EuroCup 2012: Facing the Finals

With Group D games wrapped up, and all scores reported, the final Quarterfinals lineup is up on UEFA EURO. The six teams competing for Semifinals are paired for four games, spread out across the next week.

Team Lineup for Quarterfinals

Czech Republic vs Portugal
Germany vs Greece
Spain vs France
England vs Italy

In my personal opinion, after having watched all the games and observing the technique of each, I am not surprised that Spain and Portugal ended up going to the semifinals. I was shocked at the Italy- France game, because I thought at least one of them would score before the penalty shots. But what I am really excited to see is Spain versus Portugal. Portugal has shown impressive skill, especially in their most recent game against Denmark. With Ronaldo setting up strike after strike, there was no way they weren’t going to achieve score eventually. His ability to set up a potential goal is unparalleled. I personally want to see Portugal’s passionate offense take on the calculated cool of Spain’s midfielders in the Finals… but that’s thinking way head.

Spain is one of those teams that you don’t even need to watch, because they are too good! At least, that’s my opinion. Their control of the ball is like none I’ve ever seen. Spain is great at maintaining possession, and they are very accurate in their passing and shooting. However, facing a team with the spark and passion of Portugal would be very interesting to see with Spain.

Against France, who did very well in their own right, I see Spain taking control and possession, and France getting frustrated and aggressive. When frustration strikes, players get sloppy, and France has already received their share of yellow cards. Philippe Mexés received his second yellow card in the most recent game against Sweden, so he may not be playing against Spain in the Quarterfinals.

Although I am disappointed that Greece did not take the necessary offensive to stand a chance against Germany, I am not surprised that they lost. Greece doesn’t score a lot, but neither do they let a lot of goals in. This is one reason the unlikely team always seems to pull through at the last minute; their ratio of goals made to goals received is low, because they almost never allow anyone past their defensive line.

Goalkeeper Alexandros Tzorvas, who played in the Russia game, showed his incredible skill in blocking every single goal the usually-strong Russian offense brought his way. I think their defense is the only reason Greece won that game; they won 1-0 because they didn’t allow a single goal by Russia. If they were focused more on offense, maybe they would have gotten a higher goal score, but they probably would have let a lot more goals in as well, and that would have totally thrown off their ratio and potentially altered the succession lineup.

Overall, I just really want to see Spain against Portugal eventually. I think this would be the most interesting, passionate, and intense game to come out of this combination of teams.

If you want more information about the eight teams in the Quarterfinals, check out Euro 2012 Quarterfinals: One Key Factor For Each Team To Advance, by Timothy Rapp on bleacher report .

This post was sponsored by ComFi International Calling Cards and written by Evelynn Sidiropoulos.
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All images from UEFA EURO