More Euro 2012 news
Euro 2012 has kicked off with style, we are currently 3 days into the tournament and it sure has already been eventful, but in the matches you wouldn't have expected...
Poland 1 - 1 Greece. (Group A)
Poland v Greece had a slightly heightened expectation than would normally be expected as it was of course the opening match to the tournament. Greece were predicted to struggle being the lowest scoring team in qualifying but put on an standard performance when looking at the weakness of their squad.
Poland v Greece had a slightly heightened expectation than would normally be expected as it was of course the opening match to the tournament. Greece were predicted to struggle being the lowest scoring team in qualifying but put on an standard performance when looking at the weakness of their squad.
Borussia Dortmunds Lewandowski put the Polish ahead with a strong downwards header past a flailing Chalkias, and throughout the first half they looked promising and in retrospect of the score should have been more clinical in order to seal a victory. However in the 2nd half Greece grew in confidence and managed to grab a somewhat lucky goal with Salpingidis. Both Szczesny and Papastathopoulos showed red, however Greece's red card was due to two very weak yellow cards. This means both will receive at least a 1 match ban.
Russia 4 - 1 Czech Republic. (Group A)
Russia would look to top group A being the strongest team out of the bunch, and started on track for that with a comfortable win other the Czech's captained by Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech. CSKA Moscow youngster Dzagoev started his brace with a strong shot which could have been dealt with better. Shirikov made it 2, capitalising on a through ball straight through the defence to calmly slot it past the Chelsea veteran.
Pilar scored a surprise goal against the run of play to scare the Russians into wrapping up the match, and Dzagoev definately did so as he scored again in the 79th Minute before Roman Pavlyuchenko used trickery and strength to slam home another. Putting them leaders of Group A.
Netherlands 0 - 1 Denmark (Group B)
This match was the first for one of the top 6 clubs to show their class with Holland entering the tournament with high expectations after having the world cup snatched away from them by Iniesta, they faced a Danish side who didn't look much of a threat to such a technically gifted side like the Netherlands, they started the match playing a comfortable and relaxed playing style, they kept possession and should have scored. However the Danes striked first as Krohn-Dehli neatly tucked the ball through Stecklenburgs legs and changed the whole game. Denmark defended strongly as Sneijder continued to attack with perfect passes that really threatened the defence. However the game remained 1 - 0 providing the first shock of the tournament, however Holland fans stated "I think we are considered to be better than we really are, we don't expect to win".
Germany 1 - 0 Portugal (Group B)
Germany against Portugal was the big match to watch, both sides had considerably less pressure on them after the Netherlands result but there was still a very apparent feel of anticipation as the game kicked off. However the match turned out to be disappointing, Germany dominated possession with Portugal playing counter attacking football with Nani and Ronaldo, however opportunities ran dry and it was not until Mario Gomez scored a strong header in the 73rd minute that Portugal really pressured the favourites. Despite their efforts improving Germany's defence held strong and the match remained 1-0. Putting Germany in a good place to top the group.
Germany against Portugal was the big match to watch, both sides had considerably less pressure on them after the Netherlands result but there was still a very apparent feel of anticipation as the game kicked off. However the match turned out to be disappointing, Germany dominated possession with Portugal playing counter attacking football with Nani and Ronaldo, however opportunities ran dry and it was not until Mario Gomez scored a strong header in the 73rd minute that Portugal really pressured the favourites. Despite their efforts improving Germany's defence held strong and the match remained 1-0. Putting Germany in a good place to top the group.
Check back tomorrow for a 3 day match report.
