SPORTS: How do we not have a EURO 2012 thread yet?

[Faye Valentine]

Hey everyone! So there can never be too many places on the Internet to discuss soccer, and I was wondering what you all thought about the Euro Cup in Poland and Ukraine this month and who you are supporting.

I am rooting for Poland, France, Sweden and Germany, in that order.

What does everyone think of the first round of group matches - and of today's Group A matches? (GO POLAND! Love that they're doing such a great job right now of holding their own against Russia, hopefully they can make another goal in the next few minutes!)

[Mako]

My teams in order:

England

Spain

Germany

The Czechs


If England wins their group, they have a very favorable draw to at least the semis. From there, anything can happen.

EDIT: A draw for Poland is not a bad result at all!

[Faye Valentine]

If England wins their group, they have a very favorable draw to at least the semis. From there, anything can happen.

EDIT: A draw for Poland is not a bad result at all!

No, it really isn't! And probably the best result for everyone involved given the rioting in Warsaw between fans of each team today. Oh, historically-loaded soccer rivalries...

Hopefully my Poles will beat the Czech Republic, which we have to do to make it out of Group A.

As for D: I can't see England making it past Les Bleus to win the group. They may have drawn in their match with each other, but I expect France will do better against the other teams in the group than England will. This year's French squad is not at all like the one that flamed out in the 2010 World Cup.

[Mako]

I guess we'll have a friendly rivalry over that game LOL

But as for Group D: It's going to come down to goal differential between those two (making the very dangerous assumption that both teams have the expected results in their other two matches) and France is definitely the favorite when it comes to that. The English attack sorely misses Wayne Rooney (and it showed in that match against the French. No way Rooney doesn't slot home that early chance that Milner choked away). But it's football after all, anything can happen :D

[Faye Valentine]

Well, it's Rooney's own fault for being such a jerk on the pitch.
He seriously needs to get his act together and stop playing so dirty. The whole team suffers for it when he gets carded out of the game.

My prediction is that France wins Group D, but I think at this point anyone could make it to the second place. I would have expected it to be a rivalry between England and Sweden but Ukraine certainly showed the latter up yesterday.

[Mako]

No argument there XD!

He may be my favorite player, but he seriously needs to keep his head in the game and not lash out in anger (like in the World Cup in '06 and in the Euro qualifiers this time around).

But maybe watching these first two matches will be the impetus he needs to put together some inspired performances for country (because if you've watched Manchester United you know he has it in him).

[Lord Clowncrete]

I am supporting Russia. Germany will win though. Holland will likely be eliminated in the group stage itself.

[Mintaka]

I'm supporting Germany, Russia, and Spain in that order.

So far the matches were awesome. I saw Netherlands VS Denmark, Germany VS Portugal, Italy VS Spain, England VS France on television so far, and they were all awesome matches regardless of the results.

Looking forward to the upcoming second round of Group B's matches today. :>

[GatoRage]

Rooting for Sweden because I grew up there, although unfortunately they got beaten by Shevchenko's double in the first game against Ukraine. I still think they can get a result against England and at least try to draw France. When you have Ibrahimovic, you always stand a chance.

I would really like to see England do well though, because it would be a big up-yours to all of the media that have been bashing Roy Hodgson.

[Faye Valentine]

Rooting for Sweden because I grew up there, although unfortunately they got beaten by Shevchenko's double in the first game against Ukraine. I still think they can get a result against England and at least try to draw France. When you have Ibrahimovic, you always stand a chance.

Yeah, I'm a Sweden fan because I have relatives there.

The problem is that Sweden lost to the weakest squad in their group. I'm a little worried about them going up against the other two. They can probably at least draw against, and possibly beat, England but I don't know if I'm as optimistic about their chances against France. (and also divided because j'adore les bleus )

ETA for current game: Looks like the Oranje's chances are quickly running out.

[Mintaka]

And seems Team Germany confirmed their entering the tournament rounds, having earned 6 points. Netherlands would have to win, while Germany wins against Denmark at the same time, if the Oranjes wish to enter the tournament rounds. On top of that they'd need to score some goals as well.

Aw, Russia didn't manage to keep their winning streak.

[Lord Clowncrete]

Disappointed with Holland.

Calling that Croatia wins today.

[Faye Valentine]

Aw Poland is not doing well

God, they've got to score sooooooooon. If they tie this they don't advance

Aw, Russia didn't manage to keep their winning streak.

What is bad about that?

[Mintaka]

Aw, Russia didn't manage to keep their winning streak.

What is bad about that?

That they didn't settle entering the knockout rounds. And yes, I just saw the reruns on TV XD
Surprising that Greece entered the knockout rounds. Is this going to become another Euro 2004 surprise XD

[Faye Valentine]

No, I was teasing. I meant "What is bad about that?" because I am a Poland fan, so I don't like Russia.

But Poland didn't make it either