I felt so bad for brave Austria yesterday.
Italy were saved by the overtime period. :(
General football "soccer" thread
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With the Netherlands the first favourite to win their match is out, let´s see who else can upset a big one, not many underdogs left.
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As for me, such competitions are an opportunity for athletes to prove themselves. In addition, this is a way of international communication, so such competitions will continue to exist for a long time until an alternative is created.
Apologies, let me clarify… not a problem with the competition in itself, actually I have been a fan of Euros growing up and it has historically provided some very special moments.
I suppose in a way what I am not a fan of, is it being hosted across all of Europe this year giving a select group of nations home advantages, for example the fact that Wales were unable to have support in their games in contrast to Denmark who were allowed support due to proximity of the game... that feels a little cheap in my eyes.
I would have preferred it to be held in one country (Eg France) or two border nations (Eg Spain and Portugal)
@Don:
With the Netherlands the first favourite to win their match is out, let´s see who else can upset a big one, not many underdogs left.
Portugal gone too but possibly not really an upset. Just one look at the brackets and with England and Germany to meet on Tuesday, there's a real prospect that a team like Denmark or Sweden could make the finals which would be a big surprise.
Infact - checked that half of the bracket and winners of Ukraine/Sweden to play winners of England/Germany, and Denmark to play Czechs…could easily see a finals involving a Denmark or a Sweden which would be a huge upset.
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What amazing games we have today, Croatia and Switzerland showing comebacks you hope for once a decade on the same day.
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This tournament is amazing so far.
Way more excitement and drama than I was ever hoping for.Even before today I was comparing the results to a good FA Cup year,
with underdog sides mostly punching above their weight.Today was incredible on that front.
TWO underdogs heroically fighting back to 3-3 from 3-1 down,
and one of them knocks out the world champions 5-4 on penalties.I can't stop smiling, things are turning out so cool.
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Yesterday was a great advert for the competition as a whole with two fantastic matches with some incredible quality… shout out to Pogba who scored a fantastic goal and made some utterly amazing passes during the game, and also to Benzema for his first goal with superb technique to control the ball. Feel for Mbappe who simply had a competition to forget and hopefully he bounces back to remind us why he is such a talented young player.
Onto tonights games and completely no bias here :D great result for England in a pretty quiet game for the most part. Sterling yet again providing the goods and it's criminal that sections of England fans continue not to accept how well he has done for the country. Also Ukraine providing another shock by knocking out Sweden to set up a quarter final vs England.
Back to being an England fan.. am I allowed to dream yet, or utter the line it's coming home in confidence yet :P
Quarter final line ups throwing up some nice games too, Belgium/Italy has to be the pick of them here, but I fancy Czech/Denmark to be a bit of a cracker too.
Belgium/Italy
Switzerland/Spain
Ukraine/England
Czech/Denmark -
If you told me this morning that England would be beating Germany 2-0 today then I wouldn't have believed you.
Compared to my expectations, things went surprisingly smoothly.For the most part England kept Germany at bay and slowed the game down,
and Pickford was immense in goal when the Germans managed to shoot. Some fantastic saves from him.
Then it was just a matter of picking the moment to attack, and when England did so they got their rewards.
Very well played.I won't deny that it was a smile of fate/luck that Muller missed a wide open opportunity for Germany,
but sometimes that's what you need to push you over the line.
Overall very ecstatic about what my country did today.I won't feel sad if we don't reach the final,
for me this tournament has delivered enough good feelings already. I'm satisfied.
Hoping that the quarter finals will be just as entertaining as the last 16 round was,
because I had a blast following these games.
International football feels fun again. -
Man the Swiss team really liked to take the matches to penalty kicks hum.
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There's some real grit in that Swiss team,
they held on so well in both of their games.Shame that the 5/5 penalty performance against France didn't repeat itself.
Great try, fellas.EDIT: Fuck yeah, back to back international semi finals for England!
Very proud of our controlled 4-0 dispatching of Ukraine.
No overconfidence or slip ups, just professionalism and good finishing.
More of that needed! -
there's a spike in covid cases related to the fans traveling to watch the matches, no UEFA forces Wembley to hold 60k in the semi and on the final. Not like there isn't a spike in case in UK already.
And glad no one is talking about Copa America. It sucks.
UEFA and CONMEBOL are racing each other for which is more corrupt and inept. -
Too bad for Spain. It was a great match, really enjoyed it.
The final will be interesting!
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Something tells me that Italy and England will play in the final. I don't even know who will be the winner. These teams are very strong. Although today Denmark may well surprise and win contrary to forecasts.
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To progress in major competitions, you often need a combination of skill and luck.
….and I'd say that England truly used up all their luck reserves today.
We equalized through an own goal,
and we were gifted a soft penalty (which VAR should have overturned if I'm being honest).
Even then, the initial penalty was saved before the rebound was fired in.I know that the loser of a duel doesn't like to be pitied,
but I still feel like I need to give sympathies to the Danes.
I felt like we were really fortunate to survive this match against them.
That free kick opener was a killer. I thought we were up against the wall at times.Don't get me wrong though, as an England fan I'm still extremely happy about the outcome.
I just have a lot of respect for Denmark's journey, and their performance in this match.
They did themselves really proud.Hoping that England can carry their torch,
since this will be our first international final in 55 years. -
Shame for Denmark, looked like they simply ran out of steam towards the end of the 90 which opened the door for England to take full advantage in ET.
Ref had a bit of an odd game, giving the soft penalty in ET, but also gave the soft freekick (2nd freekick) for Denmarks goal, seemed to also let a fair bit go in my opinion but hey it was a good game, and both teams can be proud of how far they went as both England and Denmark would not have been picked by many to get to the last 4.
