Euro 2016 (France) Qualifying

[Matra2]

Euro 2016 qualifying is underway. This time 24 teams will go to the finals - a bad idea in my view.

Today I watched all-white Northern Ireland come from behind to defeat equally all-white Hungary 2-1 in Budapest. The Hungarians were booed off the pitch by their fans. (Whatever happened to Hungarian football? Even in the 80s they had a decent team but none since). It was a great match. But my mood soured when I started watching Germany v Scotland. Why? I cannot get used to seeing a Scottish team that is not 100% Scottish. I'm used to it with England but not Scotland. And wouldn't you know it in the second half Ikechi Anya (Nigerian father Romanian mother) scored. And so it begins...

Rep of Ireland (presumably all-white) also off to a good start beating Georgia in Tbilisi.

 

[Matra2]

A white German team (other than Boateng) defeated Scotland 2-1. Both goals scored by Muller.

A shocker in Portugal. The home team defeated by lowly Albania. The Greeks off to a bad start losing at home to Romania. England play Switzerland tomorrow.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Thanks for getting the thread started!! I was doing some looking, and it appears Ireland is all white. I noticed that while looking through the box scores for the qualifiers as well about Scotland... glad Germany was able to beat them with their 10 whites! So far, it looks like the replacements being called up for Klose, Lahm, and Mertesacker are all white .

I don't mind Romania over Greece as much, since the Romanians have a good all-white team as well, but I still can't believe Portugal lost to Albania... Ronaldo is really the entire team, and without him they can't even beat Albania.

With France still playing it's matches as Friendlies now, they started 5 whites and 6 blacks that drew 1-1 with an all-white Serbian team.

Even though having 24 teams does dilute the competition a bit, I do like it for the fact that it lets more of the white Eastern Euro teams into the Tournament.

 

[ThePhilosopher]

[h=1]19-year-old Munir delighted at shock Spain call-up[/h]

The jews finally found a wog who's eligible to play for Spain:

FC Barcelona`s 19-year-old striker Munir el Haddadi committed his future to Spain just a day after his shock call-up by national football coach Vicente del Bosque for the squad which entertains Macedonia in a 2016 European Championship qualifying match Monday. Munir, who celebrated his 19th birthday Sep 1, was promoted from the Spain Under-21 squad following a hamstring injury suffered by Diego Costa, reports Xinhua.


His call-up is a major shock given that last season he was playing in the Barcelona Under-19 side and has made just two appearances in the Spanish Primera Liga, however, it is thought Del Bosque decided to pick the youngster because if he plays just one minute Monday, he would not be able to represent any other country.



Although he was born just outside of Madrid, Munir`s mother is Moroccan and his father also has Moroccan roots and that country were also interested in securing his services.

"When I heard the news, my mouth dropped open," admitted Munir on Spanish TV network `Cuatro` Saturday.


"This is a dream come true and I want to enjoy it, take any chance that I am given and do the best that I can," he said, before dispelling any doubts over which was his preferred country.
"It is a huge honour for me to be called up and I want to play for Spain. Every summer that Spain played I followed them ever since I was little," said Munir.

First,Gerard Deulofeu had to go to Sevilla on loan to make room for him,and now Llorente(who scored 16 goals in Serie A last time...two more than everybody's pet,Balotelli) is overlooked so that he can play!!


I'm afraid Barcelona has found their 'Benzema'.

 

[Matra2]

Welbeck indecisive during a goal scoring opportunity in the first half against Switzerland. He could've scored or set up two different teammates to score but instead messes it up completely. No wonder Man United are getting rid of him.

 

[Matra2]

I knew as soon as I slagged off Welbeck he would end up scoring...and sure enough.:blush:

Mind you it was a tap in. Rooney opportunistically took advantage of a defensive error, ran at the scrambling defence then passed it out wide to Sterling who made a good first time pass right on to the foot of Welbeck.

 

[Matra2]

Switzerland pushing forward to get the equaliser get caught at the back. Ricky Lambert does well to set up another Welbeck goal. :sad:

Switzerland 0 England 2

Man of the match for me was Joe Hart who made two good saves when it was still 0-0. Given England's weak group and the qualification format* they almost guaranteed a berth in France.

* Top two teams from each of the nine groups automatically qualify along with one third place team. All the other third place teams go to a playoff.

 

[Matra2]

Bad news from the Austria v Sweden match that ended 1-1. Neither goalscorer was Austrian nor Swedish. David Alaba (pictured below) for Austria and the Turk Zengin for Sweden

 

[Jack Lambert]

Switzerland pushing forward to get the equaliser get caught at the back. Ricky Lambert does well to set up another Welbeck goal. :sad:

Switzerland 0 England 2

Man of the match for me was Joe Hart who made two good saves when it was still 0-0. Given England's weak group and the qualification format* they almost guaranteed a berth in France.

