With Euro 2012 only hours away it’s only fitting that we take at look at the teams that will be hosting the month long football fest, Poland and Ukraine.

Poland will be playing in only its second Euro; it played its first one four years ago in Austria/Switzerland. While Ukraine will be participating in its first ever Euro since it started competing as an independent football nation in 1992.

The former Soviet Union republic will be the third national team in tournament history to play in its first Euro due to automatic qualification as a host nation. Sweden in 1992 and Austria in 2008 are the other two.

Out of the two nations, Poland has participated in more major international tournaments in the past decade.  It played in the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups and Euro 2008. Ukraine has only played in one  which was the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the only major international tournament they have participated in before this upcoming Euro.

According to the numbers things don’t look too promising for the home teams this summer.

Since the group stage was instituted for Euro 1980, eight out of eleven host nations have moved on to the next phase. While this shows that the host nations have made it past the group stage 73% of the times, things don’t necessarily bode well for Poland and Ukraine. 

The three host teams that have been eliminated in the group stage were also joint host nations! At Euro 2000 Belgium said goodbye early while at Euro 2008 both co-hosts, Austria and Switzerland, went three and out. Netherlands is the only Euro co-host out of the previous four to move on from the group stage. It should be noted that out of the six countries that have been selected as Euro co-hosts, Netherlands is the only nation to have won a Euro title before co-hosting the tournament.

Letting our imaginations run wild for bit let’s say either Poland or Ukraine or even both manage make it to the knockout stage where they will be three wins away from hoisting the Henri Delaunay Trophy. The reality is that the odds of them shocking the world like Greece did in 2004 are pretty much insurmountable.

In the previous thirteen Euro tournaments only three host nations have won the title. Spain won in 1964, Italy in 1968 and France in 1984. Out of the three, France is the only host nation that has won the title in a final tournament with a group stage.

At the end it just seems that Poland and Ukraine have a better chance of organizing a heck of a tournament than doing anything of note on the pitch.

Welcome to the A to the Z Sports Blog!  This is where I will talk soccer , boxing and any relevant happenings in sports.

Since the Euro Cup tournament is right around the corner, I have dug through the numbers in search of some interesting stats regarding the 16 participating nations.

 For now check out these impressive stats involving three tournament favorites: Spain, Germany and Italy.

SPAIN

Recently Spanish national team member Santiago Cazorla described injured striker David Villa’s Euro 2012 absence as a “hard blow” for the team. He went on to say, "If [Villa] hadn't been in the Euro or the World Cup, we probably wouldn't have been champions.”

When you take a look at the stats it’s easy to see why Cazorla and the rest of his teammates are lamenting Villa’s exclusion from the tournament.

Since replacing the legendary Raul Gonzalez as Spain’s main offensive threat after the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Villa has accounted for 31% percent of the goals Spain has scored in the last six official competitions it has participated in, which include the Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup campaigns. That’s almost one-third of the team’s overall goal production!

In all six competitions Villa was Spain’s top gun. At the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup he shared the honor with Fernando Torres.

For Spain’s Euro 2008 and 2010 FIFA World Cup triumphs Villa finished at the top of the individual scoring tables for both tournaments.

On the road to Euro 2012 Villa contributed to Spain’s undefeated run in qualifiers with a team-best 7 goals.With two goals in a qualifying match against the Czech Republic on March 25 , 2011,  he surpassed Raul's record of 44 goals with Spain and became La Furia Roja's all-time leading scorer.

It is pretty clear that Spain’s chances of repeating as champions are seriously hampered without Villa’s presence on the pitch.

Competition                               Villa goals  Spain goals

UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying	7	23	Spain’s top goal scorer
UEFA Euro 2008	4	12	Spain’s top goal scorer and the tournament’s Golden Boot (Spain won the tournament)
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup	3	11	Spain’s top goal scorer along with Fernando Torres
2010 FIFA World Cup qualification	7	28	Spain’s top goal scorer
2010 FIFA World Cup	5	8	Spain’s top goal scorer (Spain won the tournament)
Euro 2012 qualifying	7	26	Spain’s top goal scorer
Totals	33	108	Scoring percentage:31%

  

GERMANY

If the Euro 2012 qualifiers are any indication of who the team to beat in June will be, then all signs point to Germany.

The Germans stormed through the qualifying round in perfect form, grabbing 30 out 30 points possible!  

However, the stat that's the most indicative of how dominant the three-time Euro champions were throughout the qualifiers is that out of the five undefeated teams from the field of  51 participating nations , they were the only team that never found itself behind on the scoreboard  during any of  the 900 minutes of their qualifying campaign.

The German side also had the second best overall goal output of the entire qualifiers with 34 goals, three behind the Netherlands. What is more impressive about their offensive prowess is that they always managed to score first in all of their 10 matches.

ITALY

Going into Euro 2012, one of the dark horse teams favored to hoist the Henri Delaunay Trophy at the end of the tournament is Italy. While it may sound strange to label the 1968 Euro champions and four-time FIFA World Cup champions as a “dark horse,” the truth is that in its past two international showings the Azzuri have performed way below expectations.

Italy is looking to end a negative streak of two consecutive group stage exits in major international tournaments. They were sent home early in both the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.While the Confederations Cup does not have the prestige of the UEFA Euro or FIFA World Cup tournament , it is still an official FIFA competition.


Not since the 1962 and 1966 FIFA World Cups has Italy experienced such a slump in tournament play.


A group stage exit at Euro 2012 would give the Azzurri their worst streak of group stage exits in international tournaments ever!