Euro 2016 Qualifying

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Playing the victim now, a victim of aggressive hounding.

You are like a dog with a bone geysir. Build a bridge and all that.

Every single interaction between us seems to be because of some nerve I touched re: Keane.

I would love us to kiss and make up and be able to interact about other stuff too.

Give TOWK some sugar, geysir.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

That'd be me.

But only when I google search "threaten USA" do I get a problem. Every other google search is fine.

(And this one is fine too now actually. I'm going to assume someone has put the term on a whitelist :) )

I'm happy there's no virus on the computer; performance is grand and the anti-virus has stopped a fair few things (particularly when I was looking for freeware video editing stuff, or got streaming sites which wanted me to download iLivid)

But mainly I wanted to point out the (I hope!) funny

What did you expect to happen typing that in!

[pineapple stu]

That I'd get some hints, I guess.

Or at least an answer to the Darren Randolph query at the top of the page.

[geysir]

I have one.
I actually assumed the issue was googling how to threaten the US?
I googled the exact same phrase "Darren Randolph threaten play USA" a while ago, Wiki comes up first and after that it's back to square one.

Recent - Activity Stream - Foot.ie (http://foot.ie/activity.php?sortby=recent&show=all&time=today)
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15 hours ago - 29 posts - ‎12 authors
Every single interaction between us seems to be because of some nerve I.. .... Just googled "Darren Randolph threaten play USA" and got a ...
Foot.ie: Activity Stream (http://foot.ie/) foot.ie/‎
37 mins ago - Or at least an answer to the Darren Randolph query at the top of the page. ... But only when I google search "threaten USA" do I get a problem. ... The guys over at FM Ireland have released an up-to-date player database with ...

John may have a point about that warning.

[Charlie Darwin]

Same old pineapple stu, always threatening the US.

I think TOWK's assessment of Mark O'Brien is a bit rash. He's had awful injury problems but for once he's not being rushed into first team action. At a club as small as Derby, he will have opportunities to progress if he's good enough.

[DeLorean]

Playing Germany in Gelsenkirchen. (http://www.dfb.de/news/en/e-national-team-men/argentina-clash-precedes-euro-qualifiers/56548.html)

Scots playing them in Dortmund. (http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/26688914)

[Stuttgart88]

Both great stadia but I'd prefer to be going to Dortmund.

[DeLorean]

Yeah, I was thinking the same. I would have preferred Berlin or Munich also.

By the way, this prints off as a very useful little booklet:

UEFA EURO QUALIFYING FIXTURES (http://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/competitions/Draws/02/06/14/61/2061461_DOWNLOAD.pdf)

[ArdeeBhoy]

Scotland asked for 8k tickets, we only asked for 5k tickets, hence the venues apparently.

[samhaydenjr]

That'd be me.

But only when I google search "threaten USA" do I get a problem. Every other google search is fine.

(And this one is fine too now actually. I'm going to assume someone has put the term on a whitelist :) )

I'm happy there's no virus on the computer; performance is grand and the anti-virus has stopped a fair few things (particularly when I was looking for freeware video editing stuff, or got streaming sites which wanted me to download iLivid)

But mainly I wanted to point out the (I hope!) funny

Oh great, now none of us will ever be allowed on a plane again!

[DeLorean]

Some win for Wales in Israel. Well, up 3-0 against ten men with a few minutes left. Bale, while playing well within himself, has scored two and created the other while getting an Israeli defender sent off for two fouls in a couple of minutes. Amazing the difference one player of genuine quality can make, although he's had a decent supporting cast.

[geysir]

A good win indeed for Walse, but not first prize today.

[DeLorean]

Haha I think they scrape first price in fairness, as impressive as it was for Latvia's to draw in Prague :p

A routine win for your boys really given the recent heights. Happy for Gudjohnsen, always liked him as a player. Was his coming out of retirement motivated purely by the increasing possibility of reaching a major tournament? Wouldn't blame him if it was or anything.

[geysir]

The return of Eid? he doesn't need a reason nor a carrot to turn out for his country, he has rediscovered another wind this season with Bolton and as long as he's fit it's a no brainer. He retired in the immediate aftermath of a shattering defeat, with his own career winding down. He's back in the middle orchestrating the attack and Gylfi drops back in deference. The drawback is the other players, inspired by Eidur since they were 10 years old, start to do fancy flicks and all that which don't quite come off. 3nil we only win 3 nil ....... etc etc


What a goal by Turkey!!!

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Yes. Beautiful deflection!

[geysir]

Group A:: Féckitt , injury time goals save the asses (for now) of Europe's elite, with Holland and Czech Rep scoring late to salvage a draw in games they were expected to stroll.
A perfect day just turned into a mere brilliant day for Iceland.

[Charlie Darwin]

Why does it matter how the Dutch and Czechs did, sure Iceland will beat them anyway.

[geysir]

I hear what you are saying Charlie but you know how it can go sometimes with the underdog, like Holland, with a bit of hope left, a lifeline of sorts, Robben will be doing dolphin diving impressions every time our humble left back takes the ball away from his feet. And the Czech Rep might just do an incredible backs-to-the-wall and we won't break them down in June. There are too many unpredictables Charlie, therefore I cannot share your confidence, however sensible it might sound.

