Today’s EUROs!

[mike412]

Whoever says soccer is boring didn’t see these two games.

First, Spain is trailing Croatia 1-0 on one of the worst plays ever made by a GK. As one of the commentators said, it was a mistake you would hope not to see in a game of 11 year olds. He took his eye off a back pass, looking upfield to see where to kick it, and it bounced off his foot and rolled 15 meters into the goal. Croatia hardly touched the ball the first 70 minutes of the game, yet they were up 1-0.

Spain scored 3 goals and was on cruise control after 75 minutes. Croatia had two shots and 32% possession. They got their 3rd shot on goal in the 81st minute. Spain started substituting in the 72d minute resting some key players and playing some guys out of position. They had an attacking midfielder playing Center Back for example. Croatia scored in the 85th minute on its 4th shot on goal and then equalized it 2 minutes into added time. Spain scored twice in the overtime, including an absolutely classic goal from the maligned Alvaro Morata.

Game 2 couldn’t match that right? It did. Swirtzerland versus defending World Cup champion France and it’s roster of all-world players. Switzerland goes ahead 1-0 early on a goal which perfectly explained why me and 10 million other Barca fans want Clement Lenglet gone. He failed to man up the CF for the Swiss on a cross, allowing him an easy header.

Lenglet was a surprise starter and not surprisingly was subbed off at halftime. Dicier Deschamps went to a different formation in the second half, adding another attacking MF in Kingsley Coman. It paid dividends, as France scored 3 times and was on cruise control with a 3-1 lead. But, oh those pesky Swiss. A header in the 81st minute and then a goal in the 90th minute by a player who the French decided not to cover at the top of the box.

Overtime. Not many chances in the first 29 minutes, and then fireworks. A Swiss goal called back for offsides with one minute to go, another Swiss chance missed with 30 seconds left after a bad first touch, and then, on the very last touch of extra time, Kingsley Coman hits the crossbar.

Penalty shootout. We saw this before in the Europa League finals, where Villareal made 11 PKs in succession — the last one by the GK — to beat heavily favored Manchester United, who paid more to acquire Paul Pogba than Villareal paid for its entire squad. Here, the no-name Swiss made their first 5 PKs. The French made their first 4. Up steps Kylian Mbappe, who many argue is the best player in the world not named Lionel Messi or CR7. He is the regular PK taker for both France and his club team, PSG. The Swiss GK saves it. France is eliminated, which unfortunately means we no longer get to hear the world’s best national anthem at these Euros. The Swiss move on.

Today was an incredibly exciting day of soccer!

 

[PittMBA]

Whoever says soccer is boring didn’t see these two games.

First, Spain is trailing Croatia 1-0 on one of the worst plays ever made by a GK. As one of the commentators said, it was a mistake you would hope not to see in a game of 11 year olds. He took his eye off a back pass, looking upfield to see where to kick it, and it bounced off his foot and rolled 15 meters into the goal. Croatia hardly touched the ball the first 70 minutes of the game, yet they were up 1-0.

Spain scored 3 goals and was on cruise control after 75 minutes. Croatia had two shots and 32% possession. They got their 3rd shot on goal in the 81st minute. Spain started substituting in the 72d minute resting some key players and playing some guys out of position. They had an attacking midfielder playing Center Back for example. Croatia scored in the 85th minute on its 4th shot on goal and then equalized it 2 minutes into added time. Spain scored twice in the overtime, including an absolutely classic goal from the maligned Alvaro Morata.

Game 2 couldn’t match that right? It did. Swirtzerland versus defending World Cup champion France and it’s roster of all-world players. Switzerland goes ahead 1-0 early on a goal which perfectly explained why me and 10 million other Barca fans want Clement Lenglet gone. He failed to man up the CF for the Swiss on a cross, allowing him an easy header.

Lenglet was a surprise starter and not surprisingly was subbed off at halftime. Dicier Deschamps went to a different formation in the second half, adding another attacking MF in Kingsley Coman. It paid dividends, as France scored 3 times and was on cruise control with a 3-1 lead. But, oh those pesky Swiss. A header in the 81st minute and then a goal in the 90th minute by a player who the French decided not to cover at the top of the box.

Overtime. Not many chances in the first 29 minutes, and then fireworks. A Swiss goal called back for offsides with one minute to go, another Swiss chance missed with 30 seconds left after a bad first touch, and then, on the very last touch of extra time, Kingsley Coman hits the crossbar.

