Eating our way through the last 16

Six games out of eight down, and it has been a delectable treat to the senses, with today being potentially the most entertaining day of tournament football we have witnessed. EVER. But before I rush to tell you how delicious the main course was, let me do justice to the antipasti that was first served up over the weekend. 

Wales v Denmark

Comfort food to start. Everyone loves the Danes! They just do. And it feels so good...  it felt like they would have enough for Bale and co, and sure enough, Wales were second best throughout. Wasn't really a contest. 

Italy v Austria

Finally, our old familiar friend returns like a fine red wine! All it needed was the pressure of knockout games for the nervous and cautious Italian way of life to show itself again. Gone was the pressing and energy seen in the group games, everyone looked a little more stressed. The game slightly petered to extra time before the Italians showed that little extra bit of quality needed to avoid a shootout. My tournament wager stays alive. 

Holland v Czech Rep

I'm not going to point out I called this one, but.... I did feel the Czech's would give the Dutch a game, and boy did they! Superbly organized, but with craft and guile also, there was no hard luck story here - they got exactly what they deserved. An excellent performance, but the Dutch were equally disappointing. An aberration of a handball - although this shouldn't cloud the fact they were second best before the red card - and the forward players off-key, with the biggest miss coming directly before the sending off. Malen being promptly hauled off like an undercooked fish sent back to the kitchen and ensured he had plenty of time to rethink how he should have played the 1 on 1 with the keeper.  

Belgium v Portugal

With the first few courses of the tasting menu out of the way, came the first meaty dish - a clash of the heavyweights, and it didn't disappoint for me. It was a high quality tactical game vs pure entertainment, with both teams keeping each other at bay. Quality strike won it, but Portugal can consider themselves unlucky to not find a goal to take it to extra time. It was also great to see the injection of spice into the game as the second half developed, there were tasty challenges flying in all over the place! None more so than everyone's favourite baddy, Pepe, who decided he needed to leave his mark on the game as it became apparent it wasn't going to be by winning the game. Fernandes again proved a shadow of what we've seen this season... with this being game 827 of his season I'm sure most will point to that as the reason. And now Martinez may have to dust off his managerial handbook as page 1, 'Play KDB', may have been ripped up, at least temporarily.  

Ok, well, I've done well to remember all of those early games as it's hard to ignore the spectacular nature of today's offerings:

Spain v Croatia

A Las Vegas-esque all you can eat buffet of action! No restrictions, and not really any defending, but what a game!  If it wasn't for what followed after, I would say this game had everything! Comedy goalies again! A great Spain fightback to take a 3-1 lead despite sticking with Morata upfront who was that friend wearing the wrong shoes and not allowed into the restaurant. And that was the end of the game, Spain saw out the last 15 minutes professionally without incid..... aagh. What's this? Penalty box pinball, 3-2?  Ok, well, still keep it nice and tight in injury time, let's not get sloppy! Gah! Sliced open again and 3-3! Cue Croatian bedlam, and credit to them for really going for it & making this the game that it was. Excellent.  

Extra time brought the biggest shock of the tournament. From nowhere, the friend with the bad shoes burst through the door to tell everyone he'd won the jackpot on the slot machine! A fantastic strike to silence his critics (basically everyone!). Luis Enrique is proving to be an entertaining watch on the sideline, and went suitably crazy as his fitted jeans would let him, as goal number 5 went in. Hard to ignore that's 10 goals in 2 games... 

France v Switzerland

Here in the U.S., we have the dulcet tones of Efan Ekoku talking us through some of the games on ESPN. While temporarily erasing from my memory that he once scored 4 goals against Everton, I don't mind him so much, he offers some snippets of insights. But when commentating on the Spain game, remarking words to the effect of, "well, France and Switzerland have their work cut out matching this", I don't think he realised how wrong he would be!

