Author: Artem Sokolov exclusively for VK
The most significant event in sports was the team selections for the European Football Championship which will be held in Poland and Ukraine in the summer of 2012. The Russian team entered the group with Greece, Czech Republic and Poland. Many experts called it the “life group”. Is it really so?
The Polish team
Poland has had 27 warm up matches with 9 wins, 11 draws and 7 defeats. The goal difference is 30-33. Almost half of victories were achieved over mediocre teams, including the teams of Thailand, Bulgaria, Moldavia and Georgia. Games with strong opponents caused problems for Frantishek Smuda. Besides bright draws with Mexicans (1:1) and Germans (2:2), there were crashing blows from Cameroon (0:3) and Spain (0:6). Germans had a mixed team, yet achievements of Smuda’s team should not be underestimated. Victory over the Argentinean team (2:1) should not deceiving, because its coach Alejandro Sabella had his second team do the playing.
The long eight-match series of victories, including the five-series without goals affected the mood of Polish fans, who had spoken for Smuda’s resignation numerous times. It was the same way after losing to France in June 2011. The spree of bright matches, including two draws with Mexicans and Germans, was a relief for the talks.
The Polish team consists of players aged 25-27. Two thirds of the team consists of European players. The strongest attacker may be the 23-year old forward of Borussia Dortmund, Robert Lewandowski. The German champion of last year, he scored 10 goals in 16 matches and gave 5 passes that resulted in goals. Leader and the captain of the Polish team, the 25-year old half-back was considered football player of the year in Poland twice. His role in the European Championship will be a debut because he had to miss the previous games over injuries. Hosts of such major games usually play stronger. The reason is fans who would push their team forward and the judges’ favour. A good example is the World Championship in Japan and Korea where the judges were obviously in favour for the hosts.
The Czech team
The Czech team entered one of qualification groups together with the teams of Spain, Scotland, Lithuania and Lichtenstein. Few teams are able to play vs. Spain at the moment, not only in Europe but in the world as well. But taking the second position is a reality, as the Czech team demonstrated.
Starting the qualification match with a home defeat from Lithuania, the Czech team passed the qualification rounds straight, losing only to Spain. 4 wins, 1 draw and 3 loses, two of which took place in matches with Spain. The goal difference is 15-8. The Czech team played with the persistent Montenegro team in play-offs. Both matches ended up with wins 2:0 and 1:0.
One of the most brightest teams of the 1990s and early 2000s was gradually losing its leaders. Karel Poborsky, Pavel Nedved, Yan Coller and many others left the team long ago. But that should not deceive a fan. Lacking the old star players, the Czech team remains a solid group. The team is based on football players aged under 30, half of whom plays in European championships, mainly the championship of Germany. 29-year old goalkeeper Petr Cech from London Chelsea has been recognized by the UEFA and the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics) as the best goalkeeper of Europe and the world. The central defender is Michal Kadlec of the Bayer FC. Tomáš Rosický is the halfback and captain of the team. 31-year old halfback of the London Arsenal is one of the oldest players of the team. Tomas has had 80 matches for the team. He is nicknamed “Little Mozart” although he is not a player of the starting team of the club. Bilek’s team has a complicated situation with forwarders. The Czech team lacks the main forward force. Milan Baros (Turkey) of the Galatasaray FC is more of a decoy, while halfbacks will play the role of forwarders. 1 goal in seven matches is not the result a forward should be proud of. What concerns the best striker of the team in the qualification cycle, back Michal Kadlec scored 4 goals (3 of which were scored at a distance of 11 meters). 15 goals were scored by 15 players of the team. This means that each player may actually score a goal.
Such skilled leaders as Cech, Rosicky, prospect young players as Necid and Pekhart, Rezek, Plasil, Hubschmann makes the Czech team an undesired opponent.
The Greek team
Croatia, Georgia, Latvia, Israel and Malta were the opponents of the Greek team in the qualification games. The Greek team had no loses in 10 matches and earned 7 wins and 3 draws. The goal difference is 14-5. The play-off with Croatia resulted in the team of Fernando Satush victorious 2:0. After the coach change in 2010, the new coach Fernando Satush decided to hire younger players. One of the reasons was that a set of players decided to quit the national team. Halfback Giorgos Karagounis is the real leader of the team. The 34-year old player plays for the Panathinaikos FC. He had over 110 matches. He is notable for his strike from the medium and long distance and for superb penalty kicks. Just as the Czech team, the Greeks have problems with forwarders. The main forwarders are Samaras and Salpingidis, who do a great deal of rough work. The main purpose of a forwarder is to score a goal, which they fail. They managed to score only one goal.
