As always with any major international tournament, there needs to be an opportunity to complete embarrass yourself by incorrectly prognosticating the results of all the matches. Thus was born PBP's 'Fearless Predictions.' Fearless in a sense that they are usually based on emotion, a limited lack of footballing knowledge and pure dumb luck. Let's begin with Day 1.
Day 1
Poland - Greece
The opening match of any major tournament is always the most anticipated. Even though the majority of you could care less about Poland and Greece, the fact that finally the games are about to be played is the real prize. Usually with any opening match, there is a high degree of pageantry and celebration for the host country. A pop star, you and I have never heard of, will perform his or her latest hits and the crowd will go absolutely wild. Ahhh, the beauty of Europe.
Since Group A is completely wide open the opening match for all four teams is the most important because it sets the stage for the rest of the tournament. Look at 2004, where Greece shocked the hosts Portugal and were able to parlay that famous victory towards a Cinderella run to the championship.
In regards to today's opening match between Poland and Greece, the major key is whether the Poles can generate the necessary pressure to grab an early goal, ignite the home crowd and stroll to a comfortable victory. Poland needs to attack straight from the kick-off putting all the pressure on the Greeks. The question that should be asked is whether they are ready, since they have not played a competitive international match in over two years and their recent friendlies were against such heavyweights as Andorra, Latvia and Slovakia.
Greece, contrary to what everyone is saying, is not the same team as the one that won the Euro in 2004. There are only two members of the current squad that played in 2004, captain Giorgos Karagounnis and Kostas Katsouranis. The rest of the squad is actually a pretty decent mix of wily veterans and young and upcoming attacking talented players. While their nature will still be defensive, this Greek team actually can score a goal from something other than a set-piece, although they are still quite dangerous from those.
Another aspect to consider that swings the pendulum towards Greece's favor in this match is that they have been there before and played and won the opening match of a football tournament. Their nickname 'The Pirate Ship' was a result of sinking the ship that was used in the festivities of the opening ceremonies in Portugal.
For this game, I see Poland attacking Greece with vigor and gusto, yet wilting in the second half, allowing for a magical set-piece to be floating in the box for Theofanis Gekas to score the opening goal. C'mon you knew I was not going to bet against my own country.
Poland - Greece (0-1)
Russia - Czech Republic
The Russians are the favorites to come out of Group A. They are the most talented squad in the section and play the most attacking minded football out of the four teams. However, other than their run in 2008 to the semifinals, the Russians have been a complete disappointment in major football competitions. Yet in their recent friendly against Italy, they dominated the match and cruised to a comfortable 3-0 victory.
The Czechs on the other hand are, as mentioned in the Group A preview, a team in transition. They lost their recent friendly match to Hungary 2-1 and have been struggling in the lead up to the tournament. Yet, when you have Chelsea's hero Petr Cech in net, the Czech goal might be tough to break.
As for the match itself, the favorites are the Russians. They are in better form leading up to the tournament and have the more talented squad. Their only concern is the fitness of their first choice goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev but with the Czech Republic's limited attacking prowess I do not see that being a concern.
Russia - Czech Republic (2-0)
OVERALL RECORD
0-0
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