UEFA EURO 2016

[frederic38]

pogba was back in the starting 11 but he was outshined by sissoko and cabaye (by the way, cabaye is so annoying with his fouls, against a relatively small team in the next round, it should do wonder for france if the referee is in a good mood)
it was a relatively B team since france already won the first 2 games
they gave rest to a lot of players
based on performance, one out of matuidi, or pogba, has to sit on the bench because cabaye and sissoko have been better
it is expected that this player who is going to be benched will be matuidi

in the other match big let down from romania, losing against albania (worst team of the tournament) because their goalkeeper lacks on crosses and aerial plays
from what i have read albania has almost no chance of advancing as one of the best 3rd placed teams

 

[frederic38]

thanks frederic, you have a wonderful memory!
I remember that it was not a starting team but due to substitutions, there was once only white (or only one non white) players on the field under Laurent Blanc.

Your remarks are very interesting.
I was thinking that an all-white squad today would be perfectly conceivable and good enough, with players that are not here like Debuchy, Valbuena, Perrin, Gameiro, Perrin, Féret, Grenier, Laporte, Corchia, Rabiot, Cabella, Gonalons, Gourcuff, Kozielo…

yes but look at how people and media reacted when deschamps did't call any arab player (with a squad that was majority non white), now imagine if france starts an all white team lol
i remember in 2010 when i was trying to make an all white starting 11, as a striker there was nobody, i had to put griezmann while he was way too young to be called
now we have way more players
perhaps it is a result of a shift in mentality that has been influenced by laurent blanc

 

[frederic38]

Lol. This game is a clown show. Some black on Switzerland carried Pogba on his back for a couple strides. Then another black French player falls. Then a Muslim on Switzerland promptly loses a ball out of bounds.

This 15 second turn of events sums things up. Don't know how much I can watch. Time for the Romania game I suppose.

and a good old 0-0 in the end
pogba has to be the flop of the tournament so far
he is so lanky that he can barely walk without falling over
yet he is supposed to be the star of the tournament

 

[Freethinker]

and a good old 0-0 in the end
pogba has to be the flop of the tournament so far
he is so lanky that he can barely walk without falling over
yet he is supposed to be the star of the tournament

He really is cartoonish for a "star" athlete. I think he's the most overrated footballer since the legendary "Super Mario". Is that clown playing in Turkey or China yet? What European team from any of the top 4 leagues would want him?

 

[Matra2]

Either Spain or Italy will be knocked out in the first phase of the knockout rounds as Croatia just defeated the defending champions. I'm left wondering why Sergio Ramos, the captain, stepped up to take the penalty. He missed just like he did in the Confederations Cup in 2003 and for Real Madrid in a CL final against Bayern. Doesn't Spain have better penalty takers?

The Turks beat the Czechs 2-0. I didn't see it but based on how the Turks played in their earlier matches the Czechs must've been pretty dire.

 

[Matra2]

I forgot to mention that the Croatian goalie was way off the line and the Croatian player who got the rebound was guilty of encroachment on the penalty, but it was still a poor kick by Sergio Ramos. (Whether it should've been a penalty in the first place is another question). SR may also have been guilty of ball watching on the first Croatian goal.

Earlier in the day the state of the pitch for the Poland v Ukraine match was pathetic. A bad bounce probably cost Lewandowski a goal. What are they doing in Marseille?

 

[frederic38]

spain's penalty takers are very unreliable
we saw this at club level and with the national team many times
including the latest champions league final and even semi finals

so italy was going to face either croatia or spain in the first round, while france will face a 3rd placed team?
it's the first time that a tournament is this unfair
before you could get lucky and get a weaker team, but you couldn't get to face a 3rd placed team while other teams have to play a 2nd placed one
there is no difference between france and italy to justify this
both have placed first of their group

check this out: http://castefootball.us/index.php?threads/corruption-fixing-and-bad-officiating-in-football.35415/

 

[frederic38]

right now iceland and hungary will play to decide portugal's group
i hope that both advance but even one of them advancing would be great

 

[frederic38]

perfect so far, hungary is leading against portugal and iceland against austria
what an upset that would be!

