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Soccer

 
 
 
Thankfully Eriksen is in stable condition. He was well enough to speak to teammates and assure them he was well. Astonishingly, the game resumed and Denmark lost 0-1. It was really a very traumatic experience for the players, I don’t know how the managed to play after that.
 
A landmark day for Ronaldo. Two goals from Ronaldo in today's game against a brutal Hungary and the GOAT now holds the record for most goals scored in European Championship competition. Ronaldo has scored in FIVE European Championship tournaments. What a player.
 
Scotland get ready to take on "The Auld Enemy" at Wembley and remarkably tens of thousands of the Tartan Army have descended on London for the usual high jinks and banter;

Police have admitted they will have to 'flexibly' manage the huge swathe of Scotland fans who took over the West End today with no social distancing, showering any England supporters brave enough to go near them with beer. Fans parted to allow the Three Lions fans walk through - then tossed beer over them as they hurried by and let off blue and white smoke flares chanting 'I'd hate to be English'. The Tartan Army had been in the pub at 10am today, trashing central London and leaving the capital's landmarks strewn with detritus having completely ignored pleas from Mayor Sadiq Khan and the Met Police to stay away.
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Social distance be damned. :hysterical:
 
Well the Three Lions were humbled by the plucky Scots. The game finished 0-0 but it could have gone either way but England got what they deserved, nothing. A bang average team booed off the park by their own supporters. Kane subbed, $100m ? Yer havin a laff mate.
 
The man of the match in the England v Scotland game, Billy Gilmour tested positive for covid. Not only does Gilmour have to self isolate for ten days but two England players who came into close contact with Gilmour will also have to self isolate and miss England’s final game. No worries, thanks to the way this tournament format is set up England are already assured of qualifying for the knockout stages even if they lose due to results elsewhere.

A disease so deadly you need to test for it to know if you have it and can still play out of your skin and get man of the match in an international game.
 
A goal festival yesterday as the top teams battled their way through to the last 16. In the "group of death" Hungary very nearly upset the Germans after taking the lead twice but France, Germany and holders Portugal go through. Germany's next game will be against an insipid England at Wembley. I still fancy Italy to win this tournament.

Meanwhile in Copa America, poor Columbia, leading the game 1-0 after 10 minutes against Brazil a deflection off the referee instigated a move that resulted in a Brazil attack and scoring the equalizer in the 78th minute. Following an eight minute dispute, the game restarted and of course Brazil get the winner in added time.
 
Correction, last 24. Anyway game of the day Azzurii v Austria. The Italians one of the favorites and under Roberto Mancini are a breath of fresh air. Up against a very good Austria, Italy were matched in all departments in a very entertaining game. 0-0 after 90 minutes Azzurii eventually break down a well organized Austria defense and score. And rather than resort to their traditional Catenaccio defense to see the game out Mancini keeps the same tempo and presses for another goal and get another. 2-0 up and still no Catenaccio. Italy are shocked when Austria get one back and Austria are throwing everything at the Italians to get an equalizer. But Italy hold out and progress to the next round. Two really good teams put on a great show. Forza Italia.

Wales were shit.
 
The holders Portugal are out after a 1-0 loss to Belgium. A pretty physical game at times that didn't produce a lot of skillful football. Portugal conceded the goal just before half time, a good move setting up the chance for Hazard. Portugal huffed and puffed in the second half but could not break down the Belgium defense and missed a couple of decent chances to equalize. Unsurprisingly the GOAT Ronaldo did not take the defeat well and who could blame him. Portugal did not play well against a rather low key Belgium.
 
As a reminder, Greece won the Euro's once not too long ago. The set up of the tournament allows for absolute madness.

And each tourney there seems to be madness. This year, Czech Republic, Switzerland, and Denmark although, according to a recent look at the FIFA rankings, the Czech Republic is ranked 40th in the world while the Swiss and Danes are 13th and 10th... somehow. I'm uncertain how Denmark is the 10th ranked team in the world.

Meanwhile, the lesser surprises are Italy, Belgium, and Spain (all top seven).

Two more games, England v Germany (4th ?!?! v 12th ?!?!?) and Ukraine v Sweden.(24th v 18th). So the quarterfinals will add one more upstart and Germany because I can't remember the last time England won a game that mattered.
 
