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Post by Aris on May 22, 2012 19:13:35 GMT 2
Euro 2012 is just a little more than 2 weeks away. A lot of members here have representation based on birthplace, current country of residence, background/heritage or just plain one's favourite team. Hopefully there are enough fans here of the sport we North Americans refer to as Soccer, and most Europeans refer to as Football, to make for a good discussion.
Below, I've listed the four Groups, along with the four countries in each group. The number in parenthesis represents the FIFA European ranking for each country. In the Group Stage, each team (within each Group) will play each other once. The top two teams will then advance to the next stage, commonly referred to as the Knockout Stage or Quarter-Finals. In the Knockout Stage, the games are played as follows:
Group A winner will play the Group B runner-up. Group B winner will play the Group A runner-up. Group C winner will play the Group D runner-up. Group D winner will play the Group C runner-up.
The winners of the Quarter-Finals make it to the next stage, the Semi-Finals. There will be four teams playing in 2 Semi-Final Games:
The winner of the "Group A winner vs Group B runner-up" plays the winner of the "Group C winner vs Group D runner-up" The winner of the "Group B winner vs Group A runner-up" plays the winner of the "Group D winner vs Group C runner-up"
The winners of two Semi-Final matches go on to play for the championship game, while the losers play for 3rd & 4th spot.
Without further ado, here's what it's all about:
Group A:
Czech Republic (16) Greece (10) Poland (32) Russia (8)
Group B:
Denmark (7) Germany (2) Netherlands (3) Portugal (4)
Group C:
Croatia (6) Ireland (13) Italy (9) Spain (1)
Group D:
England (5) France (11) Sweden (12) Ukraine (28)
Indicate your picks by indentifying the order you think each Group will finish. Then identify the teams you believe will win the Quarter-Final matches, then the Semis, and finally, indicate who will come 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th.
I'll go first:
Group A:
Russia Greece Czech Republic Poland
Group B:
Germany Netherlands Denmark Portugal
Group C:
Spain Italy Croatia Ireland
Group D:
France Sweden England Ukraine
Netherlands beats Russia Germany beats Greece Spain beats Sweden France beats Italy
Netherlands beats Spain Germany beats France
1st - Germany 2nd - Netherlands 3rd - France 4th - Spain
AC
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Post by jbthechef on May 26, 2012 3:55:52 GMT 2
Group A:
Greece Russia Czech Republic Poland
Group B:
Netherlands Germany Portugal Denmark
Group C:
Spain Italy Croatia Ireland
Group D:
England France Sweden Ukraine
Germany beats Greece Netherlands beats Russia Spain beats France Italy beats England
Spain beats Germany Italy beats Netherlands
1st - Spain 2nd - Italy 3rd - Germany 4th - Netherlands
JB
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Post by Aris on May 26, 2012 23:18:16 GMT 2
Ah, so there is another footy fan here!!! Very nice picks JB! I especially like Group A! You know, I'm beginning to wonder about England. I mean, there's always been such high expectations of them at the Euros and WC, and they've often fallen short of those expectations. Now, a lot of people wonder if they'll even make it out of the Group Stage. Well, perhaps with such low expectations, maybe they'll surprise us all and make it to the Semis or Finals! AC
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Post by sAner on May 30, 2012 16:03:40 GMT 2
Okay, here's my 2 cents! Group A: Russia Czech Republic Poland Greece Group B: Netherlands Germany Portugal Denmark Group C: Spain Italy Croatia Ireland Group D: England France Ukraine Sweden Germany beats Russia Netherlands beats Czech Republic Spain beats France Italy beats England Spain beats Germany Netherlands beats Italy 1st - Spain 2nd - Netherlands 3rd - Germany 4th - Italy Ouch! The Orange squad loses another final! Correct me if I am wrong, but in European Championships there is no match between the losers of the semi finals, so how can be decided which team becomes third and which team becomes fourth?? Regards, Pieter
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Post by Aris on May 30, 2012 23:50:13 GMT 2
Okay, here's my 2 cents! Group A: Russia Czech Republic Poland Greece Group B: Netherlands Germany Portugal Denmark Group C: Spain Italy Croatia Ireland Group D: England France Ukraine Sweden Germany beats Russia Netherlands beats Czech Republic Spain beats France Italy beats England Spain beats Germany Netherlands beats Italy 1st - Spain 2nd - Netherlands 3rd - Germany 4th - Italy Ouch! The Orange squad loses another final! Correct me if I am wrong, but in European Championships there is no match between the losers of the semi finals, so how can be decided which team becomes third and which team becomes fourth?? Regards, Pieter You're right man! It's the WC where they have the 3rd place game. I think at one point, they used to have a 3rd place game in the Euros, but, not anymore, and not for a while. Thanks for pointing that out man! AC
