Euro 2016

[Stuttgart88]

Randolph would have saved that shot! Seriously, Hennessy was staring straight at it and reacted slowly.

Great response by Wales. Allen very classy. Have Belgium no stomach for this? They look happy to stand off them. Allen wants the ball more than most of theirs do. Hazard in and out of it.

DeBruyne was brain dead for the goal. Even at my rubbish level looking after the post meant looking after the post.

(Of course it goes without saying Westwood would have saved it too:) )

[BonnieShels]

I had switch off tv3 because the commentary was painful. And BBC bloody had another post mortem on England at halftime. Ffs.

---

David, like DeL says there's just something about them. They're a pouty shower of moans. Remind me if Spain. Just hard to get behind.

[NeverFeltBetter]

It baffles me how a player of Fellaini's calibre is the trump card brought on to change things for Belgium.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Wow. I was shouting at him to lay it off to the left to the man in space, and then he pulled that. Fantastic goal.

[BonnieShels]

In the truest sense of the phrase, the Belgians don't like it up 'em.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I had switch off tv3 because the commentary was painful. And BBC bloody had another post mortem on England at halftime. Ffs.



"He's in the moooooood, Ramsey"

[NeverFeltBetter]

Think I heard "Men of Harlech" replaced by "Are you watching Eng-gah-land" there ;)

[pineapple stu]

Have to say, this tournament has finally started to take off - since around about when we got knocked out. I'll chalk that up to coincidence. :)

Rather worrying we're playing Wales soon given the huge difference in performance against Belgium. This is kind of like watching Holland win 6-1 in Euro 2000 just two months before we travelled to Amsterdam...

[BonnieShels]

They've been wonderful. No one should ever say it. But I'd love to be in Cardiff tonight.

[NeverFeltBetter]

I was convinced Belgium would equalise (though they were gash for ten minutes after going behind), and they had a great shout for a penalty and all. But then another defensive botch job and Wales are in a semi!

The suspensions are a killer and Ronaldo will like some of the space Wales will probably afford him, but Portugal are there for the taking.

How do we fancy a Wales/Iceland final?

[pineapple stu]

Ronaldo v Bale. Individual superstar v team player superstar. i reckon Bale will win through.

[osarusan]

Incredible stuff, amazing scenes. Not just heart and all that but really intelligent passing to bring the ball up the pitch and keep their attacking presence, forcing Belgium to play farther back. Brilliant stuff and I genuinely believe they can beat Portugal too.

[Stuttgart88]

Brilliant, just brilliant. If only we'd had a week between games :) (and that Belgian defence to play against).

[The Fly]

Hide your sheep and hide your lambs, the Welsh will be celebrating tonight.

[BonnieShels]

There'll be lots of sheep milked in the streets of Rhonda tonight.

[DeLorean]

Fantastic stuff. Delighted for them, congrats to Cymro. They had a bit of everything tonight, the guts to hang on at the start and near the end, composure when they went behind, discipline in terms of keeping their shape, unlike us when the pressure came on, but most of all the quality to dominate large parts of the game by keeping the ball on the ground.

They didn't even need anything too majestic from Bale, although he played an important part in the first two goals. He was brilliant in other ways tonight, although he was playing a little too deep for my liking, but Robson-Kanu offers a lot more movement up front than Vokes. I suppose they'll probably both start in Ramsey's absence?

[BonnieShels]

Fantastic stuff. Delighted for them, congrats to Cymro. They had a bit of everything tonight, the guts to hang on at the start and near the end, composure when they went behind, discipline in terms of keeping their shape, unlike us when the pressure came on, but most of all the quality to dominate large parts of the game by keeping the ball on the ground.

They didn't even need anything too majestic from Bale, although he played an important part in the first two goals. He was brilliant in other ways tonight, although he was playing a little too deep for my liking, but Robson-Kanu offers a lot more movement up front than Vokes. I suppose they'll probably both start in Ramsey's absence?

