Team Ukraine Review: Yarmolenko alongside Blokhin

April 23rd, 2012
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Historical event for two hosting countries Ukraine and Poland is almost here, which led to serious preparations not only in building and reconstructions of stadiums and hotels but to extreme work inside the teams.

Getting to the list of top 50 UEFA countries Ukraine understood that they are half way prepared for the EURO 2012 football championship.

Ukraine today is a combination of a world class Shevchenko’s and Kalinichenko’s experience and new talents like Milevskiy and Yarmolenko.

The last time Ukraine showed its potential was on the 2006 FIFA World Cup where Ukraine got to the 1/8 and beat Switzerland 3:0 in after penalty session where national goalkeeper Shovkovkyi set a record by not conceding a single goal. Nevertheless following games did not result as well;
Ukraine didn’t get to play on the World Championship in 2010. It is indicative that the team loses at the end of the second half; the great example of such is a game with France where Ukraine managed to let in 2 goals in the last minutes of the game. Surely the week part of the team is quarterbacks.

Ukraine got to the list of players for 2012 EURO championship as a host country. When Oleg Blokhin, a “Golden Ball” keeper and an incumbent of UEFA Cup Winners Cup agreed to lead the team for the second time the country breathe a sigh of relief. It was Blokhin who took Ukraine to its best results and proved that Soviet experience can be used in a modern football.

Oleg Bokhin almost finished the list of players to play on EURO 2012. Among the most famous are Shevchenko, Kalinichenko, Timoshuk and Nazarenko.

Another Ukrainian “Golden Ball” keeper Shevchenko is optimistic:” EURO 2012 championship is even harder than a World Cup, still at all, I’m optimistic, because Blokhin’s reappearance helped us very much. The team changed a lot, our mentality changed. Blohkin was a great player. He was our main figure during many years. He got a golden ball and led the national team to the World Cup. His return gave us confidence”.

One of the biggest openings for Ukraine during the EURO football championship is expected to be Andriy Yarmolenko. Young and enthusiastic scorer was noticed by several clubs like Manchester United, Liverpool, Milan etc. The forward plays at Dynamo Kyiv club and a national team. He can play at almost every position, more often at the right and does an incredible amount of work on a field.

Ukrainian National team will play in a group D which has strong opponents like France and England. The first match will be played on one of 2012 EURO host stadiums, Olympiyskyi stadium with Sweden on June 11.

Ukraine has a great potential, the main aspect is how it will use it during the championship. Together with an experience and young unconquered Ukrainian temper we can expect the team to go off the group and even more.

This article courtesy of Natalia from Euro 2012 football championship.

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Euro 2012 co-hosts Review – The Polish team led by coach Franz Smuda by Polish EURO-2012-blog contributor Kamil G.

March 23rd, 2012
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Euro 2012 co-host of the Polish team led by coach Franz Smuda is the second time in the finals of major competitions representation in Europe. Previous performance of the Polish national team fans would like to forget. Players with an eagle on his chest scored just one point in a weak style. The authorities of the Polish Football Association have acknowledged that the team needs a thorough transformation. Hired a new coach who was Francis Smuda representation infuse a new spirit. Smuda refer many successes with club teams so the choice of the coach optimism filled the football fans.

After his appointment as coach experimented with new players and tactics of the game. In the initial phase could not be seen, however, change for the better with each game players and fans saw the idea of coaching the national team who played better and better.

After the lottery group rivals Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic optimism filled the whole nation because it was theoretically the weakest group. Experts give the Polish representation of only 1.5% of winning the championship of Europe is very weak result. The forecasts are not encouraging, however, to advance to the quarterfinals, Poland has as many as 53% is a satisfactory result.

The quarterfinals are waiting teams in Group B. The experts called a “group of death”. Each team Group B presents the world level and is much more likely to win the event.

All the fans keep your fingers crossed for representation. Poland will have a big advantage in the form of football fans and stadiums where the games have unfolded. Competitors represent their clubs in play an important role, for example, Robert Lewandowski, who grows into a star of the Bundesliga and Wojciech Szczesny who regularly Weapons Arsenal goal.

Although experts do not give many chances to win the Polish national team championships, Poland may be the dark horse of the event. However, before the players very difficult task because all the teams will be well prepared and will want to win. I think that Poles will leave the group in the quarter-finals anything can happen.

