Euro 2016 France

[Dutch Eagle]

My parents used to have a television with picture in picture. In the good old days. Until burglars took it :-)

I now watch one game on the telly and the other on my IPad or tablet.

Good that these last groupgames are played at the same time. I remember the 6-0 of Argentina against Peru in 1978 very well. A disgrace as well.

[pash]

Russia getting spanked by Wales. Slovakia/England currently scoreless (26th minute).

[pash]

The arrogance of the English announcer on ESPN is staggering. The derision as they talk about Slovakia...perhaps they should spend more time worrying about their overrated primadonnas and less on how weak their opponents are/should be.

[Dikefale11]

How great would it be for Slovakia to nick a goal and go through along with Wales instead of Engerland.

[Dutch Eagle]

Mak just missed a great opportunity to score.

[Dutch Eagle]

Oh no. Looks like Mak has a hamstringinjury. 5 minutes left and probably 3 stoppage time. And Slovakia must continue with 10 as all subs have been used.

[Dutch Eagle]

Mak got in again just to complete the team. But what can he do?! Only making it worse, if you ask me.

[Dutch Eagle]

Slovakia - England FT 0-0.

The Slovaks managed to overcome 5 minutes of stoppage time and finish third in their group with four points.

Normally this should be enough to advance to the last 16.

[Akritis_1944]

How does Russia put out a competitive team in their own world cup? They are the worst team in the tournament.

Not sure you can rebuild in 2 years. They are going to fade away so quickly.

[Green Man]

^^^i was expecting good things from dzuba...and kokorin seems like his all hype!

[Dikefale11]

Still cant fathom how a country with hundreds of millions of people cant field 11 quality players, Russia should technically be up there with the best teams. Yet a team with a population of 300k in Iceland would walk them off the field. Crazy.

Edited June 21, 2016 by Dikefale11

[Akritis_1944]

Iceland have invested in their national teams over the last decade but whether design or good fortune this is a golden generation for them.

The simple reality is that they won't be able to sustain this level for much longer. By 2020 I'd expect them to drop off.

Russia on the other hand is a conundrum. Hundreds of millions of euros invested in their league like Ukraine, Poland and Turkey but they don't have a national team of any sort of merit.

Don't really care personally but it is interesting.

[RED SHERIFF]

I agree..

 

But Poland investing in their league???  always thought it was a poor quality low money league?

[Akritis_1944]

True, from what I know of it. I meant more of the size of their population. The Poland NT are underachievers.

[Akritis_1944]

Pana, I know many Croatians and many of them get frustrated with their team. They start qualifying strongly they they then go in to a slump and if they do make a tournament they have all these unrealistic expectations.

Great that they beat Spain but like that result against a really poor and old Czech side shows they can have off days like many teams. I really rate their midfield as it's truly world class class.

Their defence and Mandzukic up front are suspect though.

[pash]

So what you're telling me is, the attempt by UEFA to greedily grab even more money has backfired and now some of their biggest cash cows won't last in the competition? SAY IT AIN'T SO

[Green Man]

northern ireland in the last 16 too massive props to them!...i wish we can do it tonight against italy it would be amazing beyond words! :)

[Green Man]

^^^its not possible because if we win its most likely third spot...our only options are france or croatia :)....but not looking past tonight we must beat italy who even with rested stars are a huge threat and are a very quality team all round!

[Bananas]

Great win by Croatia over Spain. Croatia can be inconsistent but on their day they can be deadly and defeat any opponent.

Having said that, what was with that penalty ? The Croatian GK was 4 yards off his line when he made the save. Have referees forgotten the rules or are they just selective about it ? It's almost as if they are too scared to enforce the rule. It reminds me of the days when players in the wall would take those tiny little steps and by the time the free kick was taken the wall had moved forward 2 or 3 feet. Sometimes referees would push the wall back but they would do it again! Even rarer a referee issued a yellow card but still players would inch forward. In the end it's almost as if the referee would just say ah f--k it, what do you expect me to do. But back to the penalty, it was farcical it wasn't retaken. If that doesn't qualify as not being on the goal line, I don't know what does. Goalkeepers will move forward a little and that's all right and reasonable, but 4 yards ?!

[Dikefale11]

Croatia are a perfect example of how to beat the tiki taka style, : pressure.

None of the Spanish players got more than 5 seconds on the ball as straight away there was somebody closing them down, pressured them into forcing a pass rather than selecting one.

[kbxk508]

Hungary up 1-0 on Santos. Nearly 2-0. Portugal too predictable at 25' min.

[Dutch Eagle]

That is true indeed I am helping out our national team

It's a dirty job and someone has got to do it.

I'm glad you are willing to sacrifice yourself.

[Dutch Eagle]

Nani equalizes.

[pash]

At this point, Sweden need a win to make it through to the next round. Albania just got bumped by Turkey, as goals scored is the first tiebreaking criteria used in the third place rankings.

[Giourkas]

NOOOO Iceland will be knocked out :(

Don't be so quick to count them out... They are a resilient bunch. All they have to do is take England to penalties... If that happens, The English will s%$#! themselves yet again... ;)

Edited June 22, 2016 by Giourkas