Because You Wanted a 2nd Opinion

Group A: This group was pretty much a scramble and the two teams that came out on top didn’t even have a positive goal differential. This group was easily the weakest of the four groups and didn’t feature as many stars as the other groups did. Both the Czech Republic and Greece are staring down two of the top teams in the world and the two top teams in the “Group of Fluff” are finally going to face elite competition.

Group B: This tournament’s group of death.

Germany. Honestly, there is no surprise here that the Germans won the group and all three of their matches. Although they won all three matches by a total of three goals the Germans never looked like they were in any real danger of losing a match. Mario Gomez scored three goals over a three game span, practically winning two games himself for the Germans. They really took the Netherlands out of the Euro; they never really recovered from that loss despite having a group of stars that were capable of advancing in this group. Up next the Germans get the Greeks which appear to be a very favorable matchup.

Portugal. Portugal has been known somewhat as underachievers in the past due to their amount of talent and lack of execution. They have two of the best wing players in the world in Cristiano Ronaldo and Nani and solid midfielders like Raul Meireles and Joao Moutinho. Finally, they seem to be putting it together and Cristiano Ronaldo single handedly took care of the Netherlands in the final match of Group B. With a relatively easy match with the Czech Republic on Thursday, the Portuguese should be looking at a semifinal matchup with Spain if all goes according to plan.

Group C:

Spain. Spain was the heavy favorite to win this group and a favorite to win the tournament. Nothing has happened to change that. An unusual set of players were sent out in game 1 against Italy, 6 midfielders (center midfielders at that) and 4 defenders. They still managed a draw with Italians, who are good but not great as it years past. They returned to form dominating Ireland and narrowly beating a tough Croatian team. The Spaniards get the French in the quarterfinals and should win this game but the French have a few stars that can propel them to victory if all falls into place.They still look like the favorite on their side of the bracket in the knockout round but showed sign of vulnerability against Italy that a better team might be able to exploit.

Italy. As for the Italians they move into the knockout stage after a disappointing showing at the 2010 world cup. They had a real chance to beat the Spaniards but the reckless play of Mario Balotelli once again cost the Italians the game. On a 1-on-1 situation Balotelli took too much time against Spanish Goalkeeper Iker Casillas and let defender Sergio Ramos catch up and take the ball away before Balotelli was able to get a shot off. The Italians did do just enough to hold of Croatia and advance to the knockout round, where they will face an England team that won their group and have back their super star Wayne Rooney.

Group D:                            

England. For all the doubters of England, the 3 Lions won group D despite having Wayne Rooney available for one game. England is mostly in a rebuilding stage with a lot of young players. The very few veterans like Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard (who isn’t playing in the Euro’s due to injury) are on their final tour of duty for the lions.  Youngsters like Danny Welback, Andy Carroll and Theo Walcott have come up big for England. The future for England looks bright despite missing good young players like Chris Smalling and Daniel Sturridge. With a header by Wanye Rooney and a little help from the officials England won the group and get a matchup with the Italians which is more favorable than facing the Spanish.

France. France also advances to the next round coming back from the complete debacle that happened in the 2010 World Cup. If you don’t remember the entire French team gave up on their coach and pretty much refused to give any effort at all. However, the French seemed to be revived led by Franck Ribery and have dynamic players such as Karim Benzema and Samir Nasri. Despite losing their 3^rd game of group play, they have put up solid efforts and have been very competitive. The bad news is they get a hungry Spanish team seeking their 3^rd straight major championship.

Leading into Sunday’s fixture between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers all seemed to be but a formality for City as they boasted the EPL’s best home record versus a QPR team that had the worst road record in the EPL. Everyone figured City would have their way with QPR and they would have kept rival Manchester United from winning their 20^th EPL title and City’s first in 44 years. But QPR had other plans considering a loss or draw and a win from Blackburn Rovers would have them relegated after only one season in the EPL.

In a tied game in the 55^th minute Joey Barton threw a Ron Artest like elbow that sent Carlos Tevez to the ground and was given a red card. Upon his exit he gave Kun Aguero a muay-thai knee to the hamstring and started a shoving match with Mario Balotelli. QPR would be down to 10-men and it seemed only a matter of time before City went in for the kill. However, that was not the case after some excellent defending QPR in the 66^th minute went on a break and scored a goal on a header by Jamie Mackie to go up 2-1. With United up 1-0 against Sunderland it seemed like Sir Alex Ferguson was all but guaranteed his 20^th EPL title.

At the 70^th minute Roberto Mancini brought in more fire power by bringing in the tall striker Edin Dzeko followed by the rebellious Mario Balotelli in the 75^th. Desperate to score, City had many close calls and as the 90^th minute approached the best news City heard was that there was five minutes of stoppage time. City fans were in shock and some in tears as what appeared to be the most glorious day in years was about to go down in flames. Then in the second minute of stoppage time Dzeko headed in a goal off a corner to give City fans life, no less than two minutes later a Aguero got into the box firing a goal passed the QPR keeper sealing the victory for City and leaving both QPR and United stunned.

In American sports we all love to see upsets, underdogs are rooted for all the time cause we love the excitement of seeing drama happen. However, maybe the biggest upset of the year didn’t happen where it usually does the NCAA basketball tournament or in a combat sport. Rather it happened on the pitch, those unfamiliar with soccer the pitch is the field. Barcelona has been one of if not the most dominant soccer teams in the last few years and they were practically a shoe in to win their second consecutive Champion’s League title. However, Chelsea, who is not usually one to be called an underdog, had something to say about it.

Barcelona play in La Liga which it the premier league in Spain, and basically every year the winner is either Barcelona or Real Madrid. Since 1996 only 3 times have Barca or Madrid not been champions, Real Madrid has won the league 32 times to Barcelona’s 21. Barcelona always try to compete for three different titles known as the treble (Champions league, La Liga and the Copa del Rey).  With eight Spanish national players on their squad, Barcelona have a lot of chemistry on their team and had a world class manager in Pep Guardiola.

Chelsea on the other hand have had major problems since the second half of last season’s Barclay’s premier league. They spent 50 million Euro’s on Fernando Torres who has been a complete disaster by scoring 7 goals in one and a half years as a Chelsea striker. Off to a lackluster start they fired Andres Villas-Boas half way thru the season and are guaranteed not to return to the Champions League next year Chelsea was in disarray. The only glimmer of hope left was in the Champions League this year but they drew Barcelona in the semi-final which was almost chalked up as a loss.

In the first leg at Stamford bridge Chelsea won on a goal from Didier Drogba and a defensive effort that saw all 11 men battling in the box to prevent a Barca goal. At Camp Nou it appeared Barca was going to kick it in gear and have their way with Chelsea after taking a 2-0(2-1agg) lead and a red card on Chelsea defender John Terry would give them a man advantage. Then Ramires in stoppage time of the first half gave Chelsea the away goal advantage on a chip goal over Victor Vades. However Barca remained aggressive and were poised for another goal until Petr Cech cleared a ball to a wide open Torres who scored a breakaway goal to put the game out of reach in the 90^th minute.  Barca had been eliminated from the prestigious Champion’s League and a week later Real Madrid clinched the La Liga title.

In a season full of mishaps, Chelsea has a chance to win the most coveted title in all of soccer. However they must do it against a very talented Bayern Munich team in Bayern’s own backyard. They also must do it without key players like Terry, Raul Meireles, Ivanovic and Ramires. It will be a tall task but since the win against Barca, Torres has scored three goals and the confidence of a team that had beat the unbeatable team is a factor that no one can discount and should make for an interesting game.