EURO 2012 – Everything you need to know…

Posted: June 8, 2012 / in: Euro 2012, Football, Internationals / No comments

Here we are. Football fans from all over Europe have been waiting for a long time and now the Euros are going to start. Probably, this will be remembered as one of the most, if not the most, controversial editions of the competition. In fact, Poland and Ukraine will host the greatest ever sporting event in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The two countries won their bid in 2007 against Italy, which was trying to emerge from the wreckage of the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.

The decision to appoint Poland and Ukraine was greeted by UEFA chairman Michel Platini as an attempt by the European football governing body to cross boundaries and knock down barriers. In brief, football was endeavouring to go behind the Curtain. Yet, many media immediately underlined the lack of infrastructures in both countries and, above all, the political instability in Ukraine.

Problems commenced to rise in 2008, when the Polish government suspended the national football federation following a case of bribery. Subsequently, the racism issue came out. Then, it was Ukraine’s turn. The country is still under the spotlight for several reasons. First of all, local police have been accused by Amnesty International of adopting torture in order to extort money or obtain confessions. To put in a nutshell, they have been accused of criminal behaviour. A second issue emerged as groups of naked women protested in the streets against prostitution and sexual tourism.

Then, Ukraine has become sadly famous also for the shameful massacre of alley dogs. Justified by local authorities as a way to make the country more attractive to tourists, this slaughter have been strongly denounced by associations defending animals but, at the same time, few footballers seemed to have listened to the activists’ plea of speaking up.

This was enough to put the co-hosting countries in a very weird position, but that was not all. Fuel on fire was added as many media denounced the arrest of Julija Tymošenko, the controversial opponent of current president of Republic Viktor Janukovyč and epitome of the Orange Revolution.

Today the tournament will kick off, though, and all these issues are expected to magically disappear from the columns of newspapers or the footages of televisions.

Group A

Group A appears to be the least appealing one, at least in terms of spectacular football. Yet, it is perhaps the most charming one if related to political, historical and cultural issues. The presence of Czech Republic, Poland and Russia guarantees a series of Eastern Europe derbies. These names evoke the Czechoslovakia national team who triumphed in 1976 thanks to the famous chipped penalty kick converted by Antonín Panenka, or the Polish golden generation of the 1970s coached by Kazimierz Górski, or the Soviet Union “invincible army”. Then, there is Greece, who is competing in the Euros while a huge debate about the country abandoning the European Union is taking place.

Group B

Group B is allegedly the most exciting one, with Germany and the Netherlands as the favourites not just for reaching the knockout matches but also for the final victory. Needless to say, their encounter will be more than a game, as Financial Times columnist Simon Kuper brilliantly explains in his book “Football Against The Enemy”. Then you have two perfect outsiders such as talented Portugal and harsh Denmark.

Group C

Group C is probably going to be topped by Spain, both World and Europe reigning champions, although they have to deal with the absence of Carles Puyol and David Villa due to injury. Italy have to face something more serious, since the umpteenth footballing scandal has broke out a couple of weeks ago, and one team between Croatia and Republic of Ireland, coached by evergreen Giovanni Trapattoni, might advance to the detriment of the Azzurri.

Group D

Finally, Group D will provide another bitter, centuries-old rivalry – the one between France and England. Both teams are missing the shining stars of the past decade, but this should not prevent them to progress into the competition. Their opponents, Sweden and Ukraine, appear to be on a lower level, although results of football matches cannot be easily predicted.

This championship will be the last one with only 16 teams participating. You can decide not to miss a single second of play from now to 1 July, the final day. But you can also switch off television in order to protest against the aforementioned crimes…

Fixtures (kick-off times displayed in CET)

Friday 8 June

1800 Poland 1-1 Greece

2045 Russia 4-1 Czech Republic

Saturday 9 June

1800 Netherlands 0-1 Denmark

2045 Germany 1-0 Portugal

Sunday 10 June

1800 Spain 1-1 Italy

2045 Ireland 1-3 Croatia

Monday 11 June

1800 England 1-1 France