Well, I suppose it's my fault, as I predicted they'd take it all, but perhaps I can't take too much credit.
Anyway, Russia are out, just one of the many Euro 2012 surprises.
Kid Dynamite tries to explain how it all came to pass:
So Poland and Czech Republic, once Greece had the lead, had to go for broke – must win to advance. And yet, at the same time, Czech Republic couldn’t just go crazy, because if Russia managed to pull back and draw with Greece, then Czech Republic would be good with a draw of their own! This is why the games are played simultaneously on the last day, by the way!
The core problem is that Breaking Ties Is Complicated
If two teams that have the same number of points, the same number of goals scored and conceded, play their last group match against each other, and are still equal at the end of that match, the ranking of the two teams in question is determined by kicks from the penalty mark (Article 16), provided no other teams within the group have the same number of points on completion of all group matches.
I suppose it's a good thing it didn't come to that (and I thought software patent law was complicated!); perhaps things will be better once the singularity arrives.
We both picked the wrong horse in this race. The Dutch looked all their games as if they had a train to catch. Moving on... I guess my preferred pick is Portugal, but they are inconsistent. It's hard to bet against the Germans, but I think Spain is in the driver's seat.
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