GROUP A - Fri 8th
Poland 1-1 Greece (Prediction: 3-0)
Russia 4-1 Czech Rep (Prediction: 1-1)
Well, there was a great start to the tournament, opening was game full of drama. 10 man Greece managed to fight back after being outplayed in the first half, Poalnd then had Szczesny sent off after an hour and the replacement saves the penalty. Shame Poland couldn't keep it going in the second half, thought I was onto a good thing with Lewandowki but it's a big ask for him now to get top scorer. As for the Russians, wow, 0-0 we got looks even more unbelievable after that performance, but also on the other hand Czechs were very poor.
GROUP B - Sat 9th
Netherlands 0-1 Denmark (Prediction: 2-1)
Germany 1-0 Portugal (Prediction: 3-1)
Now I didn't get to watch these matches live, only highlights because friends of mine decided to get married, I know, selfish! A request for a reschedule went in but it was denied, they made up for it though setting up a marquee for us to watch Sunday's games, oh and the wedding was fun as well! Netherlands decided to wreck everyone's betting coupons with an amazingly wasteful performance in front of goal, which I would love if Spain could re-create on Thursday, and look in real trouble now considering their next game is against Germany, who looked decent against Portugal, from the highlights anyway, the Portuguese might regret not really trying to score until after conceding, although Pepe was unlucky with his shot in the first half.
GROUP C - Sun 10th
Spain 1-1 Italy (Prediction: 0-0)
Rep of Ireland 1-3 Croatia (Prediction: 1-1)
The best game of the tournament so far was followed by the most heartbreaking. Spain looked very good and were unlucky not to win the game, but Italy looked better than I thought they would be, particularly on the break. Ireland, God bless em, didn't get any breaks, each goal we conceded seemed to be really unlucky but Croatia were really good with the ball with Modric being exceptional, bet he'd look great in a United jersey by the way. In saying how unlucky we were, some of our players seemed to freeze, particularly Whelan looking uncomfortable. Andrews did his best to try and get us back into the game along with Duff, but bringing on Cox wide left was strange to say the least with two left midfielders on the bench, but obviously Trap thought Keane might sneak a goal and left him on longer than he should have. Pity we couldn't have got a couple more free kicks and corners because we looked like we were going to score from each one. Also the result is a real shame because we're obviously not going to leave our box against Spain now. (I must add after the Ireland match we hastily recreated the game with anyone wearing an Ireland Jersey on one team and everyone else on the other team, so with ten Irish jersey wearing players against four non Irish jersey wearing players, Team Ireland were triumphant, against all the odds)
GROUP D - Mon 11th
France 1-1 England (Prediction: 1-1!!!)
Ukraine 2-1 Sweden (Prediction: 0-2)
Two good games, England wasted the ball but looked alright, France were OK but I'm confident they'll get better and possibly make the final. Ukraine were a pleasant surprise and looked really up for it, particularly Voronin and Shevchenko rolling back the years, but their lack of quality in depth could mean they won't get out of the group, as they looked dodgy after all their subs were made and Sweden nearly snuck a draw in the end.
Match Predictions (have had to re-think a couple of these)
GROUP A - Tues 12th
Greece 1-2 Czech Rep
Poland 2-2 Russia
GROUP B - Weds 13th
Denmark 2-1 Portugal
Netherlands 2-2 Germany
GROUP C - Thurs 14th
Italy 1-2 Croatia
Spain 1-0 Rep of Ireland
GROUP D - Fri 15th
Ukraine 0-2 France
Sweden 1-2 England