This perfectly cooked steak of a game was the best of the tournament, hands down. It had all the right ingredients - including the most talented team in the world playing amazing footie, and dissecting their opponent with ease, scoring glorious goals. That this only explains about 20 minutes of the game goes a long way to telling the story of the match. Very similar to the Hungary game, the French just didn't seem to give the Swiss enough respect, needing the energizing intervention of Lloris' penalty save to spark them into life. (Well played VAR btw!). As Pogba ran through his new repertoire of goal celebrations at 3-1 (he looked as if he had about 10 saved up and wasn't sure which one to use, so he just went with them all), Les Bleus were convinced they were through and reapplied the handbrake. But the Swiss had other ideas, and fully deserved their comeback, even if Arsenal fans may be slightly bewildered at who this all action captain is they have. 

I said in my earlier post, France needed to see Mbappe and Griezmann come alive. They didn't, and while the penalty miss will grab the headlines, Mbappe's miss when put through by an outstanding through ball from Pogba proved more painful for me and a punctuation mark on what has been a poor tournament for him.  As for the Swiss, a magnificent game. And while a quarter final spot is a fine dessert, it appears they have also rekindled Roy Keane's love of the beautiful game....praise indeed from the Gordon Ramsay of the pundit chairs!      

With all that excitement and enjoyment out of the way, we can now focus on England. I honestly don't know which way this game is going to go, with both teams really showing a lot of inconsistency. Similar to the Italians reverting to type, do the Germans click into gear now the knock-out tournament starts? I wouldn't bet against it, but we go into the game with the hope that if we play to our potential, we have a much better chance than some previous encounters with the Germans. Given all of the goals and action so far, a tepid soup of a 0-0 to penalties could be on the menu....

Special mentions...

• Argentinian referees in the Euros?
• 3rd place teams. As a sign of how competitive the Euro's are as a tournament, it's not implausible that Ukraine beat Sweden. If they do, that would mean 3 out of the 4 qualifying 3rd place teams will have made it into the quarter finals. 
• VAR checks of goalkeepers feet during penalty shootouts? An unwelcome sight to see Sommer hold his emotions in check for 10 seconds or so, to make sure the video gods had not ruined his glory, rather than immediately wheel away in delirium 

Hard to pick a loser

Before I start this post in earnest I need to welcome along my 2 co-writers. Stevey C, the grown-up version, is like a fine wine now, better if you wait a little while. Essentially he was uncorked at the start of the tourney, but we needed to let him breathe during the group games. Now we can sip in his wit and lovely writing during the knockout stages. He's right about Denmark you know - I'm cheering them on as I write this. Less flying beer in this game, but a spirited and solid performance from them nonetheless. Shades of 92 perhaps!

And to my buddy Kev as well. He was independently writing his own blog, I think for the first time. I read it, enjoyed it, and in the spirit of the modern footballing superclubs - took it for myself. Kev has joined this blog, I hope for the long term, so now you, the readers can enjoy 3 perspectives of European Championship and World Cups going forward. Basically this is like a really low key and unmonetised version of The Athletic.

I'm watching Wales's dreams die whilst reflecting back on the group stages. Like Kev, I'm something of a convert to the strange and confusing 'best four 3rd place qualification' thing. It kept the group games alive, gave the supposed minnows essentially 3 swings to get a result and, most importantly, gave us all at least 3 days of pouring over group tables and working out potential outcomes from that final round. I always dislike the final group games in major tournaments because I find watching two games at once quite hard to do - but what a treat they all were. And once they'd concluded - how did I do with my predictions at the start of the tournament? Well, I picked 4 of 6 group winners, thinking Portugal not France would win the group of death and that Spain not Sweden would win their group. I clearly didn't consider the Morata factor. I think the best tweet I saw this week was a widescreen picture of the Dubravka flap showing Morata poised to finish it and with a caption "the worst thing about this goal is that we didn't get to see how Morata would miss this". Brilliant. Spain, notwithstanding Morata missing just about any chance ever coming his way, look like they're really revving up now. As for the group losers, I didn't fare so well - only picking 2 of 6. 

And this I think is why the tournament has been so good. It is anything but a procession through obvious results - but a pretty competitive and thrilling affair. Right - I am off to throw some beer around. Enjoy the last 16.

Football, bloody hell!

