EURO 2012 - GROUP A Preview

What did we learn from all the friendlies that have happened over the past few days? Well we saw that improvements need to be made in the camps of Portugal, Italy, Germany and Ukraine.

But this in the past has proved to be nothing to go off so until the ball gets rolling this weekend we wont have any idea who will bring it.

Group A can be considered the group of the minors. 

GROUP A:

POLAND (Co-Hosts)

Coming off a convincing 4-0 vs Andorra the Polish side coached by Frank Smuda look to have a side good enough to tackle their group favourites Russia and Czech Republic. 

With striking power of Rob Lewandowski he will lead the attack and you never know what you are going to get from a nation who is co-hosting the event.

Faced with the task of playing Greece, Czech Republic & Russia it's a tall order for the Poles to get this right but with the home ground advantage we could see them perform above expectations.

Prediction - 2nd in group and out in the Quarters.

CZECH REPUBLIC

What can we expect from the Czech? Well a disappointing showing their last friendly verse Hungary leaves everyone wondering just what they can bring to these championships. With key players such as Cech, Rosicky and Milan Baros they can either be hot or cold. 

I see the Czech beating Greece, on par with Poland but might struggle to keep up with the Russians.

With the squad they had back in 2006 or 2010 i don't see the Czech poising any threat with an inexperienced squad.

Prediction - 3rd in group.

RUSSIA

In their last friendly they faced the Italians and although the first half was even, they got the luck in the 2nd and dominated with taking their chances to prevail 3-0.

A very confident side with plenty of strike power with the left edge dominated by Zhirkov and up front led by Arshavin and Pavlyuchenko it could result with a total of 9 points in the group.

If that is the case they can only bring momentum to the Quarters and depending on who they play the Russians could see themselves as far as the semi's.

Prediction - 1st and loss in the Qtr Final

GREECE

Could this Greek side be another surprise package just like their 2008 campaign? Well all signs probably point to no in my book.

They qualified very well and love winning the tight battles 1-0 or 2-1. So if in an arm wrestle with only minutes remaining, i'd bank on the Greeks scoring from a set piece. I don't see them conceding from a set piece but they a left vulnerable from open play and on the counter attack.

Prediction - 4th in group.

______________________________________________________

Poland vs Greece . . . 2-1

Russia vs Czech Rep . . . 2-0

Greece vs Czech Rep . . . 1-1

Poland vs Russia . . . 1-3

Poland vs Czech Rep . . . 1-2

Greece vs Russia . . . 1-2