What We Learned Yesterday From Euro 2012

Germany and Netherlands Look Better Than Ever: Although the Germans and the Dutch were playing two inferior opponents on Friday, they both showed that they are playing some of the best soccer in the world. Germany, ranked number 3 in the FIFA rankings, picked apart Austria at home in a 6-2 victory. Lukas Podolski, who had a goal in the victory, is confident that his team has a good chance at winning Euro 2012 saying, "We are definitely one of the favorites and we will play for the title, and we want to win it too. It was a great evening of football." Mesut Ozil added this same opinion as he said, "We know what we are capable of and our aim has got to be to win the title." Germany has looked so impressive recently because of the great play it has gotten from its midfield. Bastian Schweinsteiger is a rock in the middle of the field and Mesut Ozil is one of the hardest players in the world to defend against because of his creativity and ability to score. The Real Madrid midfielder had a hat trick in the 6-2 blowout. The Netherlands have been just as impressive at the Germans. In 7 qualification games the Dutch have scored 32 goals including 24 in their last four games. In their first game since becoming the number 1 team in the FIFA rankings, the Netherlands destroyed San Marino 11-0 at home. Robin Van Persie had 4 goals, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had 2 goals, and Wesley Sneider had 2 goals in the rout that displayed the sides’ offense firepower. The Netherlands is so good that Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who leads the tournament with 10 goals, didn't even make the Netherlands squad that lost in the World Cup finals to Spain.

Group B And Group C Are Still Very Tight: With 7 matches already played and just 3 matches remaining, Group B is still up for grabs. Russia, Ireland, and Slovakia all have a chance to finish at the top of the group and get an automatic berth into Euro 2012. The big result on Friday was the 0-0 draw in Dublin between Ireland and Slovakia. Now, Ireland and Slovakia are two points behind Russia, who are at the top of the group after their 1-0 win over Macedonia in Moscow. There is still a lot of soccer left however. Russia has the hardest schedule remaining of the three teams, as they still have to play Ireland at home and Slovakia on the road. Ireland and Slovakia will be going for it all against Russia because anything less than a win will put them in harms way of finishing outside of the top two in the group. Unlike Group B, it is clear who is going to win Group C. Italy is at the top of the table with 19 points and have conceded just 1 goal in 7 games. The second place spot in Group C is as close as you well ever see. Slovenia, Serbia, Estonia, and Northern Ireland are all fighting for second place, so they can earn an opportunity to play in a two-legged playoff in November to get into Euro 2012. Friday's result brought all the teams within two points of each other as Serbia beat Northern Ireland on the road 1-0 and Estonia went to Slovenia and beat them on the road 2-1. Currently, Slovenia and Serbia are sitting on 11 points but Slovenia has played 8 games, while Serbia has played just 7. Estonia has 10 points from 8 games, while Northern Ireland is sitting on 9 points from 7 games. The loss to Estonia was a crushing one for Slovenia. After conceding a penalty in the 29th minute, Slovenia trailed for nearly the entire game until in the 77th minute striker Tim Matavz tied the game at 1. Just as Slovenia thought they had at least salvaged a point from the game, Estonia came right back and scored a goal 3 minutes later to win the huge game 2-1. Although the loss is a very tough one for Slovenia, they have a chance to make it up, as they play Serbia at home on October 11th in the final match of Group C.

Israel and Belarus Are On The Brink Of Elimination: Israel and Belarus both had an opportunity yesterday to get back into the mix in their respective groups. However, neither team took advantage of their opportunity and they both are in deep danger of missing out of Euro 2012. Israel had a huge game at home against the group leaders Greece. The game was deadlocked until Sotirls Ninis of Greece netted a goal home in the 60th minute to score the only goal of the game and give Greece a 1-0 victory. Israel is currently 4 points behind Greece and 3 behind Croatia, who beat Malta 3-1, and Israel have played one more game than both teams. Their chances of making Euro 2012 look very slime right about now. Belarus also had a huge game at home in Minsk against Bosnia-Herzegovina. Coming into the game, Belarus led Bosnia-Herzegovina by 2 points but they had played one more game. Bosnia-Heregovina jumped right on Belarus and scored two goals in the first 25 minutes to win the game on the road 2-0. The win puts Bosnia-Herzegovina two points ahead of Belarus and they have played one less game as well. Unless Belarus can pull off something great and get help from Bosnia, they are going to miss out on Euro 2012.