Cold is the new bold

QF England 1 - 1 Switzerland (AET) England win on pens 

We trundle on. England exorcise penalty traumas yet more. At some stage we will talk about their good run at shootouts. We have to be proud of the bottle and composure shown at the end there. It is a triumphant sticking plaster though, in yet another game where we palpably saw the energy and effectiveness drain, unchecked, from about the 30 minute mark right through to 120. At the end we were hanging on, even with fresh legs.

We joined the France and Portugal club of accepting the 50/50 of pens in favour of the unknown risk of going for it during 40 minutes of stalemate at the end of the game. Whilst it's a results game, the sheer lack of having had any practice of piling forward, at any point of the tourney, is a habit creating thing. The gear shift is a habit, and a habit we've not formed. As I watch the Netherlands and Turkey now, not knowing who will win, I can be sure that either of these teams will naturally be able to attack us, because they've spent the past 5 games doing just that.

Siuuuu later

QF France 0 - 0 AET (France win on pens)

The Kane effect was in full swing tonight. 120 minutes of watching the outgoing Ronaldo waving his arms, smashing free kicks into the wall, and running about as if his legs really hurt. The loyalty shown by managers to historically good players despite all evidence before them suggesting it is a bad idea, is remarkable.

Whilst Ronaldo was plainly subtracting rather than adding to Portugal's hopes, Pepe was a machine at the back. Playing at 41, to the standard he did, is unreal. I reckon he's got another World Cup in him!

The game was midway between intriguing and dull. France, with Mbappe also mostly ineffective, huffed and puffed and only looked a real threat once the excellent Dembele came on. Portugal held the ball well, but increasingly reminded me of England, with any possession effectively meaningless because of the chasm created up front by having a threatless striker placed there.

It seems nuts to me that teams consider the risk of mounting attacks to be greater than the 50/50 risk of elimination by penalties. But they both embraced that risk and, somewhat predictably, there was a loser.

The law of averages now suggests that England's game might actually be ok, so buckle up and get ready for the Southgate show.

Merino jumper

QF Spain 2 - 1 Germany (AET)

I'd only just got myself settled back into this football thing, and just like that our hosts are out. It has felt like an age since Tuesday (with many stages of Tour De France to catch-up on and the small matter of our seismic general election to wade through) so it's good to be back in front of the big-football-giving- rectangle again.

This game that really could have gone either way, both sides had their periods of dominance, and it was quite open without being wildly exciting. Germany will rue the wastefulness of Havertz, Musiala and Fulkrüg.

It's all getting pretty serious now, and it is definitely showing, with the free flowing football of the group stages seemingly behind us. Imagine if England play MORE conservatively now we're at the business end of the comp (shudder). 

Merino stole the show with a cracking leap and finish at the death, breaking German hearts, setting up a frantic few minutes with Germany throwing everything at it and Spain using any necessary means to stop them.

Not a classic, but the better team through to a semi.

Posch blank

Round of 16: Austria 1 - 2 Turkey 

What a brilliant game of football. Both teams should get some kind of award for completely nailing the spirit of tournament football. Turkey, fluid, energetic and classy for the first 65 mins, Austria patient, determined and so nearly heroic in the last 25.

It was tough to call. Turkey well deserved their two goal lead, but looked somewhat spent, and survived an alamo scenario at the end. Keeper Günok probably with the save of the tournament right on full time.

A real shame that Austria bow out, they've been fabulous, but the tournament isn't tarnished at all by Turkey still being in it. Great anthem, flair players, and fans that are relentless. The booing when Austria had the ball was relentless.

I've a feeling that the matchup of styles just won't suit Turkey Vs Netherlands, but nonetheless it's been a pleasure watching them.

Now to stare into the void again until Friday.

Murphy's Flaw

Round of 16: Romania 0 - 3 Netherlands 

I missed the kickoff (only by a couple of minutes, had a sudden urge to go buy some Stella), so I've no idea whether Hagi's condom-head look was a style choice or the result of an early incident.

