Coming off of huge football stories in May with Chelsea winning the Champions League and Manchester City winning the Premiereship in dramatic fashion, Clemente Lisi discusses some of the big events coming up this summer, leading with Euro 2012.

As previously stated, this is the biggest tournament for national teams after the World Cup. In a way, this 16-team competition is better than the World Cup because there are fewer teams (the World Cup has 32) and with the exception of Brazil and Argentina, features some of the best players on the planet.

Things get started this coming Friday when co-hosts Poland (the other is Ukraine) takes on Greece in Warsaw. The first round features other delicious matches, including France vs. England on June 11 and Germany vs. the Netherlands on June 13.

The best games will come out of Group C because it features Spain, reigning World Cup and European champion, Italy, Ireland and Croatia. Spain vs. Italy on June 10 is the big game, but the bars in New York and Boston will really focus on Italy against Ireland.

As for who will win it all? Tough one to predict since so many Cinderella teams actually won this thing in the past. My outside choice to make a run is Portugal. If I was a betting man, however, I’d go with Germany. The final will be played July 1 in Kiev.

The World Cup generated great ratings in the U.S. in 2010 so it will be interesting to see the reception for this tournament.