Germany vs. Greece
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Euro 2012′s second quarterfinal is less surprising, but it also features a team few expected to make it to the knockout stages. After a draw against Poland and a loss to the Czech Republic, many expected Russia to ease past Greece to the quarterfinals. Heck, I myself thought they’d push on to the semifinals.
Instead, Greece grabbed a goal against the run of play, and held on for dear life. To be fair, they were denied a stonewall penalty, but outside of Giorgos Karagounis’ moments of brilliance, Greece had little going for them.
Germany, on the other hand, very much lived up to their “favorites” tag by beating all three other teams in the Group of Death. Granted, Germany failed to win any of its matches by more than a one-goal margin, but they got the job done effectively in all three games and never looked in danger of falling behind against any of their opponents.
For me, Greece would need a series of miracles to keep up with the Germans in the knockout rounds, let alone win the game. Germany’s players have all performed well, and only Spain can match the depth the Germans have in their reserves. No team has yet figured out how to neutralize both Mesut Ozil and Bastian Schweinsteiger, and Lukas Podolski and Thomas Muller are dangerous goalscorers if not defended closely as well. Mario Gomez has already proven himself to be one of the best goal-scorers at Euro 2012.
Above all, the absence of Giorgos Karagounis is the nail in the coffin for Greece. As good as Greece may be defensively, without a leader to keep morale up and threaten the opposition on the attack, Greece have very few options to threaten their opponents with. Dimitris Salpingidis has looked good in spells, as have Georgios Samaras and Theofanis Gekas, but they’re nowhere near good enough to score against the likes of Mats Hummels and Holger Badstuber, or Philipp Lahm and Jerome Boateng/Lars Bender for that matter.
I’m expecting a rout, which will only raise the morale of Germany further and allow them to build up even more steam in their charge to the Euro 2012 title.
Prediction: Germany 3, Greece 0
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