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Down to the wire at the Euro Cup
| DATE: 26 June 2012 |
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| BY: Calvin Turnbull |
All four sides who qualified for the 2012 Uefa semis are worthy contenders, but Germany’s winning streak at the tournament would cause much concern for opponents.
After the conclusion of the quarter-final match between England and Italy, all eyes have turned to the impending semi-final matches being played between the qualifiers of Group B and C. Many believe that the semi-final matches are being played among Europe’s football elite. Wednesday 27 June will see the Portuguese taking on the Spanish at the Donbass Arena in Donetsk, while the second semi-final fixture will be played on Thursday 28 June between Germany and Italy. Despite the vast differences in the Fifa world rankings between the four sides, many believe that the Euro Cup is up for grabs.
The Spanish, although attempting to win a record-breaking three consecutive major titles, are surprisingly not the favorites to win the Euro Cup 2012, due to a seamless German outfit who have outperformed and outplayed all opponents so far and are the only team in the tournament to have gotten to the semi-finals without having lost a match.
The Portuguese are another side that cannot be discounted from the tournament after their victories over the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The Portuguese side has also been boosted by Cristiano Ronaldo finding magnificent form of late, which has resulted in his scoring Portugal’s only three goals in the last two games.
The Italian side has also proven itself to be a contender for the cup with their victory over England in their quarter-final. Many football pundits put the victory down to Andrea Pirlo’s spectacular performance that produced 117 successful passes, as well as a successful Panenka-styled penalty in a deciding stage of the penalty shootout.
It's clear to see that every team that has made it through to the semi-finals of the Euro 2012 have a fighting chance at lifting the cup. One only hopes that each team brings their best on the day and provides the spectators with exciting, classy football to conclude the tournament.
