Group A- UEFA Euro 2012
Group A of the UEFA Euro 2012 featured 4 teams which included the co-host Poland along with Russia, Czech Republic, and Greece. Teams were awarded 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw, and 0 for a loss.
Considering the Czech Republic, they have a standard formation of 4-3-2-1 featuring 3 goalkeepers, 7 defenders, 9 midfielders, and 4 strikers, managed and coached by Michal Bilek. The captain of this team is Tomas Rosicky, while Peter Cech is regarded as the star player and Tomas Pekhart as the emerging talent. Currently, Czech Republic is ranked on top of the qualifiers’ list with 6 points.
Greece has a formation of 4-3-3, with 3 goalies, 8 defenders, 7 midfielders, and 5 strikers, coached by Fernando Santos of Portugal. Giorgos Karagounis is the captain, Vasilis Torosidis the star player, and Sotiris Ninis the emerging talent for the Greek team. With 4 points in the team, they are placed 2nd in the group.
Russia too has a 4-3-3 formation, featuring 3 goalies, 7 defenders, 8 midfielders, and 5 strikers with Dick Advocaat as the manager for the Russian team. The captain Andrei Arshavin, alongside the emerging star player, Alan Yelizbarovich Dzagoev, managed to equal points with Greece but due to their head-to-head record (1-0), Greece was qualified from Group A instead of Russia.
Poland featured 3 goalies, 7 defenders, 9 midfielders, and 4 strikers that were under the management of Franciszek Smuda with a formation of 4-5-1. Jakub Blaszczykowski is the captain while Robert Lewandowski is the star player of the Poland team. They only managed to score 2 points in the qualifying round and are currently placed in last.
Group B- UEFA Euro 2012
This group consists of 4 teams namely, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, and Portugal. Germany is ranked first with 9 points, followed by Portugal with 6 points, Denmark with 3, and Netherlands nil.
Germany, the top-scorer in the qualifying round, plans its way with an arrangement of 4-5-1, with standard 3 goalies, 7 defenders, 11 midfielders, and 2 strikers in the squad managed by Joachim Löw. The captain is Philipp Lahm, while the star player is Mesut Ozil for Germans. Also, Mario Gomez has 3 goals to his name in the qualifying round.
Portugal has a typical formation of 4-3-3, featuring 3 goalies, 7 defenders, 6 midfielders, and 7 strikers, managed by Paulo Bento. The most valuable player, Cristiano Ronaldo, is the captain of the team while winger Nani is referred to as ‘The Understudy’. Moreover, Fabio Coentrao is the emerging talent of the Portugal national football team.
Denmark is ranked 3rd with a formation of 4-5-1 featuring 3 goalkeepers, 5 strikers, 7 defenders, and 8 midfielders in the squad. Denmark’s captain is Daniel Agger and the star player is Dennis Rommedahl. The team is managed by Morten Olsen while Christian Eriksen is referred to as the ‘emerging talent’ of the team.
With a formation of 4-5-1, Netherland’s squad consists of 3 goalkeepers, 5 midfielders, 7 strikers, and 8 defenders under the management of Bert van Marwijk. The captain of the team is Mark van Bommel while the star player is Wesley Sneijder with a rating of 2.67, equal to the top-rated player of the Netherlands.
Group C- UEFA Euro 2012
Group C of the qualifying round comprises 4 teams that are Spain, Italy, Croatia, and the Ireland Republic. Spain is ranked first with 7 points in the chart, Italy 2nd with 5 points, Croatia with 4 and the Ireland Republic with none.
Spain, having a 4-5-1 formation, consists of a standard number of 3 goalies, 5 defenders, 5 strikers, and 10 midfielders managed by Vicente Del Bosque. Iker Casillas is the captain of Spain while Xavi holds the honor of being the star player. Alongside, Fernando Torres is ranked 10th in the Player Rankings with 2 goals while Andrés Iniesta Luján has the highest rating in the Spanish squad.
Italy has a formation of 4-3-1-2 with 3 goalies, 5 strikers, 8 midfielders, and 7 defenders, managed by Cesare Prandelli and under the captaincy of Gianluigi Buffon. With a player rating of 3.33, Andrea Pirlo is currently the star player of Italy.
With a standard formation of 4-2-2, Croatia features 3 goalies, 9 defenders, 8 midfielders, and 3 strikers, under the management of Slaven Billic and captaincy of Darijo SRNA. Having a 3.33 player rating, Luka Modric has become the star player for his team while Mario Mandzukic’s 3 goals have placed him on the top spot in the Player’s rankings.
The Ireland Republic contested with a formation of 4-4-2 comprising of 5 strikers, 8 midfielders, 7 defenders, and 3 goalies, managed by Giovanni Trapattoni. Robbie Keane is currently the captain while Shay Given, the goalie, is the star player for the team. James McClean is regarded as the ‘emerging talent’ of Ireland due to his consistently improved performance for his team.
Group D- UEFA Euro 2012
Group D of the Euro 2012 comprises France, England, the co-host Ukraine, and Sweden. Rankings of the qualifying round show England on top with 7 points, France 2nd with 4 points, while Sweden and Ukraine each with 3 points.
England has had a standard formation of 4-5-1, featuring 6 strikers, 6 midfielders, 8 defenders, and 3 goalies, under the captaincy of Steven Gerrard and the management of Roy Hodgson. The star player is undoubtedly Wayne Rooney while the emerging talent of England is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
With a formation of 4-5-1, France presents its team with 3 goalies, 7 defenders, 10 midfielders, and 3 strikers, coached and captained by Laurent Blanc and Hugo Lloris, respectively. Franck Ribéry is ranked 14th in the Player’s Ratings where his 3.33 rating is the highest among his French fellowmen.
Sweden, featuring 3 goalkeepers, 4 strikers, 7 defenders, and 9 midfielders, plays with a formation of 4-5-1, which is managed by Erik Hamrén and captained by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Alongside, Martin Olsson is considered as the emerging talent of the Swedes while Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a rating of 3.33, is placed 10th on the Player’s Ratings chart.
Ukraine moved a spot below that of Sweden after the last match, where it presented its team with a standard formation of 4-4-2. The team constituted of 3 goalies, 7 defenders, 7 midfielders, and 6 strikers, under the management and captaincy of Oleg Blokhin and Andriy Shevchenko, respectively. Ukrainian Andriy Shevchenko with a rating of 3.33, is ranked 8th in the Player’s Rating chart and is placed 7th with 2 goals to his name.
In the end, Spain came out victorious yet again. Spain has defended its EURO Championship title and sealed its number one team sport in International Football convincingly.