[bennocelt]

I hear what you are saying Charlie but you know how it can go sometimes with the underdog, like Holland, with a bit of hope left, a lifeline of sorts, Robben will be doing dolphin diving impressions every time our humble left back takes the ball away from his feet. And the Czech Rep might just do an incredible backs-to-the-wall and we won't break them down in June. There are too many unpredictables Charlie, therefore I cannot share your confidence, however sensible it might sound.

Whatever is clawed back by the Dutch in the next two games, you would imagine the two home games for Iceland against Latvia and Kazakhstan are a definite 6 points in the bag?

[geysir]

Yes Benno the position is very good, the experience from the last campaign is paying dividends and the team are playing better. Instead of looking at 20 mistakes to rectify after a game, this time around there's just the one or two. Kazakhstan should be a safe 3 pointer but Latvia will have to be beaten. And Holland will improve. Next up are the Czech Rep in June, 9,000 tickets will be sold out in 5 minutes online and the rest of the nation will be glued to the box. That's one of the main benefits from the Euro finals format change, the boost for the profile of local soccer in places like Iceland due to the increase in chances of qualifying.

[SkStu]

Portugal 0 Cape Verde Islands 1

ah here, Portugal, leave irrout!

(I know its not qualifying...)

[Charlie Darwin]

Wasn't somebody here earlier saying we should be doing everything to get friendlies against the likes of Cape Verde as easy wins to boost the ranking? :)

[DeLorean]

0-2 at half time!

[DeLorean]

Wales v Belgium (http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33050368) a good way to kick off the weekend on Friday night. Iceland v Czech Rep one of the games available on Sky Sports also (just in case Geysir gives out to me :)).

[DeLorean]

Bale has put Wales 1-0 against Belgium. Funny how they felt the expansion of the tournament would give them a chance of qualifying and they probably won't need it. The swagger Bale plays with for Wales is a joy, he just know he's the man, compared to at Real Madrid. The best British player of the PL era?

[Stuttgart88]

Le Tiss for me.

[pineapple stu]

Funny how they felt the expansion of the tournament would give them a chance of qualifying and they probably won't need it.
A far cry from scraping a win against Andorra in the first match, albeit on an awful pitch.

Czechs go 1-0 up in Iceland in the top of the group match there. Holland still 0-0 in Latvia though, so you'd imagine Iceland would settle for those two scores

Edit - Iceland equalise straight away!

[DeLorean]

Le Tiss for me.

Interesting. I think Le Tissier's admirable loyalty and fruitless international career makes him a tough one to gauge, comparison wise. He was magic though.

Wales hanging on a bit, Hazard unfortunate not to win a penalty after Williams caught him, getting nowhere near the ball in the process.

[pineapple stu]

2-1 Iceland!

Amazing stuff.

Holland 2-0 up now. But five points behind Iceland with four games to go.

[DeLorean]

Netherlands have Iceland to come at home don't they? They'll need to win that 3-0 to overturn the head-to-head situation and hope Iceland drop two more points elsewhere? As things stand obviously!

[DeLorean]

Sorry just looked at the table, Netherlands will be trying to catch the Czechs now really.

[pineapple stu]

That's right, yep. It's in the next round of matches in September. Then Iceland have Kazakhstan and Latvia at home before finishing up in Turkey. The Dutch host the Czechs on the last day.

[tricky_colour]

Backed Wales at 15/4 after about 30 mins, seemed worth a punt :)

[swinfordfc]

Thats Wales top seeds for World Cup qualifying now!

[DeLorean]

They've scored 8 goals in their 6 games, 5 for Bale and 2 assists.

[pineapple stu]

Thats Wales top seeds for World Cup qualifying now!
What?

Weren't they bottom seeds last time?

Gives us all hope!

[geysir]

It's mostly down to Bale, Wales would be where use to be without him, he's undoubtedly an outstanding inspirational asset to his country. But way too much attention here is paid to games which pale into comparison in significance to what's really happening in european football.

[geysir]

in light of another morning, that guy who said that Wales' rise up the ladder was mostly down to Bale, was in all probability exaggerating.
Wales's defence has been good.
Nevertheless in this campaign he was instrumental in them pipping Andorra and with taking charge of their away game against Israel, just when it looked like the home team were coming out on top.

[DeLorean]

Yeah two goals conceded in six games, including two clean sheets against Belgium, can't be apportioned too heavily to Bale, but being directly responsible for 7 of their 8 goals is massively significant. I don't think they'd have any qualification prospects without him really, maybe scrape third and lose the playoff.

[Stuttgart88]

They'd have lost in Andorra without him. But they do have some other good players, a well balanced team and a bit of the fear-nothing swagger about them that the Scots, probably also NI, have and which we lost a decade ago. I'm jealous of their 30,000 seater stadium too. I'd love if Dalyer was turned into something like that.