It's taken a while for my first post... the typical time difference woe of the Euro's combined with Eastern Standard Time for someone trying to look somewhat attentive on work zoom calls has been its usual challenge, and my spare moments have been spent catching up on the action vs crafting witty anecdotes on the return of tournament footy. But successful viewing has been achieved, with only a tinge of disappointment that I missed out on some real-time astonishment at Dubravka's audition for the Slovakia volleyball team. 

Rarely would I quote Sir Alex in a heading, but there's really no other way to explain the last 2 weeks. Literally, someone almost died in the corner of a field in Copenhagen..., staying on brand with a tournament that bizarrely decided to keep the 2020 moniker.....  a traumatic event for the young men expected to ridiculously try and complete the game afterwards. Yet 9 days later, these same blokes are running to the same corner of the field in sheer ecstasy being pelted with a 1,000 plastic beer cups to lift not just the spirits of the Dane's but the football world. Football, bloody hell! 

So with Denmark efficiently taking care of the question of who would be my second team once England limp out, I can now reflect back on what has been a brilliant group stage. The half empty stadia (unless you're in the Covid-immune Budapest postcode) hasn't lessened the drama at all. So here's the rundown on the key players:

• Italy look transformed, a very traditional defence, but combined with a pressing and energy we've never seen before. Oh, and they're full of good players. But no great players... maybe they remind us all that this is a team game. Although they do carry the usual scepticism of a team winning all 3 group games... 
• France are ridiculously talented, with Pogba looking majestic. But, they haven't fully clicked yet, but should have enough to get past Switzerland in the next round, but Mbappe and Griezmann need to get in full gear.
• Belgium - always a treat to see folk wax lyrical about the "great managerial change" by Martinez to bring on KDB and Eden Hazard to change the game vs Denmark. As long as he is astute enough to decide to play the best player in the tournament again, further success awaits. But it's relying on a creakingly old defence without the organization of Kompany.  
• Holland - it wasn't the strongest group for sure, but they looked mobile and fluid. Maybe the grounding of 4 woeful games at Palace is the perfect set up for international management glory. However, they ironically look like a Martinez side - extremely open at the back, which could see them come unstuck in the knock-out rounds (maybe even against the competent Czechs)
• Germany - they made it through. Not sure how. But they don't care. (I do, as one of my pre-tournament bets was them not to make it out of the group)
• Portugal - holders, Ronaldo, no look back-heel passes, a subdued Fernandes & a miracle of modern science that the hologram of 75 yr old Pepe is playing at the back
• England - ehh, at least I have the benefit of going last here and reflecting on the full 3 games, vs react to the paucity of the Scotland game. Look, we're actually quite solid - which is a good thing for tournament footie. But we seem to be struggling for any kind of identity - and the service to a lethargic Kane has been non-existent. We'll just have to see where Gareth slowly takes us from here (hoping it's more dynamic than rotating full backs).

So, onto the Round of 16... with the standout games being Belgium v Portugal and of course the England v Germany game. As we cycled through 90 mins of roulette wheel fixtures in a brilliant conclusion to Group F, I'm ok with the Germans this time around. Not remotely confident, but not fearful either. 

And finally some notable mentions:

Crap refereeing! Did it ever go away? It's truly here to stay and can't be stopped by any technological advances or pandemic. What does feel different though is it's clear VAR has been instructed to never call into question any decision made by the ref, with rapid checks and barely anything being overturned... the bar for 'clear and obvious' has been set at Artem Dzyuba heights.

Comedy goalies! Clearly Dubravka takes the gold here, but Hungary's Peter Gulasci comes in a close second with a flailing attempt to keep them in the tournament. And while a worldie strike, a thousand memes were created as David Marshall tangled himself in the Hampden net.

UEFA uselessness Did it ever go away?  Taking the credit for letting the players decide between two awful options after Erikson, standing by with no action only days later when Pavard clearly got knocked out for France and proceeded to stagger around the pitch in a manner last seen outside your local kebab shop at 2am; and finally a distinct lack of balls to let the Munich stadium be lit up in a show of representation and equality. Shameful. 

