Swedish striker producing an acrobatic right-foot volley which saw Sebastian Larsson's cross from the right bash into the bottom corner of the net, sweet mother of all goals so far in the competition. Welbeck's cheeky flick-in off sub Walcott's cross which saw England beat Sweden 3-2 made Hodgson's changes look genius and his side more than capable to win without their main striker Rooney. The United striker's winning goal against Ukraine was nothing more than a simple tap-in after Gerrard's teasing cross  was spilled by goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov.

Top news: The quarter-finals are as follows: a) Czech Republic v Portugal, b) Germany v Greece, c) Spain v France, d) England v Italy; semi-finals: Winner A v Winner C, Winner B v Winner D; that means Portugal could face Spain and England could meet Germany in the semis if the results follow the match odds. Mouth-wateringly juicy, or what?! According to those odds, Germany are favourites to win the whole competition followed by Spain with hardly anything between the two - does that mean the final and competition is already decided? Or will there be more surprises and shocks? Can't wait to see the answer to that...

Flop game: The England-France game did not quite live up to its rivalry and competitive hype. There was no major controversy or many decision to make for the referee in a match with few incidences. After Joleon Lescott took the lead for England with a header off Gerrard's free kick on the half-hour mark, City team-mate Samir Nasri equalised for France only nine minutes later beating Joe Hart seeing his effort from the edge of the box go into the bottom corner. The rest of the game did not have much to write about, which was very disappointing, from a neutral point of view as well as for England as they left France in control and too comfortable. Russia's 4-1 thrashing of the Czech Republic was a joke! It just seemed surreal how the Czech's let themselves be pushed over so easily and blatantly!

Flop team: As mentioned above, the big favourites Germany and Spain have disappointed so far, not result-wise obviously but they haven't been exactly thrilling or nice to the eye. Ireland had a competition to forget although I felt sorry for Given who gave his all and created superb and stunning saves, all for nothing in the end. I think Netherlands were the biggest surprise ending up bottom of their group on zero points with a strong side and a lot of established. World Cup finalists and second in the world rankings, I am sure the Dutch will be the most disappointed fans and side of this competition, eventhough the hosts Poland and Ukraine obviously won't be happy either not being to take advantage of their home advantage, but I don't think anyone expected more from them.

Flop player: Three players have seen red so far, Ireland's Keith Andrews who has also seen the most bookings with three, Greece's Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, the latter two being sent off in the opening game of the competition. Czech's Milan Baros has committed most fouls with 14. And I still we are expecting and still waiting to see the best of Rooney, Ronaldo, Torres... The usual top picks who haven't really turned up so far. All the top players the Dutch have, from Robin van Persie and Wesley Sneijder to Arjen Robben and Mark van Bommel, amongst others, none of them really turned up nor impressed, showing that top names together doesn't mean top team unless they can gel and perform together, that's why it's called team work and a team sport.

Flop goal: For the first time in my memory there has been a decision that has gone England's way! Usually it is always the Three Lions that concede a goal that never was or cry after a goal that was never given or see their hearts broken on the penalty spot. That may still happen, but as so far concerns when Ukraine saw Marko Devic's come off the cross bar and cleared by John Terry I think everyone knew and saw it was over line apart from the referee and his additional assistant who somehow did not see it standing on the line right next to the goal! It is a joke in the age of video replays, but thanks to the technology we have at least we saw that the ball was over the line but that Devic was offside in the buildup before. So, either way, justice has been done, no thanks to the Fifa clowns though!

Flop news: Fifa boss Sepp Blatter glaims goal-line technology is "no longer an alternative but a necessity" following Ukraine's complaint of being denied a goal against England. Really?! I think you're about a couple of decades behind the general public and nearly every other major sport!!! Clown!

My predictions - Actual results

Group A
Poland 2:1 Greece - 1:1
Russia 2:1 Czech Republic - 4:1
Greece 2:1 Czech Republic - 1:2
Poland 2:1 Russia - 1:1
Czech Republic 1:2 Poland - 1:0
Greece 1:4 Russia - 1:0
Group B
Netherlands 2:1 Denmark - 0:1
Germany 2:1 Portugal - 1:0
Denmark 1:1 Portugal - 2:3
Netherlands 1:2 Germany - 1:2
Portugal 1:1 Netherlands - 2:1
Denmark 1:1 Germany - 1:2
Group C
Spain 2:1 Italy - 1:1
Ireland 2:1 Croatia - 1:3
Italy 1:3 Croatia - 1:1
Spain 2:0 Ireland - 4:0
Croatia 2:2 Spain - 0:1
Italy 1:0 Ireland - 2:0
Group D
France 2:1 England - 1:1
Ukraine 2:1 Sweden - 2:1
Ukraine 0:1 France - 0:2
Sweden 0:1 England - 2:3
England 0:0 Ukraine - 1:0
Sweden 1:1 France - 2:0