[Cymro]

Without Bale's goals we would have probably had at least 6 points, possibly 9-12. The 0-0 draws against Belgium and Bosnia would have likely stood, and the 2-1 win against Cyprus (goals scored by Robson-Kanu after a brilliant take-down and a Cotterill fluked cross) would have stood. In Israel Bale contributed to all our goals, but we created chances throughout and James Collins trod on the ball in the first half one of the worst misses I have ever seen, even worse than when Iwelumo punted the ball onto the post from a yard out against Norway in his first and only Scotland appearence.

What would have happened in Andorra is anyone's guess, Bale's goals were obviously vital in the actual game but we may well have played different tactics/formation without him, it's far from certain we would have lost that game.

Nonetheless, it's all much of a muchness. Would the Irish sides of the past decade have qualified for anything without Keane, Dunne and Given? Take the top players out of any side and they struggle to perform to their level, that seems to be true of Belgium too although they do have a fantastic strength in depth.

[pineapple stu]

Slovenia 1-0 England coming up to half time.

I think someone here said defeat for England would mean being ranked below Wales for the first time ever?

Liechtenstein 1-0 up on Moldova; currently two points off automatic qualification! Not bad for a side with only two goals to their name in the whole campaign.

Austria 1-0 up in Moscow and cruising to qualification as it stands

[davidatrb]

Assuming both teams beat Gibraltar then we have to beat one of the others where Scotland lose and match the rest of their results. Best hope seems to be Scotland to slip up against Georgia in a hopefully tricky away fixture.

Georgia
Ireland have a 100% record (6 games, 6 wins) against Georgia home and away. Ireland meet them in Dublin on September 7th.

Scotland on the other hand have lost to Georgia before in the Euro 2008 Qualifiers. To prove that it wasn't just a one off, Georgia also beat Croatia in Euro 2012 Qualifiers. They could be dangerous. In this campaign Scotland beat them narrowly in Scotland (1-0). They have to play them in Georgia on September 4th.

If Ireland beat Georgia and Scotland lose to Georgia, that's one way Ireland could qualify (if they match the rest of their results).

Poland
Scotland have Poland at home, and Ireland have Poland away - advantage Scotland there. Neither Scotland or Ireland have ever beaten Poland competitively. The likely outcome here is draws all around. Ireland will need to at least match Scotland's result here.


Germany
Scotland have lost 3 and drawn 1 against Germany competitively. The only draw came at home and more than 10 years ago. Scotland will meet Germany in Scotland on September 7th. Scotland have beaten the Germans in Friendlies though, once in 1936 and again in 1999. This is something Ireland never did.

Ireland have lost 3 and drawn 3 against Germany competitively. They will be encouraged by the draw in this campaign in Germany. So Ireland have a marginally better competitive record against the Germans and have some recent form on their side.

If Ireland beat Germany and Scotland lose to Germany, that's another way Ireland could qualify (if they match the rest of their results).

[Crosby87]

Zoo animals are overrunning Tbilisi.

[Kingdom]

Scotland have beaten the Germans in Friendlies though, once in 1936 and again in 1999. This is something Ireland never did.


On a point of order your honour, may I refer the right honourable gentleman to Hanover 94, in the case of Andreas Kopke vs Gary Kelly's curly wurly.

[pineapple stu]

On a point of order your honour, may I refer the right honourable gentleman to Hanover 94, in the case of Andreas Kopke vs Gary Kelly's curly wurly.
Exhibit A -

hHREV8xmgV4

We could also have accepted Ireland 5-2 Germany in 1936, Ireland 3-2 Germany in 1951, Ireland 3-0 Germany in 1956 and Ireland 1-0 Germany in 1960.

In fact, we've a great record against Germany, all things considered.

[Crosby87]

He means a united Germany?
Edit didnt see '36 maybe united non nazi?

[geysir]

In the early '70's we also beat a West German team 3-0 in Dalymount. Cork Hibs' John Herrick scored a screamer from a distant part, great crowd and atmosphere, it was just as if we beat the real west german team and itwas the catalyst for our gradual emergence out of the dark ages.
Not many people know that now, but there you are. We wouldn't have the Jack Charlton era except that a makeshift irish team managed to beat a West German team, with aplomb.

[paul_oshea]

I remember that McAteer flick by, but I thought it was in a different game. Weird.

That German team were awful sloppy though, like when we beat holland as well but they were a lot better in the world cup.

Anyway we could only dream of some of that passing nowadays. One thing I do always notice though is when we get those missed tackles or flicks even though our players back then mightnt have been the fastest they always looked more dangerous and something seemed to happen, nowadays we make a break and stop at some point waiting for someone to support, as though no one ever expects the break and doesnt think of following from the start.

[davidatrb]

He means a united Germany?
Edit didnt see '36 maybe united non nazi?

I dont know what I meant. It's weird, I have 4 on my list don't know why i didn't see them. 1994 vs Germany, 1951, 1956 and 1960 vs West Germany. I don't have the 1936 game so maybe that wasn't an official game? I have a game we played against Germany and lost 2-1 in 1970-05-09 in Berlin, but no record for Dublin. I need to update my lists!