So on Sunday we have England vs Italy now, but just to throw in a curve ball too… Argentina vs Brazil in COPA America, so there is a prospect of England winning their first Euro championship, and also Messi getting his hands on his first International trophy too, wonder what the odds of that would have been last month
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England had in all but one game home advantage..so was that rly a all european Euro ?
Definitely an exciting final with Italy maybe the slight favourite, but England has again jome advantage and showed they're there to fight with a solid defense and a attacking side that is always good for a goal. -
The curse is gone. Argentina finally wins a title again.
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Now Messi has finally won a title with his national team just like CR7.
Guess now he´s hungry for a last shot in the world cup^^ -
Well, this is Southgate and penalties.
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Once again beaten by penalty…once it´s in your head^^
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Maybe it's coming home after 16 months. Till then stfu and sit
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Damn, I'm conflicted.
Firstly, I'm not upset at the outcome.
Italy are easily the more deserving team based on their form and harder route to the final.And I'm still proud of our team.
I'm proud that Shaw set a new record for the quickest goal in a Euro final.
I'm proud that we managed to hold our own for so long in normal play, considering how good Italy are.
I'm proud that Pickford showed up in every single game of this tournament, and even saved two penalties in the shootout.
I'm proud that we achieved our best finish in an international tournament since 1966.
I'm proud of the team's overall progress (WC semi and a Euro final back-to-back), etcBut the conflicting part…
The only thing that makes me bite my lip...
Is that we took advantage in the shootout, and then...
one of my biggest pet peeves in football reared its ugly head.
The SLOW RUN UPS. The over-complications.
As far as I'm concerned, those two substitutes THREW the game into the TRASH by doing that.
I'll never understand why they thought it was appropriate to try that in such an important game.That's the only thing that's nagging me about this match.
Trust me, I really really really really don't begrudge the result.
I'm not an "it's coming home" pub dwelling knuckle dragger.It's just... there's a good way to lose and a bad way to lose.
And those penalty run ups have utterly stumped me.Congratulations to Italy!
You guys had a great tournament, and I was going to root for you anyways if England went out sooner. -
Gutted for the final. Lads on the pitch over 120 mins did everything asked of them and can not fault them, including Rashford, Sancho and Saka whom I really hope keep their heads up and grown from this experience. The players in the squad should hold their heads up for doing what they did tonight, battled against an elite country in Italy unbeaten in along time now and took them the full 120. I just hope that they see the vast majority of people will back them against the minority of idiots undoubtedly spewing racist rubbish right now
That being said…
I sincerely hope people can not get over saying how great Southgate is as a manager because he is not. I'm kinda annoyed with everyone in punditry calling him the best, he did nothing wrong, etc,etc because that's complete rubbish.
He is late to react to changes as evidenced tonight
His picks for the penalty shootout relative to the on field were bizarre (He claims he picked the order yet put Saka at 5th over Grelish or Sterling, or even Stones... a position you need an experienced taker)
His tactics are poor... we had 1 good tactical game on route to tonight.
His subs are usually too late and predictableThe biggest reason we got to the finals is because we have a strong core of 16 players who are good enough to bulldoze through most of the non elite teams... against the likes of a Brazil, Argentina, Spain I'd back them
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That's a huge thing for me as well.
The selection of takers. Sterling and Grealish would have been likely to bury them.The highlight was easily Maguire breaking the camera.
He and Kane showed the others how it's done, but sadly their example was ignored in the subsequent shots. -
Magiure, as much as I dislike him… his penalty is a textbook example of how to take one as a player who doesn't take them often... pick a spot, all power and go on keeper try to do this.
In order my opinion
1. 1st or 2nd regular taker
2. Put young taker if must
3. Put young taker if must
4. Experienced player
5. 1st or 2nd regular taker / or high experienced player -
lol italy made me some good money yesterday.
Thats all i have to say about it
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Tbh I didn't expect England to come all the way to the finals let alone almost clinch the trophy.
That said, I feel bad for the youngsters forced to come in the end to just take penalties. I remember an experienced player like Anelka coming in at the end during the 08(i think?) CL finals against MU and squandering his penalty. If we have even experienced players having their jitters during a shootout, it's not fair to put the burden on youngsters like that. I don't know what the f was expected, 19 yr olds coming in and hitting panekas like the zidanes and del pieros?! Poor poor decision
–- Update From New Post Merge ---
Oh and Italy was fucking amazing!! England was very confident after their goal but Italy literally thawed off that confidence by the second half. Brilliant use of subs as well! I felt that this was like a better version of the 06 Italy that won the WC.
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To be honest, I bet on England, but my predictions did not come true. The Italian national team played just fine!
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Just to throw this up but did anyone have a chuckle at the way Manchester United fans acted recently over the rumors of Cristiano Ronaldos transfer…
Rumor of going to City - The mans a snake, no legend of ours
(couple of hours later)
Transfer to United - The goat is back, we love himMakes me glad not to be a club supporter of them despite living in a close-ish area
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That just literally every fan reaction to a club idol going to the main rival. Do you think Barça fans were happy when Figo went to Madrid?
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Is anyone else watching Aoashi? It's a more grounded sports anime along the lines of 'Haikyu!!' and 'Ace of Diamond'.
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Wow. United have reached new lows again.
Every time I think it's not possible, they prove me wrong.
It's been 30 years since the last time they were rock bottom of the table,
86 years since they last lost seven consecutive matches away from home,
and 101 years since a manager of theirs lost his first two matches in charge.More unwanted broken records loom on their horizon if they don't wake up.
They play Liverpool next, and I'm expecting a mauling.