Euro 2020 Thread (11th June-11th July)

[Duty281]

First topic message reminder :

Starts in under a week. Might be a fun summer of football to lift the gloom of the previous 12 months.

Groups:

Full Schedule:

Outright Odds:

Portugal to defend their title? France to go one better? Germany return to prominence? Belgium finally get it right? England bring football home? Or will Scotland shock the world?

[GSC]

De Bruyne does start for Belgium

[Guest]

Penalties between Spain & Switzerland. Amazed one of these has made the SF.

[Duty281]

Some heroic blocks, top goalkeeping and diabolical finishing from Moreno has got Switzerland to penalties.

In situations such as this you often favour the side that has defended valiantly to the last ditch to win the shoot-out. Especially with their recent penalty success in mind.

[Guest]

Swiss pens have been horrific

[Samo]

Embarassing. Trying too hard to be clever instead of just burying it into the top bag.

[Guest]

This woeful Spanish side make the SF

Spain v Belgium or Italy

[Duty281]

Complete reversal from what we saw Switzerland do from 12 yards v France. Felt they would have won that game inside the distance had the red card not jeopardised realistic hopes of that.

Spain mediocre as ever. Their defensive unit is poor, finishing up top highly suspect.

Belgium-Italy now - the winners will be thinking they're in the final.

[GSC]

Italy could do with upping the tempo a bit, it's all a bit slow for them, Belgium look decent on the break

[GSC]

Big save, Italy look a bit rattled

[GSC]

Italy lead this time, Belgium don't clear the ball and it's a great finish

[Duty281]

Had to love the Italian player feigning injury in the box, then as soon as Barella scored he got up to join the celebrations.

Italy will be immensely tough for anyone to beat, but they're potentially vulnerable to a swift counter-attack.

[Duty281]

Lovely goal.

Goodnight, Belgium.

[Guest]

Penalty to Belgium

Lukaku slots, 2-1

[GSC]

Looked a penalty in real time, just beaten for pace

[Duty281]

Hello again, Belgium.

Didn't look a pen to me. Very soft.

[GSC]

Think it's just clumsy, overcompensated for being beaten

[Guest]

Shocking miss from Lukaku

[Duty281]

Can't believe Lukaku missed out on both of those chances. KdB's fitness issues are beginning to show him up. Much more open game than I'd anticipated. Doku's been phenomenal down Belgium's left.

[GSC]

Italy are excellent pressing from the front but they're wide open if you can break it

[Guest]

Belgium lacking that ruthlessness, and there has always been that ? over this squad to live up to its ability and golden generation tag. Still looks a side of individuals, that Martinez hasn’t really moulded into a team.

Italy decent, but I wouldn’t go overboard.

[alfie]

Come on Belgium...I want another 30 minutes of this...

[GSC]

We might be on for another 30 minutes in added time

[Guest]

Typical Italian gamesmanship.

Italy v Spain SF.

Either, very beatable.

[Soul Requiem]

Gamesmanship or just plain cheating?

[Duty281]

Great game of football, probably the best of the tournament.

Italy indebted to some poor misses and good saves, but overall I felt they were worthy winners. Very well balanced side that just knows how to win. Fully expect them to reach the final. If England can join them it'll be a titanic tussle and a worthy final.

Belgium's golden generation set to end up potless. It may be the only golden generation we see from the Belgians. I never fancied them as potential winners this year because of the fitness issues surrounding their two key players and so it has proved.

[alfie]

OK fair enough ...Italy good for the win. But they had a bit of good fortune with some bad Belgian missed chances.

Think they are favourites for the title. But not invulnerable.

[Riggs]

I predict an Italy vs England final.

[Duty281]

Meanwhile the Copa America has reached the QF stage and is being broadcast on the BBCIPlayer, for anyone who wants extra football.

Seems like usual South American stuff. Some Paraguayan has been given a second yellow-card after his opponent dived and feigned injury; the same Paraguayan then squared up to the referee and had to be restrained by several of his teammates.

All the fun of the fair in Brazil.

[GSC]

Spinazzola has done his Achilles and could be out for a year. Real shame, he was having a great tournament and looked to be Italy's main outlet

[Guest]

I never fancied them as potential winners this year because of the fitness issues surrounding their two key players and so it has proved

Yep, De Bruyne confirming he played with torn ankle ligaments

Think that’s been a real disappointment, the injuries to Hazard, KDB, and the fact Mbappe didn’t really show up, and to an extent, Kane. A tournament always needs it’s star players to perform, but it just hasn’t happened. Pogba, probably the only player to really deliver.

[GSC]

Sancho starting today apparently

[GSC]

Mount also coming back in so back to a back 4.

[Duty281]

Interesting England team news coming out of the rumour mill, which has been mostly right throughout this tournament:

Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Phillips, Rice; Sancho, Mount, Sterling; Kane.

If correct, Grealish will be exasperated - what more does he need to do to get a start? And Mount has been ineffectual thus far. Would be very interesting to start Sancho, given that he's barely played through this tournament. It does indicate, perhaps, that Saka would have started, but he's carrying a knock, so Southgate has gone for a similar choice in the pace of Sancho. Otherwise it's as expected.

Good thing it's an evening game. Temperatures in Rome are reaching 33-34 degrees in the mid-afternoon, cooling down to the late 20s by the time of kick-off.

Feels strange to be so confident for England's chances going into a QF. QF games are usually England's undoing - they bring forth a history of penalties, Rooney's red, Campbell's disallowed goal, Ronaldinho's free-kick, Maradona's hand and Banks' food-poisoning. Overall, England's record in the QF stage at major tournaments is four wins and eight losses...or two wins and eight losses for games on foreign turf.

