Euro 2012 Ukraine vs. Sweden: Why Neither Squad Will Come out of Group D

Ukraine and Sweden were deadlocked in a competitive battle for their opening match of Euro 2012. However, after watching these two teams play each other, it's clear neither will come out of Group D and advance to the quarterfinals.

The entire first half of this match was rather uneventful with each team getting quality challenges but unable to do much with them. It looked as though this matchup was going to be a boring one for the next 45 minutes much like it was for the first 45 minutes.

But in the second half the scoring began, and what was a boring match before now had some juice to it.

Sweden struck first early in the second half, and after netting the equalizer, Andriy Shevchenko scored his second goal of the match to put Ukraine ahead for good.

Both of these teams are about as evenly matched as you could get. Neither one showed they were much better than the other, and there was no clear dominance on the part of Ukraine or Sweden.

In order to establish themselves as being capable of beating the best two teams in this group (England and France), either Sweden or Ukraine had to come out strong. While both teams did play well against each other, they didn't play on the level of the French or English clubs.

The loss for Sweden is absolutely devastating. This was a match they needed to have in order to keep their European Championship hopes alive. Now the Swedes face the prospect of having to beat France and/or England without a single point to their name.

For Ukraine, this win was huge, but it doesn't guarantee group victory. Ukraine will now go on to play their toughest two matches in group play. It won't be easy, but Ukraine must win at least one of these matches if they want a chance at the quarterfinals.

The talent level of both of these clubs doesn't match that of England and France. To think either of these teams will win one or both of their matchups with the best clubs in their group is outrageous at best.

That fact will seal the deal that both Ukraine and Sweden will not make it out of group play.