Euro 2012 Group A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic

[Darkon]

Legend
Pl: Games played, W: Won, D: Drawn, L: Lost, F: Goals For, A: Goals Against, GD: Goal difference, Pts: Points

Matches

8 June 2012
18.00: Poland 1 Greece 1
Stadium: National Stadium Warsaw, Warsaw (POL)

20.45: Russia 4 Czech Republic 1
Stadium: Municipal Stadium Wroclaw, Wroclaw (POL)


12 June 2012
18.00: Greece v Czech Republic 1-2
Stadium: Municipal Stadium Wroclaw, Wroclaw (POL)

20.45: Poland v Russia 1-1
Stadium: National Stadium Warsaw, Warsaw (POL)


16 June 2012
20.45: Greece v Russia 1-0
Stadium: National Stadium Warsaw, Warsaw (POL)

20.45: Czech Republic v Poland 1-0
Stadium: Municipal Stadium Wroclaw, Wroclaw (POL)

[Darkon]

Poland Team Profile



Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczesny (Arsenal), Przemyslaw Tyton (PSV Eindhoven), Grzegorz Sandomierski (Jagiellonia Bialystok)

Defenders: Lukasz Piszczek (Borussia Dortmund), Marcin Wasilewski (Anderlecht), Jakub Wawrzyniak (Legia Warsaw), Marcin Kaminski (Lech Poznan), Grzegorz Wojtkowiak (Lech Poznan), Sebastian Boenisch (Werder Bremen), Damien Perquis (Sochaux)

Midfielders: Eugen Polanski (Mainz), Dariusz Dudka (Auxerre), Adam Matuszczyk (Fortuna Duesseldorf), Adrian Mierzejewski (Trabzonspor), Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Ludovic Obraniak (Bordeaux), Maciej Rybus (Terek Grozny), Kamil Grosicki (Sivasspor), Rafal Murawski (Lech Poznan), Rafal Wolski (Legia Warsaw)

Forwards: Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund), Artur Sobiech (Hanover), Pawel Brozek (Celtic Glasgow)

Likely formation and lineup:



STAR MAN

Poland's outstanding player and biggest goal threat, Robert Lewandowski arrives at Euro 2012 in the form of his life.

He was voted the Bundesliga's Player of the Year for 2011-12 after firing Borussia Dortmund to the domestic double. His hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the German Cup final took his tally to 30 goals in all competitions (plus eight assists).

His form and fitness are absolutely critical to Poland's chances - they have no other forward in his class.

Lewandowski, who usually plays as a lone striker for club and country, was given his international debut in a World Cup qualifier in 2008, and took just nine minutes to get on the scoresheet.

The 23-year-old comes from a sporting family: his father was a national judo champion, his mother and sister played volleyball, while his fiancée is a traditional karate fighter who has won medals at world and European level.

Manager

Franciszek Smuda took over in 2009 following the sacking of Leo Beenhakker, and immediately set about bringing down the average age of the squad, promising to play "offensive and attractive" football. An eight-match winless run in 2010 (including a 6-0 thrashing from Spain) proved a reality check, but results have picked up in the last 18 months.

Smuda frankly admits Poland do not have the same depth of talent they had in the 1970s and 1980s, and has therefore looked far and wide for eligible players. He has faced criticism for calling up French-born duo Damien Perquis and Ludovic Obraniak (who qualify via grandparents), plus the likes of Eugen Polanski and Sebastian Boenisch (both of whom left Poland for Germany as children, and represented the Germans at under-21 level).

Smuda's career has seen him represent 13 different clubs, and manage another 15. He played for a handful of sides in the North American Soccer League in the 1970s, including a brief spell alongside George Best at the LA Aztecs. He has coached in Germany, Poland and Cyprus, with his most notable achievement taking Widzew Lodz to the quarter-finals of the Champions League in 1996.

Record at the Euro's:

Poland have only qualified once, and they failed to emerge from the 2008 group stages.

