3'rd day of the Euro's- group C underway

Spain 1-1 Italy
The third day of the Eurpoean Championships continued in the same vein as the first two as we saw brilliant technical football from both sides. It was a fascinating match that was probably had the most ability performing so far- unlike Holland, Germany or Portugal, who's big players were mainly quiet in Group B. Del Bosque played the 'false number nine' formation that he had experimented with in the latter qualifiers when David Silva was introduced into the starting line up, as well as the decline of Fernando Torres since his move to Chelsea. The injury to David Villa, golden boot winner in Euro 2008 and joint top scorer in the 2010 world cup forced Del Bosque's hand somewhat but the system certainly caused unique issues for the Italians, who themselves played a 3-5-2 system, which was a big surprise to many. The lovely fluid movement of Cesc Fabregas, David Silva and in particular Andres Iniesta was a delight to watch. Iniesta's dribbling skills were on show throughout and I lost count of the amount of times he picked up the ball and skinned his man. The possession game was struggling to break down the Italians in the first period, although Iniesta missed the best chance when spooning over after Xavi played him in. Indeed, actually it was the opposition who had the best chances, with Casillas making a world class save from a Motta header, and also beating away the brilliant Andrea Pirlo's free kick. The front pair of the talented but mad Balotelli and Cassano were troubling the back four with their pace, but the game didn't really ignite until the second period started. It was obvious the Spainsh had been told to step up the pace and Fabregas and Iniesta were both denied by the expert Buffon. Many had waited for Super Mario to ignite Italy's campaign but he fluffed his chance and was replaced soon after, complete with a strop. It was the veteran Di Natale, top scorer in Serie A in 09-10 and in 10-11 who scored after more fantastic play from the schemer Pirlo, who rolled back the years with a great performance, rivalling Iniesta in his influence. But the Spainsh continued and they scored when delightful passing on the edge of the area concluded in Silva finding Fabregas with an amazing pass which demonstrated the speed of thought of all the Spanish midfield. But they began to look a little toothless as the Italians broke effectively thanks to the Midfielders quick passing.When Torres and Navas were thrown on, there was a small reduction in possession and a bit more directness that allowed the Italians more space and the terrific Marchiso to break forward. But the Italian back three were lucky to get away with having a midfielder- De Rossi- in their defence. Torres twice utilised errors by him to race onto Xavi through balls, only for him to fluff his lines. The Italian formation was actually performing up well up till then. It is interesting that he switched it on such a big stage, but the stamina of the wing backs, Maggio especially, made it an attractive attacking formation as well. A draw was a fair result on both chances and use of the ball. On this evidence, both sides are to be feared in the tournament.

Euro 2012 -first two days reaction

Well, what a tournament so far, huh? The less said about my prediction for a Dutch victory the better, and although it's still early days, it will be difficult for them to advance. But on to them in a moment- the opening games deserve attention.

Poland 1-1 Greece
Well, at least I got something right in tipping Robert Lewandowski to fire. He carried his Dortmund form into the tournament and scored and impressive header. However, he was missing in he second half when the Poles needed him to wrestle back control of the game after the sending off of Szczesny handed the initiative to the Greeks. Nevertheless, what many tipped to be a boring, dull game with little quality was a superb opening to Euro 2012. Bags of chances, two sending offs, missed penalties, and horrible officiating. I don't know what the ref was on, but he let some dreadful tackles go in the first half and then sent off Sokratis Papastathopoulos(Cheers google) for nothing tackles. the first booking was for some bullshit tackle no one saw, and the second one appeared to be for being near a Polish player when he lost his footing. The Greeks were lethargic in the first half, and Poland took advantage, and another Borussia Dortmund player, midfielder Blaszczykowski was influential and the Poles should have been more than one up at the break. A reshuffle was needed for the Greeks, but i never expected Ninis to be taken off. But that's why managers are paid to make the big decisions, because his replacement Salpigidis was excellent, scoring a goal after an error from Szczesny, and then winning the penalty, for which Szczesny was rightly sent off. The Arsenal keeper almost single handedley lost the game for Poland with his stupidity on both counts. I felt sorry for Giorgos Karagounis when he missed the penalty- he had been brilliant before then, at at 35 is still a master at retaining possession and finding space. Unlike Celtic man Samaras, who I pointed out in my preview as a man who couldn't be relied upon. As pointed out on Match Of The Day, he could barely pick a pass, and surely he cant start the next game. Overall, I think a draw was a fair result in an incident packed game.

Russia 4-1 Czech Republic
Erm, I didn't expect this. As I wrote in my preview, i expected these two teams to go through the group... that seems unlikely now, as the Czechs were blown away by a Russian side inspired by Andrei Arshavin.

Euro 2012 preview

Many agree that the European championships are of a better quality than the World Cup, which is why the whole of Europe is once again looking upon these championships as yet another slap in the face for FIFA's showpiece event. The last world cup was full of dreadful defensive football, horrible refereeing and crap teams like Honduras. Thankfully, the Euro's are seldom like that- probably the weakest team in the competition are Poland, and as co hosts, will expect to go through. I'm looking forward to great football from some of the best players in the world, from Xavi to Pirlo, Ronaldo to Ribery, and many more- especially my favourite player, Wesley Sneijder of the Netherlands.

England's chances look slim at best. Certainly, the loss of experienced pair Gareth Barry and Frank Lampard has been a big blow. Over 140 caps worth of international know-how gone, and now the midfield will rely heavily on the now injury prone Steven Gerrard and Scott Parker, who seems to spend most of the game on the floor. The fact that there is no obvious back up is a major concern for Roy Hodgson- James Milner would presumably be his first choice back up, but hes much more comfortable out wide. I would also prefer defender Phil Jones in the middle before the only other natural central midfielder, Jordan Henderson, would get game time. The midfield worries lead me to limit England's hopes to Quarter Finals. it will be tough just to get out of the group, and without the country's most gifted footballer, the wonderful Wayne Rooney, for the first two games, getting goals is a worry. Particularly because as I write, the main story on many sport websites is that a born goalscorer in Jermain Defoe is flying back to England after the tragic death of his father. Of course, there is no way you would expect Defoe to be fit and firing after such a tragedy. This only mounts up Hodgson's problems. Add to this the John Terry situation, and you get a very bleak outlook for the tournament. In my opinion, England only have two world class players- Ashley Cole and Rooney, and with one of them suspended... let's just say I would be delighted with qualifying from the group.

As for the rest, I don't rate Poland, who have an awful defence, and rely heavily on Dortmund's Robert Lewandowski for goal threat. For all their home support, i see them struggling. They are 62nd in the latest Fifa rankings which is the lowest ranked side at Euro 2012. Similarly, unless Ninis or Fetfatzidis get a start, they will not create much- i mean, any team with Samaras as their taker of chances needs help. I'm going for the Czechs and Russians to go through in Group A, especially if Tomas Rosicky brings his club form with him.

Group B, obviously, is the big one. The Germans are many people's favourites and possess formidable young talents like the resourceful Gotze and the wonderful Toni Kroos, so effective against Real Madrid in both legs of the Champions League Semi final. Plus, the goals of Klose, Podolski and Gomez make them very hard to look past. However, there are concerns over the huge Bayern Munich contingent reacting to their loss on three fronts this season, and also over the lack of pace in defence, especially if Mertesacker starts. Players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Nani, and Robben wont need a second invitation to take on a flat footed back four. However the huge range of talent in their squad, such as Neuer, Lahm, Ozil, and Muller make them one of the favourites.

However, the team I'm backing is the Oranje, Holland.