Euro 2012 Bracket: Predicting the Quarterfinal Matches for Group a and Group B

Group A and Group B have concluded group play and the quarterfinal matches between the four advancing teams have been scheduled.

The Czech Republic will play Portugal on Thursday, June 21 in Warsaw. The Czechs were the surprise winners of Group A, and will meet the runner-ups from the Group of Death, Portugal.

In the second quarterfinal tilt, set to be played on Friday, June 22 in Gdansk, Germany and Greece square off. The Germans ran roughshod on the Group of Death, winning all three games they played.

The Greeks come in as yet another surprise out of Group A. The won just one match, but it came at the perfect time to send them to the knockout stage.

Here are predictions for the first two matches of the quarterfinals.

Czech Republic vs. Portugal

The Czechs showed their collective character to obtain their hard-fought berth in the quarterfinals of the 2012 European Championship. They got absolutely, positively humiliated by Russia in their first match of the competition, but bounced back in their next tilt to get a win against fellow quarterfinalist Greece.

After eking out a 2-1 victory against the Greeks, Petr Cech and company beat the co-hosts, Poland, in a very hostile environment in Wroclaw by a 1-0 margin.

Their quarterfinal opponent, Portugal, proved its worth after many discounted its chances to emerge from the Group of Death. The Portuguese lost a heart breaker to the Germans in the first match of group play, but righted the ship starting with their next match.

They jumped out to a 2-0 lead against Denmark, but surrendered two goals to Nicklas Bendtner in the 41st and 80th minutes. If not for a late goal by substitute Silvestre Varela, we would be looking at a totally different landscape in the group.

In case you forgot about Cristiano Ronaldo's 2012 Euro coming-out party, he led the Portuguese to a 2-1 win over the Netherlands to secure their spot in the knockout stage. He netted two brilliant strikes in the 24th and 78th minute to bring his team back from an early 1-0 deficit.

The Czechs could be in trouble in this matchup. They have a formidable defense and a world-class goaltender, but they just don't have the necessary firepower to hang with the Portuguese over the course of 90 minutes.

This matchup is a tale of two stars heading in opposite directions. Czech star Tomas Rosicky is doubtful for Thursday's match with a faulty Achilles tendon. Portugal's superstar, Ronaldo, seems to be hitting his stride at the perfect time. After struggling in the first two matches, the Real Madrid star bounced back to lead his team to victory.

Prediction: 2-1 Portugal

Germany vs. Greece

Joachim Low's side has been a juggernaut in this tournament so far. Not only have they outscored their opponents 5-2, but the Germans have looked far superior to all of their competition. 

In a group that was fearfully dubbed the Group of Death, the Germans made their run through Portugal, the Netherlands and Denmark seem more like a cakewalk.

The back line consisting of Mats Hummels, Philipp Lahm and Holger Badstuber has been mostly fantastic in the competition, save for a few occasions.

Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, Thomas Muller and Bastian Schweinsteiger have been consistent in the middle third of the field, winning the possession battle in two of the team's three games. The only exception came against the Dutch, when the Germans were out-possessed by the smallest of margins.

Lukas Podolski and Mario Gomez were two of the best attacking combinations in the group stage and will have no problem continuing that trend against the Greeks.

Greece relies more on its defense to win. They don't have nearly as intimidating of an attack as the Germans have, but their back line is solid.

Kyriakos Papadopoulos will likely see the pitch against Germany. The 20-year-old defender intercepted 118 balls last season in the Bundesliga, something that will certainly help him against Low's side.

Papadopoulos is young, though, and frequently gets caught out of position. His propensity to roam will cost him in the quarterfinals if he can't control himself against Germany's ever-pressing attack.

Germany is clearly the better side in this match and won't have much of a problem moving on to the next round of the 2012 European Championship.

Prediction: 2-0 Germany

Here's a link to the full tournament bracket.