Great Dane Football Blog will the next four Tuesdays go through the EURO 2012 groups and the squads. Today we start with Group A, where Poland, Greece, Russia and the Czech Republic will meet.











 
Group A
Poland
Greece
Russia
Czech Republic


The four teams will be listed after, what position Great Dane Football Blog believes the teams will have after the group matches.

1.    Russia

FIFA World Ranking: 11

Dick Advocaat has announced his preliminary EURO 2012 squad, and it had a few surprises. For the first time in six years, Sportings Marat Izmailov is in the squad as well as Rubin Kazans Roman Sharonov who has not been a part of the team for eight years. However, Advocaat has to cut the squad down to twenty-three players. Most of the players in the squad are chosen from the domestic league, with only Pavel Pogrebnyak and Izmailov playing in other countries. However, it is a team full of profiles, starting with Igor Akinfeev in the goal, Yuri Zhirkov in the defense, Igor Denisov on the midfield and Andrey Arshavin and Pogrebnyak in front.
Russian won their qualifying group above Republic of Ireland, and compared to the teams in Group A, they are favorites. The Russian should be able to win the group, with Greece as the hardest opponent. However, Russia has failed under high expectations before and might do it again.


The profile 

Pavel Pogrebnyak. The tall Russian has so far scored six goals in the Premier League, and the Fulham striker seems to be the best attacking card for Dick Advocaat. If his team mates can feed him with passings, the striker will be deadly.





Keep an eye on

Alan Dzagoev. The young midfielder from CSKA Moscow scored three goals in the qualification group. The twenty-one year old Russian is a regular goal scorer for Moscow and has been named as the future for Russia. 







2.    Greece

FIFA World Ranking: 14

Manager of Greece, Fernando Santos, has so far only announced a twelve player preliminary squad. The players are all playing outside Greece, with Celtics Georgios Samaras and Schalkes Kyriakos Papadopoulos as the biggest names. The expectations to the squad is not the biggest, as they don’t have some really great profiles in European football. However, Greece has surprised before and might do it again.

Greece won their qualification group which was manageable with Croatia as the hardest opponent. Group A also seems to be a manageable group for the team, as many of the teams match the Greece way of playing football.

The profile

Sokratis Papastathopoulos. Despite his young age, Papastathopoulos has already been in five different clubs. The defender is currently in Werder Bremen on a loan from Genoa and has been a regular part of the team. He is going to be leading the Greece defense during EURO 2012. 






Keep an eye on


Kyriakos Papadopoulos. The young defender is a regular part of Schalke and has had a terrific season. Papdopoulos is a strong defender, with a great potential. It is going to be interesting to see how he will play in his first serious competition for the national team.


    

  




3. Czech Republic

FIFA World Ranking: 26

The manager of Czech Republic, Michel Bilek, have not announced any squad yet. However, it is unlikely that the team will be much different from the one playing the qualifications. Petr Čech is, without a doubt in the squad together with players as Michal Kadlec, Tomáš Rosický and Tomáš Necid. It is going to be a star packed team, but given their qualification I don’t see them as a top team in the group.

The Czech Republic won their place in the EURO 2012 after winning the Play-off against Montenegro and they seem to be a bit shaken. However, if they play up to their best, they can be a hard opponent for Greece and Russia.


The profile

Tomáš Rosický has been ruled out of Arsenal several times and by Great Dane Football Blog, as well. However, the Czech has shown this season that he is not even close to be done in the club. On the national team, Rosický has to be in the form as in Arsenal and as dangerous in front of the goal. If he can do so, he is going to be the most valuable player for the Czechs.


Keep an eye on

Václav Kadlec. The young striker can be one of the surprises in the Czech squad. Kadlec, 19, have so far only had one match for the national team, his debut against Liechtenstein, where he also scored. The attacker is currently playing for Sparta Prague, where he scored his first goal aged 16.





4.    PolandFIFA World Ranking: 65

Poland manager Franciszek Smuda has announced a twenty-six men large squad for the EURO 2012, but has to cut three players. The squad contains prominent names as Arsenal goalkeepers Łukasz Fabiański and Wojciech Szczęsny and Dortmunds midfielder Jakub Błaszczykowski and striker Robert Lewandowski. The Poles are not to be underestimated, but are now where near being a top team in the group.

Poland is qualified as the host nation.


The profile

Robert Lewandowski has been in top form for Dortmund this season with twenty-two goals. If he can keep his form during the EURO 2012, he will be a mouthful for the opponent’s defenses. Lewandowski is without a doubt, the profile of Poland.







Keep an eye on

Michał Kucharczyk has been a regular part of the youth national teams in Poland and is ready for his first serious competition. The young striker is currently playing in Legia Warszawa where he scored two goals in the Europa League.