* Top two teams from each of the nine groups automatically qualify along with one third place team. All the other third place teams go to a playoff.

Oh good, now Welbeck will get all the credit for those tap-ins, and will never be dropped from the England squad.

 

[Matra2]

Oh good, now Welbeck will get all the credit for those tap-ins, and will never be dropped from the England squad.

Although he was well set up for the second goal Welbeck still had some work to do on that one. The confidence he gained from the tap-in probably helped him there.

Don't touch Ibrahimovic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spkRKKJw4m0

 

[Jack Lambert]

Although he was well set up for the second goal Welbeck still had some work to do on that one. The confidence he gained from the tap-in probably helped him there.

Don't touch Ibrahimovic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spkRKKJw4m0

My bad, I didn't see the 2nd goal, and assumed it was like the first one.


A few good results today: Iceland blasted Turkey 3-0 today!! And all-white Italian squad beat a Norway team that featured a couple of minorities, and the all-white Czech Republic shocked the Dutch (4 blacks started) in stoppage time with a late goal to win 2-1.

Also, Wales only beat Andorra 2-1.... That sucks, I was hoping Wales would be playing better, as I really Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Co. in the Euros, or at least the play-offs.

Another weird result... Cyprus beat Bosnia 2-1!!

 

[Matra2]

A few good results today: Iceland blasted Turkey 3-0 today!!

Seems to be a golden generation of sorts for tiny Iceland. They were close to World Cup qualification now a big win against Turkey. Given the Dutch loss to the Czechs this seriously damages Turkey's prospects as I can't see the Dutch - despite some of their defending today - not qualifying. So the Turks may already be in a tough battle for that 3rd place play-off spot.

And all-white Italian squad beat a Norway team that featured a couple of minorities

Anyone know the background of the first Italian goalscorer, Simone Zaha? His surname's origins are unknown to me and at Wikipedia it says his father was a DJ in Belgium (ie large Arab population).

As for Norway they are in a tight group with not just Italy but Croatia. I expect them to be battling with Bulgaria for a play-off.

 

[Porthos]

Seems to be a golden generation of sorts for tiny Iceland. They were close to World Cup qualification now a big win against Turkey. Given the Dutch loss to the Czechs this seriously damages Turkey's prospects as I can't see the Dutch - despite some of their defending today - not qualifying. So the Turks may already be in a tough battle for that 3rd place play-off spot.



Anyone know the background of the first Italian goalscorer, Simone Zaha? His surname's origins are unknown to me and at Wikipedia it says his father was a DJ in Belgium (ie large Arab population).

As for Norway they are in a tight group with not just Italy but Croatia. I expect them to be battling with Bulgaria for a play-off.

It's Simone Zaza (not Zaha), Italian from Southern Italy where this is a pretty common surname, no Arab ancestry that I know of. He is playing for Seria A team Sassuolo. Italy's new coach Antonio Conte (ex-Juventus coach) has blasted Balotelli on the media pretty hard, saying he left Mario off because he needs players that are "famished" (i.e. hungry of victories), not players that seek fame. I don't think we'll see "SuperMario" in the national team anytime soon, if ever... The Italian all-White team looked impressive today and could have scored another couple of goals easily.

Another team that went to all-White status is Croatia. With the retirement of Brazilian Edoardo da Silva and the ouster of the other Brazilian Sammir, now they're 100% White and Croatian. They have some interesting new players - Andrej Kramaric who came out of the Dinamo Zagreb school, but now plays for the croatian side Rijeka. This player could go very far with a bit of luck. Also Alen Halilovic who plays for Barca B. He is only 18.

Iceland certainly deserves a honourable mention. With 2 teams qualifying from each group, plus the third that goes into additional qualifications, they might just squeeze in this time. Their U21 team is also not bad. They just qualified for the playoffs of the 2015 U21 Euro, arriving second in their group behind France. The fact that they managed to place a number of players to some of the strongest leagues in Europe (EPL, Serie A, Eredivisie, Russian League) is an indicator that they made tremendous progress in the last several years. Let's go Iceland!

 

[Matra2]

Casillas made a great save early on against Slovakia only to mess up (again) later on the first Slovak goal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkrQn3rlPrI

After the World Cup and some other recent performances it is hard to understand why he is still the Spanish #1 choice.

