1, Andriy Shevchenko is a genuine superstar
He may be 35 years old and have his reputation long-since tarnished by his ill-fated stint at Stamford Bridge but Andriy Shevchenko is a national icon in Ukraine. His brace of headers in the co-hosts' opening victory over Sweden were the 47th and 48th that he had netted for his country, putting him 33 goals clear of the nearest challenger for Ukraine's top scorer - his former strike partner at Dynamo Kiev, Serhiy Rebrov. While Rebrov retired in 2009 and is now assistant manager of the national team, Sheva is still doing the business on the pitch and was delighted to be the match-winner in the stadium where he used to be a ball-boy before making it as a young striker at Dynamo. Ukraine are still up against it to qualify from the group at the expense of either France or England but if anybody can inspire his team-mates it is the living legend in the number 7 shirt.
2, Cristiano Ronaldo needs to find his Real Madrid form for Portugal.
The international and club careers of Cristiano Ronaldo appear to be moving in opposite directions. Unless the Portuguese winger-cum-striker can make something happen for A Selecção against Denmark and Holland then it could be the earliest end to a tournament yet for the 2008 World Player of the Year and his team-mates. While the 27-year-old has gone from strength to strength with Real Madrid, netting an outrageous 60 goals in all competitions last season, he seems to be playing an increasingly minor role in each passing international tournament. Back in Euro 2004 when Ronaldo was still a fringe player at Manchester United, he was named in the team of the tournament after scoring twice and impressing as his team reached the final. In World Cup 2006, despite the infamous wink, Ronaldo starred as the Portuguese reached the semi-finals. However in both Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010, despite a burgeoning reputation from his achievements at club level, Ronaldo could only net once and his team exited timidly in the first knockout match they played. The man from Madeira has other capable team-mates such as Fabio Coentrao, Pepe, Nani and Raul Meireles but he will need to find his shooting boots if the Portuguese are to make an impact on this tournament.
3, The Dutch may have reached their peak in 2010
Most people were surprised to see Holland lose their opening game 1-0 to Denmark thanks to a goal from Brondby's Michael Krohn-Dehli but a closer analysis reveals a team that may already have peaked. Wesley Sneijder, by all accounts, hasn't recreated his form of Inter's treble season and his 2010 World Cup performances in the past two seasons and Robin Van Persie and Arjen Robben have both been wasteful at international level, as was exemplified with some sloppy finishing on Saturday. Looking beyond the front trio of superstars, there are some fairly average international players such as Everton's John Heitinga and AZ's Ron Vlaar as well as the unproven 18-year-old Jetro Willems and Mark Van Bommel, who while a great leader on the pitch, is certainly well past his best. It is obviously still early days and if Van Persie, Robben, Sneijder and Ibrahim Affelay turn up against Germany, the Dutch may still have enough to make an impact on this tournament. If they lose, it will be a long way back from here. Bert van Marwijk certainly has his work cut out, and may look at introducing Klaas-Jan Huntelaar from the start next time.
4, England are more organised under Hodgson than they were under Capello
In the 1-1 draw with France which opened Group D, the Three Lions showed a level of discipline and organisation which had often been lacking in recent years despite the disciplinarian regime of Fabio Capello. Roy Hodgson's system of two banks of four with one deeper-lying striker successfully stifled France and earned a vital point. Whereas in the past there has been difficulty shoe-horning the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry, David Beckham and Paul Scholes into an effective midfield, this time Gerrard and Scott Parker provided a largely effective shield for the back four. James Milner also proved diligent defensively from the right wing and the surprise starter Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain didn't look completely out of place in a major tournament. France's possession play was penetrative at times, particularly through goalscorer Samir Nasri, but they left much to be desired in the finishing department and ultimately a draw was a fair result. Hodgson will, however, need to install more creativity for the remaining group games as it is hard to remember either Danny Welbeck or Ashley Young having a sniff of goal and England only had five shots to Les Bleus' 21. A good foundation to build from, but Hodgson's men cannot afford to rest on their laurels.
5, Russia genuinely could be dark horses for this tournament
One of the most eye-catching performances of the opening round of fixtures was the Russians' stunning 4-1 victory over a poor Czech Republic side. In Alan Dzagoev they seem to have a class act in the making and his two goals and all-round performance only whetted the appetite for more. The number 17 turns 22 this Sunday and if he keeps performing in this tournament then CSKA Moscow will do well to keep hold of him beyond this summer. Elsewhere in the team Andriy Arshavin shone in a way which would have infuriated Arsenal fans who saw the worst of him last season before he returned to Zenit St.Petersburg on loan. Roman Shirokov, Aleksandr Kerzhakov and goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev also help form the core of a talented side, and Dutch coach Dick Advocaat has got them playing a brand of fast-paced attacking football which will have the purists purring. On this form, nobody will be relishing the possibility of facing Advocaat's boys in the knockout stages.
6, UEFA probably did get it terribly wrong in choosing Poland and Ukraine
I'm all for taking major football tournaments to new parts of the world, but with the hooliganism problems which are well known in Poland and Ukraine it certainly does seem to be a poor decision to stage Euro 2012 there. The empty seats at many stadiums as well as the multiple instances of alleged racial abuse which have already occurred are surely enough evidence but as the tournament goes on it is likely that it will only get worse. There were reportedly less than 800 France fans in the 52,000 capacity Donbass Arena in Donetsk and less England fans are believed to have travelled than to many previous tournaments - largely because many have been put off by the fear of Ukrainian ultras. With incidents of alleged racial abuse towards Theodor Gebre Selassie of the Czech Republic and Italy's Mario Balotelli already under investigation, as well as the widely reported incidents during an open Holland training session, it begs the question how such countries deserve to host such a fantastic tournament. We can only fear that Russia 2018 will be more of the same...
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