Euro 2012 - Official Discussion Thread

[Gustaf]

I have a really hard time seeing Germany/Netherlands losing against any group A teams. Russia seems a lot weaker compared to the last Euros.

[Jack Vance RIP]

I have a really hard time seeing Germany/Netherlands losing against any group A teams. Russia seems a lot weaker compared to the last Euros.

Nobody really fancied Russia before the last euros, when they beat the Netherlands it was a massive surprise.

Anyway, I think Germany will finally do it this time.

[I Am Damo Suzuki]

I`m not a great supporter but I`m going with the red shirts. Try to guess if I am talking about Garibaldians, Chavistas or the defenders of the title. I´m terrible making predictions but I don´t feel very optimistic. Anyway we´ll reach the Semifinal.

[Keystone Phil]

Jas claims he's going to be objective...then gives the most ridiculous prediction. The Netherlands will be last? Italy, too? Ireland blows out all competition in the knockout rounds except in the Final, where they fail on penalties? Ok, you were clearly being sarcastic when you said "very objective."

I`m not a great supporter but I`m going with the red shirts. Try to guess if I am talking about Garibaldians, Chavistas or the defenders of the title. I´m terrible making predictions but I don´t feel very optimistic. Anyway we´ll reach the Semifinal.

Garibaldians? We wear blue or white, not red.

[Lіef]

GROUP A
Poland
Russia

GROUP B
Germany
Netherlands

GROUP C
Spain
Ireland

GROUP D
France
Sweden

POLAND v Netherlands
SPAIN v Sweden
GERMANY v Russia
FRANCE v Ireland

Poland v SPAIN
GERMANY v France

GERMANY v Spain

[Keystone Phil]

Stop it, Lief.

[I Am Damo Suzuki]

Garibaldians? We wear blue or white, not red.

The mention to Garibaldians was because Garibaldi`s supporters wore red shirts in the XIX Century. It was only a joke.

[Keystone Phil]

Garibaldians? We wear blue or white, not red.

The mention to Garibaldians was because Garibaldi`s supporters wore red shirts in the XIX Century. It was only a joke.

I figured but it would be a better joke if the Italians wore red on the pitch.

Welcome to the forum, by the way.

[Lіef]

Stop it, Lief.

Italy's not making it out of the group stages, sorry Phil.

[Keystone Phil]

Stop it, Lief.

Italy's not making it out of the group stages, sorry Phil.

And Poland is not only winning their group but beating The Netherlands?

Right.

[Lіef]

Czech Republic and Greece are both awful at the moment, and with a bit of luck Poland can definitely beat Russia. Poland has some terrific players (Lewandowski, Piszczek, Kuba, Szczesny) and with home field advantage I think they'll do well.

In 2008, Russia and Turkey got to the semifinals. In 2004, Greece won. Funny things can happen.

[Keystone Phil]

I wouldn't say the Czechs are horrible. Even still, Russia isn't losing the top spot to Poland.

[Lіef]

What follows are my predictions based on science. As of today, Estonia will have played every UEFA team at least once. By comparing each team's last performance against Estonia (ties are broken by looking at the second to last game against Estonia), we can deduce who will the European Championship.

GROUP A
Poland
Czechia

GROUP B
Holland
Germany

GROUP C
Spain
Italy

GROUP D
France
England

POLAND (p) v Germany
HOLLAND v Czechia
SPAIN (p) v England (tie on the second game as well, but England never wins penalties so...)
FRANCE v Italy

Poland v SPAIN
NETHERLANDS v France

NETHERLANDS v Spain

[Gustaf]

Jas claims he's going to be objective...then gives the most ridiculous prediction. The Netherlands will be last? Italy, too? Ireland blows out all competition in the knockout rounds except in the Final, where they fail on penalties? Ok, you were clearly being sarcastic when you said "very objective."

I`m not a great supporter but I`m going with the red shirts. Try to guess if I am talking about Garibaldians, Chavistas or the defenders of the title. I´m terrible making predictions but I don´t feel very optimistic. Anyway we´ll reach the Semifinal.

Garibaldians? We wear blue or white, not red.

He used a system. A ridiculous one, granted, but still. It is objective in that sense.

[Јas]

Jas claims he's going to be objective...then gives the most ridiculous prediction. The Netherlands will be last? Italy, too? Ireland blows out all competition in the knockout rounds except in the Final, where they fail on penalties? Ok, you were clearly being sarcastic when you said "very objective."

Maybe my post was unclear. It's not really a prediction at all (I'm pretty terrible at predicting this sort of thing anyway), it was just a diverting exercise - taking the last result between each of the teams and seeing what that would translate into if they were replicated.

My apologies for any offense caused.

[Keystone Phil]

The Onion has some fun at our expense - http://www.theonion.com/articles/report-people-talking-about-soccer-but-theres-no-w,28400

[Keystone Phil]

Now Prandelli says he doesn't know if Italy is good enough to win the tournament. Slight improvement from his idiotic "We won't win" comment a week or two ago.

He also added that he has "no objectives whatsoever. Qualifying was our objective."

[Vasall des Midas]

Czech Republic and Greece are both awful at the moment, and with a bit of luck Poland can definitely beat Russia. Poland has some terrific players (Lewandowski, Piszczek, Kuba, Szczesny) and with home field advantage I think they'll do well.

In 2008, Russia and Turkey got to the semifinals. In 2004, Greece won. Funny things can happen.

Heck, with all those Dortmunders there and the Bayern in the German team, I think I need to revise my quarterfinal prediction.

[Gustaf]

I've been trying to think of a ranking of the teams, taking everything into account (although not the draw or anything like that).

I have:

Germany
Spain (could easily be flipped)
Netherlands

France
Italy
England
Portugal
Russia

The weaker teams I'm less sure of, but I will give them some thought.

[Keystone Phil]

Get those final predictions in, guys. Fourteen hours until kickoff!

[Lіef]

Only a couple of hours now. Here are my predictions for tomorrow:

Poland 3 - 1 Greece
Russia 2 - 0 Czech Republic

[NVGonzalez]

Poland 1-1 Greece
Russia 1-0 Czech Republic

[State Comptroller Atkins]

Group A

Czech Republic
Greece
Poland
Russia

Group B

Germany
Portugal
The Netherlands
Denmark

Group C

Spain
Italy
Republic of Ireland
Croatia

Group D

France
England
Sweden
Ukraine

Czech Republic vs. Portugal
Greece vs. Germany
(Sorry to get political, but this might be an *interesting* game if it happens....)
Spain vs. England
France vs. Italy

Czech Republic vs. England
Germany vs. Italy

Czech Republic vs. Germany

So yeah. I think England cause a national sensation by knocking out the current World and European champions, but then it soon comes crashing down. Hodgson could actually be forced out of the job in this scenario.

[afleitch]

I don't think England will make it past the first round. It will either be France and Sweden or possibly the Ukraine.

[I left.]

http://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=154657.0

Place your Euro tips here!