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Euro 2012: Matchday One (Group A)

Euro2012

After weeks and months of build-up, Euro 2012 finally kicks off in Poland, where things get underway in Group A.

Tournament co-hosts Poland will aim to put 2004 champion Greece in an early hole in the opening match of the competition, while group favorite Russia faces an aging but capable Czech Republic side backstopped by Chelsea hero and veteran goalkeeper Petr Cech.

Here is the viewing schedule for today's Euro 2012 matches:

12p.m. – ESPN/ESPN3.com – Poland vs. Greece

2:45 p.m. – ESPN/ESPN3.com – Russia vs. Czech Republic

If you will be watching today's Friday's Euro 2012 action, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.

Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. Yeah, in Italy after their last round of punishment for match fixing they couldn’t possibly do it again at least not so soon, the SEC doesn’t pay their football players, and international soccer just coincidentally has some of the worst officiating errors in major tournaments with national pride on the line. Never a fix. Just like the NBA refs weren’t encouraged to keep playoff games close or extend series. I know plenty of casual sports fans that refuse to watch soccer because World Cup games just reak of shadiness.

    That being said. I’m not saying it’s true. I have no idea. I hope it’s all clean, but to pretend it might not be going on is naive.

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  2. 3:1 Russia. May be that will shut up Alexi for a bit. I like him on most days, but he’d been a bit one-sided in his commentary.

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  3. Can’t believe that diagonal ball got through two defenders but stayed in front of Cech. Really composed chip from Shirokov about a foot from Cech. Very impressive that Shirokov got it over.

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  4. It’s easy for me to understand the Czech Republic fall asleep there. You figure the header’s either in the net or out of play, and all of a sudden it’s right back through the middle.

    Good composure to take what looks like an easy chance and put it in by the goal scorer, though. I honestly expected him to knock into a defender or Cech.

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  5. It’s interesting how some terms that were once neutral became slurs via usage. “Polak” is the Polish word for someone from Poland, and has only become offensive due to the abundance of “Polack” jokes in English speaking countries. If the currently acceptable term “Pole” had been used in those jokes, it would now be the slur, and it’s quite possible “Polak” would be neutral.

    In any case, most Americans probably aren’t even aware that the term “Polak” is considered offensive anywhere. We don’t have a significant anti-Polish sentiment here, so keeping up on its details elsewhere is just not a high priority.

    Reminds me of Liz Lemon cringing whenever Selma Hayek’s character is called “Puerto Rican,” because it sounds like it should be offensive, even though the intent is simply to state the person is from Puerto Rico.

    So I don’t know spotty from a hole in the wall, but it’s quite possible he or she meant no offense by the term. From now on, I’ll certainly be careful to avoid “Polak” now that I know it offends, and be careful to use the term “Pole” instead.

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  6. It’s pretty naive to think a lot of stuff isn’t fixed and bought out.

    E.g. Russia’s World Cup bid and Qatar’s World Cup bid. Or the entire CONCACAF region, or Italian Serie A.

    I could go on and on, but nah it’s better just to be naive.

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  7. As has been pointed out to me, Poland not exactly a rich country. Russia in their group pretty crooked and rich. Who benefits with a tie today and a lot of cards… The Ruskies. So maybe, I was just wrong about who the fix was for.

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  8. I’m trying to judge our team by these teams as well, all through the tournament. The thing is, I don’t have a good handle on how good we are, based on our last three matches.

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  9. I might be a homer, but, I do think the US full squad is better than both of these squads. I know these aren’t the top euro squads but still… merikuuuuh

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  10. Wow, I don’t even know where to start. I thought these were the two least interesting teams in the tournament. I hope all the games end up being like this.

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