An Italian looking to weave his magic. EURO 2012 preview : Republic of Ireland

Heartbreak is a long forgotten Irish feeling

18th November 2009, proved to be one of the cruelest days in the history of Irish football. After having overcome a 1-0 lead that France had achieved in the first leg, Ireland took Les Blues all the way to extra time, to decide which of these two sides would be travelling to South Africa the following summer. In the dying minutes of extra time, a blatant Thierry Henry handball went unnoticed and a French equaliser was allowed to stand. The Irish returned home teary eyed and heartbroken, while the French lived to fight another day.

Three Lions Misery. EURO 2012 Preview : England

God save the queen... God save the England national Team..

Perhaps for the first time in quite a while the expectation levels on the team have been quite less. For a team boasting of many a star players the blot of not being to achieve something decent for over a decade has only deepened.  John Terry's racism case, Fabio Capello's resignation, Wayne Rooney's suspension has only made sure that if England can pull off something from the EUROS it would be quite an achievement.

For a team which has given the world the game of football, only one major trophy, when Bobby Moore lifted the 1966 World cup seems to be such an unimaginable thing. And in the past decade it's only been worse. The team has not progressed beyond the quarter final stage in each of the major tournaments in the last 10 years and yes, didn't even manage to qualify for EURO 2008. So much for a team which has players earning vulgar wages while they ply their trade week in week out in some of the biggest leagues mainly the English Premier League.

EURO 2012 PREVIEW - PORTUGAL

EUROS HISTORY – Best Result : Runners-Up ‘04

                            Worst Result : Quarter Finals ’08, ‘96

FIXTURES – 9 June 2012                 Arena Lviv, Lviv                                 v Germany

               13 June 2012               Arena Lviv, Lviv                                 v Denmark

              17 June 2012                Metalist Stadium, Kharkiv            v Netherlands

MANAGER – Paulo Bento

CAPTAIN – Cristiano Ronaldo

TEAM PROFILE –

Exclusive t-shirts had already been printed a night before the EURO 2004 finals in Lisbon to celebrate the triumph that was to take place the next day when an extremely talented Portuguese side blessed with experience and youth alike were to face the underdogs Greece. A triumph that would mark the beginning of a golden era in Portuguese football that had begun by a FC Porto side managed by some man by the name of Jose Mourinho who had won the champions league finals at Gelsenkirchen only more than a month back. It was quite an exciting time to be a seleccao supporter, the team sat on the cusp of greatness blessed with an individual talent that would go on to become one of its most prodigal sons in the years to come.

We could be in for a Red and White summer. EURO 2012 preview : Denmark

Success has long eluded the Danes. Could EURO 2012 be their time to shine?

The last two decades have seen Danish football go on a downward spiral, from a European Championship victory in 1992 to a first round exit in the most recent edition of the FIFA World Cup. Although the Danish national team has gone through an unsuccessful era under current coach, Morten Olsen, the FA has shown an immense amount of faith and persisted with the Dane for the last twelve years. 

On paper, the current squad may not seem the most intimidating. Yet, this Danish team will have to be considered the primary upset-causer in this year's European Championships. With an experienced coach at the helm, and a rock solid defensive unit, the Danes will be looking to add a few scalps to their list of big scalps, this June.

A change in fortunes for Les Bleus? EURO 2012 Preview : France

Will Blanc get to be part of another European triumph, only this time as a manager?

The French national team has gone through a really rough patch over the last six years. After their sensational run in the 2006 World Cup, marred by Zinedine Zidane's infamous headbutt in the final, they have struggled to put together a string of decent performances in any major tournament. Even qualifying for the 2010 World Cup proved to be a huge hassle, as they relied on a controversial Thierry Henry goal to get them there.

Their debacle at the 2010 World Cup led to the resignation of then manager, Raymond Domenech. The French FA decided to hire former Bordeaux manager, Laurent Blanc, with qualification for the European Championships as their primary target. Blanc took over during a tumultuous period in the nation's footballing history. He started with a completely clean slate by suspending all the members of the 2010 World Cup squad. Following this incident, which led to a 2-1 loss at the hands of Norway, Blanc's side have only been on the rise and have to be considered a dangerous force at this edition of the European Championships.

EURO 2012 PREVIEW - SWEDEN

EUROS HISTORY -   Best Result: Semi Finals ‘92

                                    Worst Result: Group Stages ’00, ‘08

FIXTURES -

      11 June 2012               Olympic Stadium, Kiev        v Ukraine

      15 June 2012               Olympic Stadium, Kiev        v England

      19 June 2012               Olympic Stadium, Kiev        v France

MANAGER - Erik Hamren

CAPTAIN - Zlatan Ibrahimovich

TEAM PROFILE -

You need to go back to the class of 2004 for the last worthwhile result that Sweden had in a major championship. Reaching the quarter finals in Portugal with a side that boasted the likes of Freddie Ljunberg and Henrik Larsson in their pomp and an up and coming young fiery striker in Zlatan Ibrahimovich. If we decide to go further deep into the history books then the class of 1992 that reached the semi finals when Sweden made their first appearance in the EURO championships on home soil comes to mind. They enhanced their international credibility further by clinching the 3^rd place in the FIFA World Cup ‘94 in USA.

Michal Bílek And A Czech Trimuph? A Preview Of the Czech Republic Ahead Of EURO 2012

Will we see the Czech celebrating their first ever EURO triumph this June?

