I’m back at it after a long delay due to real life being time consuming!
I’m going to abandon the previous thread of top-tier recaps and skip ahead straight to the European Championships.
Here’s a quick graphic of how the season ended up for club teams and league award winners.
Premier Baseball League (England): Chelsea
Baseball Bundesliga (Germany): Bayern Munich
La Liga (Spain): Real Madrid
Seire A (Italy): A.B. Milan
Ligue 1 (France): Bordeaux
Liga Portugal (Portugal): Porto
Eredivisie (Netherlands): RKC Waalwijk
Belgian First Division (Belgium): Club Brugge
Russian Premier League (Russia): Rubin Kazan
Austrian Bundesliga (Austria): Sturm Graz
Scottish Premier League (Scotland): Celtic
UEBA Europa League (Europe): Astana
UEBA Champions League (Europe): Manchester United
Award Winners
But the big event to close out 2012 is the Euros, a three-week national tournament that will bring together some of the biggest stars of the game! This year’s hosts are Poland and Ukraine, who submitted a joint bid.
I spend a lot of time on custom uniforms, it’s one of my favorite parts of the game, so here’s a home uniform preview for the Euros.
Group A
Group A might be this year’s “Group of Death,” with three teams capable of moving on and making a run in the tournament. France, Wales, and Northern Ireland have strong squads that can earn results against each other, while Albania is mostly happy to be here, but also hopeful they can play spoiler. Big stars in Group A are France’s P Hugo Lloris (Lyon, FRA), Romain Besancon (Brighton, ENG), and Wales’ CF Gareth Bale (Tottenham, ENG). Amazingly, French standouts Franck Ribery (Munich, GER) and Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, ESP) were left out of the French squad.
Group B
England are the clear favorites in Group B and a good pick to win it all, while Poland and Slovenia have strong squads that should challenge one another for second in the group. Austria is a dark horse but will probably mostly serve to boost the chances of the other teams. Notable players in the group include most of the England lineup: 3b Wayne Rooney (Man United, ENG), C John Terry (Chelsea, ENG), CF Frank Lampard (Chelsea), and CF Steven Gerrard (Liverpool, ENG).
Group C
Spain is the likely winner of the group, with a stacked lineup that could go all the way (Spain won the real-life soccer Euro 2012 tournament as well!). Ronaldo’s Portugal is also a strong team that should finish second if CR7 can pull the team through with him. Switzerland and Ukraine should put up a fight with the Swiss side capable of advancing as a third place wild card (4 third place teams will go through). Group C superstars include SS Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Spain P Ilker Casillas (Real Madrid), SS Cesc Fabregas (Barcelona, ESP), CF Juan Mata (Chelsea), and 2B Pedro (Barcelona).
Group D
Germany and Belgium are the clear group winners with Germany the likely first place team. Serbia and Greece will have to battle it out to stay off the bottom. Germany could be a tournament winner, but winning the group means a likely rendezvous with Spain in the Semifinals. Germany boasts P Manuel Neuer (Munich),and P Rickhart Haar (Tottenham), but for some reason SS Bastian Schweinsteiger (Munich), LF Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid) are off the roster. Belgium brings SS Eden Hazard (Lille, FRA) and 1B Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea), but not C Vincent Kompany (Manchester City, ENG).
Group E
Group E favorites Italy are another possible tournament winner, with Ireland or Sweden as strong second place candidates. Croatia might be able to claw its way to third behind 1B Luka Modric (Tottenham), but it’ll be long odds from them and Sweden. Italian P Gigi Buffon (Juventus, ITA), and P Philiberto Ditella (Inter Milan, ITA), while Ireland will rely on P Donahey Jackson (Leverkusen, GER) to get out of the group. Controversially, Sweden 1B Zlatan (AB Milan, ITA) is off the Sweden roster, despite a Serie A Scudetto, MVP, and Golden Glove for him this year.
Group F
Another possible Group of Death, Netherlands, Scotland, and Denmark are strong teams with the knockout round written all over them. Romania is another spoiler team, hoping to ruin someone’s party. Dutch CF Arjen Robben (Munich) and P Sean Kwant (Bielefeld, GER) head the Oranje, but CF Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan, ITA) and 1B Robin van Persie (Arsenal, ENG) are out of the selection. Denmark are hoping RP Martin Fog (Free Agent) can help the team advance, despite the absence of 3b Christian Eriksen (Ajax, NED), who’s out with a torn hamstring.
Tournament Format
Teams play six games in the group stage with the first an second place teams from each group advancing, and four wildcard third place teams also moving on. The knockout rounds are best 2-of-3 series until the single-game final, which will be in Kyiv’s Olympic Stadium.
My next post will be a recap of the tournament before we turn the page to the 2013 season.