Euro 2012 Group D (Eng & Fra)

Bounty Hunter

Team|Played|W|D|L|GF|GA|Pts
Ukraine|1|1|0|0|2|1|3|
England|1|0|1|0|1|1|1|
France|1|0|1|0|1|1|1|
Sweden|1|0|0|1|1|2|0|

The group with Irelands two bezzie mates England & France... wouldnt have been interesting if Ireland were placed in this group when the draw was made.

So as it rightfully deserves England vs France already has its own thread but this can serve as the overall Group D discussion thread. Sweden vs Ukraine is also on tonight and if the past 3 groups are anything to go by that match will be covered in this thread.

Overall you would have to imagine England & France will be the favourites here but which France will turn up and are England really that good sans Rooney. Ukraine have home advantage and Sweden are always decent so perhaps it wont be as easy as some might predict.

anywhoo what do you guys think?

GavRedKing

England will miss Rooney and it will be to late by the time he comes back to salvage it, reckon France and Sweden will sweep all before them and draw in their last game between themselves.

Edit : Oh and I threw up an England v France thread as IO thought it might warrant its own thread given both teams invovled.

I'm going to guess,

France 7 Pts
Sweden 7 Pts
England 3 Pts
Ukraine 0 Pts

Giggsy11

I think France and England will qualify from this group, England lack quality but they have enough to qualify from this group.

DenMan

I'd like to see England do well but I think France will beat them tonight. 2-0

I like Sweden a lot and I see them winning tonight too. I also think they will beat England. 1-3 to Sweden tonight.

France and Sweden to go through from the group.

mike65

From Guardian

10.11am: Some very early Sweden team news from the sport desk's resident Swede Marcus Christenson: "Sweden team v Ukraine, confirmed: No Johan Elmander up front. W Bremen's Markus Rosenberg starts, PSV's Ola Toivonen in midfield. Rasmus Elm to play in a more withdrawn role. Anders Svensson on bench. A bit surprising. Not sure what to think."

GavRedKing

Step forward please Mr. Ibrahimovic

Dickerty

I don't see it from Sweden, I can't see them beating either England or France, and against the hosts tonight, that could be feisty. I think both will lose to France, who will top the group, and England will only beat Sweden, but go through second.

France 7 Points (draw with England)
England 5 points (beat Sweden, 2 draws)
Ukraine 2 points (draws with England & Ukraine)
Sweden 1 point (draw with Ukraine)

I think Hart may be crucial for England, in a position that has left them down in many tournaments...

Rekop dog

I think France will be the only side who get 9 points, thought this before any of the matches started. Pretty weak group apart from them imo. They looked very united in the lead up friendlies unlike previous campaigns. Lots of depth in forward positions. The Ramy, Mexes partnership is the only slight worry going forward in knockout stages and the injuries at DM.

Sweden vs Ukraine features two of my favourite strikers of all time, yes i'm talking about Vorinin and Toivonin!

JP Liz V1

I think two draws for the opening games of this group

pickarooney

This is a mess of a group with England and France a shambles of late. Home support and a cohesive gameplan may well see both the yellow and blues go through.

plasteritup

France a shambles of late.


please explain???]

Rekop dog

pickarooney wrote: »

This is a mess of a group with England and France a shambles of late. Home support and a cohesive gameplan may well see both the yellow and blues go through.

France have the longest unbeaten record out of any of the teams involved!

DenMan

pickarooney wrote: »

This is a mess of a group with England and France a shambles of late. Home support and a cohesive gameplan may well see both the yellow and blues go through.

Look very strong to me. Blanc has done a great job with them.

kronsington

Interesting game. France have an admirable record but I don't think theyll stemroll over England. Think England will be better than many expect and France not as good as a lot think. Think it'll be close today. France 2-1. England to take the lead and capitulate as usual

jaykay74

I hope to see Sweden top the group. A lot depends on Zlatan. If they can draw against the Ukraine tonight they have nothing to fear from the other 2. Unbeaten in competitive games against England iirc (maybe it only covers the last 20/30 years !?).

yomtea98

pickarooney wrote: »

This is a mess of a group with England and France a shambles of late. Home support and a cohesive gameplan may well see both the yellow and blues go through.

How are France a shambles?

plasteritup

a rubbish comment on france being a shambles,blanc is obviously a much better manager than domenech,well well respected in french football,a team with a real reason to go out and do well in this tournament,given the last one they competed in(which is where rooney is getting his shambles of late comment from)over 30 games played since then.

when you look thru the squad it is hard to find a more exciting group of players in the tournament,excellent mix of youth and expierence,some really classy midfield players,possible weakness is at the back,but i havent seen a team yet that are excellent going forward,this euros will not be won at the back imo tho,bar spain all the teams so far have looked tired really tired.

france are excatly the type of team to go and win this thing out,will be surprised if they are not in the final.

shano1888

I would love to see a do or die deathmatch between Ukraine and England for second in the group in the last game. Would be quite the spectacle. France to top group at a canter. Unsure about second.