He was. And the difference he made to the team when they were under the losh just bringing it out of defence and giving them time to breath. He was wonderful. Gutted for Ramsey.

To a man they were brilliant. They got me onboard anyway.

---

I think on balance that Robson-Kanu's goal from the pass to Ramsey, Ramsey's pass to HRK's movement must put in for a shout for goal of the tournament now. It shades Shaqiri's for me.

[DeLorean]

I don't think Shaqiri's goal is getting nearly enough credit, a goal for the ages. Pure, undiluted ridiculousness.

[BonnieShels]

It was a great great goal and defo one for the ages but I'm a sucker for a well worked passage ended with a moment of magic.

[NeverFeltBetter]

There are so many teams nowadays that seem like they could take on an "unfulfilled potential" tag. Portugal, Croatia, England, Switzerland and Poland, are all teams with players of a caliber where if they played to the best of their ability they could genuinely win this tournament. But Belgium would have to be at the top of the pile. They seem to be oozing with attacking talent, and when things are going their way - the second half against Ireland, the last 16 - they look unstoppable. But here - against Italy, against us in the first half, large parts of Sweden, and in the second half of tonight - they just couldn't pull it together. What do they need to change? That central defence, but what else?

[BonnieShels]

There are so many teams nowadays that seem like they could take on an "unfulfilled potential" tag. Portugal, Croatia, England, Switzerland and Poland, are all teams with players of a caliber where if they played to the best of their ability they could genuinely win this tournament. But Belgium would have to be at the top of the pile. They seem to be oozing with attacking talent, and when things are going their way - the second half against Ireland, the last 16 - they look unstoppable. But here - against Italy, against us in the first half, large parts of Sweden, and in the second half of tonight - they just couldn't pull it together. What do they need to change? That central defence, but what else?

I hope they never do. They were so petulant in their attitude. Filth all over and looking to go down rather than play football. Delighted to see them sednt packing.

[CraftyToePoke]

That was an absolute rocket. Wonder how fast it was travelling?

Think I remember a replay graphic saying 67mph.

[Stuttgart88]

There are so many teams nowadays that seem like they could take on an "unfulfilled potential" tag. Portugal, Croatia, England, Switzerland and Poland, are all teams with players of a caliber where if they played to the best of their ability they could genuinely win this tournament. But Belgium would have to be at the top of the pile. They seem to be oozing with attacking talent, and when things are going their way - the second half against Ireland, the last 16 - they look unstoppable. But here - against Italy, against us in the first half, large parts of Sweden, and in the second half of tonight - they just couldn't pull it together. What do they need to change? That central defence, but what else?their defence was truly shocking and I'd have fancied Shame Long to have caused them trouble but to me it looked like they just didn't have the balls for it. After 20 mins they just stood off Wales and totally gave up the initiative. Wales had time to feel their way back into the game which was inexcusable for a team like Belgium.

As always though, goals change games. DeBruyne should never have left his post, Fellaini and Lukaku both missed great chances.

Had we gone 1 up and Lukakau hadn't curled an exquisite shot just inside our post who knows what'd have happened? For 60 minutes Hungary gave them a really good run for their money and really should have equalised.

Anyway, another victory for a 3-in-central-defence team. Love it.

[Cymro]

Thanks for the comments everyone. We are all enjoying it, but we aren't getting carried away. We rode our luck a bit (possibly should have conceded a penalty and a red card) although we probably deserved it overall as the stats suggest. I could hardly believe what I was seeing at times, but watching it again (day off) it's clear Belgium's defensive losses were key. They totally failed to defend against Robson-Kanu when he scored his goal. What a turn and strike, though. And, the equaliser should have been stopped by De Bruyne. But, by the same token, Ramsey should have closed down Nainggolan's goal. Overall, I think we were probably the better team. Just gutting that Ramsey and Davies miss the semis now. Ramsey has had an unreal tournament.

