UEFA announced the prize money on June 17th after holding a two-day long executive meeting. The organization also called on FIFA to make some reforms in the next three months due to constant allegations of corruption in the world soccer governing body.

The total prize money offered by UEFA for the 16 teams at Euro 2012 now stands at 196 million euros (US $281.55 million). In the last tournament (Euro 2008), which was won by Spain, the total prize money was 184 million euros. All 16 teams will be guaranteed eight million euros for just making it to the championship tournament. A million euros will be earned for every win in the group stage while a draw is worth 500,000 euros.

A win in the tournament’s quarter-final stage will net teams two million euros, and a win in the semi-finals will be worth three million. The championship-winning team will win an additional 7.5 million euros and the runners-up will be paid 4.5 million euros.

UEFA also announced the third-place teams in the group stage will make a million euros bonus money. A UEFA spokesman said this will motivate teams if the top two places in the group have already been decided before the group games have been completed. FIFA also said that players who reach 100 caps for their national teams will be awarded an official medal and commemorative cap by them. In addition, the 2013 European Champions League final will be held in England to commemorate the 150th birthday of the country’s football association, which was the first to be launched in the world.

In related news, FIFA vice president Jack Warner resigned on June 20th, and all bribery investigations against him have been dropped. However, critics have said this further implicates FIFA as it appears Warner will be left alone as long as he resigned from the organization. Warner and executive member Mohamed Bin Hamman were under suspension over bribery allegations and Chuck Blazer is also being investigated by the organization’s ethics committee.

Warner’s resignation comes after UEFA urged FIFA to reform the organization by September following the worst corruption crisis in the organization since Sepp Blatter took over as president 13-years ago. Blatter has now promised to clean up FIFA, and it appears Warner’s resignation could be a start. Blatter has also extended invitations to singer Placido Domingo and American statesman Henry Kissinger to join a new type of ethics committee.

UEFA released a statement which said it’s following the FIFA bribery scandal closely and expects them to keep its promises and to show some positive results or action by September of this year.

It could be argued that the Spanish champions gave their English counterparts a thorough football lesson for the next 81 minutes and it would be hard to disagree. We know United did touch the ball at least once more during the game though because Wayne Rooney deposited it into the net about seven minutes after Barcelona jumped into a 1-0 lead.

Rooney’s goal came after a fine setup by oldtimer Ryan Giggs and United’s number 10 finished it well. However, it did come against the run of play and that was the last time United came anywhere close to the Barcelona net.

While the players stood around and watched Barcelona humiliate them all evening long, Ferguson also has to shoulder a big part of the blame. His team selection was poor and United paid for it. His three biggest mistakes were namely Patrice Evra, Rio Ferdinand, and Antonio Valencia. However credit should be given to Van der Saar, Rooney, and Vidic.

Evra was carved open all night long as he had no clue how to defend. The majority of Barcelona’s endless chances came down the right side of the pitch, where the left-back Evra was supposed to have been defending. However, Evra was all over the pitch, but the only place you couldn’t find him was at left-back where he was supposed to be.

Antonio Valencia was a poor choice to start as he’s way too predictable. Valencia takes the ball down the right wing and crosses it. Everybody knows what he’s going to do as he’s a one-dimensional player. Nani would have been a better choice as he’s unpredictable, can take men on, uses his speed, and can attack from both wings.

Rio Ferdinand is nothing more than an embarrassment and a pylon would have been more effective than him. On the last goal he turned away from the shot with his hands held in front of his face while the ball sailed into the net. Twelve-year-old girls have more courage than this and it definitely wasn’t the first time he’s turned away from a ball instead of trying to block it.

Ferguson more or less gave up on the game and that could be seen with his lack of substitutions. He only used two of his three and one of them was due to an injury. Also, what else can you say about a guy who didn’t even dress the Golden Boot winner of the English Premier League in Dmitar Berbatov. Ferguson’s performance was just as bad as or worse than his players.

Russia was shutout 3-0 in the semi-finals after beating Canada 2-1 in the quarterfinals in their best showing of the tournament. Finland took a 1-0 lead in the second period and then added two more in the third to seal the win against the Russians. Russia outshot Finland 30-29 but couldn’t solve goaltender Petri Vehanen.

