Sweden 2 England 3
Spain 4 Ireland 0
After Matchday 2 of Euro 2012, Sweden and Ireland are officially 2 and done. Or in Ireland’s case, 2 and Dunne. They’ll play their final games against France and Italy respectively, and then shove off for Stockholm and Dublin to drown their sorrows. While I never had the highest of hopes for Ireland, to be honest, I really expected them to play better football than they have. I expected them to be at the very least the competitive, spirited team that qualified for this. Instead, it was nigh unto pitiful to watch at times…they never seemed to know just what they were doing out there for most of their matches. Croatia boatraced them off the pitch, and then it was Spain’s turn to do the same. And a brace from Fernando Torres was all it took, with 2 more slammed home by David Silva and Cesc Fàbregas for good measure.
Sweden, quite frankly surprised me. The facking Ukraine choked the life out of them in the opening game in a come from behind 2-1 win on a brace by Andriy Shevchenko. Yes THAT Andriy Shevchenko. Then, despite a brave 2nd half come back spurred on by Olof Mellberg to take a 2-1 lead, England ripped out whatever little heart the Swedes has left with 3-2 comeback of their own, as Theo Walcott and Danny Wellbeck won the day. As I said, Sweden really surprised me here with how utterly shite they played. Zlatan Ibrahimovic despite his opening goal at the 52 minute mark against Sweden, despite how dangerous he can be, was mostly a non-factor. I’m sure Zlatan and Mellberg will rally the lads against France. I’m not so sure about Keane, and Dunne, and St. Ledger and my lads from Ireland.
And then there’s the Dutch…
Netherlands 0 Denmark 1
Netherlands 1 Germany 2
By the the time you read this, the tiny violins will have begun to play. But as I write on the eve before what will most likely be Netherlands final Euro 2012 match with Portugal tomorrow, it looks pretty likely that the Netherlands will join Sweden, Ireland, and….well…hold that thought for a moment…on a sad trek home. The World Cup runners-up have been reduced to a shambling shadow of their former selves. Yes, I know this was the Group of Death, but I always figured Netherlands would go through with Germany. They’ll have to beat Portugal by 2 goals tomorrow. But it’s really not too bloody likely.
Czech Republic 1 Poland 0
Wow!! When my Czech Republic lads started Euro 2012 losing 4-1 to Russia, I heaved a sigh and figured it was not to be. They then beat Greece, as expected. But today’s match with Poland was an awesome test of character, will and determination against an obviously more talented side. Poland started MORE than brightly and looked to boatrace the Czechs out of Wroclaw. But dammit if my hard Czech bastards didn’t come out for the 2nd half and TAKE the game and Poles by the throat and fuckin’ WON!! Petr Jiráček scored an awesome goal at the 72nd minute, and FUCK YEH!!! We’re through to the quarter finals!! And as a bonus, the fackin’ GREEKS beat Russia today 1-0 and they’re going through as well!
So now, it’s time for some fine Czech beer and some fine Czech music to go with!!