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2021 (2020, really) Euros

jeffbear

jeffbear

Mod Squad
Staff member
Geez ... mess around and let the Euros start without a thread. Here's the groups

A
Italy, Switzerland, Turkey, Wales

B
Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Finland

C
Netherlands, Austria, Ukraine, N Macedonia

D
England, Czech Rep, Croatia, Scotland

E
Spain, Poland, Slovakia, Sweden

F
Germany, France,, Portugal, Hungary
 
Things kicked off over the weekend, but the big news was Christian Ericksen collapsing during the Denmark/Finland game (Finns won 1-0) and needing CPR after an apparent heart attack. He's stable but that's clearly not how Denmark would have preferred to open the tournament.

Group A kicked off with Italy beating Turkey and Wales nipping back a draw with the Swiss. In B, Belgium (the favorites) handled Russia in their opener while Finland took the points over a crushed Danish side. In C, the Dutch took kind of a wild one over the Ukraine while Austria beat the Macedonians. In D, the Czechs and English took the opening matches, while everything else in either yet to start or in progress.

Clearly, there are some story lines. The Scots haven't been in a major tournament in a long time, while Macedonia and Finland really never have. Group F is quite obviously the murderers' row here ... poor Hungary an afterthought with three powers lined up otherwise. A lot of the big names are rosters in transition though, so this could be a bit more wide open than the chalk might indicate ... which of course means we shouldn't expect too many upsets. That's how these things tend to go. Nice to be back to summer tournament football, though.
 
I was on a call with some European colleagues this morning and there was some good natured trash talk between the Germans and the French. And yeah, poor Hungary has to wonder whose shoes they pissed on to get stuck in that group.
 
andyt said:
I was on a call with some European colleagues this morning and there was some good natured trash talk between the Germans and the French. And yeah, poor Hungary has to wonder whose shoes they pissed on to get stuck in that group.
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Yeah ... that group kicks off today. Now watch Hungary hold Portugal to a 0-0 draw or something ... just to make things "fun"
 
There are more players from Wolves (2) in Portugal’s starting 11 than there are from the entire Portuguese Premier League combined (1). Man City also has 2.
 
jeffbear said:
Yeah ... that group kicks off today. Now watch Hungary hold Portugal to a 0-0 draw or something ... just to make things "fun"
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That’s what it looked like for the first 83 minutes and then bang, bang, bang, 3-0 Portugal final.
 
France and Germany was tight ... late goal for France waived off by VAR (fairly, I think), but the French win 1-0 (own goal by Hummels). That's Germany's first opening match loss in the Euros ... ever. They looked clunky and very blunt in attack against a quick French side.
 
Gareth Bale is still alive, it seems, and Italy may just be an offensive force. Bale set up two goals for Wales and all but put them through to the knockouts with a 2-0 win over Turkey. Meanwhile, Italy blasted a really solid Swiss side 3-0 and has now scored 29 freaking goals since they last allowed a goal against. Oh, and Russia won a boring 1-0 match over Finland
 
Nothing much to see on Thursday at the Euros. Chalk ruled for the most part. Belgium were scruffy but prevailed 2-1 over the Danes, and the Dutch popped Austria 2-0. Ukraine beat Macedonia in the other game, but I didn't watch a minute.

Today, I get to bite my nails and hope for a glorious Scottish upset of England in Wembley. Yeah, I'm not getting my hopes too high.
 
No glory for the Scots, but a gentleman's draw is a good result for them. 0-0 at Wembley, with Scotland generating nearly as many quality looks as the English managed. England will sit, stew and absorb a beating from the press from this one, while the Tartan Army will continue their herculean attempts to drink London dry. I know who will have more fun, for sure.

In games I care less about, Croatia and the Czechs drew 1-1 and Sweden nicked a 1-0 win over Slovakia. England and the Czechs play to decide the group while Scotland and Croatia play at Hampden Park with an outside chance to the clear winner ... should there be such a thing.
 
jeffbear said:
No glory for the Scots, but a gentleman's draw is a good result for them. 0-0 at Wembley, with Scotland generating nearly as many quality looks as the English managed. England will sit, stew and absorb a beating from the press from this one, while the Tartan Army will continue their herculean attempts to drink London dry. I know who will have more fun, for sure.

In games I care less about, Croatia and the Czechs drew 1-1 and Sweden nicked a 1-0 win over Slovakia. England and the Czechs play to decide the group while Scotland and Croatia play at Hampden Park with an outside chance to the clear winner ... should there be such a thing.
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I had England/Scotland on TV behind me and swiveled around whenever Sir Ian raised his voice. It seemed to me it did happen as frequently for the Scots as the English.
 
andyt said:
I had England/Scotland on TV behind me and swiveled around whenever Sir Ian raised his voice. It seemed to me it did happen as frequently for the Scots as the English.
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Fair ... but by my count, the quality chances were pretty much even and Pickford had to make more quality stops than Marshall made in the other net. Scotland may be under-manned but Steve Clark got his tactics spot on. Young Billy Gilmour is a revelation in midfield for the Scots. I know Chelsea has a crowded roster and he's only 19, but that kid is a ball retrieval monster.
 
Catching up from the weekend ... Group A finished up and the Welsh are through to the knockout rounds in 2nd with Italy going through with a clean 3-0-0 record. Group F on Saturday remained a jumble as Germany rose from the ashes with a strong offensive performance against Portugal in a 4-2 win while France had to claw back an early Hungary goal to scrap out a 1-1 draw. That group is wide the heck open going into their 3rd fixtures.
 
jeffbear said:
Catching up from the weekend ... Group A finished up and the Welsh are through to the knockout rounds in 2nd with Italy going through with a clean 3-0-0 record. Group F on Saturday remained a jumble as Germany rose from the ashes with a strong offensive performance against Portugal in a 4-2 win while France had to claw back an early Hungary goal to scrap out a 1-1 draw. That group is wide the heck open going into their 3rd fixtures.
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Italy has a 30 match unbeaten streak under Mancini. I thought the red card to Ampadu was harsh. And I really missed Gigi Buffon singing the anthem.
 
Scotland's Billy Gilmour will miss their next match with a positive Covid test. England's players have cleared their followup testing and there was an ambiguous statement from the SFA indicating that Scotland's other players had as well ... but we'll see.
 
England's Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell have been placed in Covid isolation after being judged to be close contacts with Gilmour after the England/Scotland match. They're Chelsea teammates and had a long interaction with Gilmour after the game. Chilwell being out isn't that big a deal, but England have installed Mount as their central linkup man and they don't really have a ready replacement who plays the same game. They can go with Grealish or Foden in that position but those are more all forward action, all the time guys. If Jordan Henderson is healthy, then fine ... otherwise Southgate is going to have to adjust, and he freaking hates to adjust. The good news ... they're already through to the knockouts and are only playing for seeding.
 
Monday's results left Denmark flying. Their 4-1 destruction of Russia was an emotional explosion that saw them into the knockout rounds. The Dutch continue to be one of the more consistent scoring forces in the tournament with a 3-0 result over Macendonia. The Belgians and Austrians won professional looking affairs, as both are through to the next round.
 
Got busy at work, but the knockout bracket is set and the round of 16 gets rolling this weekend.

Belgium/Portugal and Italy/Austria ... France/Switzerland and Croatia/Spain

Sweden/Ukraine and England/Germany ... Netherlands/Czech Rep and Wales/Denmark

Belgium and Italy have been two of the stronger sides and don't really deserve that draw. Meanwhile the Dutch get a really level road out of their sub bracket, at least on paper. Meanwhile England ... yeah. The Germans again.
 
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