Summer UEFA Euro 2012

[goldb]

The tournament is nearly here; just under a day until the first match kicks off. This tournament kicks off what is to be a very sports packed summer 2012, so join the fun and share the laughs, tears and anguish!
​

Spoiler: Group A

Friday June 8

8 Jun, 17:00 Poland 1-1 Greece
8 Jun, 19:45 Russia 4-1 Czech Republic

Tuesday June 12

12 Jun, 17:00 Greece 1-2 Czech Republic
12 Jun, 19:45 Poland 1-1 Russia

Saturday June 16

16 Jun, 19:45 Czech Republic 1-0 Poland
16 Jun, 19:45 Greece 1-0 Russia

Spoiler: Group B

Saturday June 9

9 Jun, 17:00 Netherlands 0-1 Denmark
9 Jun, 19:45 Germany 1-0 Portugal

Wednesday June 13

13 Jun, 17:00 Denmark 3-2 Portugal
13 Jun, 19:45 Netherlands 1-2 Germany

Sunday June 17

17 Jun, 19:45 Denmark 1-2 Germany
17 Jun, 19:45 Portugal 2-1 Netherlands

Spoiler: Group C

Sunday June 10

10 Jun, 17:00 Spain 1-1 Italy
10 Jun, 19:45 Republic of Ireland 1-3 Croatia

Thursday June 14

14 Jun, 17:00 Italy 1-1 Croatia
14 Jun, 19:45 Spain 4-0 Republic of Ireland

Monday June 18

18 Jun, 19:45 Italy 2-0 Republic of Ireland
18 Jun, 19:45 Croatia 0-1 Spain

Spoiler: Group D

Monday June 11

11 Jun, 17:00 France 1-1 England
11 Jun, 19:45 Ukraine 2-1 Sweden

Friday June 15

15 Jun, 17:00 Ukraine 0-2 France
15 Jun, 19:45 Sweden 2-3 England

Tuesday June 19

19 Jun, 19:45 England 1-0 Ukraine
19 Jun, 19:45 Sweden 2-0 France

Quarter-final

21 Jun, 19:45 QF1 Czech Republic 0-1 Portugal
Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw

22 Jun, 19:45 QF2 Germany 4-2 Greece
Arena Gdansk, Gdansk

23 Jun, 19:45 QF3 Spain 2-0 France
Donbass Arena, Donetsk

24 Jun, 19:45 QF4 England 0-0 Italy
Italy win 4-2 on penalties
Olimpiyskyi, Kiev



Semi-final

27 Jun, 19:45 SF1 Portugal 0-0 Spain
Spain win 4-2 on penalties
Donbass Arena, Donetsk

28 Jun, 19:45 SF2 Germany 1-2 Italy
Stadion Narodowy, Warsaw

Final

1 Jul, 19:45 SPAIN 4-0 ITALY
Olimpiyskyi, Kiev​

Spoiler: Team of the Tournament

All match times shown are British Summer Time (BST)

 

[xi0]

Copying this over from Miyagi's post

Better late than never, if you want to join Fox Sports Mini Prediction League for Euro 2012, here's the instructions:

Dear Soccer Fan,

Mangahelpers has set up a mini league for new FOX Soccer Euro 2012 Bracket Challenge for this Summer's tournament. They would like you to join them for some intense gaming rivalry as the best countries from Europe battle it out!

Are you ready to accept the challenge? We've made it easy for you to get started.

Here's what to do:

1: Go to FOX Soccer Euro 2012 Bracket Challenge to register your account.

2: Take a look at the Euro 2012 matchups and make your predictions. Pick the right results and you could march your way to victory over your friends, plus put yourself in the mixer for our range of fantastic prizes.

First Prize is a $2,500 prepaid MasterCard gift card, second place will recieve an iPad 2 and we have lots of Fox Soccer 2Go subscriptions to give away too!

3: Once you've confirmed your entry, click on My Leagues and enter the following information in the 'Join A Mini League' section:

League Name: Mangahelpers
Password: myteamwillwin

You should now be all set to compete with (and hopefully beat) your challengers from Mangahelpers for the right to call yourself the Euro 2012 Champion.

Enjoy the game and good luck.

The Fox Soccer Bracket Team

The winner of the league will be awarded a badge, good luck.

 

[FrostyMouse]

Congrats on becoming blue, gold!

Joined up. I actually think France will win, but in the end, I picked Spain to beat Holland in a rematch of the 2010 WC Final.

 

[BBB Banana]

Germany all teh way woooooooooooooooooooooooo

Portugal tooooooooooooooooooooooooo Go my second country.

 

[goldb]

I'm sure Germany will get far but for once I actually DOUBT they can win this year, can't say why just have a "feeling". I've got my hopes on Netherlands this time, I've not rooted as my favourites before so here goes. They've played really good football in the last few international tournaments but just haven't transformed that into constant results. Hopefully they can pull through now and not falter.