Final Group Standings

Team P-W-D-L-F-A-Pts

Group A

Czech Rep  3-2-0-1-4-5-6

Greece        3-1-1-1-3-3-4

Russia         3-1-1-1-5-3-4

Poland         3-0-2-1-2-3-2

Group B

Germany     3-3-0-0-5-2-9

Portugal       3-2-0-1-5-4-6

Denmark      3-1-0-2-4-5-3

Netherlands 3-0-0-3-2-5-0

Group C

Spain           3-2-1-0-6-1-7

Italy              3-1-2-0-4-2-5

Croatia         3-1-1-1-4-3-4

Ireland          3-0-0-3-1-9-0

Group D

England       3-2-1-0-5-3-7

France         3-1-1-1-3-3-4

Sweden       3-1-0-2-5-5-3

Ukraine        3-1-0-2-2-4-3

2010 World Cup South Africa Countdown

Sports - Football - International - 2010 World Cup South Africa

With just a couple of days left until the World Cup kicks off in Johannesburg, expectations are high and the nerves in tatters - who will cry tears of joy and glory, whose sobs will be in grief and defeat? We will not know the answer until the final whistle is blown and the competition concludes on the final day on 11 July, but, here are my thoughts and predictions, the winners highlighted bold:

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France: Despite their home advantage, I do not think South Africa will be able to contend successfully against the established likes of Mexico and France. Although "les bleus" were lucky to scrape through against the Republic of Ireland, the heartbreaking encounter should have been a good enough wake-up-call for them to make up for the blushes and make the best and most of the competition.

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece: Argentina's strong lineup which includes Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano and with none other than Diego Maradona at the helm, there is no question about who will top this group. Who will follow them into the last 16 is a tougher one to answer with South Korea's and Greece's success-stories being long, distant memories. I think Otto Rehhagel's men will be able to make the push.

Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia: England have had their fair share of scandals and injuries as always before major competitions, but were let-off by a comparatively easy draw for a change and could not have been given a much easier pass into the last 16. The US look stronger than ever though under manager Bob Bradley and captain Landon Donovan. I would not be surprised to see them make this their best competition display and progess yet.

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana: This one's my dark horse/shocker-prediction: Having followed Germany's friendlies, dire displays, injury setbacks and crises talks, I think it gives the rest of the group the best chance to capitalise on. Australia have Mark Schwarzer and Lucas Neill to keep them out and Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell to knock them down and in; whilst Serbia can count on Nemanja Vidic and Milan Jovanovic along the same lines.

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameron: The European sides take pole position again with experienced players and strong lineups. World number three Netherlands thrashed their way through the warm-up games in preparation to the competition and I see them continue in that fashion with Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar et al over-filling the scoreboards.

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia: The defending world champions are a shadow of the side that won the cup in 2006, but should be able to top the group with their star keeper Gianluigi Buffon, world cup winning skipper Fabio Cannavaro and energy source and runner Daniele de Rossi. Paraguay should follow them into the last 16 with their focal men in attack Roque Santa Cruz and Nelson Haedo Valdez.

Group G: Ivory Coast, Portugal, Brazil, North Korea: With Ivory Coast's top striker Didier Drogba out with a fractured arm, the 2006 semi-finalists Portugal and record world champions Brazil should cruise through the group stage. Both sides are star-struck with their lineups including Ronaldo, Simao and Nani; Kaka, Lucio and Robinho, respectively. Finals without those well-established names is unimaginable.

Group H: Honduras, Chile, Spain, Switzerland: Ottmar Hitzfeld had tears in his eyes to see his home country qualify for the world cup and I see this as his best chance to make the dream-come-true get even better. World number one and world cup favourites Spain should be able to yawn and sleepwalk their way through this stage with star men like Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, David Villa and Cesc Fabregas.

So, my European bias sees ten European countries progress into the last 16, joined by four South American countries, USA and Australia. My German bias normally gives Germany the advantage as they have always proven to be successful no matter how miserable their form or display has been. But this time round, under Joachim Löw, I see their luck has run out and I forecast their demise against more competitive and hungry opponents. I am optimistic for England, more than ever, and hope they can enjoy some sweet revenge and success, but am prepared for heartbreaking scenes as always...

Last 16: France v Greece, Mexico v Argentina, England v Serbia, USA v Australia, Netherlands v Paraguay, Denmark v Italy, Portugal v Switzerland, Brazil v Spain

Quarter Finals: Netherlands v Portugal, France v England, Argentina v Australia, Italy v Spain

Semi Finals: England v Portugal, Argentina v Spain

Third Place: Portugal v Argentina

Final: England v Spain