[DeLorean]

If ever the cliché about making your own luck was ever evident, I think this game and both these teams illustrated it perfectly.


But here - against Italy, against us in the first half, large parts of Sweden, and in the second half of tonight - they just couldn't pull it together. What do they need to change? That central defence, but what else?

-Obviously Wilmots has to go. The fans don't want him and the players are clearly not willing to go the extra mile for him.

-Stop believing their own hype. Confidence and self belief is a great thing but I think it only really exists on the back of hard work and subsequent success. They're full of beans when the going is good, they appear hopelessly dejected when they need to dig deep. The (false) confidence they have just evaporates.

-Pick players based on attitude and form. Hazard has had a terrible season where he barely threw a leg for Chelsea and started flirted with PSG the second things got tough. He's remains untouchable within the Belgium setup though and was even made captain. He's so far from captain material it's untrue, at least to the naked eye. He was having zero impact and what De Bruyne did for the first goal was a droppable offence in itself, yet Wilmots took the easy option and replaced the less glamorous (for now) Carrasco. I could see the temptation for bringing on Fellaini to help defend against the Welsh set pieces though to be fair, but surely it should have been one of their holding midfielders or more underperforming players that made way. I think they need a manager who has no respect for reputations, it will ruffle a few feathers but that's what is needed. They have a wealth of talent, use it, nobody is indispensable.

-Even if they get all of this right there is still no guarantee of success. They still won't really have attacking players you can absolutely rely on 90% of the time. They're a pretty streaky/flaky bunch even at club level. They don't seem to have a guy that will dig them out of a hole, for all the hype they have no real superstar in my opinion, no Ronaldo, Bale or even somebody that will consistently deliver when you need him most, like a Thomas Muller. All-in-all, they've got a lot of talented players but nothing that really sets them apart.

-In their defence (literally), Kompany, Vertonghen and Vermaelen left a massive void. Most teams would struggle defensively with three first choice defenders taken out of the equation, and Kompany is one of their few players with leadership qualities and a brilliant attitude, positive, confident but no real ego. Without Dembélé, they had no real midfield playmaker either to control the game, in the mold of a Modric or a Kroos. He is a quality player I think also, and I don't think Wales would have been able to control midfield for such long spells had he been there. I presume he was still out due to the knock he picked up against us?

[Cymro]

There are so many teams nowadays that seem like they could take on an "unfulfilled potential" tag. Portugal, Croatia, England, Switzerland and Poland, are all teams with players of a caliber where if they played to the best of their ability they could genuinely win this tournament. But Belgium would have to be at the top of the pile. They seem to be oozing with attacking talent, and when things are going their way - the second half against Ireland, the last 16 - they look unstoppable. But here - against Italy, against us in the first half, large parts of Sweden, and in the second half of tonight - they just couldn't pull it together. What do they need to change? That central defence, but what else?

Defensive organisation. In fairness if we had lost as many centre backs to injury as they have, we'd have been playing Gunter, Richards and probably Joe Walsh at centre back, so you can see how tough those losses were. But Wilmots just doesn't really know how to coach defending in my view, even with a full team they've struggled against us. Nainggolan's headed 'pass' to Bale for the winner in the qualifiers comes to mind.

Going forward Belgium have all the talent needed to win, if you just made them hard to beat you would have a winning team, I'm sure of it.

[BonnieShels]

Cagey.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Reminds me of the Argentina/Netherlands semi in 2014. Tactical matches stopping it from being a snorefest, but just not a good game of football.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

The Pelle shot before the penalty is almost a trademark of his at this stage.

[pineapple stu]

Surely that penalty should have been re-taken? Huge Aldridge shuffle

[pineapple stu]

Beglin talking about how Pelle's getting tired in extra time after the pace of the match.

What pace?

[osarusan]

Surely that penalty should have been re-taken? Huge Aldridge shuffle

That kind of feint/shuffle is legal these days I think.