Looks like the Dutch and Italians struggled a bit despite winning. The Czechs looked good beating Turkey and plucky Iceland had another victory - 0-3 away to Latvia. Don't expect to see Turkish flags in France in 2016 as the Turks look to be done already. Bosnia, the other mostly Muslim team, are in trouble too. Despite being in an easy group they've lost at home to Cyprus:doh: and drawn 0-0 in Wales. If Bosnia don't shape up in a hurry we could end up seeing French security forces getting a real work out in 2016 because Israel now has a serious chance of qualifying.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Casillas made a great save early on against Slovakia only to mess up (again) later on the first Slovak goal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkrQn3rlPrI

After the World Cup and some other recent performances it is hard to understand why he is still the Spanish #1 choice.
The Czechs looked good beating Turkey and plucky Iceland had another victory - 0-3 away to Latvia.

I was going to mention Iceland. I'm glad they've been doing well and I hope they qualify for the Euros; they'll have a big test playing the Dutch next week.

 

[Matra2]

The half-Moroccan Bellarabi debuts for Germany. He's played some good football but he should've scored by now as he's had a lot of chances. Rudiger and Boateng also playing. Germany has become a multicultural team. With ten minutes to go Poland leading the world champions 1-0.

 

[Porthos]

All-White Czechs are up to an impressive start, after beating Netherlands at home they now beat Turkey in Istanbul. Czechs are another of these teams that dropped their colored player (Theodor Gabre Selassie from Ethiopia) and switched to all-White (the others being Italy - who has a Balck Angelo Ogbonna on the bench but in the starting lineup - and Croatia).
When I was in Turkey (Istanbul) 2 years ago you could see small artificial grass football pitches (many with lights for night games) all over the place - every 2-300 meters or so - always choke full of people playing and often with others waiting in line to play... until late in the evening (9-10pm). Unbelievable interest. With this type of player base in a country of 80 million you would think they would produce at least a EURO semifinalist... instead they missed EURO 2012, missed the World Cup 2014 and now seem to be a prime candidate for missing France 2016 even with this super easy qualification cycle (24 teams!).
Iceland now actually has a fighting chance to qualify on a big tournament for the first time ever - go Iceland!

 

[ThePhilosopher]

When I was in Turkey (Istanbul) 2 years ago you could see small artificial grass football pitches (many with lights for night games) all over the place - every 2-300 meters or so - always choke full of people playing and often with others waiting in line to play... until late in the evening (9-10pm). Unbelievable interest. With this type of player base in a country of 80 million you would think they would produce at least a EURO semifinalist... instead they missed EURO 2012, missed the World Cup 2014 and now seem to be a prime candidate for missing France 2016 even with this super easy qualification cycle (24 teams!).
Iceland now actually has a fighting chance to qualify on a big tournament for the first time ever - go Iceland!

Well,the interest you mentioned doesn't go too far in correcting flaws in their DNA.
Honestly,I mean their best player Mesut Ozil(yes,German,I know) can't have one good game -start to finish - in the EPL.He's a joke figure.He cannot shoot to save his life!

Nuri Sahin,flopped spectacularly in Spain,England...and has scored a massive five goals in three years since returning to Germany.He has never scored for Turkey in a competitive game.And he married his cousin .

Khedira's greatest strength is his stamina,and Amarabat is a flop.Arda Turan is passable,never racking up goals in double digits.

Turks are just Negroes with relatively fair skin.In fact,today's black footballers are way better than the muslim ones.

Bloody Untermensch!

 

[Jack Lambert]

The half-Moroccan Bellarabi debuts for Germany. He's played some good football but he should've scored by now as he's had a lot of chances. Rudiger and Boateng also playing. Germany has become a multicultural team. With ten minutes to go Poland leading the world champions 1-0.

And look what all that multi-kulti brought them. Bellarabi (who's also half-Ghanian...) missed a ton of chances from what I've heard, and Rudiger's nothing special. Bellarabi's benefitted from Gomez, Lasogga, among others being left off the team. A lot of German fans were wondering why he's starting, but then again, Loew seems to think he's a "mini-Boateng," so as in American football, this guy will be given several more chances to prove he's garbage before another candidate to replace Lahm is brought in. I still think they'll have 8-9 white starters come Euro 2016. We'll see what happens against Ireland tomorrow. Some great news.... Iceland beats the Netherlands 2-0!!!! They looked great against the Dutch today (they could've bagged a couple more on counter-attacks) as they improve to 3 wins out of 3 in their qualifying campaign. Go Iceland!! The Czech Republic won again today as well... 4-2 against Kazakhstan. That'd be great if these two could finish top of the table and force the Netherlands to go the playoff route.

