Euros 2016 (1 Viewer)

[jazzeum]

The Euros, which are being held in France, have been going for about 10 days now, with 24 teams, 16 of which will qualify for the next round, which starts this weekend. There are six groups of four teams each in the opening phase. Qualification is just about finished and the football has been very good.

The surprises of the tournament have to be Wales and Iceland. Wales has just beaten Russia 3-0 and won the group while Iceland managed to hold Portugal and Hungary to 1-1 ties. Albania has also looked good. The disappointing teams are probably Russia (who are going home) and Portugal (who still have a chance to qualify); Ronaldo just doesn't look himself (although he has a lot of shots on goal).

The favorites have looked up to form with Spain (the defending champion), Germany, Italy, Belgium and France looking good, although yesterday looked flat yesterday playing the Swiss. England looked good against Wales but apparently not that great today against Slovakia.

Tomorow, two of the groups will play their concluding matches, with the last two groups finishing on Wednesday.

 

[Warrior]

Been following this from the start, pulling for Italy, Germany, England and France in that order..................will see how it shakes out.............

 

[jazzeum]

Horrible loss by Spain today Cost them winning the group. They will now have to face Italy on Monday. It won't be easy.

 

[Wolfgang_UK]

Following from the start as well. Even though there where some really good games played so far during this competition somehow there seems to be a serious lack of goals. Well at least this seems to be true looking at the "Mannschaft". Yesterday playing Northern Ireland (well done NI !!!) the game produced 17 (seventeen - no spelling error!) clear chances for the German side resulting in a 1:0 win. Poor Müller surely had another bad night. Now so much for statistics but I guess one can say that most teams played a very "tactical" competition so far.
Good news that there where no reported problems with violent spectators. It was great to see those pictures on TV about fans of both sides enjoying a drink together and walking up to the stadium together without causing any trouble.
Perhaps at first glance strange but truly pleasing to see: German Police in national uniform side by side with their French colleagues patrolling the streets together. Bearing that in mind the European Union appears to be something well worth to protect.

regards
Wolfgang

 

[The Military Workshop]

Been following this from the start, pulling for Italy, Germany, England and France in that order..................will see how it shakes out.............

George,
I noted a minor error in your post. I think we can forgive your No 1 choice but then should read England, France and Germany^&grin perhaps you need to fix your keyboard.

In late breaking news down here it has been announced that Australia will be playing in the next Euro football competition. Seems Europe was very impressed with Australia coming 2nd in the Eurovision Song Contest:tongue:

Meanwhile those nasty Brussels EU officials are hindering the Australian application to join the EU. Seems those pesky hobbits from New Zealand got their application in first and have gone all out promising Peter Jackson movies where the French win at Waterloo and the Dambusters all get shot out of the sky by a teenager with a panzerfaust (obviously not one from the factory that supplied the Germans in Fury - the manager there has been sacked).

 

[DMNamiot]

We are watching this too. my 7 year old loves the game and is pulling for Poland. I am just enjoying the games being in our time zone! Not sure who will take it as the ones who you would think are power houses are playing flat in games where they should be walking all over the competition.

Dave

 

[jazzeum]

It's true that goals have not been plentiful although there have been a couple 3-0 games but it's fun to see some of the small countries like Albania and Northern Ireland (which doesn't even have a professional league) do well. And who can forget about Wales? They managed to throw off the terrible English loss and dominate Russia.

The top half of the draw in the Round of 16 looks very tough with Spain, Italy, Germany, France and England. There will be some bruising games. Marca, the Spanish sports daily, wondered if the others would be worried now that Spain in this draw. Talk about spinning bad news into a positive.

 

[jazzeum]

This is not Euros related but last night Argentina dominated the US in the semis of the Copa America. They fell behind in the 3rd minute and late in the first half Messi hit a free kick that was a thing of beauty, perfectly placed.

 

[jazzeum]

The two matches in Group E were excellent today (from the parts I was able to see). Portugal and Hungary had a goal fest 3-3, with Ronaldo finally scoring. His first one was a neat goal. Iceland won on the last play of the match, scoring to beat the Austrians.

The Portuguese get Croatia, which should be doable, while Iceland plays England, the battle of the "lands," which should be an interesting match. The announcers said that 8% of Iceland's population of 330,000 were at the match today. It's a great story so far.

 

[glossman]

I have been following EURO 2016 since it started about 2 weeks ago. The Group Stages have just been completed and the Round of 16 is set to begin.

Some of the best matches are scheduled at 3.00 am local time, so I have missed a few. It is always tough on sleep when it comes to EURO matches and the World Cup depending on the venue.

I did not expect Italy and Spain to concede one match each and now these 2 teams are set to meet next and there can only be one winner. Wales have been impressive and Russia rather disappointing.

Raymond.

 

[jazzeum]

Swiss are down 1 nil with about 20 minutes to go. They're going to have to take some risks.

 

[jazzeum]

Looks like it's down to PKs.

 

[jazzeum]

John Jenkins must be delirious right now as Wales have just beaten Northern Ireland to advance to the quarter finals! Well done Wales.

 

[Warrior]

Ireland up early vs France 1-0, then France scores twice to win 2-1. Ireland moving on would have been an incredible story, but it's nice to see the host country move on as well.

Germany up next..........................If they win and Spain beats Italy, Germany/Spain in the quarterfinals would be epic. Too bad they are possibly meeting in only the quarterfinals, the final would have been incredible.

Maybe Italy will spoil the party...................:wink2:

 

[jazzeum]

Germany will be hard to beat. In recent history, the winner of the World Cup has tended to win the Euros two years later. In 2000, France won and Spain won in 2012. Italians didn't win in 2008 however as Spain won in 2008. As Brasil won the WC in 2002, the 2004 Euros don't factor into the equation.

 

[jazzeum]

A very odd game for Belgium. They look great at times but positively ordinary at times. I'm not completely convinced by them but they are dangerous.

 

[jazzeum]

A disappointing loss for Spain. Italy were the better team. It's as simple as that. End of a generation. Time for some new management and players.

 

[Warrior]

A massive upset in the making as Iceland?, Iceland?, yes, Iceland lead England 2-1.

They're running with this on local sports talk radio, calling it Mets/Orioles, Jets/Colts, Patriots/Giants all rolled into one.......................

 

[Warrior]

Iceland wins, England is out.

So is their manager/coach/head honcho, he stepped down.

I also saw Messi is retiring from the national team after losing to Chile last night.

I don't get the way the Euros were mapped out; you've got Italy/Spain in the quarter finals, with the winner playing Germany, then the winner of that match plays probably France in the semi finals, what a brutal path to the finals, yet on the other side, you've got Poland, Portugal, Wales and Belgium fighting to get to the semifinals, looks pretty weak compared to the gauntlet of Spain, Italy, Germany and France.....................?

 

[jazzeum]

I love the spirit of Iceland and their fans. France will have their hands full. It's about time Hodgson left. He's simply awful.

The draws are based on how you finished in each group. Had Spain won their group they would have been in the other bracket and likely would have faced Belgium in the semis. Unfortunately their GK made a mess of things against Croatia and they failed to win the group. That was their death knell.