Euro 2012 Preview Group B

By Carl Remner

Group B

This is certainly the toughest group to call. All teams are capable of beating anyone on their day and it wouldn’t be a huge shock if Denmark got out of this group. I wouldn’t bet on it though!

Netherlands

The Group of Death. It always seems to contain the Dutch doesn’t it? The 2010 World Cup finalists played about as far removed from “Total Football” as can be against Spain, where Total Carnage would be more appropriate. They have regained a bit of that swagger now, and cruised through qualifying, scoring a bundle of goals in the process. They are seriously blessed with attacking talent, to the extent that Robin van Persie may not even make the starting 11, or at least be shunted out wide. The central striking role is likely go to Klass-Jan Huntelaar who ended up as top scorer in the Bundesliga last season, with 29 goals. He also hit an impressive 12 goals for the Dutch in qualifying, and coach Bert van Marwijk may not want to tinker with the team too much, by trying to accommodate both him and RvP.

There’s a whole clutch of youngsters in the squad with the highly rated Kevin Strootman occupying one of the holding midfield roles, teenage PSV full-back Jetro Willems, and forwards Luuk de Jong and Luciano Narsingh are more than capable of stepping into the squad if called upon. Then the glue holding all this together, is the multi-tournament and big game experience of Mark van Bommel, Arjen Robben (who can be as devastating a player as is in the tournament) and Wesley Sneijder. However, they do have a few problems at the back. Gregory van der Wiel is a very competent right back but a slight injury to Joris Mathijsen, may see an unfamiliar partnership of John Heitinga and Ron Vlaar. And Wilfred Bouma on standby won’t fill Dutch fans with great confidence. Despite their defensive problems, we can expect - and the Dutch expect - a serious charge at winning the tournament.

Group placing prediction: 1st

Ones to watch: Luuk de Jong and Kevin Strootman


Germany

The German style is much fancied, but enough about my DVD collection. They’re favourites amongst many and they have the youngest side in tournament, yet there is plenty of experience there too. Much like the Netherlands, Germany cruised through qualification gaining maximum points. There’s some serious strength in depth in this squad, particularly in midfield where the likes of Tony Kroos and Sami Khedira will vie for a place alongside Bastian Schweinsteiger in the holding roles. Ahead of them there’s Mezut Ozil, Thomas Müller, Lukas Podolski and we’ve all seen what they can do already. And also Borussia Dortmund wunderkind Mario Götze, who could be one of the stars of the tournament, giving Germany a wealth of options. It may be Götze who misses out to start with but there’s no doubt he’ll get plenty of game time as the tournament progresses, as I expect Germany to.

They’ve conceded more goals than previous Germany teams but they have the very capable Mats Hummels, who was part of Dortmund’s back-to-back title winning team, and Bayern’s Holger Badstuber in front of the huge presence of Manuel Neuer. They have one world class full-back in Philip Lahm, who’s likely to play on the right for at least first game (or whichever side Ronaldo plays on). On the face of it, it looks like they’re a bit light upfront with just Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose as orthodox strikers. Only one of them will start, and with the amount of goals that Klose has scored at tournaments, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s him. Obviously Podolski can operate as a striker, but there’s also André Schürrle who with his blistering pace, could end up playing a big role for Germany going forward. Tough group but I see Germany going through.

Group placing prediction: 2nd

Ones to watch: André Schürrle and Mario Götze


Portugal

There’s only one team in this competition that has a Ronaldo. The Dutch come close as they have a Ronald, but not a Ronaldo. There’s case for Ronaldo firing Portugal almost single-handedly through group and even through the tournament. And with good merit. Ronaldo has scored a quite ridiculous amount of goals over the past few years, in excess of 200 in 5 seasons. Portugal are by no means a one-man team though. They’re actually not bad. I just don’t see them having the nous to get past the Dutch or the Germans. They have the players like Nani and Quaresma, who on their day, can cause any team problems. But therein, lies several liabilities. Which Nani and Quaresma will turn up? Pepe can be majestic but in the blink of an eye, can turn moronic. And then there’s the strikers...

As has been for years, Portugal’s main issue lies upfront. In the Rui Coast/Luis Figo era they didn’t solve it. And in this, I suppose, Ronaldo era, they’ve still not found a worthy front man. They again rely on Hugo Almeida and Helder Postiga, who seem to have been around forever, but amazingly are both still under 30! They’ve taken a big gamble on 20-year-old Nelson Oliveira who has only made a handful of club appearances and has only 3 caps for Portugal. Raul Merieles, Miguel Veloso and João Moutinho are solid in middle but I can’t see it being enough for them to progress from the group.

Group placing prediction: 3rd

One to watch: Everyone knows what Ronaldo can do but Nelson Oliveira is a complete unknown quantity.


Denmark

Poor old Denmark. It’s about as tough a group as they could’ve got. However, they did finish above Portugal in qualifying for this tournament, and of course have won it in the recent past. If you count 20 years ago as recent. They certainly have some very good young players with Christian Eriksen being the most promising talent to come out of Denmark since the Laudrups. He’s been a target for many of Europe’s top clubs for a few years now, and if he were to have a good tournament, it could be the year he leaves Ajax.

They have a solid base with Simon Kjær and Daniel Agger in central defence, and both can be a threat at the other end of the pitch. They’ll be quite capable of shutting teams out. Many of their players ply their trade in the Danish league, which to be fair is not the strongest league around. Team spirit could is rumoured to be very strong, but I’m sure self acclaimed best-striker-in-the-world Nicklas Bendtner will do his best to tear that away.


Group placing prediction: 4th

One to watch: Christian Eriksen

http://v2journal.com/group-b-preview-euro-2012.html

Nice summary

Yes, poor old Denmark. This group has three teams who are strong contenders IF they can get out of this group.

Germany look like the team to beat in the whole tournament.

Stella wrote:Nice summary

Yes, poor old Denmark. This group has three teams who are strong contenders IF they can get out of this group.

Germany look like the team to beat in the whole tournament.

Thanks Stella! I think Denmark are a decent team but it's a big ask for them...I wouldn't be that surprised if they did cause an upset along the way though