Euro 2012 Review: Second Round of Group Fixtures

Welcome to the second instalment of Biltcliffe’s Sports Thoughts update of Euro 2012 – the knockout stages beckon.

Good week for:

Germany – Joachim Low’s men march on towards the quarter finals, dispatching a poor and disorganised Netherlands outfit. Mario Gomez (right) took his tally to three goals for the tournament with a couple of stunning strikes. They should face Poland or Czech Republic in the last eight. They should not be fazed. 

Croatia – The Croats are sneaking up on the inside in Group C, having added to their convincing win over the Republic of Ireland with a solid point against Italy. Mario Mandzukic took his goal tally to three for the tournament and a draw against Spain would surely be enough to see Slaven Bilic’s men progress.

France – Amid a thunderous evening in Donetsk, the French came through what could have been a real tough evening of it against Ukraine to hold top spot in group D. Despite the disruption and distraction of heavy weather and home backing, well taken goals from Jeremy Menez and Yohan Cabaye saw Les Bleus home and to within a point of a quarter final place.

Bad week for:

Republic of Ireland – The whipping boys of the tournament unfortunately look dramatically out of their depth and have a -6 goal difference to emphasise the point. Trapattoni’s Green Army looked to have surrendered as early as the fourth minute when they let Fernando Torres in for the first of his two goals. Sure, Shay Given may have been at fault for one of two conceded, but he was the reason that the ‘goals against’ column isn’t worse.

Greece – The Greeks don’t have the wealth of strikers that the other sides in the group, namely their next opponents Russia, can call upon. The drab side that won the competition eight years ago can’t even call upon their trump card of organisation – mainly because there isn’t any.

Netherlands – Heading home unless they can beat Portugal and Germany lose to Denmark. They don’t deserve that sort of fortune though and it was only the last 20 minutes or so against the Germans that they showed any semblance of fight, and then they took off Arjen Robben, a major threat.

Heroes:

Fernando Torres – He looked far more like the Torres of two years ago than the Torres that the British press had come to ridicule in his goal drought at Chelsea. Hard work yielded goals for the 28 year old; the fact that it was against Ireland and he has a plethora of chances is but a minor footnote.

Roy Hodgson – I’m an admirer of Hodgson, rather than an advocate, but nonetheless he was bold enough to trust Andy Carroll to lead the line against Sweden at the expense of the ball of energy that is Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Hodgson was rewarded with a fine header from the Liverpool number nine, and an expert finish from Danny Welbeck. Wayne Rooney is due back, but where does he fit in? Nice problem to have.

Bjorn Kuipers – “Well done referee” is not a phrase often uttered, but the Dutch official showed tremendous courage to haul the 22 rain sodden players off the pitch after only four minutes of play between Ukraine and France. It was a torrential downpour and fork lightning of which the like is rarely seen. UEFA were sweating about the completion of the fixture, but they needn’t have worried, the man in the middle dealt with it expertly and showed responsibility.

Villains:

Referee Pedro Proenca – A terrible shove (right) on the unsighted Keith Andrews really needs stamping out at the top level of the game. It was blatant, malicious and taking the law dangerously in to his own hands.

Arjen Robben – A bugbear of mine is players who can’t take being substitution with a little dignity and humility. The winger, frustrated at losing 2-1 to Germany and wanting to force the issue, was inexplicably replaced by Dirk Kuyt but showed disrespect and or passion (you decide) by storming off the far side of the pitch and ripping his shirt off.

Nicklas Bendtner – Keep your shorts on lad, no one wants to see your pants, sponsored or not. Mind you, a goal from the Arsenal striker is such a rare commodity that, despite two coming along at once, it won’t happen again for a while.

Magic moment: Despite the best efforts of Andrea Pirlo...again, who struck a stunning free kick, the affirmation by Danny Welbeck that he belongs on the international stage, and the dramatic circumstances in which he scored a cheeky back-heel just nick it for him.