European soccer continues this weekend

DOWNEY - The 2012 EUFA European soccer tournament is underway and group play finished on Tuesday. Sixteen teams competed in this European tournament in a four team per group format, much like the World Cup, with half as many nations competing.Poland and the Ukraine are serving as host nations with Gdansk, Poznan, Warsaw and Wroclaw providing venues in Poland and Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kiev and Lviv providing venues in the Ukraine. Group A consisted of the Czech Republic, Greece, Russia and Poland. Group B, also known as the "group of death" due to the quality of the teams, featured tournament favorite Germany, Portugal, Denmark and the Netherlands. Group C consisted of World Cup 2010 champion Spain, Italy, Croatia and Ireland. Group D featured England, France, the Ukraine and Sweden. There have been a few mild upsets with the Netherlands unable to win a game in group play and Russia getting eliminated by Greece in a 1-0 nail-biter. The single-elimination quarterfinals began yesterday and will continue through Sunday. The semi-finals will follow next week with the championship game scheduled for Sunday, July 1. Group A number one saw the Czech Republic (6 points) face Group B number two Portugal (6 points) Wednesday (INSERT SCORE HERE). Group B number one Germany (9 points) faced Group A number two Greece (4 points) Thursday (score unavailable at press time. Group C number one Spain (7 points) faces Group D number two France (4 points) on Saturday and Group D number one England (7 points) will face Group C number two Italy (5 points) on Sunday.

********** Published: June 21, 2012 - Volume 11 - Issue 10