She was THAT good they went back to her in extra time Ron. Not the Italy we have been seeing but when you are not at your best but get over the line that is the stuff of champions.
As you know, I'm not one for meaningless statistics, but.....not a single member of either the German or English (26-man) squads was born in August.
Italy looked great against Turkey who were shown to be the worst side in the tournament, not in terms of quality but they seemed to be in total disarray from the first kick off. I think they've been average the last couple of games and they're yet to play a good team. They'll be playing against Belgium or Portugal in the next round, I think that's where their tournament will come to a stop. Come through that and they'll more than likely be up against France. I just don't see them doing it. England or Germany, however... The winner of our game will come up against Sweden or the Ukraine in the 1/4 finals. Assuming they'd get through that they would face Netherlands/Czech Republic/Denmark. You wouldn't think any of them teams would cause us or a Germany any real problems. We just need to beat the Germans...
True, Tam, but more than compensated for by the wisdom and maturity acquired by the manager during his 200 or so games for Palace 1989/1995-ish. In fact, I expect England to win this - not necessarily prettily, and not necessarily in 90 minutes. But this is a German squad that hasn't aged well: Neuer is more a liability than an asset, my late mother-in-law moves quicker than Hummels, Kroos hasn't been a good player for about two years, and Sane showed his deplorable lack of basic skills during the two-leg ECL tie against PSG. Muller's still a potential matchwinner, but he isn't getting any quicker (and looks as if he's carrying a knock). Unless an England defender does something criminally incompetent (OK, not impossible) I reckon the betting's about right, and I'll be taking England at around 10-11 to qualify..
Rainer, I don’t disagree with your analysis of the German team, but they do tend to play well ‘as a team,’ whereas England usually run scared. It’s probably 10/11 either side but 1/10 Germany if it goes to penalties. Take care and best wishes.
I see the Scots are still represented by the Dutch number 22 Dumfries - I wonder how he came to be called that?
My take is, he was falling and put out his arm to break his fall - a natural reaction. The ball just happened to be there. Would need to see it again though.
Holy rattlesnakes, What is going on. Looks like the Dutch are out to a terrific performance from the Czech Republic!