Oh the drama ! World champions France were put out by Switzerland. France were shocked to be a goal behind after only 15 minutes. Leading 0-1 the Swiss had a chance to go 0-2 up after being awarded a penalty early in the second half but the penalty was saved. France then went to work and went ahead 3-1 with Pogba scoring a stunning goal for the third. But the Swiss dug in and clawed it back to 3-3 for a dramatic penalty shootout after extra time. Mbappe was the unfortunate player who had to score France's last fifth and last penalty to stay alive and force sudden death shoot out. His penalty was decent but the Swiss goalkeeper managed to keep it out. Switzerland go through. Meanwhile Spain battled out a 5-3 win against Croatia after extra time. Spain goalkeeper had a howler giving away a goal after failing to control a smartly hit back pass from a teammate. Spain too fragile at the back I fear.

You could watch soccer all day between the Euros and Copa America. Argentina pretty comfortable 4-1 winners against a dogged Bolivia with Messi getting two goals.

The Three Lions will take on Germany this morning, always an interesting fixture. This could go either way. If it goes to penalties England's record is against them.
 
England have beaten Germany for the first time when it mattered in over 55 years, though no one can recall what that was for. England will face the winner of Ukraine and Sweden, which sets up one of the easier (on paper) fixtures. Belgium v Italy will be an effective Finals in the Quarterfinals.
 
Oddly enough I haven't found myself that interested in the Euros this year, while I followed the last few Euros and World Cup closely. I think this is largely a product of following Club Football and The Guardian Football Weekly for the past few years; I'm now much more interested in what's happening there. The Champion's League feels like the real Euro and World title to me now.

Where the World and Euro Cup are pretty much just dominated by football cultures. Kind of like Canada and hockey, it gets boring watching us win year after year.
 
Apparently Germany and Spain have won it three times, and France have won it twice. I do remember watching Spain's titles in 08' and 12', they had a great side for a while.
 
Apparently football is a thing in South America too as their continental tournament of Covid-19 '21 is into their quarterfinals with all the usual suspects. Brazil faces a Chile team that is struggling on scoring. Peru takes on Paraguay. Paraguay usually gets this deep, but then struggles. The other 'guay Uruguay will face Colombia and Argentina takes on Ecuador. Would expect Brazil, Argentina to get through along with Uruguay and Peru. Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador have 2 wins amongst themselves, and Chile only beat poor ole Bolivia. Paraguay are 2-0-2, which could be a recipe for an upset, as they beat Chile and poor ole Bolivia.
 
The Three Lions go through to the next round after beating Germany 2-0. Germany not at their best and England take full advantage to set up a quarter final showdown against Ukraine in Rome. You have to fancy England's chances but Ukraine are no mugs. Is football coming home ?
 
Azzurri go through, 2-1 against Belgium. This Italy team is like no other in recent memory. They are playing some fantastic football at times with more than a touch of the tiki-taka we saw from Spain a few years ago but doing more with it. Their first touch is incredible. This reminded me when in my younger days playing in a seven aside tournament and we played an Italian team. We got crushed. We were chasing shadows and left the field drained and exhausted while the Italians barely broke a sweat. Funnily enough it was one of the best games I played in, it was a privilege to be on he same pitch as these talented athletes. They were a bit cocky mind but they were entitled to be.

Spain v Italy next round. Oh my, I don't fancy Spain's chances of going through based on their stuttering form but you never can tell.
 
The Three Lions go through to the semi finals after a 4-0 win over what has to be said, a pretty shit Ukraine. Next up for England is a very impressive Denmark. England will find the Danes a far stiffer test than previous teams but England have yet to concede a goal so far so this game will be very interesting.
 
Copa America - Peru needed penalties to defeat Paraguay. Uruguay didn't score against Colombia and lost in penalties 4-2. Brazil and Argentina managed wins in their quarterfinals.

Brazil defeated Peru in the first semi-final and we await to see whether Argentina will underperform against Colombia.


Euro 2020...1 - England faces Denmark today in the first semi-final to see who faces the winner of Spain v Italy, the second semi-final. There is no third semi-final. England have been executing when it matters and Denmark is somehow ranked 10th in the world, so they must be good too. The winner would be the presumed underdog against Spain or Italy.
 
Azzurri go through to the final after beating Spain in a penalty shoot out after the game ended 1-1. Spain were a little bit unlucky as they were the better team. They kept Italy on the backfoot for much of the game, preventing the Italians from making those incisive passes to create chances. Spain's equalizing goal was a great goal and well taken. The game was played in front of a packed Wembley Stadium, something like 50k.

We shall see who the Azzurri face in the final tomorrow after England and Denmark play.
 
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