Germany and Teams That'll Walk Away Victorious from Group Stage

With the Euro 2012 inching closer, the time is now to start figuring out who is capable of winning their group.

The rosters are set and the games are only two days away, but there are plenty of question marks that still remain. Who comes in hot, who has the most depth and who has the most experience are just a few of the questions that are hanging in the balance.

Here are one man’s projections for the four teams to win their groups and advance to the next round.

Group A: Poland

One of the hosts of Euro 2012 enters the competition looking as strong as they have in quite some time.

Forward Robert Lewandowski is fresh off his breakout year, where he scored 30 goals in 46 appearances in all competitions. Jakub Blaszczykowski, aka “Kuba,” is a terrific option on the wing, and Lukasz Pisczek is quite possibly the best right-back in all of Europe right now.

With two of the best keepers in Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski, this Poland team will make some serious noise behind their ecstatic home crowd.

Group B: Germany

The vaunted “Group of Death” is not going to be easy, but there is too much talent to ignore for the Germans.

There is an incredible blend of young, homegrown players who are extremely aggressive and play with an outstanding amount of energy throughout the duration of a match.

Watch out for Mesut Ozil as a sleeper pick to be the player of the entire tournament when everything is all said and done.

With only two players over the age of 30, experience could be an issue, but I think the fresh legs and energy are far more important. The leadership of Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger is just fine.

While the defense is going to be an issue, expect the incredible depth to be the difference for a German team that will emerge victorious in the vaunted Group of Death.

Group C: Spain

This is one of the easiest picks to make.

The group isn’t incredibly difficult (Croatia, Ireland, Italy), and there is no question that Spain enters the grouping with by far the most talent.

Their midfield is incredible, behind the talent of guys like Xavi, Sergio Busqets, Xabi Alonso and Andrres Iniesta. All of those guys are comfortable playing with each other, as the team enters Euro 2012 with 19 of their 23 players returning from the South Africa squad.

Too much experience and familiarity for Spain in quite possibly the weakest group of the four.

Group D: France

It’s redemption time.

They may have plenty of critics after their embarrassing performance in South Africa, but they will use this as fuel to their fire.

This team is loaded with talent up front. Karim Benzema lost 20 pounds last summer, and he ended up scoring 28 goals and notching 12 assists in 36 starts for La Liga. When Olivier Giroud is your back up, you know there is some serious talent here.

The midfield is either going to incorporate a 1-4 or 2-3 alignment, which means Franck Ribery, Samir Nasri, Florent Malouda and Yohan Cabaye are going to be heavily relied upon—which is not a bad thing at all.

While their central defense is not exactly stellar, with Adil Rami and Philippe Mexes, there is enough talent here to shock the soccer world and win the group. 

Follow Eric Ball on Twitter.