At the very start of the qualification cycle, forwarder Theofanis Gekas concluded his performance in the national team. Little achievements of the team and lack of strong opponents forced Santush to return Gekas. Opponents of the Greek team managed to score only 5 goals in 10 matches. It is an excellent performance.
The Russian team
Right after the selection of teams, expert split into two groups. The first group says that Russia is extremely lucky that it does not need to leave the first place. Others talk against hasty conclusions. The truth is somewhere between. Certainly, fortune is favourable again. Because it is hard to imagine a lighter group. If we imagine Netherlands, France and Portugal instead of Poland, Greece and Czech Republic, the group would look like a gift of fate. Indeed, the Polish team cannot be considered a top team. Were it not the host, it could have reached no finals. The Greek team is a handy opponent for our team. The Greek team managed to win only one out of 10 games against the Russian team. Of all the teams in the group, the Czech one is the least favourable. Traditionally, the games against the Czech team are hard. The Czech team is probably the only team with a world star play, the goalkeeper Petr Cech. But of course, it is not the same star they had over 10 years ago. It is a team that has recently had a switch of generations and which has just started its rise.
n this case, conservatism of the coach may benefit the Russian team in the European championship. The team is sustainable and experienced. All players understand each other well because they have been playing together for 5-6 years. Unlike other teams, the core of the Russian team plays home championship. It gives a certain advantage over opponents. Other teams’ players will start the championship after a long season. Our season is unusual (3 rounds of games), but as before, players will have about 20 matches against 40-60 matches of players of European championships. Several players have had a splendid season – Shirokov, Denisov, Semshov. Zhirkov reminded about himself after returning from England. Kerzhakov has been in excellent condition until the injury. Although the team has been criticized by many in the qualification cycle, it, nonetheless, fulfilled its goals.
But there is the other side of the story. No matter how successful the team selection turns out, it is too early for joy. Absolutely any team in the group may say that it was lucky. The Polish, Czech and Greek teams think alike. The Polish team is the host of the round so it is striving to please the fans. The judges will also be more forgiving. The Greek team holds the first position in its group, outrunning Croatia. It has had not loses in 10 matches, getting only 5 balls in its net. It is the third indicator in the qualification cycle. The Czech team lacks the star players is used to have, but it seems to be recovering and rising. Mikhail Bilek’s team will have 3 matches in the Polish city of Wroclaw, about 250 km away from the Czech capital of Prague. A major group of Czech fans will arrive for the match no doubt. The fact that the game will be held in Poland, rather than Ukraine, is a much bigger problem for the Russian team because Poland refused to introduce the visa-free regime during the match.
It is easier for the Russian team to play when there is no such burden of responsibility, such as it was in the European Championship of 2008, when there was little hope for Russia managing to beat Netherlands in the quarter-final. The same Netherlanders who that beat two finalists of the World Championship in Germany. But there is a negative example when a team was considered a favourite of the group. At the World Championship in Japan and Korea in 2002, the Russian team had the easier group of Japan, Belgium and Tunisia. However, it all ended with the Russian team on the third position in the group. At the championship in South Africa in 2009, the Russian team was to face the modest team of Slovenia, the best opponent to get, as it seemed back then. Even footballers expressed such views. But it was a fail.
A lot in such matches depends on motivation. Many rightfully fear the same aftermath as in 2002 and matches with Slovenia. But even now experts say that we have reached the quarter-final. And the players themselves probably think the same, without saying it out loud. The Polish and the Czech teams may not be as annoying as the French and Portuguese. But the disposition of the Czech and Polish teams against the Russian will be boundless, no doubt.
Russia has entered the most equal group of the championship where absolutely every team rightfully expects to leave the group. There are hopes that our players will take the sorrow experience of past years into account and would not make the same mistake again. Leaving the group puts the team to the same situation as in 2008. Anything may happen in shootout games. The Greek team knows it.