 

 

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Euro 2012 Team Profile – Denmark by Neil Patterson

January 16th, 2012
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Qualifying Group Winners
Coach Morten Olsen
One to Watch Christian Eriksen

As we approach the summer of 2012 all of our minds, well most of them at least, will turn away from the domestic football competitions within our own countries, towards the International arena for the eagerly awaited European Championship Finals, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine. Within a fortnight from now, the world will know the names of the last four teams/countries that will join the 12 nations already guaranteed a place at Euro 2012. Over the next three weeks, we shall be profiling each of the 16 finalists that will bid to become the champions of Europe until 2016.

We travel to Scandinavia for the next in our series of Euro 2012 profiles, to take a look at Denmark. Although Denmark competed at the first official international football tournament at the 1908 Olympics, the Danish Football Association (DBU) adopted a policy to keep the Danish side amateur, mainly due to economic limitations, and bar professionals from selection. During this time Denmark played friendlies, their only forays into international competition being at Olympic games in 1948, 1952 and 1960, and involvement in the European Cup of Nations in 1964. The DBU finally relaxed the law banning professionals from the national team in 1971 in order to build a competitive team, and in 1978 the DBU allowed the creation of a professional league. Since then the Danes have become a reasonable force in international football qualifying for four World Cup Finals and making five appearances at the European Championships.

The 1980s saw a “Golden Generation” of Danish football as the Danes exploded onto the international stage. Qualification for Euro 84 in France was followed up by a magnificent run to the semi-finals, where they were edged out on penalties by the Spanish. Under coach Sepp Piontek with his quick, attacking style of play and with exciting, pacey, skilful players such as Elkjaer and the Laudrup brothers, first Michael and later Brian, Denmark captured the imagination and the term “Danish Dynamite” was coined. In 1986, in Mexico, Denmark competed in their first World Cup Finals and, true to form, they blew away well fancied Uruguay in their opening game, defeating the South Americans 6-1, Michael Laudrup and Elkjaer’s pace and skill far too hot for the Uruguayans to handle; the run ended with defeat, again to Spain, in the last 16. Qualification for Euro 1988 ensued, however Denmark failed to emerge from the group stage, losing all three games; failure to qualify for Italia 90 followed.

Denmark’s finest hour came, very unexpectedly, in 1992. After problems surfaced within the squad under the new coach Richard Moller Nielson, including the effective resignation of star players Michael and Brian Laudrup, in protest over the new, more defensive strategy, many in the Danish press were calling for him to be replaced. The Danes finished the qualifying group for Euro 92 in second place behind Yugoslavia and therefore failed to qualify for the competition in Sweden. Civil war broke out in Yugoslavia and the Yugoslav team was banned from competing internationally, because of this Denmark were admitted entrance to the tournament just ten days before it was due to begin. Building on the goalkeeping excellence of Peter Schmeichel, the stubborn defence in front of him and utilising the flair and creativity of Brian Laudrup, reversing his prior decision to retire early, the Danes put together a tremendous run to win the tournament, defeating, holders, Holland in the semi and, World Cup champions, Germany in the final.

Since then Denmark have continued to be a recognised force in international football qualifying for most major tournaments, but not advancing beyond the first knock-out stage at any of them, Current coach Morten Olsen has been in charge since 2000 and has overseen qualification to four finals tournaments, including next year’s. The current squad qualified impressively for Poland and Ukraine, topping a group which included Portugal and Norway, winning six games and losing only one. Looking at the squad now, it is fairly similar to that of 2010, they have strong defenders such as Agger and Jacobsen with plenty of experience and strength in depth, the Danes also have some exciting young talent, including Christian Erikson of Ajax. Erikson is one to look out for next summer, the 19 year old was named Player of the Year by the Danish FA earlier this year, and was an ever-present in the qualifying campaign; his speed of thought, touch and playmaking ability have seen him shine for Ajax in this year’s Champions League, and he looks certain to make headlines in Poland and Ukraine.

Denmark certainly have every chance of making the knock-out stages next summer, they emerge from the groups fairly consistently at major championships and with a close, tight-knit set up, good results in qualifying, experience and several exciting youngsters coming through, this could be their year to go a little further. The attacking, fast style of play is good to see on the international stage, my prediction: quarter-finals, possibly semis, if it all comes together.

