The Anticipation for Euro had never been at a higher scale.(yeah! I know, this is said every single time but hey, its true!!) Poland & Ukraine were on the verge of hosting probably the most massive sporting events of the year! All eyes were on Spain, being the holding champions and also having won the World Cup with their frustrating yet effective tika-taka game-play, made them the tournament favorites long before the draws. None doubted their supremacy having seen all the El Clásico's! and me being a hardcore fan of The Three Lions, was hoping for nothing less than a miracle to take England to European Glory.
Well the action kicked off way before the first whistle of the tournament. I'm talking about the draws, pointing towards the so called "Group of Death" which totally blew my mind! Group-B had three tournament favorites(Netherlands, Germany & Portugal) which meant a certain knockout to one of the big guns early in the tournament.
Day-1 of tournament kicked off with a 17th min header by Borussia Dortmund Striker Robert Lewandowski against Greece and the match ending in a shared point, meanwhile Russia thrashed the Czech's 4-1.
The first upset of the tournament was not too far away as Denmark's Krohn-Dehli scored the only goal to send the dutch in reverse gear. They just couldn't find the net having 28 shots and the top scorers of two of the highly rated football leagues in the world!!
Next up Germany took on Portugal - a clash to cherish which ended in despair for Portugal's Christiano Ronaldo (who was booed with chants of Leo Messi by the crowd) and delight for Mario Gomez who scored the only goal of the night.
The next big astonishment was when Del Bosque had selected a playing 11 without a striker (shocking!) in their opener against Italy in which Fernando Torres fluffed two late chances as Spain's hopes of making a winning start ended in a 1-1 draw with goals from De Natale and Cesc Fabregas. A decent result for both!
England's first against France was a real drag ( I dozed off at halftime!) ending in a draw. Portugal's next against Denmark was a must win and it did not disappoint. Late goal from Varela saw them take all three points in an entertaining 3-2 win. Robin Van Persie's goal could not even out Mario Gomez's brace as it was another setback for Netherlands which almost sent them packing.
Italy ended their 2nd group game as a draw with a neat free-kick by Pirlo which was canceled out by Mario Mandzukic who looked to be in stunning form. Meanwhile in Arena Gdansk Torres dumped Ireland with two cleverly placed goals taking Spain to a 4-0 win.
England and France went on to win their next 3-2 and 2-0 respectively which almost saw them through to the knockouts. Group A witnessed a dramatic turnaround on the final match-day of the Group stages as Greece beat Russia 1-0 to qualify into the knockouts on the basis of head-to-head being level on points with them! Czech Republic was the other from the group to qualify.
An awe inspiring show by the charismatic captain of Portugal had shown the dutch to their third and final defeat and saw the world cup finalists leave without a single point in hand.Germany who beat Denmark qualified with maximum points and were posing a real threat to Spain's chances of lifting the cup.
Spain with their high possession and rather boring play could not find the net until the 88th min - Jesus Navas with the solo goal. Italy's "bad boy" Mario Balotellti finally scored and it took
Bonucci to shut his outburst (When asked why he doesn't celebrate his goals he replied "Its my job to score goals. Do you see a postman celebrate after delivering the letters?" wise words i say! :D) after his stunner of a goal against Ireland.
Wayne Rooney's comeback after suspension was a boon for England as he scored the only goal which took them to the knockouts.(Whoohoo!). An Uplifted effort by Ibrahimovic and Larsson was just a consolation as Sweden were already knocked out which meant France had qualified despite their 2-0 defeat!
So now was the time for true character, born leaders and legends in the making. Did Spain have what it takes to retain the title, or was there an upset on the cards with Greece doing what they did in 2004, or could England do a Chelsea to finally lift a trophy? Next up "THE KNOCKOUTS"
Well the action kicked off way before the first whistle of the tournament. I'm talking about the draws, pointing towards the so called "Group of Death" which totally blew my mind! Group-B had three tournament favorites(Netherlands, Germany & Portugal) which meant a certain knockout to one of the big guns early in the tournament.
Day-1 of tournament kicked off with a 17th min header by Borussia Dortmund Striker Robert Lewandowski against Greece and the match ending in a shared point, meanwhile Russia thrashed the Czech's 4-1.
The first upset of the tournament was not too far away as Denmark's Krohn-Dehli scored the only goal to send the dutch in reverse gear. They just couldn't find the net having 28 shots and the top scorers of two of the highly rated football leagues in the world!!
The next big astonishment was when Del Bosque had selected a playing 11 without a striker (shocking!) in their opener against Italy in which Fernando Torres fluffed two late chances as Spain's hopes of making a winning start ended in a 1-1 draw with goals from De Natale and Cesc Fabregas. A decent result for both!
England's first against France was a real drag ( I dozed off at halftime!) ending in a draw. Portugal's next against Denmark was a must win and it did not disappoint. Late goal from Varela saw them take all three points in an entertaining 3-2 win. Robin Van Persie's goal could not even out Mario Gomez's brace as it was another setback for Netherlands which almost sent them packing.
Italy ended their 2nd group game as a draw with a neat free-kick by Pirlo which was canceled out by Mario Mandzukic who looked to be in stunning form. Meanwhile in Arena Gdansk Torres dumped Ireland with two cleverly placed goals taking Spain to a 4-0 win.
England and France went on to win their next 3-2 and 2-0 respectively which almost saw them through to the knockouts. Group A witnessed a dramatic turnaround on the final match-day of the Group stages as Greece beat Russia 1-0 to qualify into the knockouts on the basis of head-to-head being level on points with them! Czech Republic was the other from the group to qualify.
An awe inspiring show by the charismatic captain of Portugal had shown the dutch to their third and final defeat and saw the world cup finalists leave without a single point in hand.Germany who beat Denmark qualified with maximum points and were posing a real threat to Spain's chances of lifting the cup.
Spain with their high possession and rather boring play could not find the net until the 88th min - Jesus Navas with the solo goal. Italy's "bad boy" Mario Balotellti finally scored and it took
Bonucci to shut his outburst (When asked why he doesn't celebrate his goals he replied "Its my job to score goals. Do you see a postman celebrate after delivering the letters?" wise words i say! :D) after his stunner of a goal against Ireland.
Wayne Rooney's comeback after suspension was a boon for England as he scored the only goal which took them to the knockouts.(Whoohoo!). An Uplifted effort by Ibrahimovic and Larsson was just a consolation as Sweden were already knocked out which meant France had qualified despite their 2-0 defeat!
So now was the time for true character, born leaders and legends in the making. Did Spain have what it takes to retain the title, or was there an upset on the cards with Greece doing what they did in 2004, or could England do a Chelsea to finally lift a trophy? Next up "THE KNOCKOUTS"
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