Fifa World Ranking 65

[Darkon]

Greece Team Profile



Goalkeepers: Costas Chalkias (PAOK), Michalis Sifakis (Aris), Alexandros Tzorvas (Palermo).

Defenders: Vassilis Torosidis (Olympiakos), Sokratis Papastathopoulos (Werder Bremen), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiakos), Jose Holebas (Olympiakos), Stelios Malezas (PAOK), Giorgos Tzavelas (Monaco), Yiannis Maniatis (Olympiakos), Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Schalke).

Midfielders: Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos), Costas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos), Giorgos Fotakis (PAOK), Costas Fortounis (Kaiserslautern), Yiannis Fetfatzidis (Olympiakos), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos), Grigoris Makos (AEK Athens).

Forwards: Georgios Samaras (Celtic), Dimitris Salpigidis (PAOK), Costas Mitroglou (Atromitos), Nikos Lymberopoulos (AEK Athens), Fanis Gekas (Samsunspor).

Likely formation and lineup:



Star player

Greece are hardly well endowed with attacking midfielders, so the serious knee injury Sotiris Ninis suffered in September 2011 was a real blow. The Panathinaikos playmaker damaged cruciate ligaments moments after scoring a spectacular solo goal against Israel.

However, Ninis' absence did not prevent the Greeks clinching qualification with victory against Group F favourites Croatia. The 22-year-old made his return in March, and has since signed a deal to play for Parma next season.

Born in Albania to Greek parents, Ninis was selected for the 2010 World Cup but veteran coach Otto Rehhagel appeared reluctant to trust the youngster. The midfielder made two substitute appearances in South Africa, spending a total of 41 minutes on the pitch.

He was eventually promoted to the starting line-up by new manager Fernando Santos after Greece drew their opening two Euro 2012 qualifiers. The move immediately paid off, his selection coinciding with a run of five successive wins.

Manager

Succeeding Otto Rehhagel, who masterminded the Euro 2004 triumph, could have been a daunting task for Portuguese coach Fernando Santos , but the 57-year-old has had little difficulty in filling the shoes of "King Otto".
Fernando Santos

It certainly helps that Santos knows Greek football inside out, having previously led AEK Athens, Panathinaikos and PAOK, who he guided to Champions League qualification in 2010.

After a brief playing career, Santos quit to gain a diploma in electrical and telecommunications engineering, earning him the nickname 'The Mechanic' when he embarked on a coaching career that took him to Porto, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica.

Greece were unbeaten in Santos's first 17 games in charge, with the run eventually ending in a 3-1 defeat to Romania on 15 November.

Record at the Euro's:

Greece have qualified 3 times. Won the tournament in 2004, failed to win a match in 2008.

Fifa World Ranking 14

[Darkon]

Russia Team Profile



Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeyev (CSKA Moscow), Vyacheslav Malafeyev (Zenit St Petersburg), Anton Shunin (Dynamo Moscow)

Defenders: Alexander Anyukov (Zenit St Petersburg), Alexei Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Roman Sharonov (Rubin Kazan), Vladimir Granat (Dynamo Moscow), Kirill Nababkin (CSKA Moscow)

Midfielders: Igor Denisov (Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Shirokov (Zenit St Petersburg), Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit St Petersburg), Yuri Zhirkov (Anzhi Makhachkala), Alan Dzagoyev (CSKA Moscow), Igor Semshov (Dynamo Moscow), Denis Glushakov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Marat Izmailov (Sporting), Dmitry Kombarov (Spartak Moscow)

Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal), Alexander Kerzhakov (Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Lokomotiv Moscow), Alexander Kokorin (Dynamo Moscow), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Fulham).

Likely formation and lineup:



STAR MAN

CSKA Moscow's Alan Dzagoev was named the Best Young Player in the Russian Premier League following a successful debut season with them in 2008-2009. The 21-year-old attacking midfielder from North Ossetia has already scored 25 league goals for them in fewer than 100 games, and scored four goals for his national side in the eight qualifying matches he played as Russia finished top of group B.

