The Czech and Greek results combined eliminated Russia, a surprise given Russia's strong start to the tournament (4 - 1 over the Czechs in their first game). Co-hosts Poland were also eliminated, and with Ukraine needing a win against England on Tuesday to advance, this looks like the second consecutive Euro competition in which the hosts are eliminated in the group stage. The combined efforts of the 2008 hosts, Switzerland and Austria, managed only a single win and a draw; Poland and Ukraine have so far managed a single win and two draws, so technically an improvement.
Soccer tournaments frequently feature a group with the highest aggregate level of high-powered teams, and this group is often referred to as the 'Group of Death.' Euro 2012's group of death is Group B, and today features the final games in this group. The Group B standings so far:
Notably, Germany is the only team to start 2-0 in the tournament. Any result today against Denmark except a bad loss puts them through to the Quarterfinals. Denmark and Portugal need to win or tie today to advance (though if they both draw, Portugal will advance over Denmark due to the head-to-head win). The Netherlands (#4 in the world) find themselves in the shocking position of being 0-2 and needing a very specific scenario to unfold: They need Germany to beat Denmark, and then the Dutch must beat Portugal by a score of 2 - 0 or better. (Arcane rules and scenarios like this are one of the reasons I find soccer tournaments fascinating.)
Germany v. Denmark and Netherlands v. Portugal kick off at 2:45pm EST.
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