Euro 2012 Live Stream: Best Games to Check out This Weekend

In case you haven't seen the millions of promos on ESPN this week, Euro 2012 begins on Friday, and at the end of the 16-team tournament, one will be able to call itself the football champion of the world. Not technically the world, but basically the world. 

Forget the Olympics or even the World Cup; Euro is where you get to see the top competition, the best of the best. Because there are only 16 teams, every team that's playing stands a chance of doing some damage. That also means that one or two slip-ups by a superpower such as Spain or Germany could mean an end to their Euro dreams. 

Saturday in particular is an exciting day for soccer fans because it's the day that the super talented squads in the stacked Group B finally take to the pitch.

Here are the top matchups to check out this weekend. You can see the full schedule of events here, and you can catch a live stream of game with ESPN3. 

Netherlands vs. Denmark
Saturday, 12 p.m. ET

This game is particularly important for Denmark because as the weakest team in a very deep group that also includes Germany and Portugal, this is the match it has the best chance of winning. Though the Netherlands is certainly expected to come out with the victory, it has only emerged victorious in three of its last seven matches, which doesn't bode well.

If the Netherlands isn't careful, this could have the makings of a trap game, especially considering Denmark has won six of its last eight.

Ever since finishing as runner-ups in the 2010 World Cup, the Netherlands has been eager to reassert its dominance, and it won't be easy in the ultra-talented Group B, but now is the time for Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben and the rest of the squad to dominate. Getting off to the right start could give this Netherlands team the momentum it needs to surprise a lot of people.  

Germany vs. Portugal
Saturday, 2:45 p.m. ET

The other Group B matchup could be the best of the weekend as two international powerhouses meet in an epic clash. It's hard to say which team will encounter more pressure here, but Germany is a very popular pick to emerge with the win at the end of it all, so a loss in its first game would be devastating.

Though Germany has only won two of its last five matchups, the more telling stat is that it has won the last two times it has faced Portugal, at the 2006 World Cup and at Euro 2008. It's also only one of two teams to escape from qualifying with a perfect record.

Cristiano Ronaldo has been waiting four years to seek revenge against the team that eliminated him from contention in the eight stage in the last Euro, and now is his chance. But Portugal is just one for its last six, and it has had a lot of trouble scoring of late, so without rectifying that, Germany will be the one with the W in the end. 

Spain vs. Italy
Sunday, 12 p.m. ET

Though Spain objectively looks like the beast of Group C, this matchup is still going to be a spectacular one because it features each of the last two World Cup champions.

Spain, of course, won it in 2010, marking itself as one of the top teams with a target on its back at Euro 2012. Even better news for Spain is the fact that its been able to keep most of its roster intact since its victory in 2010, save for David Villa—granted, that's no small loss for the Spaniards, who also won Euro 2008. 

For the most part, anyone who doesn't think Germany is winning it all this summer believes Spain will. Up against Italy—which didn't even make it to the knockout stage in the World Cup in 2010—there's very little stopping the Spaniards from getting an early win.