 

[Thrashen]

Can't believe what I'm seeing from the ethnically-homogeneous Iceland team, who currently lead 1-0 over diversity-laden "Austrian" team! They need a draw to advance. Austria will be pressing hard to equalize. Should be a nerve-racking war in the 2nd half. Would love to see them get their first major tournament victory...

CAPTION: Bödvarsson Scores

 

[frederic38]

cristiano ronaldo for portugal

https://streamable.com/14ob

what a goal
if the score stays the same in both matches iceland and hungary advance i think

 

[frederic38]

1-1 for iceland now
it would still be enough for them like thrashen said

 

[Matra2]

Balazs Dzsudzsak seems like another left footed player with no right foot ability yet the Portuguese allowed him on to his left foot for that third Hungarian goal. It reminded me of how often defenders fall for Arjen Robben's pivot to the right only to allow him space for when he, inevitably, switches to his left. It drives me nuts!

 

[Matra2]

Multicultural Austrian team = Epic Fail

 

[frederic38]

so we have the firt major surprise of the euro champs with hungary leading the group and iceland second, who will face england
another chance of upset against a relatively black team

 

[Phall]

Great win for Iceland and an equally impressive result for Hungary. This group shook out almost perfectly, although I might have preferred Portugal and England facing each other in an elimination match. Hopefully Croatia and Iceland continue their winning ways against two of Europe's Africanized darlings.

 

[Thrashen]

Iceland-Austria was the best Euro Cup group match I've ever seen. In the end, the good guys win, 2-1, scoring at the last possible moment (90 minutes + 4 minutes stoppage). A magical ending, I can't believe it...

 

[Phall]

Ronaldo is tough to root for. For all his talent and efficiency, he will throw temper tantrums on the field reminiscent of his NFL counterparts. With the bawdy ESPN commentators still slobbering over their ratings-generator, Ronaldo will take contact and sit on the pitch with his arms around his knees, shaking his head as the other team counterattacks. Half of his highlight reel is cartoonish emoting and finger-wagging. No mixed feelings from me when his team of Iberian coastal pirates eventually gets eliminated, as they do in every tournament.

 

[ThePhilosopher]

Match Events

GOAL! - 19' - Zoltan Gera 1 - 0

GOAL! - 42' - Nani 1 - 1

GOAL! - 46' - Balazs Dzsudzsak 2 - 1

GOAL! - 49' - Cristiano Ronaldo 2 - 2

GOAL! - 54' - Balazs Dzsudzsak 3 - 2

GOAL! - 62' - Cristiano Ronaldo 3 - 3

But this has to be the highlight of the game :

https://vine.co/v/5Bp2i0F2Lur

Kiraly!!

 

[ThePhilosopher]

All highlights from the Austria-Iceland game:

Match Events

GOAL! - 18' - Jon Bodvarsson 1 - 0

MISSED PENALTY - 42' - Aleksandar Dragović

GOAL! - 60' - Alessandro Schopf 1 - 1

GOAL! - 94' - Arnór Ingvi Traustason 2 - 1

 

[frederic38]

Balazs Dzsudzsak seems like another left footed player with no right foot ability yet the Portuguese allowed him on to his left foot for that third Hungarian goal. It reminded me of how often defenders fall for Arjen Robben's pivot to the right only to allow him space for when he, inevitably, switches to his left. It drives me nuts!

the thing is when a defender faces a winger his priority is to protect his side-line side more than the interior because there are a lot more risks of a goal haapening if the players manages to escape on the side-line side
every fullback has this in mind
but in robben's case it can be argued that he always does the same thing and is more dangerous when on his left foot ready to shoot

 

[frederic38]

if anybody understands the way the 3rd placed teams are qualified i would apreciate an explanation of the ones that are going to advance and who will play against france

 

[ThePhilosopher]

^First off,Woohoo,Albania and their team of shiptars are eliminated!

Other onfirmed fixtures for the next round:

Iceland have a real chance to progress further as they face England.
Germany to face Slovakia.

Let's wait for the other games to end tonight.

 

[frederic38]

and turkey?
i can't believe that they could advance while losing badly in 2 of their 3 games
3 points and -2 goal difference, don't tell me you can advance with that in this new type of tournament please

 

[Matra2]

France play a 3rd place team from C (Northern Ireland) or D (Turkey). Unless in E tonight Sweden manage to beat Belgium then it would possibly be France v Belgium. Very straightforward