Then what I tuned into was Netherlands looking by far the better side, but Romania willing to give things a go. So after a few drab minutes the game bounced along at a nice rate. Gakpo was good, although Danny Murphy was about as fluent at saying "Gakpo" as England's midfield is at playing football. We had "Gakko", "Gapko", "Gappo" but never the guy's actual name. Steve Wilson, the main commentator made a concerted effort to lay down a perfect pronunciation after each fumble Murphy made. Lovely stuff.

They ran out comfortable winners, and again, that is good for the tournament.

Players who impressed? Well their defence is excellent, Gakpo decent and the rest of the line up are willing if not excellent. 

The easy side of the draw is gradually stiffening up. A continuation of Austria's great form would line up a peach of a QF and the guarantee of a tough prospect for England in a semi, should they make it past Switzerland. I have a funny hunch though, that we might see good Turkey again tonight. 

The sands of time

Round of 16: Portugal 0 - 0 Slovenia (Portugal win 3-0 on pens)

A largely disappointing first hour of the game turned slowly into an absolute classic. As soon as Slovenia got a sniff of it being on, they morphed, wonderfully, into Shithouse FC and I'm absolutely here for that kind of stuff.

Banks of four. Heroic defending. A majestic keeping display from Oblak. Ronaldo demanding all set pieces and (still, after all these years) wazzing them over the bar. 

And yet, despite Portugal's dominance, Slovenia started to threaten. Their finishing was woeful, a function of being unpracticed and unused in the tourney this far. This was to recur horribly in the shootout but not before we saw the sands of time catching up with both Pepe and Ronaldo. Pepe had his very own Gerrard moment, as his legs and brain had a disagreement about what 41 year old men are capable of doing, running wise, two hours into a match. Slovenia's finishing let him off the hook. Ronaldo had an existential after seeing Oblak saving his earlier pen. Both players have more viable alternatives on the bench, but Martinez is afflicted with the same loyalty/cowardice (delete as per your preference) as Southgate, preferring the misty image of what once was, to the cold reality of what is actually happening.

A satisfying match, and the right result. This side of the draw is going to keep on giving.

Jan VertOGen

Round of 16: France 1 - 0 Belgium 

Belgium are the new England. A team full of stars, on paper a real contender, but on the pitch just not quite doing it. With my Villa bias I was surprised that Tielemans was benched, they missed his incisive passing this afternoon. Doku ran about and threatened to look threatening, without ever actually really being threatening. Lukaku toiled away again, De Bruyne only had flashes.

France spent the match just wazzing shot after shot high or wide. Even their winner was headed well wide, before Vertongen cemented OG as the most likely golden boot winner. Cruel luck in the moment, but France were far better overall. Kante in particular is looking absolutely great. Tight control, bags of energy and uses the ball really well.

I'd hoped it would be a classic, but not so. Never mind, only an hour til the next one!

Bye Georgia

Round of 16: Spain 4 - 1 Georgia

I clean forgot to post about this match last night. I was just enjoying an entertaining  game of football. We've been lucky in the last couple of games to be able to bounce directly from the numbness of an England match right into something more fun 

And this one was a cracker. Spain are simply sumptuous and will take some stopping. That said, Georgia gave them a fright and seem to have approached the competition in exactly the right way. Enjoy it, play your best football, be fearless, excel. They will be missed for sure. 

They were never going to hold onto that lead, such was the Spanish dominance, but rather than resort to damage limitation, they kept trying, kept breaking menacingly and basically made a right good night of it.

In Rodri, Spain just have the complete player. He is a DM who has perfect passing range and an eye for goal. And he's a big lad too. An absolute dream to have him in your side. 

Surely whoever wins the plate competition on England's side of the draw can look forward to an absolute pumping in the final against this lot. Or is the smart play to do what Southgate is doing, and reserve all evidence of actual football until the business end of the tournament? Time will tell.

Next up is this corking tie between France and Belgium. My money is on Lukaku to finally catch those breaks. Should be a good one.