Great win for Wales marred by it being a gift. The officials missed a clear second yellow on Davies, an even clearer pen, and a possible hand ball in the few minutes leading up to the last goal. I thought the officiating in the Euros had been pretty decent up to then.
Just got off the phone with my Dad. He's absolutely made up. I was joking about how I'm going to pretend I'm full Welsh for the next couple of weeks and he chose this moment to tell me he thinks I might've been conceived in Wales. Thanks Dad
I said when Fellaini came on that Wilmosts was shooting himself in the foot, and that's exactly what happened - decision made more farcical at the final whistle when we saw Dembele alongside Verts in the dugout (coincidentally, that's the first we've seen of him all tournament) Witsel and Mordiggian had done a good job anchoring the Belgian team throughout the tournament (barring the mass derp against Italy) so there was no need to introduce Fellaini, especially as he was always deployed out of position in the attacking trio. The ref was certainly poor, though: he was quick to book Davies, Chester and Gunter yet failed to book Nyaghoggua for a couple of late challenges or Hazard for diving and then hurling the ball down the pitch when he didn't get a free kick, while Ramsey's yellow was for ball-to-hand. Also, why is Ramsey getting plaudits? He spent most of the match seemingly playing in a different match to his teammates: he failed to close down Ragnalla for the opener, he was slow to get back into position which meant Ledley and Allen had to cover for him, and for most of the first half he had amongst the best pass completion rates of the Belgium team. Ledley had a much better game that he did, but he's not getting the praises. Also, here's a fact that nobody's picked up on: Lukaku plays for Everton, Allen for Liverpool, and Wales' #3 keeper fon Williams used to play for Tranmere, making it the first match in Euros history with representatives of all three Merseyside clubs.
Ireland in 1988 had Sheedy (Everton), Houghton (Liverpool) and Aldridge who went on to play for Tranmere. Does that count?
David Gold is getting arsey at the suggestion that Slaven Bilic could be a contender for the England job, saying "Next thing we'll be wanting a German centre-forward or an Italian defender" He obviously forgot to mention the Jamaican winger or a Canadian-born Welsh central midfielder...
Andy King's not having a bad season, is he? He might have settled for survival with Leicester and just making up the numbers at the Euros for Wales. He couldn't have imagined what would happen in his wildest dreams.
The announcer's curse: "Boateng has been the defender of the tournament." a few seconds before one of the most egregious handballs imaginable.
Pathetic penalty taking, Schweinsteiger didn't even look at the goal. So with Italy only reaching the quarter finals what does this say for Conte's chances of success at Chelsea? Doesn't seem like a good springboard for the PL to me.
Bringing on Zaza just for the shootout certainly didn't work out for him, let alone the poor bloke sat in row Y.
But playing boring football while leading a bunch of blue-clad cheats on a dive-fest should get him in the right frame of mind.
The good news for Conte is that, in league football, it's five yellow card before a suspension instead of two so there's less chance of him being undone by poor squad management, because if Italy made the semis their starting xi would have been drastically different - yet this could have been easily avoided if he kept a couple of his regular starters in reserve instead of having them start and pick up those second yellows.
"Steven Gerrard is expected to discuss an England coaching role with the FA, according to Sky sources. The former England and Liverpool captain will be one of a number of ex-internationals consulted over who should be the next England manager." International success - none. Coaching Qualifications - Currently none. Coaching Experience - He has helped out a couple of times with the LA Galaxy Under-18's. So,none. Anyone left wondering why our international team is so ****? No, me neither.
You know there's something wrong with the England team when players we are told time and again should not be dropped as they are Our Only Hope of Winning Things still manage to be involved with the team despite having retired. Who next? Beckham? Lampard? Terry? Owen?
I have been away this weekend so only caught part of the second half of the Wales match, and that was only on a rather small hotel room TV. So did anyone else think that there was an incident where Fellani ran into a Welsh defender, perhaps unnecessarily, perhaps not, but then he deliberately trod on the defenders foot? The collision looked natural enough, so the ref doesn't pay much attention, but the tread/stamp didn't to me. Of course it could be my prejudice against that 'player' but wondering if anyone else saw it / had an opinion.
Can Iceland get a consolation? I've predicted correctly the winners in all 4 Qtr Finals (if France do win). Not a sniff of a correct score though.
