Halfway through the first round of matches and I'd say the games have been rather mixed overall. Poland and Greece were both dire in every area of the pitch, and so far I'd rank them as the two worst teams at the tournament. Russia were outstanding against the Czech, who should themselves make the knockout stages if they, Poland and Greece continue to play in the form they displayed in their fist match. Russia will probably have similar results in their next two matches.

Germany and Portugal more or less cancelled each other out, and those sort of games can often be go either way. Denmark were second-best against Holland until they scored. After their goal they gained confidence and Holland trailed off, proving to many they they shouldn't be underestimated in the group of death. With 3 points already, I'd back them to really test Portugal. The Group B games have been, and always were going to be, very tight contests. I doubt the other games in the group will be much different.

Good result for Denmark today. Really makes the group of death interesting now.

I disagree with all but Germany, Portugal and Russia. The Czechs looked particularly bad in comparison to Russia but probably played better overall compared to Poland and Greece, who you've been to kind on. Holland and Denmark, whilst hardly a world class match, still could have challenged Russia and were far better than the rest of the Group A teams. Holland started well but the Danes were well organised and took their chance when it was presented. 

Just like I said, Schweinsteiger and Müller played awfully slow.

Hummels was the man of the match. He is one of the best defenders in the world. PERIOD. I am glad he just signed a contract with Borussia Dortmund till 2017.

I think you really saw how nervous the players were. It is a start of the tournament and you are facing a team that uses every single mistake. That goes for both teams. It will be a tough match against the Netherlands. They have to win, otherwise they are out already.

Not necessarily. Itis possible for a team to lose two matches and still progress, provided one team in the group wins all three of their matches and the remaining three win one each and lose two. Although the rules were slightly different at the time, this group from the 1950 world cup is the best example I can thing of. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_World_Cup#Group_2

So provided one team run away with the group (in this case either Denmark or Germany) Holland could theoretically lose to Germany but if they Beat Holland and other results go their way, they could still qualify. This scenario rarely ever happens though.

Portugal played way better than Germany, had more chances to score. Germany just had the Star in their team.

Sad day for Portuguese fans but i still believe we will go on to the quarters. We need to win both games now.

Wh0t Schürrle plays for Leverkusen.

Besides I wouldn't trust most of the Dortmund players either. There's simply not much reason for it. They play great for Dortmund, but mostly suck in the national team. This was Hummels best game by far, because usually he is the reason why Germany can't win with a clean sheet. Schmelzer plays equally bad
and Goetze had maybe two great games... out of 15.

And you know how those friendlies turn out when Löw experiments too much...


As for the game Germany was the unlucky one, not Portugal. Gomez scored a perfect goal, but the referee called a foul like 2 seconds before Gomez takes the shot. Ever heard of the advantage rule ?
Then the referee also denied us a clear red card. Fist into the face of Badstuber and no one can tell that this was an unintentional move. Not a very hard punch, but still easily enough for a red card.

Overall well deserved victory and at the same time still lots of room for improvements. Portugal only tried to score a goal after they were in behind starting in the ~80th minute. Before that they didn't have more chances than Germany.

Gomez only scored that because everyone just stopped playing after the referee signalled the fault, not only the portuguese players but also the rest of the german players, it was only Gomez who continued. That can hardly be called a "perfect goal", especially since it happened over 10 seconds after the referee signalled the fault, though I agree that he should have given the advantage rule given that the possession continued on Germany's side. 

As for that so called red card, that was an invonlutary move by Meireles, in which he immediatly addresses both the line referee and the german player because he saw what he did. That's hardly a case for a red card, otherwise, how many red cards would have Van Persie gotten on the previous game since he did at least three times against danish player.  

And Portugal only tried to score a goal after being behind? Who had the best chance in the first half? Was it not Portugal's with Pepe's shot against the crossbar? And starting the second half, we had 4 strikes in the first 15 minutes of the second half. If anything, Germany had much less chances on the second half than Portugal. 

Germany was more effective than Portugal, that I give you, but to say that Germany was more unlucky than Portugal, that's a downright lie. Two shots against the crossbar, one miraculous defense by Neuer when Varela was in front of him, a massive defense by Boateng which also left him down for a while against Ronaldo's chance. 

The dutch team needs to start kissing every bald guy they see just to improve their luck. It was akward seeing those missed chances. And what a boring first half in the Germany - Portugal. Then some one reminded Portugal they were playing the Euro, second half was more entertaining; they had more chances but didn't end them.

Expecting yet another boring match today with Italy, hope our team brings some fun into the tournament!
Everyone wear red today