27 June 2016
ENGLAND 1 (Rooney 4 Pen)
ICELAND 2 (Sigurdsson 6, Sigthorsson 18)
There's only one way to start this, bwaaah!
The expected thrashing was on course after four minutes. Sturridge found the useless Sterling with an excellent pass, the bounce forced him wide and he made the most of Halldorsson's touch to win the penalty. Rooney hit a perfect shot into the bottom left corner. Within two minutes Iceland were level with a route one classic. Gunnarsson hurled a throw-in into the box, Arnason flicked on the ball and Sigurdsson lost Walker to volley past Hart. Saevarsson volleyed a cross to Gudmundsson, he stepped outside Rose before crossing to Sigurdsson, he laid the ball off first time to Bodvarsson, who controlled it with his right before passing to Sigthorsson with his left, Sigthorsson ran at and past Cahill and just as he were about to see one of the great goals of the tournament, he struck a bloody awful shot at Hart, who promptly let the ball slip through his left hand. Dear oh dear. England's feeble response was a well struck Kane volley but Halldorsson tipped over.
Following a spot of head tennis from a corner, Sigurdsson blasted an overhead kick at Hart. Kane attempted a Bale free kick, it ended up like Xhaka's penalty. Kane missed a free header and Hart beat away a shot from Gunnarsson on the counter. In injury time Arnason made a sensational headed clearance as Vardy was about to connect with Sterling's Beckham-esque cross.
There will, already has been, lots of head scratching and the age old argument about the foreign heavy EPL being detrimental to the England team but this side have no excuses. I didn't buy the bullshit that they played well in their previous games, they didn't. They missed chances, yes, but most of the good teams miss twice as many chances and still score, England simply failed to put opposition goalkeepers under enough pressure. The technical ability, which is the age old excuse, wasn't an excuse this time either. England were technically superior to the teams they've faced in this tournament and only have a last minute win against Wales to show for it. The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the cowardly Lion Roy Hodgson. His England team played with the handbrake on and his squad selections reeked of star name syndrome. What Sterling and that overrated cripple Wilshire had done to deserve playing is a mystery. Rooney was not a success in midfield. England already have a ball playing midfielder, Barkley, who didn't get a single minute in the tournament! Another coward, Southgate, whose England tanked at the Euro U21s last summer, is the favourite to take-over. A big mistake. If they want to go the English manager route Eddie Howe is the best candidate. If they're really brave they'll make a play for Ranieri. Why not? He's got more talent to work with than he does at Leicester. England will always qualify for tournaments, they've got enough quality to sail through but at the tournaments themselves they shit the bed. Outside the confine of club football where they can hide behind foreign team-mates and big name managers, this is a team of mental midgets. Hart and Rooney should do the noble thing and fall on their swords. They're not good enough.
Attendance : 33,901
Assists : Sterling (won pen), Arnason, Bodvarsson
ITALY 2 (Chiellini 33, Pelle 91)
SPAIN 0
Italy took immediate control and were threatening to score early. De Gea made a brilliant one handed save to deny Pelle as he easily got above Busquets to meet Florenzi's free kick with a firm header. Parolo also got above his marker to head on a cross, Giaccherini jumped for an overhead kick, De Gea saved brilliantly but the ref had blown for dangerous play. De Gea, Iniesta and Pique were yapping , Eder blasted a free kick through the wall, De Gea spilled the ball, chopped down Giaccherini as he went for the rebound but Chiellini stabbed in at the back post. Had he not scored it could have been a penalty and red card. De Gea's personal battle against Italy continued, another spectacular finger tip save from Giaccherini ensured Spain only went into the half one goal down.
Pelle released Eder with a great back heel, he left Pique for dead but De Gea charged off his line and blocked. Silva back heeled Iniesta's pass to Busquets, he helped the ball onto Fabregas?, Iniesta flicked the ball to Aduriz , who replaced Nolito on half time, but he shot well wide. It was the only good piece of football Spain played in the entire match. Ramos headed well over, Iniesta and Pique tried their luck from distance but Buffon was more than equal to their shots. With ten minutes to go Insigne came on for Eder and fared no better against De Gea. He spun onto Chiellini's pass out of defence, made Ramos look like a mug as he dropped a shoulder and blew past him but shot straight at De Gea. In injury time De Gea launched a hail Mary ball into the Italy box, Barzagli inadvertently headed the ball forward to Pique and Buffon got down brilliantly to parry. It would have sucked to concede that late on given how dominant Italy had been. Pelle finally scored a second to finish off Spain once and for all. Giaccherini whacked a crossfield pass out wide to Darmian, his cross clipped off Ramos' heels and Pelle lashed a volley past De Gea. About damn time.