What's not legal is to pretend to kick the ball (deliberate fresh air shot) so that the keeper will move.

[SkStu]

This and the Wales/Belgium game have been my games of the tournament so far. For very different reasons. This game is just compelling viewing.

[pineapple stu]

That kind of feint/shuffle is legal these days I think.

What's not legal is to pretend to kick the ball (deliberate fresh air shot) so that the keeper will move.
Seems you're right - http://www.newstalk.com/Footballs-incoming-new-rules-will-have-an-impact-on-certain-penaltytakers

[pineapple stu]

Just witnessed history - first German shoot out miss in 24 years and 23 penos

[pineapple stu]

34 years, sorry. 1982.

And they're like buses now

[pineapple stu]

This shoot out is somehow worse than the match

[BonnieShels]

This and the Wales/Belgium game have been my games of the tournament so far. For very different reasons. This game is just compelling viewing.

I'd agree with this. Reminded me of Dublin v Donegal in 2011. Compelling but in the moment was painful to the untrained eye. Tactical masterclasses from both managers and fupp me isn't Italian defensive play just a beauty to behold.

[davidatrb]

Just witnessed history - first German shoot out miss in 24 years and 23 penos

Muller's head isn't right in this tournament.

No effort for the penalty.

He's nowhere to be seen when the ball is pinging around the area. Germany's goal today is Muller's bread and butter but he was marked absent. Ozil was the one in the right place at the right time.

And the chance he did get, with goal keeper out of commission he should have scored, great effort by the defender to turn it past the post in fairness, but its debatable if his shot was even on target.

Also in one of the earlier rounds when Germany won a penalty Muller shirked the responsibility (Ozil missed then and missed again tonight in the shoot out). Wonder who would take a pen if they won one in play in the semi.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Certainly not an impressive performance from Germany throughout, if Italy had any skill going forward they should have won it. Poor Zaza looked a proper fool being brought on just for the shoot out, taking the most delayed run-up in history and then blasting it over.

[The Fly]

Poor Zaza looked a proper fool being brought on just for the shoot out, taking the most delayed run-up in history.......

https://media.giphy.com/media/bLDc0I7ys2YN2/giphy.gif

[geysir]

I'd agree with this. Reminded me of Dublin v Donegal in 2011. Compelling but in the moment was painful to the untrained eye. Tactical masterclasses from both managers and fupp me isn't Italian defensive play just a beauty to behold.
I found it a very compelling tactical game but I thought most everybody here would have fallen asleep at the lack of so called goal threat action after fannying about for 5 or so minutes. Anyway it was my type of knockout game between two of the best national teams. Now all that's needed is some team to beat Germany to make this an excellent tournament.

[TheBoss]

Certainly not an impressive performance from Germany throughout, if Italy had any skill going forward they should have won it. Poor Zaza looked a proper fool being brought on just for the shoot out, taking the most delayed run-up in history and then blasting it over.

I think he was channeling his inner James Brown

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/brown-boseman-mobile/img/JamesShuffle_400x225.gif

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Re: Hal Robson-Kanu, one swallow doesn't make a summer.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Just released from Reading right? I imagine some Championship team will snap him up on the basis of this tournament, Soccernomics advice be damned.

[BonnieShels]

Remember remember Karel Poborsky

[BonnieShels]

Great goal from Giroud there. Well taken.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Way too easy for Giroud. Icelandic defence, keeper, must do better.

[pineapple stu]

Could be a few in this for France. Iceland have done exceptionally all tournament, but there's always been the suspicion they're defensively suspect. Portugal created loads of chances but somehow couldn't convert. England opened them up in 5 minutes and did alright until the second goal, when they went into full retreat.

Don't think France at home will do that.

And as I type, 2-0...

[NeverFeltBetter]

Certainly seems like it's coming unstuck at the back alright, two goals they should have prevented. I doubt France will run riot, they'll want to conserve as much as they can for the semi, but hard to see them letting this lead slip.