The Real Football Thread

[Samu Cuenca]

And the penalty itself looks sort of questionable.

 

[Netserk]

tremendous defending by schmeichel and friends but england were on front foot and got the break

Mark L

Yes, from first second you had the better team. Only in the goal do we have an advantage.

 

[Samu Cuenca]

earlier denmark got lucky when kane was fouled...ref gave foul to denmark

Mark L

Sure, but that doesn't mean he deserved the goal though. But England is obviously the best team here.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Are they still playing, or am I on some kind of a satellite delay here in the States?

Edit: Never mind, they just finished.

Good luck to England v. Italy!

 

[Libertine Seguros]

earlier denmark got lucky when kane was fouled...ref gave foul to denmark

Mark L

It looked like the foul was by Kane on the first defender before the penalty incident, and then the second defender fouled Kane which looked like a penalty and everybody thought the call was about that contact only. If so, it couldn't be a penalty because Kane had already given Denmark the free kick.

The penalty they did get, though, was one of the softest calls I've ever seen, though, and England got a lot of soft calls their way in the latter half of the game too, just like Spain did yesterday when the ref was giving Italy absolutely nothing in the last half hour. It sucks that Denmark's fairytale had to end with a BS call for a nothing penalty that was saved anyway, but England were the better team on balance and were only still level because Schmeichel had been on fire.

 

[BullsFan22]

Bogus penalty. UEFA really wanted England in the final. Let’s hope Italy keeps playing well. If they do, they’ll win on Sunday.

 

[Red Rick]

Doesn't matter that England was better all game. They couldn't win without diving and bull**** penalties.

Every time I watch a football tournament I end up hating it by the end.

 

[King Boonen]

It looked like the foul was by Kane on the first defender before the penalty incident, and then the second defender fouled Kane which looked like a penalty and everybody thought the call was about that contact only. If so, it couldn't be a penalty because Kane had already given Denmark the free kick.

The penalty they did get, though, was one of the softest calls I've ever seen, though, and England got a lot of soft calls their way in the latter half of the game too, just like Spain did yesterday when the ref was giving Italy absolutely nothing in the last half hour. It sucks that Denmark's fairytale had to end with a BS call for a nothing penalty that was saved anyway, but England were the better team on balance and were only still level because Schmeichel had been on fire.

I think the whistle was too late for it to be the first challenge and as you sayKane got the ball in the second one, it could easily have gone either way. Similarly with the Sterling foul, I think it was Jensen who came in quickly and up against him after he'd gone past Merhle, and you know it's going to be a risk to do that in the box. It was soft, but they do get given.

 

[BlueRoads]

I didn't watch the extra-time, but in the German media the general opinion is that the penalty was very soft and the referee who was asked to German tv said he would not have given it and seemed a bit surprised the VAR didn't intervene.
That being said I like the English players (as players, not as people...) better and therefor I'm not that bitter they got through. There are so many people always preferring the "fighters", I prefer the "artists".

In general there were many games which were really close in this EC. So many extra-times, penalties, and even if the match was decided in regular time it was often quite close, that was a positive. Also, in general, the refereeing wasn't bad, VAR didn't play that big a role, the decisions came fast, and there were quite some goals through open play, those really were positives. I didn't get really invested, though, part of it may have come from the all-over-Europe approach which was nonetheless restricted to a few countries and together with corona never gave me a real EC feeling - I usually only watched parts of the matches or didn't watch at all (so my resumée doesn't really have much worth ).

 

[Pricey_sky]

The problem with VAR this tournament has been their reluctance to overturn the referees decision.

Last night I though Kane got the ball first before being kicked in the 2nd half, but VAR didn’t overturn it, then Sterling goes down with small contact, but as there was contact VAR again don’t go against the referee.

On balance, the better team won, but England will have to be even better to beat Italy from what we’ve seen so far.

 

[Ranagazoo]

England fan here, was a very even game until Denmark brought Damsgaard and Dolberg off for a defensive mid and a seemingly unfit Poulsen, that was the turning point for me.

Sure the penalty was a dive and it's a shame as the result will be 'tainted' in some people's eyes, but we absolutely deserved to win and I don't think the Danes should feel too hard done by.

 

[Põhja Konn]

I didn't watch the extra-time, but in the German media the general opinion is that the penalty was very soft and the referee who was asked to German tv said he would not have given it and seemed a bit surprised the VAR didn't intervene.
That being said I like the English players (as players, not as people...) better and therefor I'm not that bitter they got through. There are so many people always preferring the "fighters", I prefer the "artists".

In general there were many games which were really close in this EC. So many extra-times, penalties, and even if the match was decided in regular time it was often quite close, that was a positive. Also, in general, the refereeing wasn't bad, VAR didn't play that big a role, the decisions came fast, and there were quite some goals through open play, those really were positives. I didn't get really invested, though, part of it may have come from the all-over-Europe approach which was nonetheless restricted to a few countries and together with corona never gave me a real EC feeling - I usually only watched parts of the matches or didn't watch at all (so my resumée doesn't really have much worth ).

It has been much better tournament, than last Euros . Lot of play-off games have been surprisingly open, high-tempo affairs and despite occasionaly too lenient officiating, cynical play hasn't really managed to dominate as it did five years ago. Standard of play has been quite high despite unusually long season and many injuries. There's been lot of drama, some nice comebacks from seemingly hopeless situations, but also heartbreak and sense of injustice.