The draw Only one of Belgium, Portugal, Italy, France and Spain will be in the final. There's some games to come to figure out who that will be! I will only get carried away about the other side of the draw on Wednesday! 

The Danes I have to leave on a bright note. My 2nd team, your 2nd team, and just an outstanding example of mental strength and team togetherness. It's likely too much for Welsh to handle, so a deep run could happen & it would be glorious!. 

Bye for now, 

     

24 into 16 does go..... apparently

I'll be honest - when I was getting geared up for the Euro's I was firmly against the majority of the 3rd placed teams going through. "What's the point in that?" was my main thought - you can play 3 naff games and get through on a lucky decision resulting in one of those game giving you a win. Having watched the Matchday 3 games, and the fight still shown in them, I hold my hands up and admit I was in the wrong. How refreshing to see matches that still meant something to those involved, with no one potentially out at the end of Matchday 2. Its thrown up some blinding games, great tension and made what is usually a bit of a dead rubber actually mean something. I stand corrected.

It has been quite fascinating looking at the teams before the tournament and earmarking which ones I thought were ones to watch, then seeing them live up to those expectations over the 3 games. Only 3 teams have looked like true contenders over the course of those 3 matches to me - Italy, Belgium and Netherlands. Sure France have looked good here and there, and Spain thumped a load of goals in (eventually) but those 3 teams have been the standouts for me so far.

So looking back to my pre tournament posts, I see I made some predictions about who I thought would finish top and bottom of each group. Looking at them now, I think I did a half decent job, with Portugal and Spain not winning their groups being the only real blots on the copybook. Overall then not bad, maybe I should have had a few quid on some of them? 

Last night saw the climax of the group games, with Germany, Hungary, Portugal and France providing a fitting pathway into the knockout stages with more drama than an episode of Eastenders. I nearly got travel sickness trying to follow all the twists, turns and convoluted standings, and trying to work out who England would face next, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one. It did feel strange at points in the evening being an Englishman and cheering on France and Germany at various points, but sometimes you've gotta do what you've gotta do. I'm just glad we have avoided France, they were the team in that group that worried me the most.

Casting an eye on the Round of 16 fixtures there's some tasty games in there, the standouts being (for me) Belgium v Portugal and of course England v Germany. I haven't managed to catch as much of Belgium as I'd have liked so far, but they are a quality outfit and could cause a pretty inconsistent Portuguese defence some real issues. England v Germany is for me the tie of the round (not just as an England supporter) - the history and fanfare around this fixture always makes it special. I think the Germans are vulnerable this time around, but England are going to have to perform well for the full 90 minutes to get the better of them I think. If we do, a quarter final against either Sweden or Ukraine beckons, both of which are beatable, so this is a real chance for England to really push on and go for it.

I'll round off with some predictions for the Round of 16 - lets see if I can carry on my good form:

Croatia v Spain - I've got to back Spain here, although I think it will be very tight

France v Switzerland - Its got to be France right?

Italy v Austria - Again I cant see Austria coming through this one against the efficient Italians

Belgium v Portugal - tough one, I'm going to go with Portugal simply as I've backed Ronaldo to win the Golden Boot

Wales v Denmark - my heart says Denmark, but my head says Wales, and I'm going to go with my head

Netherlands v Czech Republic - The Czechs will need to step up from last game to get anything here and I cant see it happening. Netherlands for me

England v Germany - I really feel like this is the tournament where England finally deliver, so I'm going with the Three Lions

Sweden v Ukraine - Sweden will have just too much for Ukraine and will grind them down so I'll plump for Sweden here

So there you have it, all the best and enjoy the games, catch you on the other side!!

Scanning coca-cola bottles and google searching codes

 Online sticker book collection update. MY album is 37% complete and has been boosted by the realisation that I can get more free packs each day if I scan in Coca-Cola labels; and I've discovered this can be done via google searching images of said products. Yes, middle-aged man, searching the internet for coke labels, getting a separate device and scanning the labels displayed on the screen of the first, then getting virtual stickers and sticking them into a virtual book. There we go, I said it. 

