Euro 2012 Qualifiers

[Keystone Phil]

Group A is a joke. Group B is the Group of Death.

[Vasall des Midas]

Ooh, nice negative vibes. Second match against the Cheeseheads.

Group D has bigger names than Group A, but is possibly even weaker in practice.

[Keystone Phil]

Italy with Spain, Ireland and Croatia. Oh joy!

[I left.]

Group B is interesting

[Lief]

Group B and C should be awesome. Group A and D are terrible and boring probably. France and England will both independently find some way to fukc up being in Group D, of course.

[Sibboleth]

O.K, so I want three of the four sides in Group D to lose all their games. Fyck.

[Vasall des Midas]

O.K, so I want three of the four sides in Group D to lose all their games. Fyck.

What have you got against Sweden? (Or Ukraine?)

[Sibboleth]

O.K, so I want three of the four sides in Group D to lose all their games. Fyck.

What have you got against Sweden? (Or Ukraine?)

I've nothing against Sweden.

[Keystone Phil]

Group Winners

Czech Republic
Germany
Spain
France

Group Runners up

Russia
The Netherlands
Italy
England


I give Spain the edge in winning our group but I really think it could go either way. Same with all of the other groups. I can see all of the above runners up winning their respective groups, that's how evenly matched these teams are. Of course, Group A is the closest to a free-for-all. What a joke.

It would be nice to be wrong and see Italy win the group and France come in as runners up in Group D. If everything in my current bracket plays out with the revisions I just mentioned, that would mean Italy vs. France in the Quarter final, Italy vs. The Netherlands in the Semi final and Italy vs. Spain in the Final which was exactly the path I had planned out a few weeks ago.    As of now, though, I have us meeting France in the Quarter final and Germany in the Semi final.

[GMantis]

O.K, so I want three of the four sides in Group D to lose all their games. Fyck.

What have you got against Sweden? (Or Ukraine?)

I've nothing against Sweden.

And the Ukraine?

[Gustaf]

O.K, so I want three of the four sides in Group D to lose all their games. Fyck.

What have you got against Sweden? (Or Ukraine?)

I've nothing against Sweden.

Yeah, I sure hope Sweden is the approved of team.

I'm not too disappointed with the draw. This was realistically about as good as we could hope for. Ukraine is arguably the weakest team from pot 1 and I think England might be the best team for Sweden from pot 2 (even though Russia is clearly weaker in terms of players). Getting France was bad luck, but still.

And group A...jeez. Talk about the worse imaginable group.

[Benwah [why on Earth do I post something] Courseyay]

We are totally messy, unexperienced, and kinda 'psychologically blocked' but we could win that group I guess. I don't know much about Sweden nowadays' team though.

Wow at group B.

Fyck

How disgracious. I wouldn't even know how to pronounce it this way.

Let's make shine the stars!

F**K!

[Gustaf]

So, predictions:

Group A:
Poland
Russia

Group B:
Germany
Netherlands

Group C:
Spain
Italy

Group D:
France
England


That would give:

Poland v Netherlands

Germany v Russia

Spain v England

France v Italy

Semi-finals:

Spain v Netherlands

Germany v Italy

Final:

Germany v Spain

I think that is pretty much the boring prediction. Probably won't be true, of course. I do have a hard time seeing anyone challenge the big 3, although behind them pretty much anything can happen.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Wow. Group A is a joke.

[Vasall des Midas]

So, predictions:

Group A:
Russia
Greece

Group B:
Germany
Netherlands

Group C:
Spain
Italy

Group D:
England
Sweden

That would give:

Russia v Netherlands

Germany v Greece

Spain v Sweden

England v Italy

Semi-finals:

Spain v Netherlands

Germany v Italy (because we do not beat Italy in such matches. Never will. I think it's in the FIFA constitution somewhere.)

Final:

Spain v Italy

Another boring prediction that probably won't be true.

[Vasall des Midas]

Italy losing a quarterfinal against England or a semifinal against Germany feels less realistic than them going out in the group stage, somehow.

[Gustaf]

Italy losing a quarterfinal against England or a semifinal against Germany feels less realistic than them going out in the group stage, somehow.

That is definitely very, very true. It'd probably have to be Croatia in that case, although they have not looked all that strong in qualification and feel decidedly worse now compared to a couple of years ago.

It's also true that Italy tends to beat Germany in big games. On the other hand, Germany feels SO much better than Italy right now. Like, really, really. So that's what I based my prediction on. I generally have trouble seeing Germany lose against a team that isn't Spain or Holland.

[Vasall des Midas]

And as to Holland...

[Gustaf]

And as to Holland...

You're thinking about the traditional Holland meltdowns? They tend to do reasonably at the Euros though, compared to worlds.

[Vasall des Midas]

And as to Holland...

You're thinking about the traditional Holland meltdowns?

Nah, just of the recent friendly.

[Јas]

Tough draw. No surprise that we're being written-off. But I don't think clawing our way out the group would be out of the question.

We've gotten out of the groups in 3 of the 4 major tournaments we've been to; and our record against each of Spain, Italy and Croatia is sound. Bring it on.

[Keystone Phil]

Wow. Group A is a joke.

Uh? I'm satisfied with the draw. Naturally, people hope their team gets the easiest group but, in reality, we find a way to screw up the easy groups so Group C is a great fit. The order of the games couldn't be better either when you consider how Italy starts slowly.


I have a feeling that your image was posted because I don't have you guys getting out of the group.

[Keystone Phil]

Since I already posted my predictions for the group winners and runners up, I might as well do my full bracket and expanded commentary ...


Quarter finals

Czech Republic vs. The Netherlands

Spain vs. England

Germany vs. Russia

France vs. Italy


Semi finals

Spain vs. The Netherlands

Germany vs. Italy


Final

Spain vs. Italy


This is the first tournament in years ahead of which I've felt truly confident. 2010 was a forced confidence ("They've underestimated us before and look how we did! It will be the same thing this time...even though something doesn't feel right at all.") and 2008 brought a real nervousness when we were stuck with that Group of Death. I feel great about our chances of progressing out of the group (though if we really slip up against Spain and Ireland capitalize early in their campaign, we could give up a spot in the knockout rounds).

I like our chances against either France or England in the Quarter finals. The Semi finals get tricky. Whether we face the Dutch or the Germans, we're going to have a real challenge. Yeah, we typically have the Germans' number in big games but they're phenomenal right now. I think the Dutch are more likely to falter so I'm hoping we win our group or they win theirs (opposed to my current predictions) so we end up on the same side of the bracket.

I have good feelings about meeting Spain in both the group and hopefully in the Final. I think our Friendly win gave us real confidence especially considering how we dominated one half of play and came away with a win. A Friendly win isn't "just a Friendly" against the World and Euro Champions. I think we'll start the group with a draw but I fully believe we can get the win then and if we meet them later.

[Sibboleth]

Good riddance to fascist rubbish.

[Keystone Phil]

Oh my God. What the hell?