Euro 2012 Preview: Russia vs. Czech Republic

With just five days to go until the start of Euro 2012—hosted jointly by Poland and Ukraine—it also means that there are just five days to go until Russia vs. Czech Republic.

With the two teams having finished playing all their friendly matches, the Euro countdown is officially in motion. The rivals are set to meet on June 8 at the Municipal Stadium Wroclaw, Poland.

Here is the latest news and a preview of what to expect when Russia meets Czech Republic.

Tournament Groups

With Russia facing the Czech Republic on opening day, the other game in group A sees Poland take on Greece.

If we base results on FIFA world rankings alone, we'd be expecting 11th-seeded Russia to top the group, followed by 14th-ranked Greece, 26th-ranked Czech Republic, and 65th-ranked Poland.

Football isn't that simple though...is it?

Russia's 23-Man Squad and Line-Up Prediction

Dick Advocaat has named his 23-man squad for Euro 2012 as follows:

Goalkeepers

Igor Akinfeyev, Vyacheslav Malafeyev, Anton Shunin

Defenders

Alexander Anyukov, Alexei Berezutsky, Sergei Ignashevich, Roman Sharonov, Vladimir Granat, Kirill Nababkin.

Midfielders

Igor Denisov, Roman Shirokov, Konstantin Zyryanov, Yuri Zhirkov, Alan Dzagoyev, Igor Semshov, Denis Glushakov, Marat Izmailov, Dmitri Kombarov.

Forwards

Andrei Arshavin, Alexander Kerzhakov, Roman Pavlyuchenko, Alexander Kokorin, Pavel Pogrebnyak.

Russia played their final friendly, before the Euro 2012 finals, against Italy, and ran out comfortable 3-0 victors. Advocaat may stick closely to the same starting line-up—injuries permitting of course—when his team takes on the Czech Republic on June 8.

Either Vyacheslav Malafeyev or Igor Akinfeyev will fill the goalkeeping position, as the two have played positional merry-go-round for the last few years.

Russia's back four should feature Sergei Ignashevich, Alexei Berezutsky, Yuri Zhirkov, and Kirill Nababkin, with a midfield and forward line up that is interchangeable. Expect to see Igor Denisov, Konstantin Zyryanov, Alexander Kerzhakov, Roman Shirokov, Andrei Arshavin and Alan Dzagoyev mixing up the attacking positions.

Czech Republic's 23-Man Squad and Line-Up Predictor

Michal Bilek's final 23-man-squad looks like this.

Goalkeepers

Petr Čech, Jaroslav Drobný, Jan LaŠtůvka.

Defenders

Theodor Gebre Selassie, Roman Hubník, Michal Kadlec, David Limberský, TomአSivok, Marek Suchý.

Midfielders

Vladimír Darida, TomአHübschman, Petr Jiráček, Daniel Kolář, Milan Petržela, Václav Pilař, Jaroslav PlaŠil, FrantiŠek Rajtoral, TomአRosický.

Forwards

Milan BaroŠ, David Lafata, TomአNecid, TomአPekhart, Jan Rezek.

The Czech Republic's final friendly match before Euro 2012 didn't go quite to plan after they suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Hungary—a team who failed to even qualify for Euro 2012.

Nevertheless, Bilek's starting XI should be relatively predictable, given the depreciating talent available versus the Czech Republic's former years.

Petr Cech is without a doubt their first choice goalkeeper, and he should be protected by Michal Kadlec, David Limberský, TomአSivok and Theodor Gebre Selassie.

In midfield, expect to see Jaroslav PlaŠil, Daniel Kolář, Petr Jiráček, and Václav Pilař due to the possible injury concerns surrounding Tomas Rosicky.

Up front should be former Liverpool striker Milan BaroŠ and Jan Rezek. 

One to Watch: Russia

Forget Andrei Arshavin of Arsenal—keep an eye out for Russian prodigy Alan Dzagoev in this upcoming match.

The 21-year-old attacking midfielder notched four goals and an assist in his eight appearances in the qualifying phase for his country and is a goal threat whenever he is on the pitch.

Dzagoev currently plays his club football for CSKA Moscow, and could be deployed further into attack by Russian coach Dick Advocaat.

One to Watch: Czech Republic

With Tomas Rosicky an injury doubt ahead of the game against Russia, divert your attention to perhaps the Czech Republic's most high profile player—Petr Cech.

The Chelsea shot-stopper has looked back to his best this past season and made a stunning save from Andy Carroll in the FA Cup final.

If Czech Republic are expecting to win this game, Cech needs to be at his commanding best.

Result Prediction

A lot of Czech Republic's inspiration going forward will depend on the availability of Tomas Rosicky, but whether he features or not might not influence the end result.

I expect Russia to breeze through this game fairly easily, running out 2-0 victors and possibly completing their group stage tasks without defeat.

Only time will tell though.

On Twitter? Follow me @petercwebster where I post all my B/R content.