 

[BBB Banana]

I find netherland's football good but very violent at times (for instance the game with most card sin history was between Netherlands and Portugal arround 6 or 8 years ago). If They win I hope I don't see a shameful football from them. I remember in the final when De Jong hit Xabi Alonso in the chest. Man as much as I think they play very well they need to contain themselves and play like true champions to be the champions.

 

[goldb]

Oh yes "that" incindent, If I remember correctly weren't they quite violent in that whole tournament? I seem to remember a match where there were many cards dished out involving them and.....was it Portugal or someone else?

 

[BBB Banana]

yeah they were always a bit violent despise having a high quality football.

 

[Doraku]

Oh yes "that" incindent, If I remember correctly weren't they quite violent in that whole tournament? I seem to remember a match where there were many cards dished out involving them and.....was it Portugal or someone else?

Yes, I remember how intense that match was. Don't forget Kung-fu kick incident by De Jong too, last year.

By the way, congratulation for your new rank!

----------

I'm rooting for Germany, but somehow I believe Holland / France would win the tournament. Still, group phase is often more unpredictable compared to knock out phase.

 

[Pat]

I'm surprised nobody picks Spain, they're the defending Europe and World Champions, they have more star players than any other team in their squad and they're an experienced team with players who know each other very well. Casillas is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Pique and Ramos are top-class defenders, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas and Xabi Alonso arguably constitute one of the best midfields of all time. The only problem is in their forward line, the top goalscorer of last European Championship David Villa is injured and Torres had a very bad season at Chelsea. Even then, IMHO they're still the favorites with Germany and Netherlands following closely behind.

 

[goldb]

They've not had a great build up campaign leading to the Euros though, that's my main concern and there isn't that "hype" that surrounded them as with the previous 2 tournaments. Whether that is because people are now expecting them to win it and are clear favourites or there are doubts in their form. Honestly though, it'd be no surprise AT ALL if they win but I've got doubts....

 

[Googlez_kun]

Rappadapadam! Anyone watching Poland vs Greece?Man,what a nerve-wracking game.

 

[goldb]

Yep, I'm still at work and watching it

It's been a good opening match, really high tempo and quite thrilling, particularly in the second half.

 

[xi0]

What a mess of a match

 

[Googlez_kun]

Meh,kinda dissapointing. the match itself was exciting,but Poland could've won easily.Man,my Polish heritage is dissatisfied. Hope they don't lose their spirit now.
(Admittedly,Greece wasn't too bad,but still)

 

[BBB Banana]

Man Gotta say Poland showed us a great football at the begining but they got tired and lost their chance to win the game. greece could have won on the second half.

An unfair expulsion to Greece and a fair one for Poland. It was a good game, not amazing but good enough, very exciting. Wish Poland had won. Hope Russia does a good campaing this year. (They had some pretty good campaings in the last euro and world cup but they never win )

 

[goldb]

My God Czech Republic were crushed lol if this is a sign of things to come then Russia will run away with this group

 

[FrostyMouse]

Poor refereeing the whole way. Shows why Spanish refs suck, but then again, this guy did give out the most red cards in La Liga this year. :P

Three atrocious decisions in the first half with two terrible yellows and then a non-penalty call. In the 2nd leg of Bayern vs Madrid at the Bernabeu, Ronaldo's cross to no one in particular accidentally collided with the defender's arm and he got a penalty out of it. If that was a penalty, then there was no way that Greece didn't deserve a penalty. Then, you can blame Greece for not finishing it; I mean, when he was taking the penalty, I was like, go left, because I just had this fear that it was going to be saved going right, and it totally was. Poor, poor penalty. I guess Robben's not the only bad penalty taker out there.

Although, given everything that happened, a 1-1 result was probably fair.

In terms of Russia vs the Czech Republic, I'd picked the Czech Republic to finish first and Russia to finish second in Group A, but my predictions seem a bit off after today. I knew that Russia had the better team, but I thought Cech would somehow inspire his team to glory in an effort to build on the CL glory, but like usual, the Czech Republic's defending was shoddy and Cech doesn't always go all out for the national team. I mean, to me, it looked like he didn't try all out, because after all, the cash he earns at Chelsea is more important than a Euro game. I'm being serious here. The Czech Republic isn't getting past the QFs, so...I was a bit disappointed that Russia added on two extra goals near the end, but that was all due to the poor defending.

---------- Post added at 06:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:43 PM ----------

Wow, take a look at this ref's record.

12 yellows and a straight red awarded in a single match.

http://thewall.co.uk/topics/27981-football--referee

The overall numbers of cards awarded, as you can see in the pic, is just staggering.

 

[xi0]

Banana and Armin didn't finish their brackets

 

[BBB Banana]

What? I did it was giving some errors but I did it again and it was done

---------- Post added at 09:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 PM ----------

Oh Fuck only because I was gonna win?