Tonight I have overcompensated for missing games last week. I was sat down in time for the 5pm kickoff - frantically searching the BBC and ITV channels for the match, to no avail - on;y to realise the 8pm KOs are the only games today. Now that's a flat feeling. So here I am, beer in hand, updating the blog instead. 

The tournament continues to be gathering pace. I watched Russia vs Denmark last night and it was bonkers. Beer was flying EVERYWHERE as the Danes turned in a really spirited performance and catapulted past the hapless Russia and the inert Finland. In the process of doing so, they guaranteed England's passage to the last 16, which is some relief. Maybe the fact we are through will give Southgate license to actually try out Grealish properly; and then the clamour for him to retain his place will be un-ignorably strong, he will stay in the team and we will romp to glory. 

Belgium continue to look capable, even in second gear also. The game of choice tonight really should be Scotland vs Croatia, with both teams needing a win to progress, and anything less not being enough. Multi-screen will definitely be out in full effect! Unfortunately for the Scots - I think Croatia will pull through. 

All good fun. The group stages will complete tomorrow night and then a 2 day break before the real business of the last 16 begins. Certainly I think we will reap the benefit of the new tournament format once we get that extra round of pure knockout - the absolute best bit. 

Hipster choice and business end

This is the strange stage of each tournament where only the truly dedicated watch every match. Simultaneous kick-offs are a nightmare for the wannabee completionist with a busy life. And so I'm making my choices. Today I am feeling very hipster by watching the 'alternative' match - Ukraine vs Austria over on ITV4.

The stadium in Bucharest looks completely amazing; whether the match shapes up is another thing, but I can't see any of the teams playing out convenient draws in this final round of Group games. I mean, if Italy didn't then nobody will, right. Part of the reason surely is that no team actually has a clue what is needed to get through as a best 3rd place qualifier. Whilst really annoying, it is probably helping the group games to all be meaningful and competitive. It does throw in a nasty unfairness slant though, as by the time Group F come to their final games, the mathemeticians will have been at it and worked out the formula needed for qualification from that group.

So today Groups B and C get decided and my head hurts just trying to work out the permutations, but suffice to say the main interest will be (for me):

1. whether Ukraine or Austria put the other team into peril by beating them
2. whether Denmark can harness the positive energy being sent their way by the footballing world and come up with a last ditch qualification escape
3. De Bruyne (if he plays) 

The games have continued to be good fun, with Switzerland and Turkey serving up a treat for the hipster alternative channel watchers yesterday, and Italy vs Wales being tense in its own way. Certainly Italy (now on a 30 game unbeated streak) look very assured. 

And tomorrow it is England again, with everything rather much on a knife-edge. Defeat could theoretically see us go out, and yet a confiudent win would see us re-installed as up there with the favourites. Southgate, I hope is looking into a mirror right now and asking himself "Do I want to let the great, in-form players in my team to thrive - or shall I grind out a joyless progression and inevitable exit somewhere along the line". Or to abbreviate, "shall I crack on and pick Grealish"?

Tomorrow we will know. 

Crunch time looming

  I'm sat writing this just before the start of the Matchday 3 fixtures, which kick off (excuse the dodgy pun!) with Italy v Wales and Switzerland v Turkey. realising that a potentially massive issue is looming on the horizon.

Looking at the fixtures list, I can see there are two (yes two!) days this week without any football to watch. What am I supposed to do for those two days? Why have you forsaken me God?

All joking aside, this will give me the opportunity to build up some brownie points by letting the wife have access to the tv for a while, and should hopefully put me in good stead for any extra time/shoot out negotiations that may be needed.

I'm conscious that I haven't really covered Matchday 2 in any of my blogs, I always find the second round of group matches a very strange kind of limbo and almost the lull of the tournament. No one is definitely out, with all the options for 3rd place teams getting through, so it always feels like the ultra cautious round for most teams (hence the bore draw between England and Scotland, which promised so much and failed to deliver).