Penalty shootout. We saw this before in the Europa League finals, where Villareal made 11 PKs in succession — the last one by the GK — to beat heavily favored Manchester United, who paid more to acquire Paul Pogba than Villareal paid for its entire squad. Here, the no-name Swiss made their first 5 PKs. The French made their first 4. Up steps Kylian Mbappe, who many argue is the best player in the world not named Lionel Messi or CR7. He is the regular PK taker for both France and his club team, PSG. The Swiss GK saves it. France is eliminated, which unfortunately means we no longer get to hear the world’s best national anthem at these Euros. The Swiss move on.

Today was an incredibly exciting day of soccer!

Have to say PItt soccer has turned me back on to international soccer. The EUROS has been really fantastic— I have an affection for and connection (studied there) to the Czech Republic— so I was thrilled to watch them upset the Dutch . Today’s matches were incredible to say the least.

 

[JD1976]

I missed the Spain/Croatia match. Bummed. Caught all of France/Switzerland. Gotta hand it to the Swiss. Outside of those 20 minutes in the 2nd half when they gave up 3 goals, they deserved to win that one.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Whoever says soccer is boring didn’t see these two games.

First, Spain is trailing Croatia 1-0 on one of the worst plays ever made by a GK. As one of the commentators said, it was a mistake you would hope not to see in a game of 11 year olds. He took his eye off a back pass, looking upfield to see where to kick it, and it bounced off his foot and rolled 15 meters into the goal. Croatia hardly touched the ball the first 70 minutes of the game, yet they were up 1-0.

Spain scored 3 goals and was on cruise control after 75 minutes. Croatia had two shots and 32% possession. They got their 3rd shot on goal in the 81st minute. Spain started substituting in the 72d minute resting some key players and playing some guys out of position. They had an attacking midfielder playing Center Back for example. Croatia scored in the 85th minute on its 4th shot on goal and then equalized it 2 minutes into added time. Spain scored twice in the overtime, including an absolutely classic goal from the maligned Alvaro Morata.

Game 2 couldn’t match that right? It did. Swirtzerland versus defending World Cup champion France and it’s roster of all-world players. Switzerland goes ahead 1-0 early on a goal which perfectly explained why me and 10 million other Barca fans want Clement Lenglet gone. He failed to man up the CF for the Swiss on a cross, allowing him an easy header.

Lenglet was a surprise starter and not surprisingly was subbed off at halftime. Dicier Deschamps went to a different formation in the second half, adding another attacking MF in Kingsley Coman. It paid dividends, as France scored 3 times and was on cruise control with a 3-1 lead. But, oh those pesky Swiss. A header in the 81st minute and then a goal in the 90th minute by a player who the French decided not to cover at the top of the box.

Overtime. Not many chances in the first 29 minutes, and then fireworks. A Swiss goal called back for offsides with one minute to go, another Swiss chance missed with 30 seconds left after a bad first touch, and then, on the very last touch of extra time, Kingsley Coman hits the crossbar.

Penalty shootout. We saw this before in the Europa League finals, where Villareal made 11 PKs in succession — the last one by the GK — to beat heavily favored Manchester United, who paid more to acquire Paul Pogba than Villareal paid for its entire squad. Here, the no-name Swiss made their first 5 PKs. The French made their first 4. Up steps Kylian Mbappe, who many argue is the best player in the world not named Lionel Messi or CR7. He is the regular PK taker for both France and his club team, PSG. The Swiss GK saves it. France is eliminated, which unfortunately means we no longer get to hear the world’s best national anthem at these Euros. The Swiss move on.

Today was an incredibly exciting day of soccer!

Didn’t read your post as I watched things live and was thinking the same thing all day yesterday. How could anyone claim they are a sports fan and not appreciate those games? My wife and I spent Sunday out and recorded the Portugal/Belgium game. We thorough enjoyed watching it together Sunday night when we got home. . Little did I know that Monday’s games would be so much better.

With France out, I’m fully behind Belgium again as I was two years ago when N’golo Kante completely shut them down and France went on to win the World Cup. But with KDB and Hazard banged up, hard to see them do much more if they can’t get fit. I thought Hazard was on the downside of his career but he was the best player on the pitch Sunday. This is Belgium’s last chance in our lifetime. I’m pulling for them.

 

[mike412]

Slava Ukrainia!

The best player on the pitch was Zinchenko, the Ukrainian who plays for Man City. Great, powerful left-footed volley for the first goal and wonderful cross for the second.

England v Germany was blah. Germany really suffers from having no competent striker. And, they are old. Kimmich was their young “star of the future” in the 2016 World Cup and there really is no one that’s come on the scene since him that impresses. Werner and Haavertz are nothing burgers. They lacked speed and yet Leroy Sane never got off the bench. The fullbacks are old and slow. They need to hope that there are some good young players that Low hasn’t called up to the team.

