Euro 2012: Greece vs. Czech Republic, Russia vs. Poland Previews and Predictions

What an eventful first four days of football it has been at UEFA Euro 2012.

With exciting matches on display each and every day, the first round of group matches has certainly left football fans everywhere ready for Round 2.

In just a few hours time, Group A will kick off their second set of matches when the Greece national side takes on the Czech Republic.

In what is appearing to be a do-or-die type game for both teams, the Czechs are by far the more desperate squad, after being dismissed in an embarrassing fashion in their opener against the Russians, in which they allowed four goals.

They'll look to veteran keeper Petr Cech to help them return to form today on the back end against the Greeks, while up front the pressure is on for offensive weapons Milan Baros and Tomas Rosicky to create opportunities and, ultimately, score a goal to give the Czechs their first points of the tournament.

As for the Greeks, it was a tale of two halves when they took the pitch to open the tournament against co-host Poland in the Polish capital of Warsaw.

Early on it appeared as though the hosts were riding the wave of momentum provided by a raucous crowd of nearly 60,000 spectators, as they dominated the Greeks and scored the tournament's opening goal on a perfectly placed header by Robert Lewandowski.

The second half, however, belonged to the Greek side.

It took a blunder by Polish keeper Wojciech Szczesny in the 51st minute for the Greek side to get on the board, but Dimitris Salpingidis took advantage of the Polish mistake by burying the ball into the empty net to even the match at one.

When they missed a penalty against the backup Polish keeper with about 20 minutes remaining, the Greeks couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed with the 1-1 result.

Today, against what is sure to be a somewhat dejected Czech side, the Greeks will look to veteran midfielder Giorgios Karagounis and striker Theofanis Gekas to strike early, before turning to their suffocating defensive game to shut down, and potentially eliminate, the Czech Republic.

Prediction: Greece 1, Czech Republic 0

The Czechs are simply not able to recover from their opening match throttling and suffer a second consecutive defeat after the Greeks score early and use their defensive expertise to keep the Czechs off the board.

Once that match has wrapped up, attention will shift to the National Stadium in Warsaw where Poland will take on a Russian squad who put up four goals in their opening match at the expense of the Czech Republic.

Look for the Polish side to try their best to control possession of the ball in order to keep the incredibly potent Russian attack at bay.

With the usual starting keeper, Wojciech Szczesny, out after being sent off in the Polish side's first match, all eyes will be on his backup, Przemyslaw Tyton, to once again come up with a surprising effort.

For the Russians, it will be all about ratcheting up the pressure against the hosts and trying to cause a few mistakes that they can take advantage of.

They'll look to Alan Dzagoev to duplicate some of the success he had against the Czech Republic, when he marked two goals for the Russians.

Keep your eyes peeled for talented midfielder Andrei Arshavin, who's offensive prowess helped the Russians advance to all the way to the semifinals in 2008, before they were crushed by the eventual champion Spanish squad.

Prediction: Poland 0, Russia 3

While it would be a wonderful Cinderella story if the Polish side could pull out a win or even a draw against the Russians, it is simply too good to be true. The Russians pour it on in this lopsided victory.

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