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Euro 2012 Preview Schedule

Matchday 8: Ukraine-France & Sweden-England

June 15, 2012 — by Suman

The last day of the 2nd round of group stage games, with Group D in action today. Yesterday's Group C matches were a contrast--a tight match between Italy and Croatia that ended in a 1-1 draw, followed by a blowout 4-0 win for Spain, eliminating Ireland. On to today: France travels to far eastern Ukraine to take on the co-hosts (can Ukraine build on King Sheva's fairytale first game, and continue his quixotic quest to the Kyiv final?); and Sweden plays in England in the Ukrainian capital (read Brian Philips' new piece in Grantland--"Englands of the Mind: The sound. The fury. The mediocrity." and BBC on Roy Hodgson - The Sweden Years; although the latter is available to UK users only, so instead read Hodgson's own words about his Sweden years here) The fixtures: 15 June 2012 Group D More » Ukraine 18.00 France Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED) – Stadium:

Matchday 7: Yesterday’s Group of Death Wrapup, Italy-Croatia & Spain-Ireland Today

June 14, 2012 — by Suman — 5

The Group of Death finally lived up to expectations yesterday, with a thrilling match--probably the best of the tournament so far. But it wasn't the big cross-border rivalry matchup that everyone was eagerly anticipating, but rather the Denmark-Portugal match. It ended 3-2 for Portugal, but only after former Arsenal man Nicky B nearly lived up to his self-image by scoring 2 headed goals to bring the Danes level--and after equally self-regarding superstar Cristiano Ronaldo choked on two breakaways that could have put the game away. It fell to Porto striker Silvestre Varela to recover a much-needed win for the Portuguese, via a spectacular 87' strike. In the late game, the Dutch were again very disappointing--failing to rise to the occasion. They missed a couple early chances--most conspicuously, again, by Robin Van Persie, who failed to connect with a lofted ball over the top from Mark van Bommel (unlike his memorable goals for

Matchday 6: Group of Death Round 2

June 13, 2012 — by Suman

Two good matches in Group A yesterday (Poland 1 - 1 Russia - see here, here and here); and Czech Republic 2 - 1 Greece). But today it's the Group of Death. Already an instant classic in the first match of the day, and a yet another huge match in perhaps the biggest intra-Euro rivalry in the 2nd match: 13 June 2012 Group B Full time » Denmark 2-3 Portugal Referee: Craig Thomson (SCO) – Stadium: Arena Lviv, Lviv (UKR) Group B Follow » Netherlands 0-0 Germany Referee: Jonas Eriksson (SWE) – Stadium: Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv (UKR) In addition to our review of the history of this rivalry ("The Spit Hits the Fan"), a few additonal links about Netherlands-Germany: Holland still roused by prospect of facing rivals Germany | Amy Lawrence | Football | The Guardian It’s now or never for Netherlands’ golden generation - Robben, Sneijder & Van Persie won’t

Germany vs Netherlands: The Spit Hits the Fan

June 13, 2012 — by Sean — 1

It’s not really a friendly between these two national sides. True, this match is worth watching based just on the fact that these two are among the top handful of national sides around right now, and will be the top challengers to unseat Spain as European champions next summer right now. But in addition to current form, there’s the history to consider.

Preview Schedule

Euro 2012 Matchday 5: Russia Invades Poland

June 12, 2012 — by Suman — 3

Yesterday's match: France and England drew 1-1 in a desultory affair, while Ukraine beat Sweden in a thrilling match at Kyiv's Olympic Stadium, in front of a delirious home crowd. Today's Group A action--the first time we're seeing teams play their second set of matches: Greece-Czech Republic was the early match, with Czech Republic rebounding from their "Russian concussion" to win 2-1, and put themselves back in contention for 2nd at least. But the big match of the day is between two nations with a lot of historical baggage that's being brought to Warsaw today--Russia versus Poland. Here are the fixtures--scroll down for some preview notes: 12 June 2012 Group A Full time » Greece 1-2 Czech Republic Referee: Stéphane Lannoy (FRA) – Stadium: Municipal Stadium Wroclaw, Wroclaw (POL) Group A Lineups » Poland 20.45 Russia Referee: Wolfgang Stark (GER) – Stadium: National Stadium Warsaw, Warsaw (POL) The NYTimes provides

Euro 2012 Matchday 4: Cross-Chunnel Match, Україна Hosts Ibra

June 11, 2012 — by Suman

Interesting day with the first two Group C matches. Italy took the lead against defending champions Spain in the 2nd half, but Silva slipped Cesc through for an equalizer just a few minutes later; it ended 1-1, though both sides had win. Later, Croatia unlocked Trappatoni's Irish catenaccio, winning 3-1. Curtains for Ireland? We finally get to Group D today. Two fairly interesting matches, with France and England building on their 1,000 years of cross-channel rivalry in the early match, and co-host Ukraine (Україна ) taking on Sweden (and hence they face the strikingly compelling and prolific Slavic Swede: he, Zlatan--WWZD?) in the capital city of Kyiv, site of the July 1 final match: 11 June 2012 Group D More » France 18.00 England Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (ITA) – Stadium: Donbass Arena, Donetsk (UKR) Group D More » Ukraine 20.45 Sweden Referee: Cüneyt Çakır (TUR) – Stadium: NSC Olimpiyskiy, Kyiv (UKR) Some notes on

Euro 2012 Matchday Three: Big Day for the PIIGS

June 10, 2012 — by Suman — 1

Yesterday's Group B (Group of Death) matches were desultory and disappointing. Two 1-0 results--Denmark upsetting the Dutch, and the Germans ultimately dispatching the Portuguese. On to Group C. Probably the marquee matchup out of all the 1st set of group matches is Italy vs Spain--the I and S in PIGS. No doubt the Italian and Spanish will put aside worries about the Eurozone crisis on this Sunday to focus on the Euro (or maybe not*). We probably won't watch Ireland-Croatia (though let's note that throwing Ireland into the mix yields PIIGS--all of which will have played after today). 10 June 2012 Group C More » Spain 18.00 Italy Referee: Viktor Kassai (HUN) – Stadium: Arena Gdansk, Gdansk (POL) Group C More » Republic of Ireland 20.45 Croatia Referee: Björn Kuipers (NED) – Stadium: Municipal Stadium Poznan, Poznan (POL) And now for your daily roundup of random links and observations: Zonal

Euro 2012 Matchday 2: Group of Death Begins

June 9, 2012 — by Suman — 4

It was an unexpectedly exciting opening day yesterday--but today brings two highly anticipated matches since it's Group B--the undisputed Group of Death: 9 June 2012 - Final tournament - Group stage (Group B) More » Netherlands 18.00 Denmark Referee: Damir Skomina (SVN) – Stadium: Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv (UKR) Players we'll be watching for: besides the established Dutch stars (Sneijder, Robben, Van Persie, Huntelaar, van der Vaart), we'll be looking for younger guys like Ibrahim Affelay (Barcelona) and Kevin Strootman to play. Actually we'll be watching Bert van Marwijk to see how he does out playing time to all these ballers. But don't discount the Danes--watch for Christian Eriksen, a very young rising star who plays, ironically, for Ajax. This is worth reading--includes a section about Eriksen: Why You Should Root for Denmark in Euro 2012 - The Triangle Blog - Grantland. 9 June 2012 - Final tournament - Group stage (Group B) More » Germany 20.45 Portugal

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