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Euro 2012 Team Profile – Netherlands

January 14th, 2012
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to be published

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Euro 2012 Team Profile – England by Neil Patterson

January 10th, 2012
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Group Winners
Coach Fabio Capello
One to Watch Kyle Walker

As we approach the summer of 2012 all of our minds, well most of them at least, will turn away from the domestic football competitions within our own countries, towards the International arena for the eagerly awaited European Championship Finals, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine. Within a fortnight from now, the world will know the names of the last four teams/countries that will join the 12 nations already guaranteed a place at Euro 2012. Over the next three weeks, we shall be profiling each of the 16 finalists that will bid to become the champions of Europe until 2016.

In the next of our Euro 2012 team profiles, England come under the spotlight. England have the joint oldest national football team having been formed in 1870, they have a proud footballing history and see themselves as inventors of the game which has become their national sport. Needless to say England have been a regular feature at major international tournaments, appearing at the World Cup Finals on thirteen occasions since 1950 and making the European Championships eight times, the first being in 1968. Success however, has been harder to come by in the competitions themselves, the English have only ever won the World Cup once, famously on home ground in 1966, the closest they have come since then was an agonising penalty shoot-out defeat by West Germany in the semi-final at Italia 90. The European Championships, formerly the European Cup of Nations, has proven an even more difficult nut to crack, England’s best achievements in that tournament so far have been a third place finish in 1968 and, another penalty shoot-out defeat by the Germans in the semi-final of Euro 96, this time in front of their home fans.

Since then successive England managers, Glenn Hoddle, Kevin Keegan and Sven Goran Eriksson have fared no better, all successfully negotiating tournament qualification groups and then failing to deliver anything more than quarter final elimination at best. Following Eriksson’s unsuccessful 2006 World Cup campaign he was replaced as head coach by Steve McClaren. Under McClaren’s direction the England team slumped to a new low in modern times, failing to qualify for Euro 2008 was the first time they hadn’t reached a major international competition since their failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup. McClaren was duly sacked and became the shortest serving England manager ever, he was replaced by Fabio Capello.

Capello arrived with an “Iron Man” reputation, he would instil the discipline required to turn England’s ageing, so called “Golden Generation” into “lean mean winning machines”, and for a while, it looked like he had. England qualified for South Africa 2010 in impressive style, with a game to spare, sealing their place with a 5-1 home win over Croatia. Things were looking rosy, however, once again at the tournament itself, England started off in shaky fashion, only just scraping through the group stage. It was clear from the very start that the problems of old hadn’t been fixed, Capello was unsure who his goalkeeper should be, Gerrard and Lampard were still being used together despite their obvious deficiency as a partnership, and the 4-4-2 system employed by Capello looked totally out of date. By the time England faced Germany in the second round, the team were at sixes and sevens, bereft of drive or confidence in themselves or each other and pretty quickly were being put to the sword by a dynamic, exciting, young German side who knew how to play together. England went home.

Since then, Capello has been forced to ring the changes and has tried to bring in some younger, fresher talent. It seems to be working at the moment with the England side qualifying unbeaten for next year’s Euros and recently defeating World and European Champions Spain in a friendly. One of the newer players in the England fold is Kyle Walker. Walker is a whippet-like right back who can play on the right of midfield too, his pace, fearlessness and ability to deliver in the final third, along with real defensive ability make him one to earmark in the summer when the tournament begins.

It is almost impossible to predict England’s chances of success in Poland and Ukraine, they have qualified well enough, but then they have done that many times before without further achievement. I don’t think Capello knows his best eleven at all and despite having a fairly deep pool of talent to choose from, he doesn’t transmit the confidence of having a clear plan as yet. The suspension of Rooney for the Group Stage is also a major headache along with the poor form of recognised central defensive pair Terry and Ferdinand. With all of these factors in mind and their abject showing in South Africa, I would be fairly surprised if England made it past the quarter finals this time around.

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Euro 2012 Team Profile – Croatia by Neil Patterson

December 17th, 2011
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Play-off Winners
Coach Slaven Bilic
One to Watch Mario Mandzukic

As we approach the summer of 2012 all of our minds, well most of them at least, will turn away from the domestic football competitions within our own countries, towards the International arena for the eagerly awaited European Championship Finals, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine. Within a fortnight from now, the world will know the names of the last four teams/countries, which will join the 12 nations already guaranteed a place at Euro 2012. Over the next three weeks, we shall be profiling each of the 16 finalists who will bid to become the champions of Europe until 2016.

