Euro 2016

[Maaaaaaaarten]

Oh man I hardly ever lolled so hard in football as with Zaza's penalty. My neighbours are Italians, I hope they didn't hear me laugh.

But truth be told, on both sides the penalties were terrible. Neuer was lucky that the Italian guys were such lousy penalty takers btw. I think it's commonly accepted nowadays that the best way to stop penalties is to simply wait and see where they will shoot, not to gamble and pick a corner. The properly taken penalties are almost impossible to stop anyway even if you get lucky and picked the right corner. If you wait, at least you can stop all the crappy penalties. The Italians shot a bunch of penalties through the middle which would have been easy saves for Neuer if he wouldn't have gambled picking corners. Seriously, at some point the Italians were clearly just shooting hard through the middle because they realized Neuer doesn't know how to stop penalties. There were at least three just through the middle which Neuer would've stopped easily if he'd used the right strategy. I really don't understand why keepers still keep on using the method of gambling picking a corner when it's been shown time and again it's more effective to wait and see where they will shoot.

 

[lenric]

 

[fatandfast]

Let's go Iceland!!!

 

[CheckMyPecs]

So, is France still the big favourite tonight?

 

[Amsterhammer]

Re:

So, is France still the big favourite tonight?

Obviously. I am torn, because on the one hand I want our boy Payet to continue to shine, and on the other I'm all in for an Iceland fairy tale. I have no personal connections to either team, so I'll be happy at the end if the deserving team wins, and if we see a much more exciting game than last night's horror.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

Oh man I hardly ever lolled so hard in football as with Zaza's penalty. My neighbours are Italians, I hope they didn't hear me laugh.

I spit beer all over the floor when that happened. It was just too perfect, with the commentator saying he was specifically brought in because he's a pen specialist just as he was running up to the ball

 

[CheckMyPecs]

The dream quickly morphs into a nightmare for poor Iceland.

 

[Jagartrott]

This is what happens when a team with proper coaches figures out the tactical system of an opponent.

 

[sniper]

i like how this indirectly pours more salt in english wounds.

 

[Pricey_sky]

Re:

i like how this indirectly pours more salt in english wounds.

But from another point of view a lot of English fans will be happy that Germany will have a much tougher task getting past the French than they would with Iceland.

 

[Red Rick]

At least they get in 2 goals and make it a little more bearable

 

[Brullnux]

Iceland fought until the end. Well done to them.

 

[BigMac]

Re:

This is what happens when a team with proper coaches figures out the tactical system of an opponent.

I take it this is you having a go at Roy Hodgson, but to say Iceland has a ''tactical system'' is really far fetched.

Congratulations France. Let's see if they go past Germany (I think they will) and who knows find themselves a Greece.v2 in the final.

 

[sniper]

indeed, props to iceland.
they won the second half 2-1, showing this was not a fluke.

i would normally favor Germany against france, but germany miss Hummels (suspended), Gomez (injury) and probably Khedira (injury). And Schweini is not fit either. Gomez is replaceable, but missing Hummels and Khedira/Schweini could be a problem, although they have quality enough to replace those, too.
Anyway, France-Germany is an exciting fixture. I hope the ref wont screw this one up.

 

[Red Rick]

So the winner of Germany-France has to play on thursday AND on sunday? That's crazy.

 

[Red Rick]

Re:

So the winner of Germany-France has to play on thursday AND on sunday? That's crazy.

Especially considering both may be 120 minute games

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Re:

So the winner of Germany-France has to play on thursday AND on sunday? That's crazy.

Everything's falling into place for Wales to win this.

 

[sniper]

Run Gareth, run.

 

[Sem Travões]

He can run, but he can't hide

 

[May0maniac]

Re:

indeed, props to iceland.
they won the second half 2-1, showing this was not a fluke.

i would normally favor Germany against france, but germany miss Hummels (suspended), Gomez (injury) and probably Khedira (injury). And Schweini is not fit either. Gomez is replaceable, but missing Hummels and Khedira/Schweini could be a problem, although they have quality enough to replace those, too.
Anyway, France-Germany is an exciting fixture. I hope the ref wont screw this one up.

Gomez isn't really replacable, the first games with Müller as a striker instead of omez were pretty bad, it's a significant loss.
Maybe Portugal will feel the effect of playing 2 120 min games in a row and they have been a bit strange, usually always in control, but no ideas when it came to creating clear scoring opportunities, so who knows how that games is going to finish.

 

[lenric]

Re: Re:

So the winner of Germany-France has to play on thursday AND on sunday? That's crazy.

Everything's falling into place for Wales to win this.

Or for Portugal. To win after the 120 minutes. And be declared as the shittiest winner ever, by not winning any game in the normal 90 minutes.

 

[CheckMyPecs]

Wales have the advantage of not having played two extra times.

 

[sniper]

Re:

Wales have the advantage of not having played two extra times.

Imo it's an advantage for Wales only if the extra time Portugal played has caused them injuries or additional suspensions through yellow cards. Which I don't know if that's the case.
Just saying, I don't believe it's a huge advantage in terms of fitness. I think recovery methods are advanced enough to cope with that fitness-wise. And Portugal have had enough days to recover.
But I could be wrong.

 

[DBotero]

So Bale vs Ronaldo.Too bad that Ramsey is missing it as he was in tremendous form Hoping for a decent game decided before those dreadful penalties.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Man, I do hope Wales will destroy Portugal......... Too much hope and not enough reality perhaps. Anyway game on.