UEFA Euro 2012 Group A (POL/GRE/RUS/CZE)

[theTROOF]

[Schad]

Poland in a tussle with Russia, with a German calling the shots? This sounds familiar.

[MitchellUK]

Russian keeper knew nothing about that first save with his leg. Decent (if overly elaborate) save from the second header.

[Rasho Brezec]

Polish people are so frustrated.

[MitchellUK]

Such a shame, because that was beautiful football. Only a yard off.

[Rasho Brezec]

Now that's huge.

[duppyy]

Go Russia!

[theTROOF]

Well, we have had great chances & came out with nothing while Russia capitalizes on our defense falling asleep in the box

Gotta score a goal here in the 2nd Half, even if it means giving up a Russian goal. Time to open up the attack

[Boognish]

wutta strike

[Nuntius]

[treiz]

What a great game, best group of the tournament so far

[emdeka]

'Good job good effort' but in the end draw doesn't change much for us. Still got to win against Czech Republic, another draw sends us home.. oh wait

Pretty goal by Błaszczykowski, but Lewandowski's strike in the first half would be simply amazing if it went in

[theTROOF]

Glad Poland/Czech play the early game so both teams will be fighting for a Win.

[Nuntius]

A great game between Poland and Russia indeed.

[theTROOF]

'Good job good effort' but in the end draw doesn't change much for us. Still got to win against Czech Republic, another draw sends us home.. oh wait

Pretty goal by Błaszczykowski, but Lewandowski's strike in the first half would be simply amazing if it went in

If Russia is indeed 4-1 better than Czech, we should get a victory. Final game with a win needed, I'll take it.

I would consider starting #18. Our midfield passing is a glaring hole

[J-Mezzy]

'Good job good effort' but in the end draw doesn't change much for us. Still got to win against Czech Republic, another draw sends us home.. oh wait

Pretty goal by Błaszczykowski, but Lewandowski's strike in the first half would be simply amazing if it went in

If Russia is indeed 4-1 better than Czech, we should get a victory. Final game with a win needed, I'll take it.

I would consider starting #18. Our midfield passing is a glaring hole

Soccer doesn't work like that. The Czech's beat the Greek team that Poland couldn't beat. There is no logic in soccer.

[El Turco]

no sport works like that.

[theTROOF]

My point being, Win & Move On..... If you told me that was our situation heading into the Final weekend then I'd take it.

I feel Poland is getting great opportunities & we just need 1 or 2 to go in Saturday. The home crowd will be big

[AdamTheGreek]

I was pretty pumped with our formation and starting 11 going in (aside from Chalkias in net). Hadn't been that happy with a lineup since around '06. Of course we eat 2 goals in record time. Just like in Poland our defense was in tatters the first half. Chalkias wasn't to blame for that goal, but he deserved massive blame for the shambles he displayed against the Czechs. Both goals would've easily been prevented by Sifakis. The Czechs saw Holebas and Katsouranis on the left side of our defense and licked their chops. It didn't help that Karagounis forgot to provide any type of defensive support. Sucks that Chalkias' guilt-filled 'limp-off' had to cost us a sub, but it prevented us from further embarrassment. I was pretty happy Santos brought on Gekas to replace a relatively quiet Fotakis because I knew one of Samaras or Fortounis would be pushed back to help our midfield. '

The retracted 1st half goal we had was offsides by a shoulder, but that's all it takes for it to be a valid call. Could we have been lucky? Yeah, but can't be mad at a correct call. Ref was obviously better than the Spaniard, but he and the linesman had a rough 2nd half. Just like the Poles, the Czechs needed a few more yellows to match ours. Each side was equally physical and theatrical.

The head-scratcher was Mitro coming in for Fortounis. I love Mitrogoal, but we were already living and dying by the long ball. Taking out Fortounis cemented our fate for those final 20 minutes. Santos just killed any type of low-ball goal build-up. We needed a Ninis or Fetfa. Hopefully Fernando learns. Thank God the soccer gods have given us one last chance. Plain and simple. Beat Russia and we progress. It's not as daunting a task as facing Argentina in the '10 World Cup.


Chalkias- Just retire now, we only need 2 goalies the rest of the way.


Torosidis- He was about on par with the Poland match. I'm waiting to see more runs, but he's been pretty busy on defense than he normally is at Olympiakos in these first 2 matches.

K. Paps- Absolute beast again. He's the reason why the entire defense eventually calmed down. Needs to be a bit careful with that yellow.

Katsouranis- Much useful at CB and CM. Too bad he'll be sliding back up to CM in the Russia match. Shaky to start (and we paid for it), but he eventually settled into his defensive role.

Holebas- Nightmare. I don't care if Tzavellas is out of shape, can't be worse than Jose. Like the Poland match, played much better in the 2nd half. But you can't continue to get abused like that.

Maniatis- Didn't handle the ball as much as in the Poland match which is what we wanted. Can't complain. He does a lot of the unnoticed dirty work.

Fotakis- Had a few good balls, but was overall rather quiet. Shouldn't start next match.

Karagounis- Just like against Poland, his dives helped turn the tide as far as regaining some ball possession goes. Terrible free kicks except for one or two. Still, at his age, I'm amazed he held up for the 90 minutes as decently as he did.

Salpiggids- My fear of Salpi not being as effective playing 90 minutes came true. Dimitri's best use is as a super sub and I look for Ninis to start again at RW.

Samaras- Played a bit better in this match than Poland. Definitely helped out more on defense. Ignored Fortounis a few times when the kid had potential to break down the left. Overall, did well and I think he'll start up top again.

Fortounis- Kid is a stud and will deserve all the 'big team' offers he'll receive. Needs to start and play a full 90 minutes against Russia. Whether that's in midfield or at left wing again is up to Santos.

Sifakis- Studly as expected and as we witnessed in the qualifiers. In truth, Michali was only tested 2-3 times, but he looked calm and collected the whole way. Also, he's infinitely better at communicating to the players.

Gekas- HE FINALLY POPPED HIS MAJOR TOURNEY CHERRY (Your turn, Samaras)!!! That Cech gift may go a long way as far as Gekas' confidence goes. Too bad the service to him was still **** once more. It's tough to start him without great passing. Need a lot of Ninis, Fetfa, and Fortounis to throw Gekas out there.

Mitroglou- Not much more he could've done, especially with the Czechs packing the box.

[theTROOF]

• The Russian-Polish tension here is overwhelming. This game always figured to be a flashpoint given the bitter history between these two countries, and that's exactly what happened on Tuesday. More than 50 arrests were made after clashes before the game, in which Warsaw police used plastic bullets, auditory grenades and water canonsin an attempt to preserve order in the streets. Inside the stadium, the Russian fan section unfurled a giant banner with a sword-wielding warrior that read THIS IS RUSSIA

It was a provocative display that struck many as outrageous considering Russia's history with Poland during the 20th century. Revealingly, the banner was in English, suggesting that the Russians were attempting to make a nationalist statement to the wider world. Remember, World Cup 2018 in Russia is only six years away.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/w ... z1xdgZShHB