Thirty-one matches. Sixteen teams, eight venues, eight different cities and two new host countries. Five new stadiums, built in anticipation of the competition. A history-making result defined by the playing philosophy of the winning side. This is the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship.
Group A
Undoubtedly the closest group with perhaps the biggest story was group A. To get us underway, Poland faced Greece. It was certainly no surprise when star player Robert Lewandowski opened the scoring in the 17’.
Greece fought hard to respond, losing full-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos to a red card minutes before the death of the half. Responding immediately, Fernando Santos regroups the Greek side to a 4-4-1 formation and presses hard to bring the scoring to 1-1 six minutes into the second half, which the score remained up to the final whistle.
Russia faced the Czech Republic in their first game – a thrashing by the Dick Advocaat-led side which ended 4-1 to the Russians in a game with thirty-three goal attempts.
With all to play for on the final matchday, the Czech Republic faced Poland. In a hard-fought game, it was the Czechs that came out on top via a Petr Jiráček goal 72’ into the game, Poland failed to convert despite attempts and thus the hosts bowed out of the EUROs.
In Warsaw, Greece faced Russia to decide who advanced. Russia needed a draw or win to advance, whilst Greece relied solely on a win. The Russians dominated play through ball possession and created clean chances which were ultimately contested.
They seemed to have it in the bag – until the dying moments of the first half. Giorgos Karagounis received the ball from a poor Russia header and converted his attempt to make it 1-0. The second half was an onslaught from the Russians, but despite this, they failed to convert, the whistle blew and Russia were out.
Group B
-Containing three previous winners of the competition, Group B was brutal. So brutal in fact that a previous winner was left homeward-bound without a single point. The opening day saw a shock result as the Netherlands faced Denmark.
The Netherlands failed to convert once despite being 28-8 on goal attempts and 11-4 on corners. In one of their eight attempts, Denmark’s Michael Krohn-Dehli finds himself in space and slots the ball between Maarten Stekelenburg’s legs for Denmark’s first goal – and the only goal of the game.
Later in the evening, Germany faced Portugal – a lacklustre match given the big names as the game also ended 1-0 via a Mario Gomez header. Thus, Portugal and the Netherlands needed a win in their next game.
In a back-and-forth affair, Denmark faced Portugal. Pepe opened the scoring for Portugal 24’ in and Hélder Postiga followed up twelve minutes later to put Portugal two ahead. A chance header from Nicklas Bendtner four minutes before the end of the half reduced the deficit to one and Denmark went into the second half strong.
With both teams failing to score their necessary goal, Bendtner again scored a headed effort ten minutes from the final whistle to level the field. Portugal, needing a goal to stay in, scraped their way through thanks to a Silvestre Varela goal, three minutes after he was substituted on, and the game ended at 3-2.
Germany would overpower the Netherlands 2-1 and the Dutch were out of contention. With nothing to play for, The Netherlands then fell to Portugal as they failed to gain a single point.
In the other fixture, a draw wasn’t enough for Denmark, as Portugal’s victory sent the Danes packing.
Group C
It was hard not to feel sorry for Ireland, who found themselves in a terrifying group consisting of Italy, World Cup winners Spain and Croatia.
It kicked off with Spain vs. Italy. A win for either side would be massive in helping them secure a spot in the knockouts, but the match ended 1-1 after Fabregas quickly cancelled out Di Natale’s opener.
The Republic of Ireland faced Croatia later in the day; Croatia scores first, ROI responded sixteen minutes later, Croatia scores again before the end of the half and a Mario Mandžukić goal in the second seals the deal.
As Spain thrashed Ireland 4-0 and Italy drew with Croatia, the Croats needed to get a result against Spain to stand a chance of qualifying, unless already eliminated Ireland could do the unthinkable, and beat Italy.
Italy took the lead in the first half through Cassano, while Croatia held Spain to 0-0 for the first half. As things stood, Croatia were going through on goal difference.
Italy needed two goals or a Spanish opener but the two would remain in a stalemate until the 88th minute.
It was a goal from the playground. Fabregas scooped the ball over the Croatian defence where Inesta was free, with all the time in the world to square it to Jesus Navas, who literally walked the ball into the net, punting it as he got to the goal line for good measure.