Italy should have won by three or four goals. They were more impressive here than they had been against Belgium. After eight years, normal service has resumed. For those not young enough to remember, Italy were Spain's bogey team. Italy would always beat Spain in majors, 88 years that run lasted. Bigger, strong, smarter, a better league, a better kit, even better hair, the Italians were superior in every way. That changed in 2008. With tikka taka, the Spanish made tactics a dirty word. Today tactics won out. Sure Spain have been beaten before, they were truly awful at the World Cup but this was different, this felt like a changing of the guard, the end of an era. Spain won together and have grown old together. They're not over the hill, all but Iniesta should be around for the next Euros, but this Spain don't play tikka taka. The rampant midfield pressing died in 2014. Years of having to face teams playing catenaccio lead to a change in system, two traditional centre forwards replaced the false 9 but it's the midfield that is no longer functioning or maybe the Italians have better drugs.
Attendance : 76,l65
Assists : Giaccherini, n/a
26 June 2016
HUNGARY 0
BELGIUM 4 (Alderweireld 10, Batshuayi 78, Hazard 79, Carrasco 91)
This was an un-Belgium like performance. Alderweireld met a KDB free kick with a bullet header. The Hungarians were lucky not to go into half time more than a goal down, KDB and Mertens wasted clear openings and KDB also hit the crossbar with a free kick.
Hazard stung Kiraly's palms with a brilliant solo effort. It looked like Hungary would go out with a narrow victory before the floodgates opened. Batshuayi scored within two minutes of replacing Lukaku. Witsel and Carrasco? dummied a Hazard pass, allowing him to run through and centre for the Marseille man. The Belgians broke seconds after the kick-off. Carrasco started a counter attack with a ball into KDB onto the half way line, he found Hazard in space down the left, as he cut inside the box, he pushed the ball onto the outside of his right foot, preventing Lang and Guzmics from making a challenge, he threw a dummy as he went past Nagy then fired low into the right corner. Magnificent goal. KDB put in the Carrasco for the fourth in the first minute of injury time.
This is the type of performance we've been expecting from the Belgians for two years. Whether they play with this intensity and confidence remains to be seen.
Attendance : 38,921
Assists : De Bruyne (fk), Hazard, De Bruyne, Nainggolan
GERMANY 3 (Boateng 8, Gomez 43, Draxler 63)
SLOVAKIA 0
Boateng ran onto a clearance from a corner and caught the ball on the drop, skidding a volley past Kozacik. Five minutes later Skrtel shoved Gomez in the back to concede a penalty but Ozil's poor shot was saved, the fourth of nine penalties missed so far. Shortly after Neuer tipped over Kucka's header, Draxler danced around him down the left before pulling back a centre for Gomez to tap-in. Draxler scored the only goal of a dull second half, smashing in a close range volley after Hummels headed on a corner, possibly via a deflection as no assist was given.
Attendance : 44,312
Assists : n/a, Draxler, n/a
FRANCE 2 (Griezmann 57, Griezmann 61)
IRELAND 1 (Brady 2)
Long dived under a clumsy challenge by Pogba to win a penalty. Brady sent Lloris the wrong way, albeit his shot win in off the post. Murphy almost added a second. The French were shitting the bed.
While the first half had been a breeze for the Irish, the second was anything but. The French battered them for 45 minutes and won the match more decisively than the scoreline suggests. Griezmann scored twice in four minutes. His first was a fantastic header from Sagna's cross. Giroud climbed on the back of Keogh to head down a longball leaving the unmarked Griezmann time to pick his spot and add a second. Duffy hacked down Griezmann as he was about to complete a hat-trick. His red card only ensured more pressure on the beleaguered Irish. Gignac, who came on for Giroud mid-way through the half, hammered a shot against the crossbar. He flashed a volley wide of the right post and Griezmann wasted a late chance to score his third.
If France play like they did in the second half they'll be a fearsome prospect, IF but given their side of the draw, their remaining opponents aren't likely to let them have as much of the ball as the Irish did.
