Euro 2012 11am Bulletin: Burnt fingers in Group A

If Group A is anything to go by we're in for some fun over the next few days with the likes of Germany, Portugal, Spain, France and England looking over their shoulders knowing what can happen in their final group games.

The opening group was completely turned on its head last night with the two outsiders to win each game - Czech Republic and Greece - recording 1-0 victories, and in doing so, booking their place in the knock-out stages of the competition.

The Czech Republic had been matched at 32.031/1 to win the group following their 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Russia last week, and the straight forecast - Czech Republic to finish first, Greece to finish second - was matched at 130.0129/1 prior to last night's games commencing. Burnt fingers were had during the game in Warsaw with the 0-0 Half Time Score being matched for several thousands of pounds at 1.011/100 before Greece scored their goal deep into first half stoppage time.

Russia had also been matched at just 1.021/50 to qualify from the group. Jimmy Hill once said it's a funny old game and he wasn't kidding. The nation that won their opening game 4-1 go out of the competition, the nation that lost that game win the group!

If results go pretty much as expected this evening - Germany beating Denmark and Holland beating Portugal - then all sorts of permutations are possible in Group B. The Germans will obviously top the group, but who will join them is anyone's guess. Jamie Pacheco has had a go at explaining it all here.

Tomorrow's Group C is a lot more straightforward. Ireland are out, Spain will qualify if they win or draw against Croatia, and Italy will qualify if they beat Giovanni Trapattoni's men. If Italy fail to win then Spain and Croatia qualify regardless of the result between those two nations.

It does get a little more complicated if Spain and Croatia draw and Italy beat Ireland as all three nations will be on five points, and with all three having had draws between each other then it will simply come down to goal difference. Spain are obviously in the driving seat in that regard.

Spain are currently available to back at 1.211/5 to win Group C, with Croatia available at 8.07/1 and Italy available at 16.015/1. Remember, the only way Croatia can win the group is if they beat Spain, and their odds to do so in that match are 8.415/2. True, it's only marginally better than their Group Winner odds, but it's always worth working these things out and looking around for the best price.