BKC

Really hope France show up tonight and play England off the park.

Think Ukraine will come last with 0 points. Every time I've seen them play they've been terrible. I don't understand why Sweden are @3.00 to beat them.

Nuri Sahin

France (Benzema preferably scoring a few dozen in the process would be just dandy) and Ibra to qualify out of this group please. Ta.

adox

Really wish these matches were on the other way around, time wise.:(

mike65

France certainly have to potential to win it and to implode in ignominy.

Rekop dog

mike65 wrote: »

France certainly have to potential to win it and to implode in ignominy.

Think the potential for the latter is a lot lower than it has been in recent tournaments. All the vibes coming from the camp are positive, quite the opposite as they were last World cup.

plasteritup

looking forward to this now,the fact ox and milner start could be a cracker.

flyswatter

Teams:


France: Lloris, Debuchy, Rami, Mexes, Evra, Nasri, Cabaye, Diarra, Malouda, Ribery, Benzema.


England: Hart, Johnson, Terry, Lescott, Cole, Milner, Gerrard, Parker, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Young, Welbeck.

Jesus Wept

I feel oddly apathetic about the result.

FutureGuy

I have 10 euro on one of the players to be top scorer for the tournament.

Step forward Mr. Benzema....

Nuri Sahin

Sweden XI: Isaksson; Lustig, Mellberg, Granqvist, Martin Olsson; Elm, Kallstrom; Larsson, Ibrahimovic, Toivonen; Rosenberg.

Very positive line up from Sweden.

G.K.

Kinda surprised Rosenberg's starting ahead of Svensson, but it's definitely a positive one.

Nuri Sahin

-Ade- wrote: »

Sweden XI: Isaksson; Lustig, Mellberg, Granqvist, Martin Olsson; Elm, Kallstrom; Larsson, Ibrahimovic, Toivonen; Rosenberg.

Very positive line up from Sweden.

Ukraine XI: Pyatov, Selin, Khacheridi, Mikhalik, Tymoschuk, Gusev, Yarmolenko, Nazarenko, Voronin, Konoplyanka, Shevchenko.

G.K.

No outfield players from Shakhtar there I don't think?

Nuri Sahin

Don't think so. Bit disappointed albeit not too surprised Milevskiy isn't starting, and Voronin is.

Giggsy11

England are very organized side, difficult to breakdown. They just need a better midfielder who can at least release wingers quicker like Scholes does. Parker and Gerrard are playing as defensive shields to the CBs and nothing much in attacking wise, apart from that team is set up nicely to the players strengths.

mike65

So then no match thread for Turnips v Beetroot?

keith16

mike65 wrote: »

So then no match thread for Turnips v Beetroot?

Nah, what's generally happening is the match discussion happens in the group threads with some exceptions like the Ireland and England games.

Swedish anthem not up to much so far....but the fans seem to have enjoyed it.

monkey9

Jaysus, the Ukranian national anthem is long and boring!!!

IvySlayer

Ukraines anthem is fairly long.

keith16

Ukraines anthem is a lot more rabble rousing....I'm giving that one to Ukraine....and based on that alone, I am predicting a Ukraine victory on the pitch, Yarmolenko to score.

Dozen Wicked Words

Blokhins a miserable git, had his panini sticker in 1986 about 5 times, unswappable, everyone had him.

kryogen

As soon as Mickey Mouse is over I'll be expecting to see some lovely Swedish and Ukrainian totty, maybe even some decent football!

Rekop dog

Class looking stadium. If either of the Milan legends score I'll be happy.

Nuri Sahin

I like the Swedish 2nd kit.

Also, I adore Sheva. Hope he grabs a goal or two in this Championship! Likewise Ibra.

Dozen Wicked Words

kryogen wrote: »

As soon as Mickey Mouse is over I'll be expecting to see some lovely Swedish and Ukrainian totty, maybe even some decent football!

You got Ears, say Cheers!!!!

bwatson

IvySlayer wrote: »

Ukraines anthem is fairly long.

It was.

The longest anthem I can remember is the Jamaican one, I seem to recall England played them before the 2006 world cup in a friendly. The anthem is probably still going!

born2bwild

monkey9 wrote: »

Jaysus, the Ukranian national anthem is long and boring!!!

So was the year I spent there.

kryogen

one booking so far yes?

kryogen

Surprised Sheva is starting, thought he was possibly out, who will the humidity effect more?

kryogen

Fcuk

Mars Bar

Oooh, surely the keeper could have taken that into his chest?

Nuri Sahin

kryogen wrote: »

one booking so far yes?

Kallstorm, yup. One to note for future with the ol bookings

kryogen

First real bit of good play from Sweden