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Post by sAner on May 31, 2012 8:17:40 GMT 2
You're right man! It's the WC where they have the 3rd place game. I think at one point, they used to have a 3rd place game in the Euros, but, not anymore, and not for a while. Thanks for pointing that out man! AC And what do you think of my predictions? Regards, Pieter
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Post by Aris on May 31, 2012 20:36:26 GMT 2
You're right man! It's the WC where they have the 3rd place game. I think at one point, they used to have a 3rd place game in the Euros, but, not anymore, and not for a while. Thanks for pointing that out man! AC And what do you think of my predictions? Regards, Pieter Predictions look good. Other than I don't like England to advance. If they do, it will be 2nd at best. I like France 1st and Sweden 2nd. But, whether it's Sweden or England, I feel either team will get knocked out in the Quarters against Spain. If Italy comes 2nd in Group C, and France is 1st in Group D, that will be a helluva match, with my instincts telling me France wins. I also think the Oranje come 2nd in their group. Maybe even 3rd if Portugal continues to have their number. Didn't Sneijder go down against Slovakia.... Problem is, if they come 2nd, they play Russia in the Quarters, (to whom they lost to in the last Euros) and if they can manage to beat them, they would then have to face (most likely) Spain in the Semis. No one wants to face Spain. Even with Puyol & Villa out. But hey, anything can happen. Look at 2004! ;D AC
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Post by jbthechef on Jun 8, 2012 16:39:39 GMT 2
Ah, so there is another footy fan here!!! Very nice picks JB! I especially like Group A! You know, I'm beginning to wonder about England. I mean, there's always been such high expectations of them at the Euros and WC, and they've often fallen short of those expectations. Now, a lot of people wonder if they'll even make it out of the Group Stage. Well, perhaps with such low expectations, maybe they'll surprise us all and make it to the Semis or Finals! AC 80 mins to go for the poland and greece game, i'm gonna say 2-1 to greece for this one
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Post by Aris on Jun 8, 2012 20:15:47 GMT 2
Should have been JB, should have been!! Oh well, better 1 point than 0 points. Russia vs Czech Republic in half an hour. I'll call this one as 3 - 1 for Russia. AC
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Post by sAner on Jun 11, 2012 16:23:49 GMT 2
At least you've got 1 point!
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Post by Aris on Jun 12, 2012 20:25:23 GMT 2
LOL! That looks like all we'll be finishing with too! Is it just me, or does the guy calling the lines in the Greece - Czech game need glasses? Sheesh! Bye-Bye Greece. AC
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Post by sAner on Jun 15, 2012 15:25:06 GMT 2
Two of the three matches played, zero points for NL, 1 goal scored and stil a 12% chance to get through to the quarter finals.
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fredolococo
Full Member
J.i21 full set : 25/25 . Rain shower pub Coral
Posts: 249
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Post by fredolococo on Jun 15, 2012 15:57:12 GMT 2
Spain and Germany are , aren't ? Today France play --->
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Post by Aris on Jun 15, 2012 21:06:56 GMT 2
If I'm not mistaken, the Dutch go through only if the Danes lose to Germany AND they beat Portugal by two goals. Gonna be a lot of upset people in my pool at work if Holland bows out at the Group Stage....
Spain tied their first game with Italy 1 - 1 and they won their 2nd game 4 -0 against Ireland.
Germany beat Portugal in their 1st game 1 -0 and the beat Holland 2 - 1 in their second game.
Both Spain & Germany appear to be in the driver's seat for 1st place in both of thier groups.
France beat Ukraine 2 - 0 - Yay!! ( I have France coming first in that group!)
England is playing Sweden right this moment.
AC
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Post by jbthechef on Jun 16, 2012 1:56:25 GMT 2
If I'm not mistaken, the Dutch go through only if the Danes lose to Germany AND they beat Portugal by two goals. Gonna be a lot of upset people in my pool at work if Holland bows out at the Group Stage.... Spain tied their first game with Italy 1 - 1 and they won their 2nd game 4 -0 against Ireland. Germany beat Portugal in their 1st game 1 -0 and the beat Holland 2 - 1 in their second game. Both Spain & Germany appear to be in the driver's seat for 1st place in both of thier groups. France beat Ukraine 2 - 0 - Yay!! ( I have France coming first in that group!) England is playing Sweden right this moment. AC 3-2 to england That was close. Just need to win by 4 goals or more when we play ukraine next week to top the group and try to avoid spain. Big game for you tomorrow aris greece vs russia, greece have got to win to keep in the euros, while a draw or a loss to czech rep could see them out of the competition. Good luck aris for tomorrow
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