Clasie and Van Dijk playing and the Dutch are losing 2-0 to France at HT. Long starts for Ireland who are winning 1-0 at HT, Fonte and Cedric are subs for Portugal. No injuries please
Gotta say I'm pretty excited about tonights game. Will probably only last for 10 mins after kick off though
This England team - however well the players might be playing for their clubs - is just a damp squib. I've got no solution, as other options aren't better, but really rams home how far off the world pace we are with the top nations. Hardly a team to strike fear into opponents. In a tournament, I don't expect this team to do much.
Nah, will probably last a lot longer than that. I can see us doing well in these friendlies, going to the Euros full of confidence. Then we crash and burn.
We've qualified and, whilst it would do nothing for morale to lose badly, these matches serve a purpose beyond the result. Roy has to get time with the players and a look at fringe players in case of injuries. Result not everything....though grinding the Germans into the dust would be satisfying, though unlikely.
Just what teams are better than England? I'll list them! Germany, Spain, and Belgium although that team has yet to deliver on the English stage. That is about it. England are as good as and better than the rest. Thank you for pointing out my error!!
France are better aswell. I think France are clear faves for these Euros, probably have the strongest squad and home advantage. England are alright, not terrible but not great.
Despite getting stuffed by Mexico, the Canadian NT is reasonably well-positioned to reach the Concacaf Hexagonal, the final stage of qualifying for the World Cup. Still plenty of time to make a hash of it -- the stage-ending home match in September against El Salvador has heartbreak written all over it -- but there's some reason for cautious optimism. We'd unquestionably get humiliated in the Hex, but that would be preferable to our usual habit of getting humiliated by some 15-resident Caribbean island in the earlier stages. This has been your quadrennial Canadian Men's National Team update.
Really intelligent to let 40,000 into a 25,000 capacity stadium. It's lucky no one got hurt. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/35893307