The Czech Republic was rolling along undefeated in the tournament until running into Sweden in the semi-finals. The Swedes derailed them with a 5-2 win. The Czechs took a 1-0 lead on an early second period goal by Patrik Elias. However Sweden took a 2-1 lead before the second period was over and stretched it to 4-1 with seven and a half minutes to go in the game. The Czech’s closed the gap to 4-2 on another Elias goal, only to see Sweden wrap it up with their fifth goal into an empty net with 47 seconds to play.

Top-ranked Russia didn’t play particularly well throughout the event and it wasn’t much of a shock to see Finland beat them, but the Czech fans were bitterly disappointed to see their team knocked out after losing their only game.

Predictions

Based on the two team’s play alone, the fifth-ranked Czechs should take the bronze medal home with them. However, there’s a long history between these two teams and it could be a nasty, emotional affair. If the Czech’s can’t get over the shock to losing to Finland, the Russians will beat them here by two goals.

Bet365 has the odds of a Czech win at 20/27 and a Russian win at 23/20. The odds of Russia winning by two goals are 6/1.

Germany opened their qualification round with a 5-4 shootout loss against Finland and then followed it up with another shootout loss, this time 4-3 to Denmark. They finished the round with a 5-2 loss to the undefeated Czech Republic.

Sweden opened their qualification campaign with a 4-0 shutout over France and then shutout Switzerland 2-0. They finished their round with a close 3-0 loss against Canada.

Sweden has been a bit of a surprise in the tournament as this is a relatively unknown group of players with little international experience. They do have youth and speed tough. Their scoring has been spread out, but their goaltending has been the best in the event with Viktor Fasth the top goalie so far with an amazing save percentage of 98.26 to go along with three shutouts and a goals-against-average of .050.

Predictions for Sweden vs Germany

The Germans started the tournament strongly, but have been running out of steam the longer it goes. They’re going to have to have their sharpshooters in top form to score on Fasth has he’s been almost unbeatable. However, it’s unlikely to happen and Sweden should advance to the next round by beating Germany by at least two goals.

Ladbrokes has the odds of a Sweden win at 9/20 with a German win at 9/2 and a draw after 60 minutes at 15/4.

Third-ranked Sweden sits in second place in Group F with seven points from two wins and an overtime loss. Seventh-ranked Switzerland is in fifth-place in the six-team group with three points from an overtime win, an overtime loss, and a loss.

Sweden has been a bit of a surprise so far in the tournament, considering they’re a relatively young and inexperienced team that isn’t filled with NHL stars. Goalkeeper Viktor Fasth is having an excellent event and is the leading goaltender in it with a goals against average of 0.67 and a save percentage of 97.62. Patrik Berglund is leading the offense with five goals in four games, which is good for fifth place in tournament point scoring.

Tobias Stephan is also playing well in goal for Switzerland with a goals against average of 1.33 and a save percentage of 94.81, which is fourth best in the tournament so far.

Betting Predictions for Sweden vs Switzerland

Looking at these numbers it appears this could be a goalkeeper’s duel as goals may be hard to come by. Whoever takes advantage of their scoring chances is going to come out on top in this one. It should be pretty close, but Sweden seems to have a stronger squad and a one or two goal win by them looks about right.

Ladbrokes has the odds of a Sweden win at 1.55 (11/20) and a Swiss win at 4.50 (7/2). The odds for a tie after 60 minutes are 4.75 (15/4) Here players can even find live betting odds of these games.

Thirteenth-ranked Denmark sits in last place in Qualification Group E with no points on three games and a goal difference of minus 11. The Danes played their best game of the tournament on May 5th when they were edged by top-ranked Russia 4-3 in the first qualification-round contest for both teams.

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Denmark had a 2-1 lead after the first period with Russia ahead 3-2 after the second. Russia took a 4-2 lead in the third before Denmark narrowed the gap. However, they couldn’t tie the game. Frederick Andersen was excellent in goal for Denmark and made 36 saves. Russia outshot the Danes 40-18. Nichlas Hardt led the way offensively with two goals. Mikkel Bodker scored the other.

Ninth-ranked Germany sits in top place in Group E still with seven points, but the Czech Republic plays later in the day. They lost their first game in the tournament on May 6th as Finland managed to beat them 5-4 in a shootout. Finland tied the game in the third period with six minutes to go in the game. The Germans held a 3-1 lead at one point in the second period.

Denmark seems to be getting better as the tournament rolls on, but will have a tough time beating German goalie Dennis Endras, who is the top keeper in the event so far. He made 46 saves against Finland as Germany was outshot 50-21. The Germans will be looking to get back on track after their setback to Finland and should have enough depth to beat the Danes by at least two goals.