Croatia is our destination, as we continue profiling the teams that will be taking part in next summer’s European Championships. The Independent State of Croatia played nineteen international friendly matches between 1940 and 1944, however, at the end of the Second World War, in 1945, Croatia became part of the new state of Yugoslavia and, as such, did not field an independent team again for almost half a century. The modern Croatian team was established in 1990, and their first competitive matches were in qualification for Euro 96, having been recognised by FIFA in 1993. Since then Croatia have had tremendous success on the international stage for such a small country, qualifying for three out of four World Cup Finals, only missing out in South Africa 2010, and amazingly, finishing third at their first attempt at France 98. As far as European competition goes, Croatia have qualified four times, only failing to make it to Euro 2000, and have made it to the quarter finals twice, in 1996, their first ever international tournament, and last time the Finals were staged, in 2008.

Much of Croatia’s early success was built on the backs’ of a “Golden Generation” of superbly talented players who all came through to represent their country at senior level at around the same time. Under coach Miroslav Blazovic, this generation of players which included the likes of Davor Suker, Goran Vlaovic, Zvonimir Boban and current coach, Slaven Bilic, represented Croatia at Euro 96 and World Cup 98. At Euro 96, held in England, Croatia, like the Czech Republic, were playing in their first major Finals since becoming a sovereign state; and like the Czech republic, they performed excellently, surprising many by qualifying from the group stage, defeating defending champions Denmark, 3-0, on the way, before losing to Germany, the eventual winners, in the quarter final. France 98 saw Croatia build on the impressive start made two years previously, and consolidate their position as real force to be reckoned with. Victories over Japan and Jamaica were enough to put Croatia into the knock-out stages. Once there, victory over Romania set up a quarter final tie against, the heavily fancied, Germany; remarkably, Croatia won the match at a canter, stunning the Germans with a terrific display which allowed them to run out 3-0 winners. The Croatians were finally beaten 2-1 in the semi-final by, hosts and eventual tournament winners, France, victory over Holland in the third place play-off ensured a bronze medal for the young nation, and the brilliant Davor Suker took home the Golden Boot.

Since the heady heights of the late nineties, Croatia have done reasonably well, qualification has usually been achieved, missing out only twice, however group stage elimination has usually followed. The exception came at Euro 2008 under current coach Slaven Bilic, having qualified ahead of England, who they defeated at Wembley during the campaign, Croatia went on a run to the quarter finals, where they lost a penalty shoot-out to Turkey. The run however, included victories against Austria, Poland and Germany and was the first time Croatia had taken maximum points from the group matches of a major tournament. Failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup Finals was a surprise, however, coach Bilic vowed to stay on and take Croatia forward.

The current Croatia squad contains some fantastic players, Luka Modric, Eduardo Silva, Darijo Srna (c), to name but a few. They are extremely compact without the ball, making them very difficult to break down, and play a pressing game, giving their opponents very little time on the ball. When they do have the ball Croatia play an incredibly quick, counter attacking game, which relies on one and two touch play, pace, and clinical finishing. Some vastly experienced players are complimented by a promising crop of younger players coming through, such as Ivan Perisic of Borussia Dortmund and Ivan Raketic of Sevilla. A player to look out for next summer is rugged striker Mario Mandzukic, currently of Bundesliga side Vfl Wolfsburg, the hitman has averaged roughly a goal every two games throughout his club career, he also scored twice in qualifying and got the second goal in Croatia’s 0-3 play-off first leg victory in Turkey.

Croatia could prove to be Euro 2012’s dark horses, their qualifying run was impressive, winning seven out of ten games, garnering 22 points, they were unlucky not to qualify by right. A comprehensive victory in their play-off with Turkey showed the strength that they possess, and any team that underestimates their quality will surely pay the price. Quality players with tournament experience, a strong group ethic united behind a manager who commands respect, and a distinctive style of play which suits the attributes of the team, all combine to make Croatia a very dangerous proposition. How far can they go? We’ll have to wait and see.

