Euro 2012 Live Stream: Schedule and Analysis of Friday's Group A Matches

Euro 2012 kicks off today as Poland will battle with Greece and Czech Republic will try to upset Russia.

Greece, the 2004 champion, is playing well as of late and is eager to re-establish itself as a formidable foe in the Euro tournament. Poland is looking to surprise a few people with a victory. 

Here's a look at the streaming schedule for Friday's Group A action.

Poland vs. Greece, 11:30 a.m. ET, ESPN3

Poland is the favorite over Greece today, although Greece has avoided defeat in 20 of its last 21 matches.

Greece's strength lies in its collective defense, headed by Avraam Papadopoulos and Sokratis Papastathopoulos. The side also knows how to capitalize on its chances.

Polish assistant coach Hubert Malowiejski said this week, via Aljazeera.com: 

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"What we know about the Greeks is they are a collective. They defend as a unit and have proven they are very good at taking their chances. They are a very difficult prospect."

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Poland does have an electric scorer in Robert Lewandowski, however, who scored the third-most goals (22) for German top-flight soccer last season. He also scored a hat trick in Dortmund's 5-2 victory over Bayern Munich in the German Cup final.

The Polish side also has Lukasz Piszczek and Jakub Blaszczykowski and young up-and-coming players like winger Maciej Rybus and Obraniak.  

Russia vs. Czech Republic, 2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN3

Russia and Czech Republic last met in Euro 1996, which resulted in a draw. 

That was a good year for the Czech Republic, which went on to the tournament final before losing to Germany. The Czech's best finish since then is in 2004, when it advanced to the semifinals.

But while Czech Republic is eager to get back to being a force, the side is ranked 27th in the FIFA world rankings, in large part due to its struggling offense.

Russia is a bad matchup for Czech Republic. Not only has Russia avoided defeat its last 14 matches, it conceded just four goals in 10 matches in qualifying. Czech Republic is going to have to find offense, and find it fast.

Top striker Milan Barros will play in Euro 12, but he's not in top fitness. Czech Republic needs to be on its game and in rhythm to defeat the formidable Russians.