Euro 2012 Key Players: Group A

In six days, Poland and Greece will begin Euro 2012 in Warsaw in front of approximately 50,000 fans. So in honour of the beginning of world football’s most captivating events, I will be going through the key players and possible “it” factors for each team, group by group. Here’s group A.Poland – Wojciech Szczesny

The Arsenal shot stopper has added some much needed stability to the Gunners defence this season as he has got better and better throughout the course of the season.

The 21 year old is arguably Poland’s most recognized player and if he is able to keep a few clean sheets against the likes of Russia, perhaps Poland will cause an upset and advance to the quarter finals. Greece – Giorgos Karagounis

At age 35, this will almost certainly be Karagounis’ swansong on the international stage, and he will be determined to make it special. And the word “determined” perfectly sums up the Panathinaikos man as he wears his heart on his proverbial sleeve for both club and country.

Having played in all ten of Greece’s qualifying matches for the tournament, Greece will rely on their central midfielder to instill the values of Greece’s astonishing Euro 2004 win, a team that Karagounis was an integral part of.Russia – Roman Pavlyuchenko

Four years ago, at Euro 2008, Roman Pavlyuchenko truly arrived on the international stage, as he helped Russia to a surprise semi-final place, in the process scoring three goals. Due to his excellent performances at the tournament, the Russian was signed by Tottenham for £14 million.

Now, with Russia being placed in a relatively easy group alongside the Czech Republic, Greece and co-hosts Poland, Pavlyuchenko has a great chance to help Russia to a quarter final, and maybe even a semi-final place.

The expectation is higher on the Lokomotiv Moscow player this year, but with the likes of Andrey Arshavin and Yuri Zhirkov around him, he should impress again. Czech Republic- Petr Cech

There can be no better way to enter a European tournament than to have just won the Champions League with your club side, and that’s exactly what the Czech Republic’s goalkeeper, Petr Cech has done with Chelsea.

The Czech’s may well look to Chelsea’s heroics for inspiration, as with an ageing squad, their chances of a semi-final appearance like the one they had in 2004, look slim.

But with Cech in goal, a man largely considered one of the world’s top five goalkeepers, and a group in which they look likely to progress from, you never know. So who do you think will get through this group? Leave a comment as I’d be interested to know.