Euro 2012 - Post Group Stage Reaction

Was I surprised? Other than Greece somehow pulling out a win over Russia earlier this week and Holland playing absolutely atrociously overall, nope not really.

Group A: With Cech holding up the core of the defensive end for the Czech Republic (even though they got dominated by Russia, 4-1), I had faith that this squad would go through. However, I also had high hopes for Russia, especially with Arshavin captaining the side I honestly thought that they could definitely make it into the quarterfinals if not the semifinals. Nonetheless, that didn't happen and 2004 Euro champions Greece got the job done with a 1-0 win over them.

Group B: No doubt, the most exciting group to watch. Germany took care of business and looked excellent doing so. They are going to win it this year, for sure. Portugal also had a good showing with Cristiano Ronaldo actually seeming to show up and playing some quality soccer for his International side, for once. Nani also was consistent and I'm glad to see he is becoming a more respected and reliable player for Portugal and Manchester United. I was honestly happy to also watch the Danish produce some decent soccer. I know there had been a lot of hype with them being the biggest underdog in the group, however, their one win over the Netherlands was respectable and I also thought they put up some great fights against Germany and Portugal. Lastly, the Netherlands. I'm not going to waste my time. They suck. They are over-rated.

Group C: Another interesting group although predictable. Spain was no doubt going through but I definitely thought they would go 3-0-0 versus giving up a tie to Italy. I guess David Villa's presence is going to be slightly missed. Hopefully it doesn't hinder them in their quarterfinal match-up against the French. Italy actually showed some promise and some areas where some serious improvements are needed. I like Balotelli up top and Pirlo being his usual self. However, their defense is their area of attack for the other teams. And tieing Croatia isn't what I would have expected, but oh well.

Group D: Honestly, I found this to be the most boring group. The only teams I really had interest in and wanted to advance were England and Sweden (I knew France would advance but I really hoped Ibra would have a shot to take on the Spanish. That would have been one hell of an interesting match up). Not much to say about England other than they are going to unfortunately lose to Germany in the semifinal (that's my prediction). Anyhow, Ukraine actually surprised me with their 2-0 win over France. I think France still shows some signs of immaturity as well as showing us that perhaps they haven't fully learned their lesson from 2010; every game counts and you must play 110%, not 95% like they did. Good luck to them except I really want Spain to kill them.

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