Euro 2012 Scores: Surprising Scorelines No One Saw Coming

There have been few surprises in which teams advanced to the quarter and semifinals in the 2012 Euros this year. Going into the tournament, the only group that seemed "open for the taking" was Group A.

With the exception of Holland finishing last in Group B and Russia not advancing to the quarterfinals in the weak Group A, the progression of the tournament has been fairly predictable. That isn't to say that pool play didn't have some shockers along the way. Here are some of the most surprising games of the 2012 Euros thus far.

Sweden beats France 2-0

This game had no effect on France affecting to the quarterfinals, but the surprising loss ended France's 23game win streak and created off-the-field issues for the team.

These issues manifested themselves into a locker room blowout and forced an emergency team meeting, where the members of the France's team aired their grievances.

After the loss, French coach Laurent Blanc told Sports Illustrated, "You have to be optimistic to think that we can beat Spain, but it's hard right now to imagine that we can."

Following the meeting assistant manager Alain Boghossian told UK's The Telegraph, "No one stands out as a leader on the pitch." He went on to say, "The problem won't be solved between now and Saturday. You can't just click your fingers and say 'let's hope a leader comes along,' or point the finger at someone and designate him as that leader."

Both Laurent Blanc and Alain Boghossian's observations proved true as France struggled against Spain in their quarterfinal matchup, losing 2-0. It's impossible to know for sure if the loss against Sweden caused France's issues in the following round, but it definitely couldn't have helped.

Denmark beats Netherlands 1-0

After appearing in the 2010 World Cup Final against Spain, this year's Netherlands squad entered the 2012 Euros with high expectations.

In the group of death, it looked like Germany, Portugal and Holland would be wrestling for the two advancing spots in the pool, with matches involving Denmark serving more as a formality. Holland appeared to be the lucky one of the three, getting to start the Euros in a sure-win situation against Denmark, setting them up to take an early point lead in the group.

Denmark clearly had other plans in mind.

The Red and White Football Aces, led by a 24th minute goal by Michael Krohn-Dehli, shocked the soccer world and changed the complexion of the 2012 Euros by handing the Netherlands a loss in the first game of pool play. 

This early loss put Holland in the undesirable position of having to beat Germany and Portugal to ensure they would advance to the quarters. The poor start to the tournament was too much to overcome for the Netherlands, as they dropped the subsequent two games to Germany and Portugal, only mustering two total goals in group play.

Greece beats Russia 1-0

Group A seemed devoid of a dominant country from the onset.

Entering the 2012 Euros as the seventh-ranked UEFA team, according to the UEFA quotient (the highest in pool A), Russia seemed to have a clear path paved to the semifinals. In addition to Russia, the pool contained the Czech Republic (19th ranked), Greece (10th ranked), and co-host country Poland (20th ranked).

After winning their first game against the Czech Republic and earning a draw against Poland, Russia was set to advance to the quarterfinals with a win/tie against Greece.

Having tied Poland and then suffering a loss to the Czech Republic, Greece needed a win against Russia to advance to the quarters.

With a goal in added time of the first half, Giorgos Karagounis put Greece in the drivers seat, propelling them to a 1-0 win over Russia and a berth in the quarterfinals.