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Euro 2012- Group D; ENG,FRA,SWE,UKR
Topic Started: Jun 5 2012, 06:51 PM (612 Views)
Merengue
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England Preview and Squad Biographies 1 and 2

France Preview and Squad Biographies 1 and 2

Sweden Preview and Squad Biographies 1 and 2

Ukraine Preview and Squad Biographies 1 and 2
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shelsoccer
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I'll start off this thread.

Having picked France and Sweden to advance -- and admittedly being a Sweden fan -- I'll stick with my picks.

Sweden is in something of a transition stage. They still rely on some veterans like Ibra, Mellberg and Svensson. There are some promising younger players, but they really haven't proved themselves.

I do know that Sweden will be organized and tough to break down. Sweden rarely fails to get out of the group stage of any major tournament.

I'm going with France to win the group. Of course, you can never predict when there might be a meltdown.

England's injuries and Rooney's suspension really calls into question their chances of advancing.

Ukraine, despite the home-field advantage, really hasn't shown much quality since the Shevchenko-led teams.
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Nkono
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France have been impressive in their build up to this tournament, they also are on a long unbeaten run, stretching back to Fall 2010 when Blanc just took over. But I recall the Michel Platini coached France team being on a similar long unbeaten run going into Euro 92 and that ended disastrously.

But the signs are there for a good run, both Benzema and Ribery are coming into the tournament in great form and each are the type of players who can carry the team far. The midfield looks good, the defense may not be as good as past French teams but is acceptable while in goal Hugo Lloris is I think one of the world's elite goalkeepers. Don't confuse this team with the Raymond Domenech coached squad, this one is better coached, has a significantly better attitude and has a good mix of veterans and newcomers. I think they will be a joy to watch and should win this group.

2nd place is going to be tough to call, if Rooney was available I would have picked England despite Ukraine playing at home but missing their talisman for the first two games is huge for England. But I doubt England will make many mistakes thus it will take a special effort to beat them and I am not sure if either Sweden or Ukraine have that in them. But inside I think the much maligned Zlatan ibrahimovic has it in him to take sweden to the next round.
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karl pilkington
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Benzema, Ribery and Nasri does make for an exciting attack but France's recent underachievement at international tournaments still makes me think they are capable of doing so again. Let us see how they handle the pressure of these games, until they convince us otherwise they have to be viewed with caution.

England may have trouble scoring goals until Rooney comes back but they will be hard to score upon and as long as the defence holds up I think England will have someone nip in and score a goal in each match which is why I think they will qualify out of this group. I do wish Lampard was available thouh, his scoring instincts will be missed.

"You can only talk rubbish if you're aware of knowledge."
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raconteur
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France 1-1 England
Ukraine 2-1 Sweden

England should be happy with the draw vs France, Lescott headed in a free kick with Nasri getting the tying goal for France with a near post shot. Pretty solid defending by England although I thought France looked pretty good, they moved the ball well and looked very poised. But they had trouble breaking England's defense down.

In the 2nd game, the co hosts got off to a great start with a 2-1 win over sweden, both goals headers by Andriy Shevchenko. Zlatan Ibrahimovic with the Swedish goal in a game where Ukraine were deserving winners. I liked how they played, they were collective and passed the ball quickly and effectively and they kept Sweden on their back feet for most of the game. Ukraine could not ask for a better start as they know ead the group.
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shelsoccer
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As a Sweden fan (in the US), I have mixed emotions. It's been a while since I've seen Sweden play, and I was encouraged to see them play a more attacking style than normal. They played without a true defensive midfielder, and their outside backs got involved.

However, there isn't the quality to really play that way. And, their traditional collective discipline was lacking.

Sweden is still heavily reliant on aging players, and their younger players really haven't established themselves. Then, they bring Svensson, Elmander and Wilhemsson off the bench -- three more marginal veterans. I guess the theory is that they can give you a good 15-20 minutes but, if they don't have the spark to give you a lift, you really haven't accomplished much.

It's hard to imagine Sweden advancing, despite my prediction. A win over England, which Sweden has proved capable of in the past, is essential. From there, it would still be difficult.

Having said that, I've always been an admirer of Shevchencko. I was happy for him and the energized Ukrainian crowd. If the Ukraine doesn't get out of the group, they can still feel good about this result.
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Simon
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Yeah decent game, probably not too much in the way of edge-of-the-seat stuff for neutrals but I thought it was engaging enough. The game was quite attritional at times but England made the best early chance when Milner was played through and rounded the keeper only to scuff his left foot shot wide from the angle. Parker and Gerrard showed good discipline and shape in centre-mid and Oxlade-Chamberlain played very well, I'm pleased Hodgson took the chance on starting him rather than Downing and thought he was rewarded. Mexes and Rami looked a bit ponderous at times and it was a shame we couldn't quite isolate one of them enough against Young or Welbeck as that could have been fruitful. Nice delivery from Gerrard and a well-timed run from Lescott to take his goal.