Refereeing in general could have been better, but it's been, apart from couple of games and one particular referee, far from disastrous. The failure of the tournament has been Felix Brych, who in addition to the scandalous Belgium-Portugal game made glaring mistakes in most of the other games he was in charge of. Mostly those mistakes were failures to call clear and obvious fouls. I don't really know whether he genuinely didn't see those incidents or was too obsessed with avoiding giving soft fouls.

The other game that stood out for poor refereeing was Italy-Austria. It didn't have any outstanding single errors that everybody would talk about for days afterwards, but Anthony Taylors line of officiating was so wildly inconsistent, it really stood out in negative way. It almost felt like he was overwhelmed by the occasion, which really shouldn't be the case for someone who can regularily get some of the biggest games in the Premier League. Having said that, the refereeing standard in the Premier League is far behind the playing standard.

I fully agree with you on preferring artistry over grunt in football, at least when it comes to top level football. That's actually the reason I'm finding the constant crying and hypocritical howling about soft looking fouls so disgusting. The game is about so much more than just running, jumping and wrestling, yet going by what is often going on in football forums, social and tradional football related media, fans and journalists all too often act like they would like to relegate it to just that.

When it comes to the lack of festival atmosphere that usually accompanies such major tournaments, then I actually believe that even without Covid restrictions, diluting the tournament all over the continent would have killed off most of it. For the fans of those teams who cannot play several games at the same city, the travelling would take up much greater amount of time than it would if the tournament is more concentrated geographically. Also even if there are several games in one city, lets say London, then the rest of the country still misses out on the party as opposed to a normal tournament held in several cities all over the country.

As for the final, I'm rooting for Italy. The way they have played has mostly been genuinely enjoyable, an international football equivalent of club sides like Atalanta or a Napoli from few years ago. England, while not exactly popular with neutrals due to several reasons, is in my eyes a clear favourite for the win. Form wise they're peaking at the right time (during group stage, they were still going through the motions and did no more than needed), but in the play-offs they have come to life. Very strong defence and lot of attacking weapons should give them advantage.

The are couple of banana skins too. Expectations and pressure that comes with them will be enourmous and England as a team doesn't have the best of reputations in delivering under pressure. The other thing might be Southgates ability to manage the game and use substitutions optimally . Against Denmark he waited until extra time with his substitutions instead of bringing on fresh legs to press home the advantage they had against visibly tiring Danes before the end of normal time. He had the chance to do five substitutions in normal time, and if I remember correctly, he did just one. Not exactly a sign of a confident, assured game management. He reminds me of Solskjaer in that aspect a bit.

 

[Netserk]

The problem with VAR this tournament has been their reluctance to overturn the referees decision.

Last night I though Kane got the ball first before being kicked in the 2nd half, but VAR didn’t overturn it, then Sterling goes down with small contact, but as there was contact VAR again don’t go against the referee.

On balance, the better team won, but England will have to be even better to beat Italy from what we’ve seen so far.

I would prefer no VAR at all, but when you have it, I absolutely prefer that they only overturn clearly wrong (important) decisions.

I think the whistle was too late for it to be the first challenge and as you sayKane got the ball in the second one, it could easily have gone either way. Similarly with the Sterling foul, I think it was Jensen who came in quickly and up against him after he'd gone past Merhle, and you know it's going to be a risk to do that in the box. It was soft, but they do get given.

Æ = ae
Mæhle = Maehle

 

[King Boonen]

Æ = ae
Mæhle = Maehle

Thanks. I went with the phonetic spelling, although that was admittedly based on English speaking commentators who may have been getting it wrong!

 

[Jagartrott]

I think most of Europe will be rooting for Italy.
England have had a soft draw, have been lucky with that penalty, and have had the home advantage almost every match. It feels a bit... unfair.

 

[BullsFan22]

Italy all the way. England don’t deserve it all. Jagartrott explained it.

 

[BlueRoads]

I don't know who to support. I want neither team to win.
Okay, my personal favourites are out.
But Italy has looked great, especially since I think they have some pretty good players but not the most talented ones, but they really look like a team which works great together and has several options. Sublime coaching job, I'd say. And Donnarumma should be an asset.

In other news: Tonight is another chance for Messi.

 

[Jagartrott]

I just hope Italy leaves the commedia dell'arte at home. And then yes, as Mark says, a final with plenty of exciting and attacking football.

 

[Netserk]

forza italia..........................

c'mon england....................................enjoy!

Mark L

Good game tonight, Mark.

 

[Mayomaniac]

Until now England is the better team, Italy seems to have lost it's mojo after that early goal.

 

[Netserk]

Poetic justice

 

[sir fly]

Three candidates for England's coach in 25 years' time.
Italy played the best throughout the tournament.

The purposeful substitutes were such a jinx.

 

[Jagartrott]

Southgate should take the blame. Purely on talent, the England players were probably the best in the tournament, on par with France. But Southgate's style of play is absolutely horrible. The few times England got forward, you felt the Italian defense was afraid, but they hardly ever did that. Sit back, sit back, sit back. One or two shots on target the entire match? Come on...

I feel for those youngsters missing their penalty kick. Such stupidity to bring on players in the 119th minute just for the penalty series. A tragedy waiting to happen. The more experienced players should've taken their responsibility.

 

[saganftw]

a proper bottling job from england, score a quick goal, do nothing for 120 minutes, then sub in two guys who barely played for penalties, you could see a moment when rashfords brain froze

 

[Publiuszam]

Southgate should take the blame for the final defeat. I like "southgate you are the one" song though.