But England's prospects look good for this one. Ukraine are probably the weakest team left in the competition, they were fortunate to get past Sweden, scraped past North Macedonia in the group stage, and only qualified as the fourth-best third-placed team. Two players of note in Zinchenko and Yarmolenko, but little else.

Thinking a very comfortable win for England - 2-0, maybe 3-0. A Ukraine win would be a mammoth upset.

Also got the Czechs and the Danes first up. Could be quite close, but if Denmark's improvement continues they should eke out a solid win, though the Czechs have proven tough to beat so far. Going for 1-0 Denmark, perhaps AET.

[Soul Requiem]

I never fancied them as potential winners this year because of the fitness issues surrounding their two key players and so it has proved

Yep, De Bruyne confirming he played with torn ankle ligaments

Think that’s been a real disappointment, the injuries to Hazard, KDB, and the fact Mbappe didn’t really show up, and to an extent, Kane. A tournament always needs it’s star players to perform, but it just hasn’t happened. Pogba, probably the only player to really deliver.

This is the nature of international football, it's very rare for there to be a tournament where the top players all perform. The last world cup is a case in point, the majority of teams were poor aside from France, Croatia scraped into the final playing rubbish football in the knockout stage.

[Guest]

Yeah, it’s been a poor tournament overall. As Duty stated, it’s a weird feeling for England going into a QF, with such confidence. I mean, imagine playing Ukraine, and then possibly Czech Rep, for a place in a European Championship final. Just a strange tournament really, and even Spain reaching the SF, having only won one game inside 90 minutes, just sums it up.

[Duty281]

There's too much football played, players struggle to reach their best when they're fatigued. Many of them are carrying injuries of some kind. There should be a proper off-season of at least one month each year where there is no football (not even friendlies) to allow international players to recover. Since football restarted in June 2020, there has been precious little recuperation time for footballers.

Will be interesting to see if the Qatar World Cup is different, it being a mid-season event.

[GSC]

Almost wonder whether it would work better to scrap midseason international breaks and have a block each summer for international football.

[Riggs]

I'm not surprised that the Germans were amazed that Sancho wasn't picked for previous matches.

I myself want to see far more of him.

[eirebilly]

I cannot believe that so little is being made of the horrible piece of cheating in the Italian game. That is exactly why i feel retrospective bans should be put in place for cheating. Start doing that and less people will cheat.

[alfie]

If that lineup is correct it seems Southgate wants to make sure all his forward options have had a bit of action leading into the business end of the tournament. Plenty of people been screaming for Sancho so should be a popular selection. Grealish seemed to work brilliantly as an impact sub last game so not surprised if that is how he's to be employed again. No resting for the yellow card risks , I see. Crossed fingers there.

Reasons why England should win 1/ They are a better team 2/ Their defence is yet to concede and the forwards are due to really turn it on 3/ Ukraine might have already played their "final".

Reasons why it might all end in tears 1/ Rome not Wembley 2/ Ukraine nothing to lose while for England this one is "expected" 3/ this is England in a quarter final

More crossed fingers   . Fortunately I have a good supply of Scotch to get me through ...

[Duty281]

https://www.espn.co.uk/football/blog-the-toe-poke/story/4424626/petition-for-france-switzerland-euro-2020-clash-to-be-replayed-gets-over-250,000-signatures

Over 250,000 disgruntled French want the L16 game v Switzerland to be replayed, just in case you needed a laugh.

[Duty281]

If that lineup is correct it seems Southgate wants to make sure all his forward options have had a bit of action leading into the business end of the tournament. Plenty of people been screaming for Sancho so should be a popular selection. Grealish seemed to work brilliantly as an impact sub last game so not surprised if that is how he's to be employed again. No resting for the yellow card risks , I see. Crossed fingers there.

Reasons why England should win 1/ They are a better team 2/ Their defence is yet to concede and the forwards are due to really turn it on 3/ Ukraine might have already played their "final".

Reasons why it might all end in tears 1/ Rome not Wembley 2/ Ukraine nothing to lose while for England this one is "expected" 3/ this is England in a quarter final

More crossed fingers   . Fortunately I have a good supply of Scotch to get me through ...

Yes, I've wanted to see more of Sancho, just not sure this is the game for it. Expecting Ukraine to defend quite deep, for that reason I'd have preferred England to have played two of their intricate midfield options (Mount/Foden/Grealish) and one pace option. Not sure how much benefit England will derive from both Sterling and Sancho.

Grealish would be my first name on the teamsheet. Baffling to me that he hasn't yet played a full 90 and, presumably, will be reduced to a fourth bench role in five games.

[Duty281]

Danes score from a corner that wasn't a corner. Terrible marking, but a powerful header from Delaney.

[Guest]

Denmark bending over a really poor Czech side. 2-0

[Duty281]

2-0 Denmark, making light work of the Czechs. This one's probably over.

If England get past Ukraine tonight, Denmark will pose the toughest test of the tournament so far - they're better than the Germans/Croats/Czechs, even without Eriksen.

[Dolphin Ziggler]

Czechs have made a game of this and don’t look much worse at all.

[Guest]

Denmark make the SF. Looked relatively poor second half. Nothing to fear.

[Duty281]

Commendable second half effort from the Czechs, the HT substitutions give them life, but they tired visibly with about 20 minutes left and couldn't construct anything meaningful after that point. Denmark did enough in the end. Wonder what physical condition they'll be in having had to travel all the way to Azerbaijan for that tie.

England's team is the expected one from earlier. I don't think England have been anything better than solid to decent in the tournament so far, hopefully they can elevate it to good this evening. Ukraine's team as anticipated, expect at least eight behind the ball for the most part.

[Duty281]

'He left London to go to Watford'
'It'll make people sit and stand up'

Rio's good entertainment value.

[Riggs]

We are going to see Sancho, thank christ!

I like his style of play.

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