Manager

Dutchman Dick Advocaat - the first foreign coach to manage Rangers - is well-known to football fans. Despite taking his national team to the 1994 World Cup quarters and Euro 2004 last four during two stints in charge, 'The Little General' was not wildly popular in his homeland, notably falling out with Ruud Gullit in 1993.

Has managed other countries, such as South Korea, the UAE and Belgium, and shone in Russia - who he took charge of in 2010 - when winning the 2008 Uefa Cup with Zenit St Petersburg.

Record at the Euro's:

Russia won the first ever Euro's, Runners up 3 times and were beaten by Spain four years ago.

Fifa World Ranking 11

[Darkon]

Czech Republic Team Profile



Goalkeepers: Petr Cech (Chelsea), Jaroslav Drobny (Hamburg), Jan Lastuvka (FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk).

Defenders: Theodor Gebre Selassie (FC Slovan Liberec), Roman Hubnik (Hertha Berlin), Michal Kadlec (Bayer Leverkusen), David Limbersky (FC Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Sivok (Besiktas), Marek Suchy (Spartak Moskow).

Midfielders: Vladimir Darida (FC Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Hubschman (Shakhtar Donetsk), Petr Jiracek (VfL Wolfsburg), Daniel Kolar (FC Viktoria Plzen), Milan Petrzela (FC Viktoria Plzen), Vaclav Pilar (VfL Wolfsburg), Jaroslav Plasil (Bordeaux), Frantisek Rajtoral (FC Viktoria Plzen), Tomas Rosicky (Arsenal).

Forwards: Milan Baros (Galatasaray), David Lafata (FK Jablonec), Tomas Necid (CSKA Moskow), Tomas Pekhart (FC Nurnberg), Jan Rezek (Anorthosis Famagusta).

Likely formation and lineup:



STAR MAN

Household names in the Czech squad are few and far between, but Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech needs no introduction. The 29-year-old kept clean sheets in both play-off matches against Montenegro, making several important saves in the second-leg victory in Podgorica.

Cech, who is set to take part in his fourth major international tournament, will be keen to erase memories of his costly error against Turkey at Euro 2008. The Czechs were heading for the quarter-finals until Cech fumbled a routine cross in the 87th minute, allowing Nihat Kahveci to equalise. Moments later Cech was again beaten by Nihat, sending the Czechs out.

Manager

A midfielder who played and scored for Czechoslovakia at Italia '90, Michal Bilek took over as coach following the failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup, with former Liverpool midfielder Vladimir Smicer joining him as team manager.

It has not been a smooth ride for the duo. Expectations from fans are high, but the likes of Pavel Nedved, Patrik Berger and Karel Poborsky are long gone, and their replacements are not as talented.

A survey revealed that 96% of fans wanted to see Bilek sacked, but he has retained the support of his players. The team celebrated qualification in Montenegro by singing derogatory songs aimed at their critics. The players' raucous behaviour in Podgorica airport saw them fined by the Czech FA, but it appears Bilek has successfully fostered a "them against us" mentality within the squad.

Record at the Euro's:

Qualified for 5 succesive tournaments and lost the final in 1996 to Germany on a Golden Goal.

Fifa World Ranking 26

[Muddled]

This is defo the '****' group.

[Frenchie]

top job darkie

[Kenneth]

top jop darkie

must have taken ****ing ages to type all of that.

[little dave hedgehog]

which group is slovia in?

[Frenchie]

must have taken ****ing ages to type all of that.

[ChesterDave]

Good Effort of the group posting. After working 9 days out of 10 I am off for this match grouping

[Darkon]

must have taken ****ing ages to type all of that.

Uhm yes

The formatting was a bitch though Taken quite a few hours still

[Darkon]

Russia favorite IMO, and any of the others can go through. Have a feeling Poland will make it through and Lewandowski to score a few. Really hope Greece don't go through, such a depressing side to watch !

[Fosterbloke]

Lampard and Barry are out of the England squad btw.

[Darkon]

Wrong thread by chance