So here we go....not sure how I rate Englands chances....lots of talk about young skilled talent in the team.....but are they more individual players and will they gell into a good all round team ?.....Whatever we achieve...the bottom line is DON'T LOSE TO SCOTLAND. Last night.....Italy...3-0...Turkey.......A new style Italy played well....and ran Turkey into the ground.....no more score one goal and defend it system....an all round quality performance bringing in players that are not all from the recognized big clubs. Roberto Mancini has built a new team with a different style....from the ashes of there recent defeats.....(where I think the suicide rate must of been high in Italy amongst the male population)....who failed dismally to deliver. This is the first time Italy have scored more than two goals in a Euro Championship Final competition ?
Wales...1-1...Switzerland.....Wales will take that...the Swiss will be disappointed....all the stats in their favour....they should have won that game....second goal just off-side. 30C in the stadium....first half could nearly be mistaken for walking football....until the shadows covered the whole pitch it was very hot....they're 3hrs in front of us in Baku. Wales need to play better against Turkey next week (evening ko) to get a result....there last game will be in Rome against the high flying Italy
Danish player Christian Eriksen has collapsed during the match against Finland.....he has been taken to Hospital.....match suspended Eriksen conscious and sitting up in hospital having further tests. Game resumed.....Denmark...0-1...Finland...F/T....not surprised that Denmark lost....probably not in the mood to play after that shock.
Funnily enough it didn't stop Danish players throwing themselves to the floor did it. I was hoping upon hopes that they would cock up the penalty they conned and lo and behold they did. Justice was served. I think the Commentator said about one minute before Finland scored that they no chance at all of qualifying for the next round. Yep right of course they haven't. I think the Eriksen incident is just a good excuse for them to fall back on. They wanted to win and tried to win but just couldn't score. I think the pictures shown of the medical emergency on the pitch were unwarranted and they should have just gone back to the studio rather than show it.
Criticism in the papers, internet etc about the Denmark v Finland came being restarted last night.....a lack of compassion was what came across to many....they did have the option to play mid-day today....which would have allowed things to have settled down a bit......would have probably been better for Denmark if it had.
Being by then aware that Christian Eriksen was conscious in hospital, it was agreed by both teams to finish the game: partly because a majority of the players felt that they wanted to get it over and done with rather than have to come back to the memory of it in a few days' time. I've been in a situation similar to that myself, although luckily far less severe as it turned out, playing my school. Our goalkeeper, who was a close friend of mine, went up for a corner but an opponent made a back for him, so he went clean over the top and then down on the other side, landing on his head. His neck buckled under him and he didn't get up. I was looking straight at it and felt sure his neck was broken. After a few anxious moments, he came to and, being mad like all keepers, played on. No doubt nowadays he's have been taken off for fear of concussion. The memory is like a modern YouTube clip in my head, I can see the whole thing as if it was yesterday.
England Team Pickford, Walker, Stones, Mings, Trippier, Phillips, Rice, Foden, Mount, Sterling, Kane. Eleven subs named....but no Maguire or Sancho amongst them.
England...1-0...Croatia...Sterling...57 mins. Any win against Croatia feels good....(World Cup runners up).....England deserved that win....Croatia never managed to get on top at any time....good control from England. Impressed by Kalvin Phillips contol in the first half....looks a good player at the start of hopefully a long career. Raheem Sterling trusted by Gareth Southgate to do a job for him was my man of the match...and repaid by scoring.....good start....3pts.
If they had won one nil rather than lost one nil then we wouldn't have all this shouldn't have played stuff now. Given a choice they played. It was their choice and if the players were not up to doing the job then it is them who picked wrong. As sad as somebody collapsing on the pitch and apparently dying before revival is the whole competition cannot be scrapped or not played. They could always have withdrawn of course.
Important result for England: it's not often we win first time out. We can hope Scotland get a draw today leaving us with a 2 point advantage with the top two going through by right. Tougher games will follow and we can't afford to spurn good chances. We could have been 2-0 up after 15 minutes. Kane's subdued performance was worrying. At Spurs, he's got to the habit of dropping deep and making chances rather than taking them. That's no good for England, who have a much stronger group of midfield and wide players. We just need Kane to score.
Not too worried about Scotland even getting a point to be honest. I can still remember them at Wembley in 1967 when they beat us.....thousands of tartan wearing jocks rampaging on the field.....how many jocks can sit on a crossbar before it snaps in half....destroyed everthing in sight....and claimed that they were now world champions....maybe we should let them have independence.....would bring a lot of civil service jobs back to England.....and could do Devonport no harm if the Navy left Scotland.....nice country but Sturgeons hard liners won't be missed.
Scotland...terrible... sorry... nil...Czech Republic...2...F/T. Has anyone seen the Scottish keeper....gone walk-about somewhere in Hampden.....for the second goal he was getting on to nearly being in the centre circle....when Scotland lost the ball....and a big hoof (49yards) down the pitch got there before the keeper arrived. Obviously Scotland are keeping their powder dry for Friday at Wembley.....all they want to do every ten years or so is beat England....nothing else matters. Listening to the Scottish commentary team...I feel they where at a different match to the rest of us.....Scotland were awful and could hardly raise their game in the final ten minute to challenge the Czech's.
Scotland have a smattering of good players: McTominay, Robertson, Mcginn, Fraser (when fit) but they always have that centuries old national ability to self-destruct into tragedy. Probably they could have had a penalty fir a body check on McGinn, the Czech goalkeeper has made good saves, they haven't got much from the officials and then there's that bizarre second goal. You have to feel for them don't you?
Hungary...0-3...Portugal...F/T.......three goals after 84 minutes of play.....best team won....but a little hard on Hungary.
Germany...0-1...France....F/T I enjoyed that....France had the ball in the net three times.....but just off-side twice. I felt France did all that was required and maybe had another gear.
