Euro 2012 Bracket: Netherlands and Squads That Will Fall Short in Bid to Advance

With just one round of matches remaining in group play, there are certainly going to be some tense moments for the vast majority of the teams in Euro 2012.

While essentially every team is in danger of not advancing to the knockout round, there are a few teams that are right on the bubble and are in need of a great performance as well as help to move on.

Some of those teams will have good fortune, but others will inevitably be sent packing. Every squad is going to put in maximum effort in an attempt to advance, so the next few days should be extremely exciting. As great as it will be for some fans, though, it will be equally painful for others.

Here are three teams that still have a hope of playing in the sudden-death round, but will ultimately fall short in their bid to win Euro 2012.

*Standings and bracket courtesy of ESPN.com

Netherlands

Netherlands entered Euro 2012 as one of the favorites to win it all along with Spain and Germany. After losing each of its first two contests to Denmark and the Germans, however, the Dutch need a miracle to continue playing past the group stage.

Holland isn't technically eliminated, since both Denmark and Portugal have just three points, but Oranje will need to defeat Portugal and make up goal differential in order to advance.

What that means is that if either Portugal or Denmark earns a single point, the Netherlands will be sent packing. I expect Germany to defeat the Danes, so that will take care of them, but the real challenge is defeating Portugal. The Portuguese played the Germans tough in a 1-0 loss and they outlasted pesky Denmark in their other match.

If Netherlands wins by two goals it will take over goal differential and move on provided Denmark doesn't get a point, but Cristiano Ronaldo is due to explode for Portugal, so I can't see the Dutch winning that decisively.

Croatia

After taking care of Ireland easily in its first match of the tournament, Croatia looked like a good bet to advance to the knockout round. Suddenly things have gotten a bit dicey, however.

Croatia needed to come from behind in order to tie Italy, and while Croatia does have a two-point advantage on Italy heading into the final set of games, Italy may actually have the upper hand.

The Italians will play an Irish team that has been dominated twice, so there is a good chance that Italy will end up with five points.

Croatia is currently at four, so a draw may be good enough to advance, but that is a tall order against Spain. The Spaniards disappointed when they tied Italy, but they went back to a more traditional offense against Ireland and blew them out by a score of 4-0.

Spain will be eager to assert its dominance in the group as it eyes the knockout stage, and even if Croatia plays its best soccer, I don't expect anything less than a win out of La Roja. 

Ukraine

Ukraine, which is one of the two hosts of Euro 2012, got out of the gates quickly as it surprisingly defeated Sweden in its first match of the tournament. After a loss to France and England's dramatic win over Sweden, however, the Ukrainians now trail both the French and the Brits by one point in the group.

That means that Ukraine must either defeat England or grind out a draw and hope that France loses to Sweden, as unlikely as it may seem. Whichever way you slice it, the underdog Ukrainians are in a really tough spot right now.

The play of veteran striker Andriy Shevchenko has been inspiring thus far, but with no other real threats I'm not sure that Ukraine has the firepower to beat England.

Three Lions exploded for three goals against Sweden, and will only get more dangerous against Ukraine as striker Wayne Rooney is set to return from suspension. Ukraine must have a point against England at the very least, but I would be absolutely shocked if it is able to get one.

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