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Euro 2012 Team Profile – Czech Republic by Neil Patterson

December 15th, 2011
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Play-off Winners
Coach Michal Bilek
One to Watch Vaclav Pilar

As we approach the summer of 2012 all of our minds, well most of them at least, will turn away from the domestic football competitions within our own countries, towards the International arena for the eagerly awaited European Championship Finals, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine. Within a fortnight from now, the world will know the names of the last four teams/countries, which will join the 12 nations already guaranteed a place at Euro 2012. Over the next three weeks, we shall be profiling each of the 16 finalists who will bid to become the champions of Europe until 2016.

We visit the Czech Republic for our next Euro 2012 team profile. The Czech Republic has only been an independent footballing nation since the early 1990s, they played their first match against Turkey in 1994 which they won comfortably 1-4. Prior to becoming a sovereign nation, the Czech Republic made up part of the Czechoslovakian team which competed internationally for over fifty years. The Czechoslovak team of yesteryear were a recognised force in international competitions, finishing runners up in the World Cup Finals of 1934 and 1962, and winning the European Championships in 1976.

Since separation, the Czech Republic have done fairly well on the international stage for such a relatively small country. They succeeded at their first attempt, qualifying for the European Championships in 1996, which were held in England. When the action got underway, the Czechs lost their opening group game to Germany 2-0, however, they were undeterred by this setback and, were able to put together a magnificent run of performances and results to become the surprise package of the tournament, reaching the final. Unfortunately for the Czech Republic, they would again face the Germans, and despite taking a 1-0 lead, they were pegged back, eventually losing to an extra time Golden Goal, scored by Oliver Bierhoff. The performances of the Czech team gained them a lot of admirers, and several of their star players, such as Karel Poborsky, Patrick Berger, and of course, Pavel Nedved, earned lucrative contracts at big European clubs on the back of their showing in the tournament.

After doing so well at Euro 96, Czech Republic were heavily fancied to go on and do well at World Cup 98 in France. However qualification did not go according to plan as the Czechs finished the campaign in third place behind Spain and Yugoslavia, therefore not making it to the tournament proper. Slightly unfortunate elimination in the group stage of Euro 2000 was followed up by yet another failure to make the World Cup Finals in 2002. Finishing second in their group, behind Denmark, the Czech Republic would face Belgium in a two legged play-off; they lost both legs 1-0. Undefeated in qualification for Euro 2004, a very strong Czech Republic side arrived in Portugal in great form. With the likes of Milan Baros, Jan Koller, and, the evergreen Pavel Nedved, the Czechs took the tournament by storm, winning all their group games and making it to the semi-final, where they were cruelly beaten by Greece, with an extra time Silver Goal.

Czech Republic qualified for their first World Cup as an independent nation in 2006. Full of high hopes after their success at Euro 2004, the Czechs arrived in the group stages, however, unfortunately for them and their fans, they also departed in the group stages, and said good-bye to, the retiring, Nedved and Poborsky. Group stage elimination at the hands of Turkey was to follow at Euro 2008, and failure to make the World Cup Finals in South Africa 2010 was the first time the Czechs had failed to make the grade since 2002.

Czech Republic finished second in their qualifying group, amassing 13 points and losing three matches along the way, two of those defeats were against the reigning World and European champions, Spain, so we can’t really hold that against them. They won their play-off against Montenegro 3-0 on aggregate and thus qualified for next summer’s finals in Poland and Ukraine. The Czechs under manager Michal Bilek are a solid, well-disciplined outfit, who are hard to beat, if somewhat lacking in flair. They have many experienced players such as Petr Cech in goal, Tomas Rosicky (c) in midfield, and Milan Baros up front, as well as a couple of exciting youngsters breaking into the team. One of these youngsters to look out for is Vaclav Pilar, he is a 23 year old attacking midfielder, who’s recently signed a contract with Wolfsburg in Germany, rated very highly in his homeland, Pilar scored a tremendous goal to put the Czechs in command of their play-off first leg.

The Czech Republic have done well to make it to Euro 2012, they are a decent side, who may prove difficult to beat, but they will need a favourable draw to avoid group stage elimination.

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Euro 2012 Team Profile – Portugal by Neil Patterson

December 9th, 2011
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Play-off Winners
Coach: Paulo Bento
One to Watch: Fabio Coentrao

As we approach the summer of 2012 all of our minds, well most of them at least, will turn away from the domestic football competitions within our own countries, towards the International arena for the eagerly awaited European Championship Finals, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine. Within a fortnight from now, the world will know the names of the last four teams/countries, which will join the 12 nations already guaranteed a place at Euro 2012. Over the next three weeks, we shall be profiling each of the 16 finalists who will bid to become the champions of Europe until 2016.