Attendance : 56,279
Red Card : Duffy 66 (Ireland)
Assists : Long (won pen), Sagna, Giroud
25 June 2016
CROATIA 0
PORTUGAL 1 (Quaresma 117)
This was the worst game of the tournament and the lack of goals can be blamed on the hopeless Vida. He wasted the best chance in normal time, heading wide Srna's excellent free kick. He did the same thing in extra time. Patricio crashed after running into traffic but Vida headed over with the goal gaping. Perisic headed a cross against the inside of the left post and Portugal countered. Quaresma, on as a substitute, and Ronaldo mugged Strinic as he tried to keep the attack alive, Ronaldo hit a ball into Sanches and burst forward, Sanches ran 40 yards downfield, sold Perisic a dummy, then laid the ball off to Nani, Nani toe poked a centre through a body of players, Ronaldo blasted the ball at goal, Subasic made a brilliant save and Quaresma headed in the rebound. Guess who should have equalised? Yep, glory hog Vida. In the closing seconds Perisic flicked on a ball and Vida flashed a volley wide of the right post. What a complete twat.
I read today that Mourinho wanted Sanches, the Portuguese Pogba, but the inept Woodward wouldn't pull the trigger on the move while LVG was still officially in charge and that's when Bayern stepped in. I'm sure Mourinho won't be backwards in coming forward to remind people of that should Sanches go on to become a superstar. Physically he's a big unit. He's not tall but has three years of growth left.
Attendance : 33,523
Assists : n/a
WALES 1 (McAuley 75 og)
NORTHERN IRELAND 0
The first half was a steaming pile of crap. Vokes should have headed the Welsh into the lead but his effort failed to match a superb Ramsey cross. McGovern was the first 'keeper not to be embarrassed by a Bale free kick. The fake Irish were in a line across the penalty box as the Welsh were attacking, they didn't notice Bale free in space on the left, Ramsey did, gave him the ball and Bale whipped in a first time cross, forcing a McAuley own goal with Robson-Kanu breathing down his neck.
Attendance : 44,342
Assist : n/a
SWITZERLAND 1 (Shaqiri 82)
POLAND 1 (Blaszczykowski 39)
The Poles broke from a Swiss corner to take the lead and bring what had been a poor game to life. Fabianski hurled the ball 40 yards to send Grosicki down the left, he stepped inside Behrami, chipped a ball upto the back post and Jakub steadied himself before firing past Sommer. The second half was tremendous. Shaqiri stung Sommer's palms with a ferocious left footed shot. Fabianski made a brilliant save from a Rodriguez free kick. Seferovic hammered the ball against the crossbar then Shaqiri scored one of the greatest tournament goals of all time. Derdiyok flicked on a Lichtsteiner cross, Shaqiri, who had his back to play, took a couple of steps forward to the edge of the box, leapt in the air and corked his body to score with a magnificent, left footed scissor kick which bounced into the bottom corner.
Derdiyok should have gave the Swiss the lead in the first period of extra time but Fabianski, who is having a great tournament, saved brilliantly.
PENALTY SHOOT OUT
Lichtsteiner - left of centre. Made it look easy.
Lewandowski - Slammed into the top right corner.
Xhaka - One of the all time worst penalties, about 20 yards wide of the left post.
Milik - In off the right post, almost saved.
Shaqiri - Left corner, easy.
Glik -Walloped into the bottom left corner.
Schar -Down the middle, Fabianski dived early.
Jakub - Whipped inside the right post.
Rodriguez -A stuttering run, bottom left.
Krychowiak - Smashed into the top left corner.
Lewandowski has been the dud of the tournament. He did nothing, again. You'd think he'd be nailed on to miss a penalty but, surprisingly, scored.
Xhaka of course can't be blamed for Switzerland's shoot out loss but it's as I said when Arsenal signed him, you don't notice him because he does nothing and he's done nothing in either this tournament or the World Cup. He's not the athletic, tough tackling midfielder Arsenal need.
Poland win 5-4 on penalties.
Attendance : 38,842
Assists : Grosicki, Derdiyok
Quarter-Finals
9. Poland vs Portugal. Thursday June 30. 20.00
10. Wales vs Belgium. Friday July 1. 20.00
11. Germany vs Italy. Saturday July 2. 20.00
12. France vs Iceland. Sunday July 3. 20.00
Semi-Finals
Winner of 9 vs Winner of 10
Winner of 11 vs Winner of 12