That was a solid if uneventful Matchday 1, the only upset being Denmark beating the Netherlands, a sad day for my fantasy squad. It's also funny that the squads that never receive proper endorsement (Russia, Croatia, Ukraine) were the only one to score more than 1 goal.

I saw this guy from Greece give himself a wedgie when he missed an opportunity. He made the twisted in-pain face too. It was so gay.

Soccer is so gay.

mapleleaf, why don't you come over to Holland and you and I assemble two little teams, hmmmmMMM...??? Let's see how gay it is, other than the fact that I'll waltz over you like you've never been waltzed over. Lol.
Anyhoo, 24 hours left and the game I've waited for for years will start... I'll be ready. Ow yeah. Scarlett popcorn. And Grolsch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Euro_2012

I guess it's a new rule in football that if you're Polish, you're allowed to kick opposing attackers in the face when they're in the box. Also, if your name is Dzagoev, Poles are allowed to knock you down in the box and Dzagoev will be called for the foul.

Worst officiating, ever. And this comes after Poland's bs referee-backed draw vs Greece. What a country.

Really excited for the Germany-Netherlands match tomorrow. I think Germany comes out a lot better early than they did against Portugal to make sure Loew doesn't explode at half-time.

I anticipate Portugal annihilating Denmark.

I think Denmark might give them some fight though.

kreilly, I completely agree (nice to see you online btw), very much looking forward to this one!

Portugal should have beaten Germany badly. Some bad luck there. They have too many weapons.

Interesting! For me, from the start I have thought it will be a Germany-Spain final.

That whole group will be very interesting to watch. Netherlands, Portugal, and Germany are all teams that have the talent to make it to the finals. I anticipate Germany and Portugal moving on to the next round, though perhaps the Danish will surprise all and make it through

And its far more likely to be a Germany-Italy final. Spain was outmatched by them.

I didn't catch the Poland-Russia game though. How was it? Putin seems a bit bitter over it

Outmatched? If Torres doesn't blow wide open chances that game is in the bag for Spain. Italy played well, but they're still second tier.

In other news. The US team drew Guatemala in WC qualifying. You heard me, Guatemala.
*Headdesk*.

Putin, Portugal had one serious threat all match vs Germany, and the only reason they didn't win by more was they sat on the ball, and didn't make the touch passes they normally do.

Portugal is going nowhere unless their coach finds a way to get Ronaldo more involved. England has no one to create offense. The Dutch backline is awful. France is the darkhorse.

I can't believe I'm agreeing with Putin about anything, but the refereeing in the Russia-Poland game was biased. The English commentary on the ITV stream I was watching was even worse; why on earth do English commentators feel a need to pick a side when England isn't playing?

Even so, I glad we're qualified (basically, I suppose we could still go out, but it's unlikely). Now to crush the Greeks to make sure we're #1 in the group.

Greeks are still sure to advance if they win so they'll throw everything at you. Their coach seemed to fail to notice the glaring weakness at their left side, though, so you should handle them fine.

I don't know what game you were watching Kreilly. Pepe was inches from scoring on that unlucky crossbar hit at the end of the 1st half. And Nani hit the crossbar as well. Varela almost had a goal but not for a good save by the German keeper. A couple of serious threats were cleared by good defense from the Germans.

I forgot to mention Boateng's tackle on Ronaldo, saving a sure-fire goal.

Netherlands and Germany are by far the strongest squads in Group B. Netherlands was unlucky to lose against Denmark. Germany wasn't that impressive, but controlled the match against Portugal and scored a good goal. For tonight I guess Germany is favourite. However, they have their weaknesses too, especially their 2 central defenders Hummels and Badstuber. And Özil has to be in good shape, against Portugal he was quite bad.

Russia looked halfway decent last night, although they seem prone to giving up quick counterattacks, which will hurt them against teams with better front lines than Poland, who had a few nicely set up breaks on the few times they had the ball out of their own half. Unfortunately, they'll face the runner up in group B and probably get trounced.

Though I may have unreasonable expectations, I actually thought Russia looked quite mediocre yesterday, particularly at the end. Their physical condition isn't great, and their attacks lacked cutting edge. Arshavin in particular was selfish and pitifully lazy (or just exhausted?).

Arashavin showed the same qualities at Arsenal this year which won him an extended spot on the bench compliments of Wenger.

Germany is looking the favorite to win it all, imho. Of course Spain has the best squad and another year would skip to victory, but I think a lot of their players (esp. the Barcelona contingent) are simply exhausted after a long season and maybe a touch disinterested, too. They will at some point encounter a decent team (France, Italy), who will sit deep like Chelsea and have the quality to not be entirely overrun in midfield.

Things are looking real bad for the Dutch. They absolutely need 3 against Germany, and I don't think they'll get them.

Russia dark horses?

Denmark v. Portugal quickly turning into a classic. Ronaldo must be kicking himself...TWO wide open misses!

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NOOO!!!!! This is not good 1-2 :((((

Redhouse, why did you bother responding to maple leaf? Your response was as immature as his initial post. "waltz all over..."

Leave it alone. He does not understand teh game, at all, he is probably 100% a hockey fan, which in its own rights is a demanding sport.