We visit Portugal for the next in our series of Euro 2012 team profiles. Portugal played their first competitive match as a national football team in 1921, they lost 3-1 to their neighbours and rivals Spain. The Portuguese had their first taste of competitive international tournament play at the 1928 Olympics, then the foremost international tournament in football, reaching the quarter finals, before losing to Egypt. Since then, Portugal have had mixed fortunes on the international stage, qualifying for five World Cup Finals, their third place finish in 1966, the best position that they’ve achieved to date. In terms of European competition, the Portuguese have done slightly better, reaching the European Championships five times, their defeat to Greece in the final of Euro 2004 on home soil, the closest that Portugal have come to winning major honours.

The World Cup of 1966 saw Portugal produce their best ever finish in the competition. The team which included Golden Boot winner Eusebio defeated Hungary, Bulgaria, Brazil and North Korea before being beaten by eventual winners England in the semi-final. They went on to defeat the Soviet Union in the third place play-off, and Eusebio finished the tournament, in England, as top scorer with nine goals. Portugal didn’t qualify for a major tournament again until the European Championships in 1984. There they went on a run to the semi- finals, narrowly losing out in extra time to hosts, and eventual champions, France 3-2 in a thrilling encounter; a first round exit at Mexico 86 followed.

It would be ten years before the Portuguese would reach another major tournament. Euro 96, back in England, would see the coming of age of Portugal’s “Golden Generation”. The group of players, which included Rui Costa, Fernando Couto and Figo, who’d won the U-20 World Cups of 1989 and 91 had progressed into the senior ranks and were now delivering relative success. Qualification was followed by a run to the knock-out stages, where they were defeated 1-0 by tournament runners-up the Czech Republic, Poborsky doing the damage with an exquisite lob, leaving Baia stranded. Euro 96 however, was followed by a controversial failure to qualify for France 98. Portugal qualified for Euro 2000 as the best runners up, they went on a blistering run to the semi-finals, where having been 1-0 up, they lost to a Golden Goal penalty scored by Zenedine Zidane.

Portugal’s fury at the award of the penalty to France resulted in chaos which saw Xavier, Nuno Gomes and current coach Paulo Bento receive lengthy suspensions. After a poor showing at World Cup 2002 Luis Felipe Scolari took over management of the Portuguese. Having just won the World Cup with Brazil, Scolari took Portugal into Euro 2004, where, as the host nation, they were expected to do very well. They lost their opening match 2-1 against underdogs Greece, however they re-grouped and went all the way to the final. There they would again face Greece, and again they would lose, this time 1-0; a huge upset and a massive disappointment for Portugal. Scolari went on to take Portugal to the World Cup semi-final two years later, but he would leave after being knocked out in the last eight of Euro 2008.

Following defeat in the last sixteen of World Cup 2010, and a doping scandal, Carlos Queiroz was replaced as coach by Paulo Bento. Bento, a member of the “Golden Generation”, managed to secure Portugal’s qualification for Euro 2012 via a 6-2 play-off win over Bosnia. Under his tutelage, Portugal have only lost once competitively, against group winners Denmark, and look an altogether different proposition. The players look happier and more unified, the trademark flair and attacking style of play is back, and the results in qualifying and the play-off bear this out. Portugal have a number of exciting, world class players such as Ronaldo and Nani, but keep an eye out for Fabio Coentrao. A skilful left back with pace to burn he can also play as a left winger and is an excellent crosser of the ball, Coentrao plays his club football with Real Madrid in Spain.

Predicting how Portugal will fare in Poland and Ukraine is difficult, they certainly have the tools to put a run together and make it to the semi-finals, however, it depends on the draw they receive and whether they can produce their best football on the big stage. With Paulo Bento they have a coach that all the players respect, which is vitally important at international level, and results would certainly suggest that they are a team on the rise again, however there are some excellent teams in Europe at the moment and I don’t think the Portuguese are quite at that level.

