Euro 2012: group A third round possible outcomes

At the end of the three group matches, two or more teams may be tied; perhaps even all four. Rematches or penalty shootouts are impossible at this stage, so UEFA's tie-breaking regulations apply. Click here to read a quick and accessible summary of those rules and of the acronyms I use in the analysis below.

Below are all nine possible scenarios in Group A, which already ended; I forgot to post this stuff yesterday! As it turned out, one of the simplest cases obtained, with Greek and Czech wins. Thus, only the first level of tie-breaking applied: alternate standings.

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Euro 2012: Group A matchday 2 analysis

GREECE		1	:	2		CZECH REPUBLIC
	Gekas 53'				Jiracek 3' Pilar 6'

My match rating: ★★

My man of the match: Plasil (C)

UEFA report ---|||--- Player ratings ---|||--- Photos ---|||--- Highlights

No doubt: Greece is back as usual, but nobody's rejoicing. This is no different than 2004, when they won the Euro with a string of unnerving play-killing matches, including a shocking final against a widely superior Portugal. No doubt there was talent and strength of character, but the Greeks often rely on another weapon: patience.

But today all of that was not enough against the Czech, who dominated the first half and only came away with two goals in the first six minutes, while they could have had at least three or four. And it wasn't until Cech decided to unlearn the art of goalkeeping (an alarming new hobby of his, it does appear...) that Greece was let back in at all. In the last few minutes they even created a couple of dangerous chances to equalize. The Czech conceded far too much to a far inferior team. They should have crushed them and reduce their goal deficit, and instead they even allowed them the luxury of a final siege in stoppage time. 

Be that as it may, the Czech Republic bagged a win that it had no excuse not to, thus catapulting themselves to the top half of the standings. Russia's half-demise later in the evening, then, would definitely help their cause...

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POLAND		1	:	1		RUSSIA
	Blaszczykowski 57'				Dzagoev 37'

My match rating: ★★

My man of the match: Arshavin (R)

UEFA report ---|||--- Player ratings ---|||--- Photos ---|||--- Highlights

No match between two good teams is ever boring, and this was no exception. While it didn't give the thrills of the other match's first ten minutes, and surely not of last night's Kiev classic, it was still a hard-fought battle between two teams with a lot at stake.

Poland needed to erase a less-than-ideal start from last Saturday. Russia, with a win, could already clinch the pass and the group's top spot, which would guarantee it a weaker opponent in the quarterfinals. Neither succeeded, though surely not for lack of trying. Both teams squared off openly, created a lot, and wasted a lot, too.

Russia now stands at the top of the Group A table, so close and yet so far. Poland, instead, is overtaken by the Czechs and falls into third. Now the Poles must win, and they need to do so against a fired-up Czech team that is finally finding its footing.

On a folklore note, Russia and Poland have a history that goes a while back, at least to the Middle Ages, and more importantly in the post-war/cold war period. It was feared that fans would take it out on one another and so would players, but thankfully there were no accidents on or off the pitch, save for some minor skirmishes among midfielders halfway through the second half.

So far so good in a racially and politically charged Euro where the shit is going to hit the fan at some point......

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GROUP D STANDINGS

team	points	wins	ties	losses	goals+	goals-
RUSSIA	4	1	1	0	5	2
CZECH REP.	3	1	0	1	3	5
POLAND	2	0	2	0	2	2
GREECE	1	0	1	1	2	3

Euro 2012: Group A matchday 1 analysis

POLAND-GREECE
1-1

The Greeks have reason to complain, but not much. Both Papasthatopolous' yellow cards were questionable; the second wasn't even a foul by many refereeing standards. They had their shot with a penalty, and the goal that was not conceded shouldn't have been. With that said, I disagree with the Darke-McManaman ESPN commentary that Greece have been passive and have only themselves to blame. This is Greece's game and it has been for a very long time now: wait, pass, kill the pace, and counter when you can. They're physically and technically inferior to almost everyone in their group, and they know it, and Santos has coached them well to that effect. If they had tried to play Poland's much more savvy game, they'd have been slaughtered. If anything, Poland must recriminate, but even then only against themselves. They had the psychological upper hand for the vast majority of the game, especially given the early score, and they couldn't hold on to it. They even failed to capitalize on the numerical superiority, which they held for over one-third of the game. If only Karagounis had converted that penalty, they would have been punished excessively. Overall, it was a relatively mediocre game, made more interesting by a few questionable calls and by the allure of the home team. There will be, one hopes, much better to see in this tournament.

My rating: ★ ½

Official report ---|||--- Player ratings ---|||--- Photos ---|||--- Highlights

RUSSIA-CZECH REPUBLIC 4-1

Russia's tactical superiority has been obvious from minute one, with Arshavin dominating the midfield and a colossal tactical victory for Advocaat. There was only one team on the pitch for the majority of the ninety and it couldn't have ended any other way. More in general, I am very pleased that we are seeing the same excellent Russia of four years ago in Euro 2008: strong, fast, quick, and cunning, a faithful reflection of the state of Russian football in the last decades. In 2008 they cleared a killer group and stunned the Netherlands in the quarterfinals in a memorable game, before succumbing to the eventual champions Spain. I doubt they have it in them to pull it off again, but if today is any indication, Advocaat's boys are an interesting outsider to watch out for and a clear candidate to win Group A.

My rating: ★★ ½

Official report ---|||--- Player ratings ---|||--- Photos ---|||--- Highlights

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GROUP A STANDINGS

team	points	wins	ties	losses	goals+	goals-
RUSSIA	3	1	0	0	4	1
GREECE	1	0	1	0	1	1
POLAND	1	0	1	0	1	1
CZECH REP.	0	0	0	1	1	4