The one exception to this, and deserving of a massive callout, has to be the Portugal v Germany clash. What a game!! I can hand on heart say that is probably one of the most entertaining games I have seen in years. It had as much action as you need, plenty of goals, dodgy defending and a result that hung in the balance even in the closing few minutes. Add to that the fact that if England manage to top their group they will face the team that finishes as runners up in this group, and the stage was set. That game showed two things more than anything to me:

1. Portugal aren't the best in defence. Get around the sides and get crosses in and its like watching someone trying to save the Titanic with an eggcup. Sheer panic and all cohesion as a defensive unit out the window.

2. Never, ever write off the Germans.

I'm going to gloss over the rest of Matchday 2 mainly because if you are reading this chances are you saw the games anyway, and also because due to work and other commitments there were some games where I only caught the briefest glimpse of the action. What we do know however is that Italy, Netherlands and Belgium have all qualified for the next round with a game to spare, so congratulations to them.

So in terms of England, what does looking forward to the next round look like (assuming we don't massively mess things up - but don't bet against it). Topping the group would see us play, as mentioned before, the runner up of the France/Germany/Portugal love triangle (realistically I cant see Hungary crashing the party although they could have a big say in the order of those 3). Of those 3, I'd have to say I'd rather face Portugal rather than the other two. France look good, although they dropped points against Hungary I see that as a blip rather than a cause for concern for them. Germany always seem to get the better of us in tournaments (although there was this one game a while back..........).

Second place in Group D would get us a game against the runners up of Group E (Sweden, Spain, Poland, Slovakia). For me this would be the path of least resistance, I've not seen anything from these teams that would overly worry me, and this feels like possibly the weakest group in the tournament to me. I'd be happy to face any of these teams.

Finally, if we did manage to make a bit of a mess of things and finish 3rd, assuming we had the points to go through we would end up with the winner of the above group, the winners of group A or the runners up of Group A (my money would be on Italy and Wales filling these spots respectively). Italy have been very impressive so far (2 wins, 0 conceded, 6 scored and 29 games unbeaten) so lets avoid them if we can eh? Wales would be a great game, but also a big challenge so again I'd rather avoid them.

Realistically I think we will finish top, beating the Czechs on Tuesday, and will face most likely France (I expect Germany to win and can see France and Portugal coming out as a draw). I'd like to see us going all out for the win on Tuesday, if we realistically want to stake a claim for the trophy we need to prove we can play, and aren't afraid of anyone we may meet. Maybe in a few days those words will come back to haunt me but I'd like to see us really attacking, and Grealish getting a start for the first time. Lets do this!!

Forgotten matches and the clamour for Grealish

I need to have a word with myself. This week I missed two matches. I missed two matches because I forgot they were even on. Why? Because I was working. I should submit this information for my appraisal. "Works diligently whilst at home, to the point of forgetting to tune in to North Macedonia's efforts to progress through Group C". I'm not proud.

Whilst we're on Group C, the aforementioned North Macedonia are going to need something special against the flamboyant Netherlands from their last game to qualify. What is nice is that in this group (and I think mathematically in all groups) all of the teams should have something to play for in the final match.

The tournament has really taken off this week. Some good performances (Wales, Italy, Netherlands again, Belgium once they tried) and some drama (all the missed penalties, long range goal) and of course the heartening news that Eriksen is recovering and out of hospital.

Today's games all involve potential favourites. Expect Spain to pass themselves and Poland into a mesmerised slumber, France to unleash all hell on Hungary and Ronaldo to defy the ageing process once more and put Germany into real peril.

I've left the mention of England until last. The draw against Scotland puts us on 4 points and should mean we qualify. It also opens up the possibility of us potentially not playing against Group F opponents in the next round. But we can't prejudge the mathematics. What upsets me is that by setting out with a combative line-up, we signed up to a combative game. Leveller by selection. I think no other nation at the tournament would leave a talent like Grealish sat on the side. He is the most elegant player I have ever had the fortune to watch live, and needs to be gracing the TVs of a watching continent/globe. Hopefully the light-switch effect of his introduction against Scotland, coupled with inevitable media clamour will secure his place going forward, and that will only be a positive for our chances.