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Euro 2012 Team Profile – Rep. of Ireland by Neil Patterson

December 6th, 2011
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Play-off Winners
Coach Giovanni Trapatoni
One to Watch Shane Long

As we approach the summer of 2012 all of our minds, well most of them at least, will turn away from the domestic football competitions within our own countries, towards the International arena for the eagerly awaited European Championship Finals, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine. Within a fortnight from now, the world will know the names of the last four teams/countries, which will join the 12 nations already guaranteed a place at Euro 2012. Over the next three weeks, we shall be profiling each of the 16 finalists who will bid to become the champions of Europe until 2016.

We pay a visit to the Republic of Ireland for the next in our series of team profiles for next year’s European Championships. Formerly known as the Irish Free State, the footballing nation which is officially known by FIFA as the Republic of Ireland, first took part in international competition at the 1924 Olympics. As you might expect for such a small country, in which “soccer” is not a prioritised sport, the Republic of Ireland do not have an illustrious history in major international football tournaments.

The Irish have qualified for the World Cup Finals on just three occasions, Italia 90, U.S.A 94, and 2002 when the Finals took place in Japan and South Korea; in all three instances however, they have managed to get out of the group stage and make it into the knock-out rounds, reaching the quarter finals in 1990. In terms of European competition, other than their appearance in the European Nations’ Cup in 1964, the Republic have qualified for the European Championships just once, in 1988 when the competition was held in West Germany. This was the first time that the Irish had appeared in a major international finals tournament and although they didn’t make it through the group, they were very unlucky not to progress. After defeating arch rivals England 1-0, Ray Houghton with the goal, and drawing 1-1 with the Soviet Union, the Republic came within eight minutes of achieving a draw against Holland which would have sent the Irish through and the Dutch home. As it transpired Kieft scored for the Dutch, Ireland were out, and Holland went on to be crowned European Champions 1988.

Following on from that very respectable debut on the international stage, the Republic of Ireland, under charismatic boss Jackie Charlton went on to qualify for two successive World Cup Finals. The first of these was at Italia 90 where the Irish qualified for the second round after three draws in the group stage; they went on to beat Romania on penalties, David O’ Leary with the famous fifth spot kick, before losing 1-0 to the hosts in the quarter final. Four years later Ireland made it to the second round in America after a famous victory against Italy in their opening match, Ray Houghton again doing the business in a 1-0 win. They went on to lose 2-0 to Holland in the second round.

After defeat to Holland in the play-off for Euro 96, Jack Charlton retired as Republic of Ireland manager and was replaced by Mick McCarthy. McCarthy’s charges were unlucky not to qualify for both France 98 and Euro 2000, losing out in both at the play-off stage against Belgium and Turkey respectively. Successful qualification for World Cup 2002 was followed by a bust up between McCarthy and, then captain, Roy Keane, which ended in the latter being sent home. Despite this, the Republic gave a good showing, again making the knockout stages, this time they were beaten on penalties 3-2 in the second round by Spain. Since then successive managers such as Brian Kerr and Steve Staunton brought Ireland little success, however following the appointment of Giovani Trapatoni in 2008, things began to improve.

Trapatoni has instilled a solidity and a belief within the squad and the effect of his experience and class was seen almost immediately, the Irish were very unlucky not to qualify for South Africa 2010, losing out again in the play-offs, this time after a blatant handball from Thierry Henry set up the winning goal for France. For Euro 2012 the Irish finished behind Russia in their qualifying group, gaining 21 points, and losing only once, they went on to qualify by beating Estonia in a play-off 5-1 on aggregate.

Looking at the Republic of Ireland this time around, the one thing that you have to say immediately is that they are hard to beat, they do not concede many goals, just seven in ten qualifiers and just two in their last eleven. Looking at their squad, they’ve got some really good experience with the likes of Dunne, Given and Robbie Keane, as well as some exciting youngsters such as Seamus Coleman. One to look out for in the summer is Shane Long, he’s a quick thinking, pacey goalscorer who has made the step up to the Premier League with aplomb this year, and has already netted seven times in 23 international caps, centre backs beware. Ireland can definitely make the quarter finals, as they’ve shown over the years, they are never just there to make up the numbers. Trapatoni has them settled and playing well and the Irish always pull it out in the major tournaments, none of the big boys will fancy drawing the Republic in the group stage, because with the Green Army roaring them on, Ireland have a habit of rising to the big occasion.

