HOOOOOLLLYYYY SHIZZZZ!!!! GREECE & THE CZECH REPUBLIC are the first set of countries through to the next round of the UEFA EURO 2012 tournament!!!!! Greece sent Russia home, while the Czech Republic ended host nation Poland’s tournaments dreams. Alright… lets get to it.
Russia was the favourite to win against Greece, after trouncing the Czech Republic 4-1, then tying with hosts Poland but alas, the group underdogs got the better of them. 2004 EURO winners Greece celebrated on the pitch after sending the Russians out in the group stage. The game was intense, as both sides had everything to play for, but after Giorgos Karagounis’ goal at the very end of the first half, the Greeks practically formed a wall around Sifakis (Greece’s goalie), and their defense became impenetrable. Russia found the second half a lot harder than the first, and as some yellow cards were thrown around, it slowly became clear that Greece had managed to sneak into the knockout phase. Here’s hoping that Greece’s qualification isn’t a fluke and they make it even further.
Its always difficult losing in the group stage as the host nation, the hopes and dreams of the squad, the fans in the stadium.. and pretty much everyone in the country are riding on your shoulders. Sometimes that helps push the team through, but tonight it wasn’t enough. A single goal from Czech Midfielder Petr Jiracek in the second half sank Poland and ultimately sent them packing. Though I argue that Poland hustled a great deal in all their games thus far, and they didn’t deserve to be sent out… this is football, and when the whistle blows at full time… whoever has the most points wins.. not whoever played better (if only). That being said, the Czechs came back strong from their opening game-slash-massacre against Russia, to recap: the Czechs lost 4-1 in that game, then managed to squeeze by Greece 2-1 in their second game, but tonight was just their night.
Tonight GROUP A sent Greece and the Czech Republic through to the knockout phase, check back tomorrow to see who will make it out of GROUP B, with Portugal versus the Netherlands and Germany versus Denmark.