That was well deserved as England had been on top in the opening half hour, regularly pinching the ball from slow and sluggish French players. But I thought the goal woke France up and England's lead only lasted about 9 minutes until Nasri was given too much space and drilled a low shot that beat his Manchester City team mate Joe Hart. Hart also made a smart stop from Diarra's powerful header.

In the second half England were again the better side for about 20 minutes before France came back into it. Funny that France started each half quite poorly and I gather from Laurent Blanc's post match comments that they've been making a habit of that and he's obviously keen that they cut that out. But frustratingly I thought England were a bit reluctant to shoot during that spell, always looking for one more pass as if seemingly trying to walk the ball into the net. France then came back into it. They didn't create any real chances although Hart had to be careful with a couple of long range pops. At the other end England got away and crossed dangerously to the near post only for Mexes to read it well and cut the danger out.

All in all, a fair enough result. There will be more to come from England in attack once Rooney's available, but until then I think we can be fairly satisfied with a draw against a decent side like France. It was nice for once to get through a game with no more injuries, although one of our coaches Ray Clemence did manage to injure himself in the warm up and had to be carried off!
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Onslow
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England did defend well and Lescott, apart from the goal was I thought excellent and Terry did pretty well alongside him. Surprisingly Ashley Cole normally England's best defender, was probably the most vulnerable in this match as he had difficulty when Debuchy overlapped on his flank.

James Milner early on could have put England in front after rounding the keeper but he put his shot into the side netting. Parker did pretty well in ball winning and Gerrard was good on the set pieces but England's midfield otherwise was pretty dismal as their main contribution was giving the ball back to France. But Hodgson had the team well set up defencively and whilst France showed some good touches the English closed them down pretty well in the final third.

Oxlade Chamberlain started off brightly but once France knew how he played he became pretty anonymous, still he is a nice prospect and with England becoming a counter attacking side, his speed and changes of direction should be useful. A draw against France is a pretty good start to the tournament for a team who a few months ago were in organisational chaos.

Nice win by Ukraine and Shevchenko rightfully gets the praise but their hwole team looked lively. Yarmelenko also caught the eye. shelsoccer I think accurately describes Sweden's problems but their great success against England makes me certain that will be a real battle for Hodgson's side and one which will be vital to both clubs chances of getting out of this group.
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karl pilkington
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Hodgson decided to take the Chesea approach in this match against France. Hardly brilliant play but England were orderly and tough to break down. That will keep them in any match. Lampard was certainly missed as the team did not keep possession well but i think France are a pretty good side and to draw them is a decent enough way to start this tournament.

I am happy for Shevchenko and Ukraine.
"You can only talk rubbish if you're aware of knowledge."
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Winslow
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Joleon Lescott? Really?

The ex-Evertonian may have surprised me, but he was one of the standouts in England's above-expectations performance. Glen Johnson was splendid at right back, and Oxlade-Chamberlain certainly earned at least another start. I agree with Simon that England could have attacked more strongly in the second half, but it's hard to criticize a "first do no harm" approach in this situation.

The second match was a kind of Molly Hatchet affair, with both sides flirting with disaster for an hour until the goals started coming. Sheva proved that brains, experience, and guile can turn back the years very nicely.

Simon, I wouldn't worry too much about Ray Clemence's injury--isn't Peter Shilton supposed to coach in the next match anyway? :rolleyes:
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libero
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The Chelsea style under DiMatteo for England is a good comparison, that seems the new key to success for English teams in pan European competition. A first match where neither France nor England risked too much. I was impressed with Debuchy the French right back, a player to watch in this competition.

Sheva 2 Ibra 1! Unless you are a Sweden fan, you have to be happy about that.
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Winslow
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A little bit of Swedish weirdness here:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/new...-players-880935

The nut is, one of Sweden's backup keepers lost a juggling game and had to drop 'em to provide a shooting target to his teammates. Anti-bullying advocates are howling about this howler.
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shelsoccer
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Not necessarily Swedish weirdness. Sporting KC players play this all the time in practice, though without dropping their shorts. They call it "butts up." Besler recently agreed to a game with local sports talk radio hosts.
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blue for you
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hard games to call i'd go for score draws in both games 1-1 England and Sweden ,2-2 France
Ukraine
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Rufus T. Firefly
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Apparently England are planning on playing Andy Carroll against Sweden. I wonder how that will work? Sweden are hardly the type of team to be put off by his bustling style.

I am looking forward to watching YKRAIHA (Ukraine) game against France. The enthusiasm of the Ukrianian fans plus the predatory instincts of Shevchenko was a lot of fun to watch. As was France's passing and movement, plus the play of Benzema and Nasri.
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