The eighth-ranked Slovakians have been a bit of a disappointment so far as they finished in third place in Group A in the preliminary round with three points from a win and two losses. The fifth-ranked Czech Republic looks to be the strongest team so far and topped Group D with three straight wins.

Slovakia got off to a good start with a 3-1 win over Slovenia in their opener and then followed it up with two straight losses. They were beaten 4-3 by both Germany and Russia. They were both close games and the Slovakians almost came back from a 4-0 deficit in the third period against Germany, but just fell short. They’ve been competitive in all their games, but the results have been a letdown.

The teams have been placed in Group E in the qualification round with the Czech Republic sitting in first place with Germany on six points each. The Czechs take top spot because of a better goal difference though. Slovakia is in fifth spot, tied with Denmark at no points. Slovakia has a better goal difference than Denmark though.

Czech Republic vs Slovakia Predictions

The emotions will be running high in this game and anything can happen. However, the Czechs seem to be a more solid team and should win this by one r two goals tops.

Ladbrokes has the odds of a Czech Republic win even at 1/1 with a Slovakian win at 37/20. The odds of a tie after 60 minutes are 10/3.

The Swiss shutout France 1-0 in overtime in their curtain raiser and followed that up with a 4-1 win over Belarus and a 4-3 loss to Canada in overtime in their final preliminary round game.

Norway opened the tournament on a high as they beat Sweden for the first time ever when they edged them 5-4 in a shootout. It took the Norwegians 61 years to best their rivals. They blew a 2-0 third-period lead to the USA in their next game and lost it 4-2. They then shutout Austria 5-0 in their last preliminary matchup.

Switzerland and Norway have been placed in Group F in the qualification round along with Canada, Sweden, the USA, and France. Switzerland sits in third place in the group with three points while Norway is positioned in fifth place with two points.

Switzerland vs Norway – Betting Odds

This is a big game for both teams if they want to climb up the standings in this round. Switzerland has a stronger team, but Norway has given everybody fits so far and has proven to be a very difficult team to deal with. This should be a close match and it could end up going to overtime. It’s anybody’s game after that.

Ladbrokes has the odds of a tie after 60 minutes at 15/4 with a Swiss win at 1/2 and a Norwegian win at 4/1.

Milan Michalek and Michael Frolik are leading the way for the Czechs with two goals and an assist each while Martin Havlat and Patrik Elias have each chipped in with a goal and an assist. Ondrej Pavelec has been excellent in net with two wins and a 95.83 save percentage to go along with his goals against average of 1.00.

Mikael Granlund and Jarkko Immonen have played well for Finland, with Immonen leading the way offensively with three goals and an assist. Granlund has helped out with a goal and two assists. Two other players have two points each to give the Finns a pretty balanced attack overall. Petri Vehanen and Teemu Lassila have split the games in net, playing one each.

Finland vs Czech Republic – Predictions

This game will be for first place in the group and should be one of the best matchups of the tournament so far. The Czechs will have to stay out of the penalty box as Finland has the best power play at 50% efficiency. Interestingly enough, the Czechs are the top penalty killing team at 100%. This is a close game to call and could be tied after 60 minutes.

Betsafe has the odds of a Czech Republic win at 2.10 and a Finland win at 2.75. The odds of a 60-minute tie are 4.30.

Denmark held the Finns scoreless in the first period, but then fell behind 3-0 early in the third. The Danes finally got on the scoreboard to close the gap to 3-1, but Finland added two more in the last 10 minutes of the game to wrap things up. Nichlas Hardt scored the lone goal for Denmark and Frederik Andersen took the loss in net. Denmark liked out of their league in this game as they were outshot 44-9 throughout 60 minutes.

The Czech Republic found themselves in a close, penalty-filled game with Latvia. The Latvians went ahead 1-0 and 2-1, but the Czechs fought back to level the score 2-2 going into the third period. They then scored goals early and late in the third period for the victory. Ondrej Pavelec stopped 22 of 24 shots for the win and the scoring was spread out between four players. Czech defenceman Radek Martinek was carried off on a stretcher after receiving a severe concussion and will likely miss this game.

Predictions for Czech Republic vs Denmark

The Czech team is filled with solid players and it would be a huge upset if they lost to Denmark. They should take this game by about four goals.

Ladbrokes has the odds of a Czech Republic win at 2/17 and a Denmark win at 12/1. The odds of a tie are 8/1. Bet365 has the odds of the Czechs winning by four goals at 9/2.