Following the Velvet Revolution in 1989, Czechoslovakia saw its regime transform from Stalinism to capitalism. A couple of years later, the country split into two, namely the Czech republic and Slovakia, after the two ethnic groups most peacefully decided that this break up would be best for them. After gaining independence, the Czech Republic has never managed to replicate some of the feats that the nation pulled of, prior to their independence years.

The European Championships have been the Czech Republic's strong point as they were runners-up in 1996 and semi-finalists in 2004. The Czech have been blessed by being drawn into the easiest group of the tournament. Placed alongside co-hosts Poland, EURO 2004 winners Greece and 2008 semifinalists Russia, the Czech will be fairly confident of booking a place in the knockout stages. Poland is by far the weakest team in the group and the Czech will know just how important it is to be clinical against them. Russia and Greece are the wily old horses and will prove to be much stiffer competition.

EURO 2012 PREVIEW - UKRAINE

EUROS HISTORY – 2012 first appearance

ROUTE TO QUALIFICATION – Qualified as semi hosts

FIXTURES –

11 June 2012         Olympic Stadium, Kiev           Sweden

15 June 2012         Donbass Arena, Donetsk        France

19 June 2012         Donbass Arena, Donetsk        England

Manager – Oleh Blokhin

Captain – Andriy Shevchenko

           Antoniy Tomyschuk

Having never played in the euro championships, Ukraine have a date with destiny when they will feature for the first time in the 2012 edition on home soil led by a man who took them to the FIFA 06 quarter finals.

Go search through the internet and the things that strike are that there is not much of an illustrious history associated with this nation. Part of the illustrious Soviet Union until 1991, Ukraine played their first competitive match against Hungary on April 12 1992.

Polish Eagles Euro Quest : Is glory awaiting the Red and White?

With the vocal backing of their own supporters driving them on,  Poland will hope  to make a big impression on home soil in just their second UEFA European Championship tournament.

2008 was the 1st time Poland played in an European Championship despite having ended up as semi finalist at the FIFA world cup in 1974 and 1982. However the championship didn't turn out the way it was expected for Dutch coach Leo Beenhakker's side as they exited after the group stage with only a point scored over then hosts Austria. Failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup set tone for a Polish coach to take over and certainly it had to be Franciszek Smuda for whom the job was waiting for no less than 15 years. However it is all a far cry from their heyday of the 1970's and early 1980's. Yet with a squad including many players not even born then and some recent positive friendly results combined with home comforts could bring the best out of an average Polish side.

Possible Draws For EURO 2012

Portugal, Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland and Croatia confirmed their participation in EURO 2012 last night by qualifying for the tournament via the play-offs. With the qualifying round of EURO 2012 coming to a close, UEFA announced the seeding of the teams for the tournament in June.

POT 1            POT 2           POT 3       POT 4

Spain              Germany        Croatia       Denmark

Netherlands     Italy               Greece       France

Poland            England          Portugal      Czech Republic

Ukraine           Russia            Sweden      Ireland

Based on current form and quality of their squads, Spain, Netherlands and Germany will be the early favourites, but the European Championship is known to produce upsets with Denmark and Greece going all the way to win the tournament in the recent past. Italy, England, France and Portugal have fairly good teams on paper but are not the most consistent and disciplined teams in the tournament. Croatia and Sweden have the potential to pull off a few major upsets and will be the prime dark horses for the tournament. The remaining teams may not be up there at the moment, but another stand-out performance, accompanied by some luck, could see teams like Russia and the Czech Republic pull off something similar to Greece's EURO 2004 triumph.

EURO 2012 Play Offs : Preview (Part Two)

Czech Republic Vs Montenegro

The Czech need to keep their fans away from this!

Granted full membership by UEFA just half a decade ago and Montenegro are currently on the verge of qualifying for Europe's most prestigious international tournament. They have indeed come a long way and will be greatly supported by their 250,000 odd nationals. On the other hand, the Czech have hit a new low. Group toppers in the qualifying stage for EURO 08 and EURO 04 and are currently on the verge of being denied a spot in the 2012 edition.

Fans must have seen both Wales and Switzerland finish ahead of Montenegro in Group G but the Montenegrins proved them wrong. A memorable draw in Wembley and a remarkable comeback against England in Pogdorica has seen this little country come so close to a spot in the group stage of EURO 2012.

The Czech Republic had no hopes of finishing in first place in their group. With Spain as clear favourites in Group I, the Czech had to rely on being the best second placed team in all groups but failed to do so. After a remarkable performance in EURO 2004, the Czech have failed to get past the group stages of the following European Championships and World Cups. Their defence was fairly resolute in the qualifying stage but will be in for a real test against the Montenegrians.

EURO 2012 Play Offs : Preview (Part One)

Bosnia vs Portugal

Another triumph over the Balkans is on the cards

Bosnia have never qualified for a major international tournament. The European Championships have been Potugal's forte but the trophy has eluded them to date. The last time these two teams met was in the play-offs for the 2010 World Cup and Portugal emerged victorious in both legs of the tie.

In the group stage of qualification, Bosnia finished just a point behind France to qualify for the play-offs. They won all their games at the Bilina Polje and their only loss at home(to Les Blues) came at Asim Ferhatovic stadium. With a 62.5 win percentage at the Bilina Polje, Bosnia seem to be in a fairly good position with respect to the numbers game.