 

[Porthos]

Great result for Iceland against the Netherlands! They now have 8 points more than Turkey which choked again vs. Latvia (only 1:1).
In group H, Norway beat Bulgaria 2:1 and again fielded their 15-year old child-prodigy Martin Ødegaard, a player of immense talent. I'll post a video on him in the "White talents" thread.

 

[celticdb15]

Great result for Iceland against the Netherlands! They now have 8 points more than Turkey which choked again vs. Latvia (only 1:1).
In group H, Norway beat Bulgaria 2:1 and again fielded their 15-year old child-prodigy Martin Ødegaard, a player of immense talent. I'll post a video on him in the "White talents" thread.

Good for tiny Iceland !And wow 15yr old prodigy I don't follow soccer but he must be something special to be playing against grown men.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Speaking of tiny nations, Northern Ireland won 2-0 over Greece today!!!

 

[Matra2]

Speaking of tiny nations, Northern Ireland won 2-0 over Greece today!!!

Yes, now with a perfect record.:whoo:

Until 2006 when Trinidad & Tobago played in Germany Northern Ireland was the smallest country to ever play at a World Cup (1958, 1982, 1986). When George Best, the greatest British footballer ever, played for them they never qualified for anything as there weren't as many spots available. If they make it to France they'll be the smallest nation to appear at a Euro - unless even tinier Iceland (also with a perfect record so far) also make it.

This is NI's best chance to qualify for a major tournament since 1986. They had a serious chance to make it to Austria/Switzerland in 2008 beating Spain, Sweden, and Denmark in their home matches but losing both matches to Iceland was too hard to overcome - along with three points awarded to Sweden after an abandoned match with Denmark.

Speaking of abandoned matches...what happened in Belgrade tonight was surreal:

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/...ia-abandoned-after-brawl-20141015-1165e9.html

Apparently UEFA separates Armenia and Azerbaijan, along with Spain and Gibraltar, but decided not to do the same with Albania and Serbia. I'm pretty sure Serbia have played Croatia and Bosnia in some qualifying tournaments so they are not separated for political purposes. The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were in the same group in the 90s despite the former not recognising the latter and terrorism still being a problem. I wonder how they decide. I wonder if Greece and Macedonia/FYROM can be in the same group.

 

[Freethinker]

Speaking of abandoned matches...what happened in Belgrade tonight was surreal:

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/soccer/...ia-abandoned-after-brawl-20141015-1165e9.html

Apparently UEFA separates Armenia and Azerbaijan, along with Spain and Gibraltar, but decided not to do the same with Albania and Serbia. I'm pretty sure Serbia have played Croatia and Bosnia in some qualifying tournaments so they are not separated for political purposes. The Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland were in the same group in the 90s despite the former not recognising the latter and terrorism still being a problem. I wonder how they decide. I wonder if Greece and Macedonia/FYROM can be in the same group.

Wow, what a foolish stunt by the Albanian (Prime Minister's brother?) who flew the drone. He put his countrymen is serious danger on the field. The stadium was 100% Serbian fans. Talk about hostile territory.

 

[Jack Lambert]

Some of my thoughts from the first couple rounds of qualification thus far:

With Germany's new found diversity squad members in Bellarabi and Rudiger, I'm glad they lost to Poland and only managed a draw with the Irish. I'll cheer for the Germans again once those two are glued back on the bench, or better yet, off the team. It sounds like Loew was just experimenting with right-backs to replace Lahm, so hopefully, a couple of white backs are called up in November.



Good to see the very diverse Netherlands squad struggling in their group. It's been awesome to see all-white Iceland and the Czech Republic with the top two spots in Group A with perfect records. I had the privilege of watching Iceland beat the Netherlands 2-0... it could've been a couple more, as Iceland missed a couple of chances on the counter-attack. They defended very well, and looked really good, limiting the Netherlands to a couple of good chances.. maybe this is their cycle to do something big. I haven't seen the Czech Republic, but I'll be able to get the chance when they play Iceland in November.

I'm glad Switzerland is currently out; they are just as much of a multi-culti mess as England, who by the way started 9 whites in their game against Estonia, so maybe they won't be as mad as they WC, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Go Northern Ireland!!!!

I'm glad all-white Croatia and Italy lead their group as well, with somewhat multi-culti Norway in 3rd... It was awesome to see the 15 year old, Martin Odegaard, debut for the Norwegians though!

I see Austria's managed to scrounge up another black besides Alaba to play for them... Ruben Okotie... who was eligible to represent Nigeria, Austria, and Pakistan....