Croatian hearts were broken, as Italy went on to score a second to all but ensure their qualification
Group D
An interesting group that saw the powerhouses of England and France looking to bounce back from their poor showings at the 2010 World Cup.
Meanwhile, perennial dark horses Sweden, and underdogs Ukraine, led by Shevchenko, were more than good enough to cause an upset.
England and France met first, where a rasping drive from Nasri on the edge of the box that beat Joe Hart at his near post cancelled out a Joleon Lescott header to leave the two group favourites level on points.
In the other game, Shevchenko got Ukraine off to a great start, scoring a brace to put his country top after one game.
France would then beat Ukraine with a comfortable 2-0 victory, while England v Sweden ended up the game of the tournament, after Sweden fought back to go 2-1, only for England to overturn the Swedish comeback with the game finishing 3-2 to England, courtesy of an improvised finish by Welbeck, and a super-sub cameo from Theo Walcott
The final round saw Sweden overpower France, despite already being out, but luckily for France, Wayne Rooney was on hand to score the only goal in a 1-0 win, stopping Ukraine from devastating the French faithful.
Quarter-Final
The quarter-finals were lacking when it came to incredible games.
Portugal squeezed past The Czechs thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo’s diving header in a cagey affair.
Meanwhile, in typical English fashion, their game against Italy went the distance to penalties, as the two were locked in a goalless stalemate, where inevitably, England choked, losing the shoot-out as is customary.
Germany got the easiest of the ties, facing Greece, with the Bavarians briefly in danger of an upset after a Samaras tap-in levelled the scoring.
But this only served to poke the hornet’s nest, as the Germans responded with 3 goals in 13 minutes, to secure their place in the semi-finals, a late consolation giving the Greeks something to bow out of the tournament to.
Finally, Spain proved too much for France, as a Xabi Alonso brace consisting of a back post header and a 91st-minute penalty were the highlights of the match.
Semi-final
The semis weren’t particularly different in terms of action, the tournament summed up by another 0-0 draw, this time between favourites Spain and Portugal.
Just 7 shots on target between the two sides made for uninspiring viewing, until neutrals were finally freed from the prison that this match became for 120 minutes with Bruno Alves hitting the bar with Portugal’s final penalty, leaving Fabregas to convert and send Spain through.
In the other tie between Germany and Italy, the Germans were surely favourites, winning every game in the tournament so far.
However, Italy quickly proved the doubters wrong. A Balotelli header opened the scoring, and while Germany were still trying to regroup a long ball found Balotelli, who had lost Philip Lahm, leaving him in no man’s land.
Hammering the ball home into the top right corner, Ballotelli’s second was one of the goals of the tournament, with Germany in shambles.
They’d never really recover, only managing to score thanks to a very soft handball in the box that was deemed a penalty. Ozil slotted home, but it was too little too late.
Italy, despite only just making it out of the groups, were due to meet Spain in the final.
Final
Two European powerhouses were set to face off, but when it came to the final game, it seemed the occasion got the better of one of the two nations.
This was a Spain team that had won two major finals in a row, winning the 2008 euros and the World Cup in 2010, with the 2012 cup run featuring much of the same personnel.
For an Italian side bedding in young amidst the old guard, it proved too much.
The first goal came just 14 minutes in. A simple through ball from Iniesta found Fabregas, who cut the ball back across goal from the byline, for David Silva to nod in.
The Italians have always been famed for tight, organised defences, but this organisation was nowhere to be seen. A surging run from a young Jordi Alba was picked out by Xavi, the full-back breaking through the Italian line, cooly slipping the ball past Buffon in goal, with 4 minutes to go until the break.
In the second half, Italy looked for ways back into the game, but Spain proved too strong, slowly constricting the life out of the Italians, before Xavi again broke Italian lines, this time putting Torres through with 6 minutes left to put the game beyond doubt.
Italy were waiting for the whistle. They’d been outclassed. 4 minutes later, Spain completed the rout, Torres turning provider this time, running onto another pinpoint through ball and cutting back for Mata to finish into a gaping net.
Spain were champions, retaining their crown, as they continued to dominate international football.