While other teams are traveling all over Europe, separated ftom their families and staying in different hotels almost every day, England somehow has played all of its matches so far in London. They have to travel to Rome for the next round, but if they advance both the semis and finals will be in London.

UEFA screwed up the placements beyond comprehension. These 8 matches were played in London, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, Rome, Glasgow and Budapest. England, Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Germany and Italy all were in the field. Yet, only England got to play at home. And, the stands no longer are empty. There were 42,000 at Wembley but almost none of them were German because Germans can’t travel to England and Vice-Versa. So there only were an estimated 2,000 German fans there —Germans who live in the U.K. No way the match versus Germany should have been at Wembley!

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Slava Ukrainia!

The best player on the pitch was Zinchenko, the Ukrainian who plays for Man City. Great, powerful left-footed volley for the first goal and wonderful cross for the second.

England v Germany was blah. Germany really suffers from having no competent striker. And, they are old. Kimmich was their young “star of the future” in the 2016 World Cup and there really is no one that’s come on the scene since him that impresses. Werner and Haavertz are nothing burgers. They lacked speed and yet Leroy Sane never got off the bench. The fullbacks are old and slow. They need to hope that there are some good young players that Low hasn’t called up to the team.

While other teams are traveling all over Europe, separated ftom their families and staying in different hotels almost every day, England somehow has played all of its matches so far in London. They have to travel to Rome for the next round, but if they advance both the semis and finals will be in London.

UEFA screwed up the placements beyond comprehension. These 8 matches were played in London, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, Rome, Glasgow and Budapest. England, Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Germany and Italy all were in the field. Yet, only England got to play at home. And, the stands no longer are empty. There were 42,000 at Wembley but almost none of them were German because Germans can’t travel to England and Vice-Versa. So there only were an estimated 2,000 German fans there —Germans who live in the U.K. No way the match versus Germany should have been at Wembley!

Very odd that you praise zinchenko yet bash Havertz in the same post. Especially now. Zinchenko has had a rough month. Among other things, he most notably got burned badly by Havertz for the goal that won the game for Chelsea to win the Champions league. And of course the goal doesn’t happen if Werner didn’t pull the alleged best center back in the premier league this past season (Ruben Dias) out of position with a great run. I don’t know what game you were watching today. havertz was good, while I can agree that Werner blew ass as he often does. Werner changes the game with his pace. If he can improve his one v one and his finishing, he will be one of the best forwards in the world. But until then, he’s just a role player for me. Havertz is a budding star. He set Werner up for a goal in the first half that wasn’t finished. He sent Muller in 1v1 on the keeper from 40 yards that should have been finished. And he ripped that volley 100 mph that Pickford brilliantly saved. Those are just three plays off the top of my head. Havertz wasn’t the problem. In fact, he was one of the best players on the pitch.

edit: if we are going to make broad generalizations based on one match, then I suppose Mbappe is terrible and should just hang up his boots. His performance vs Switzerland was awful. Absolutely dreadful. But he has to be one of the top 3 players in the world, right?

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Slava Ukrainia!

The best player on the pitch was Zinchenko, the Ukrainian who plays for Man City. Great, powerful left-footed volley for the first goal and wonderful cross for the second.

England v Germany was blah. Germany really suffers from having no competent striker. And, they are old. Kimmich was their young “star of the future” in the 2016 World Cup and there really is no one that’s come on the scene since him that impresses. Werner and Haavertz are nothing burgers. They lacked speed and yet Leroy Sane never got off the bench. The fullbacks are old and slow. They need to hope that there are some good young players that Low hasn’t called up to the team.

While other teams are traveling all over Europe, separated ftom their families and staying in different hotels almost every day, England somehow has played all of its matches so far in London. They have to travel to Rome for the next round, but if they advance both the semis and finals will be in London.

UEFA screwed up the placements beyond comprehension. These 8 matches were played in London, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, Rome, Glasgow and Budapest. England, Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Germany and Italy all were in the field. Yet, only England got to play at home. And, the stands no longer are empty. There were 42,000 at Wembley but almost none of them were German because Germans can’t travel to England and Vice-Versa. So there only were an estimated 2,000 German fans there —Germans who live in the U.K. No way the match versus Germany should have been at Wembley!

Wait. I just read your post again. Not trying to be difficult or confrontational because I love the soccer discussion…but Werner lacked speed?? He is one of the fastest players in the world! It’s because of his speed and his off the ball movements that keep him on the field. On the ball and inside the 18 he’s Alvaro Morata. But off the ball, what he does made him a virtual lock in the starting lineup for the reigning Champions of Europe. It’s tough for us to understand as fans because we want to see forwards score goals…but he must be doing something right.