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The World Cup carries prestige like no other sports tournament around the world, but its European counterpart, the Euro Cup, is enjoyed just as much, if not more so by pure soccer fans.
While the scale of the World Cup and grandiose of the tournament contains most of its appeal, some of the teams probably shouldn’t be involved. 2010’s World Cup featured the 105th best team in the world, North Korea; the 83rd best, South Africa; and the 78th best, New Zealand. In the 2012 Euro Cup, Ukraine and Poland — the tournament’s host nations — are the two worst teams, ranked 55th and 66th, respectively.
Other than the Czech Republic, the other 13 teams in the tournament are among the top-25 soccer nations in the world.
Although the magnitude of the World Cup is second to none, the competition of the Euro Cup eclipses every other tournament — including its big brother.
This year is no different, with a handful of powerhouses looking to dethrone Spain, trying to become one of the greatest teams of all time, all while a number of meddling nations hope to become this year’s Turkey or Russia and usurp some national powers.
The tournament features 16 teams split into four groups, with the top two from each group moving on to the knockout round, which is single elimination. The draw is random and all 16 teams are split into four pots, with one team from each pot making up a group.
In Pot 1 were the two host nations, the previous champion, Spain, and the best qualifying team, the Netherlands. The other pots are decided on how well countries did in qualifying and their overall soccer rank.
Group A: Poland, Greece, Russia, Czech Republic
Host team Poland should have a pretty good chance of making its people happy by advancing to the knockout round in the most lackluster group and will most likely be joined by Russia.
The Czechs have a chance, thanks to world-class goalkeeper Petr Cech, and veteran midfielder Tomas Rosicky could help lead the Czechs into the knockout round. Greece’s soccer team — like the country — is in shambles; there won’t be any repeat of a shocking 2006 Euro Championship.
Group B: Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Portugal
And here it is: the dreaded Group of Death. Because of how the draw works, with the two host nations getting an advantage in Pot 1, it sets one group up each year to be dubbed the Group of Death.
With four teams capable of making their way to the knockout round, this group should be full of exciting soccer and feature some of the best individual talent in the world.
Cristiano Ronaldo has the talent to lead Portugal into the knockout round, but it’s not going to happen with the two heavyweights ahead of him. The Dutch gave World Cup Champion Spain a run for its money in 2010’s final and has an abundance of attacking options, including Arsenal’s Robin Van Persie, who may be the most in-form striker in the world right now.
The Germans should join the Netherlands in the knockout round with another era of talent led by midfielders Mezut Ozil and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
And while the Danes have the talent to get out of two other groups, they will most likely finish last in this year’s Group of Death.
Group C: Spain, Italy, Republic of Ireland, Croatia
Spain has the chance to do what no nation has ever done and win three straight international competitions after taking home 2008’s Euro Cup and 2010’s World Cup. With world-class talent at every position, including the bench, Spain will be difficult to knock off this tournament. Their advancement from the group stage is just a technicality.
It is more difficult to predict who will be joining Spain. Italy is the most talented of the remaining squads, but the team has had poor performances at the last two international tournaments and seem to be in a transition from their 2006 World Cup Champion to a new breed of players, led by the enigmatic striker Mario Balotelli.
That’s why Croatia, led by Tottenham Hotspurs midfield duo Luka Modric and Niko Kranjcar, will join Spain in the knockout stage.
Ireland will be pleased to be back in a tournament after Thierry Henry’s hand kept them out of the World Cup; but they will be the bottom-feeders in the second-toughest group.
Group D: Ukraine, Sweden, France, England
England has a good shot of getting out of Group D but will need to figure out where the scoring will come from at the beginning of the tournament, as Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney will be suspended for the first three matches.
Regardless, a number of young English strikers have stepped up this season in the English Premier League, including Chelsea’s young scorer Daniel Sturridge, Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor and Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe. A good showing at Euro by England’s young crop of internationals would really get the juices flowing for the 2014 World Cup.
Joining England will likely be France, which needs to redeem itself after a disastrous World Cup run in 2010. With a strong midfield led by Franck Ribéry and a striking unit spearheaded by Kareem Benzema, Les Blues should find the knockout round, leaving Sweden and host-nation Ukraine to watch the rest of the tournament.
The knockout stage is much harder to predict, as each country’s opponent depends on its finish in the group stage. The top finisher in Group A plays the second place in Group B, and vice versa. Same goes for Groups C and D.
The Dutch and the Germans should defeat their Group A opponents regardless of their finish. As long as England doesn’t face Spain in the first knockout round, both Spain and England should join the Group B members as the last four remaining.
From there, I see the Germans continuing their climb back to the top of the soccer world, winning the Euro Cup and heading into the 2014 World Cup as the favorites.