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Euro 2012 Team Profile – Russia by Neil Patterson

December 5th, 2011
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Qualifying Group Winners
Coach Dick Advocaat
One to Watch Alan Dzagoev

As we approach the summer of 2012 all of our minds, well most of them at least, will turn away from the domestic football competitions within our own countries, towards the International arena for the eagerly awaited European Championship Finals, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine. Within a fortnight from now, the world will know the names of the last four teams/countries that will join the 12 nations already guaranteed a place at Euro 2012. Over the next three weeks, we shall be profiling each of the 16 finalists that will bid to become the champions of Europe until 2016.

The next in our series of team profiles for Euro 2012 takes us east to Russia. The modern Russian national team played its first international fixture against Mexico in 1992 following the break-up of the Soviet Union, it is considered the natural successor to the U.S.S.R. team by FIFA, even though many of the former U.S.S.R.s best known players were actually from the Ukraine, for example, eight of the Soviet starting eleven in the final of Euro 88 were Ukrainian. Russia as the U.S.S.R., qualified for seven World Cup Finals, their best run in the competition proper took them to fourth place in 1966 in England. The U.S.S.R. fared slightly better in European competition reaching the final tournament on six occasions (as the C.I.S. in 1992), winning the European Cup of Nations, as it was then known, in 1960, and finishing runners-up to the marvellous Dutch team, which included Gullit and Van Basten, in West Germany 1988.

Since becoming an independent country Russia have managed to qualify for two World Cup Finals, U.S.A. 1994 and in the Far East in 2002, both of these trips ended in group stage elimination, with Russia managing one win and two defeats on each occasion. The European Championships have been slightly kinder to the Russians, with qualification achieved for four tournaments-counting next summer- which includes the last three in a row. Russia’s best ever showing in a major international tournament as an independent nation came in Euro 2008 under coach Guus Hiddink. Having lost their opening group game 1-4 to Spain, Russia won their next two group games to set up a quarter final match against Hiddink’s native Holland. Russia took the lead against the tournament favourites on ten minutes, and despite being pegged back, managed to get back on top and eventually win the game 3-1. Hiddink’s charges went on to play, eventual tournament winners, Spain again in the semi-final, where they lost 0-3. Under their Dutch manager, the Russians narrowly missed out on qualification for South Africa 2010, losing out agonisingly on away goals in their play-off against Slovenia.

Following the failed campaign, Hiddink was replaced as manager by another Dutchman, Dick Advocaat. The former Glasgow Rangers boss has managed to guide Russia to automatic qualification for Euro 2012, topping their group on 23 points, a run which saw them win seven out of ten games and lose only once. Advocaat has kept a similar group of players around him as were there under his predecessor and has been able to bring a number of the younger players further into the fold during his tenure. A particularly exciting young talent is Alan Dzagoev, a hard-working, skilful, attacking midfielder. Dzagoev, though still only 21 years old, is regarded as one of Russia’s most talented players, a first team regular with his club CSKA Moscow, he was awarded Best Young Player in the Russian league 2008/09. He made his debut for the national side against Germany in 2008 and scored four goals during qualification for Euro 2012 including a crucial winner in Slovakia.

Russia are an interesting proposition coming into Poland and Ukraine; they showed their quality in 2008 with a great run to the semis, and, that was without their main striker Pogrebnyak who was out injured for the whole competition. Failure to qualify for 2010 was by the narrowest of margins and they could quite easily have secured qualification earlier had they taken their chances against Germany. Advocaat inherited a decent squad and has been able to work with it and improve it slightly, adding a little more steel as results have shown. Obviously, not all sides can make it through the group stages, and it will depend largely on the draw that Russia receive what their chances will be of progressing; however, they have quality within the team and have shown that they are hard to beat, my prediction: quarter finals.

This article is the property of and copyrighted to its owner http://e-u-r-o-2012.com.
We welcome any links to blog articles – however they may be reproduced or copied only with the prior written permission of http://e-u-r-o-2012.com.
The opinions expressed are not necessarily those ‘EURO 2012 Blog’ but of the contributor.
Subsequent comments to the blog articles that appear on the site are not the opinion of ‘EURO 2012 Blog’ but only of the comment writer.
Personal attacks, offensive language, racist, sexist, bigoted views and unsubstantiated allegations will not be printed. ‘ EURO 2012 Blog’ reserves the right to determine if comments are any of the above.

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