Euro 2020(1) megathread

[pineapple stu]

It's just around the corner - first match is on 11th June between Italy and Turkey in Rome; kick-off at 9pm. First two rounds of group games are at 3pm, 6pm and 9pm each day.

Squads being announced at the moment - Zlatan has withdrawn injured for Sweden, while Benzema is in the French squad for the first time in six years, having been kicked out for blackmailing a squad-mate over a sex tape (which he's due to stand trial for later this year)

It'll be interesting to see how North Macedonia get on - they were the League D winners, so arguably the weakest team ever to reach the Euros. They start against Austria on the 13th. Finland are the other debutants.

[NeverFeltBetter]

It's been one of the most low-key builds to a major tournament that I can remember, but might get into the swing of it after it starts. Some loose predictions:

-Wales will do better than some think absent from the Giggs drama.
-Finland to be the Iceland of 2021, insofar as they go relatively far, and ignorant people will think it's the most shocking thing in football history.
-North Macedonia to go out at the first stage, but not disgrace themselves.
-The English, absent opposition like Panama, will struggle more than they did in 2018, and Southgate will end the tournament in the firing line.
-An heroic last 16 exit for Scotland
-Spain to need Lewandowski to be injured to get automatic progression in the group.
-Portugal to scrape into the knock-outs in third, then somehow get to the semi-finals, at least.
-Germany out in the last 16 or last eight, with players already thinking about the next manager.
-France/Belgium in the Final, with Belgium winning.

More generally

-At least one team to have their tournament ruined by a COVID outbreak.
-A VAR call will cost England at least once, leading to the BBC Sports section to insist that the game of football has been irrevocably destroyed.
-A VAR call will save England's bacon at least once, leading the BBC Sports section to collapse in on itself.
-An early Slovakian exit will be used as a criticism of Stephen Kenny by at least one pundit.
-George Hamilton will, once again, identify every black player on the French team as "Paul Pogba" at least once in the tournament.

[jbyrne]

englands home advantage for most (all?) of the tournament cant be underestimated.
However, its hard to look past belgium, spain and france.

[pineapple stu]

No Real Madrid players in the Spanish squad for what I think is the first time ever at a major finals. Ramos deemed not to have recovered from injury.

Spain have also only named 24 players in their squad, which is a bit weird. Because of covid, you can name 26 players, although only 23 can be part of the match-day squad. It's a long time since a country took fewer players to a finals tournament than they were allowed to.

[Johnnie C]

Anyone know of any preview supplements /magazines for the tournament going with any newspaper before the big kick off?

[pineapple stu]

Current issue of When Saturday Comes has one

[NeverFeltBetter]

Sergio Busquets isolating after positive test: https://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2021...r-coronavirus/

[pineapple stu]

You wonder how the Euro players aren't vaccinated at this point?

[SkStu]

You wonder how the Euro players aren't vaccinated at this point?

He may have been. It is not 100% effective.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Not hugely impressed by Italy yesterday, the Turks let them control the game and it took them a long time to do anything with it.

[pineapple stu]

And suddenly that seems quite irrelevant watching Christan Eriksen receive 10 minutes of CPR...

[seanfhear]

And suddenly that seems quite irrelevant watching Christan Eriksen receive 10 minutes of CPR...

Hope for the best.

[pineapple stu]

I think the fact they stretchered him off after 15 minutes is good. They weren't working on him at that stage (bar oxygen), and 15 minutes is too early to give up CPR

[pineapple stu]

UEFA confirm he's been transferred to hospital and is recovering.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Some goal for Czech Republic's second against Scotland yesterday. The curl was something else.

Been OK tournament so far, nothing to get too excited about. Am hoping France/Germany later might provoke it into action a bit.

[pineapple stu]

Holland v Ukraine was an excellent game. Couple of other good games too; how Scotland didn't at least score yesterday is beyond me.

Not sure if Germany v France is the game to ignite it though - two big teams tend to neutralise each other and the games turn into a damp squib (like England v Croatia). The way football has gone, it's getting easier for a moderately organised team to restrict openings against even a top side, and a lot of games these days end up looking very similar to each other.

[NeverFeltBetter]

Ah, I missed that one, to my regret.

The English certainly are back in full "It's coming home" mode, but they are presumably playing Germany, France or Portugal in the last 16. Win that game and I'll credit it.

[sidewayspasser]

On the France v Germany match, I would expect France to win, 2-0 or something like that. I don't think Germany will get far in these Euros, could be another group stage exit.

[SkStu]

Ah, I missed that one, to my regret.

The English certainly are back in full "It's coming home" mode, but they are presumably playing Germany, France or Portugal in the last 16. Win that game and I'll credit it.

It is interesting. They are far from the finished article at the moment but... when you look at the players they have at their disposal, the relative youth of their squad and the players not selected, it is difficult to claim with any confidence that they will not win a major finals in the next 6-8 years. It galls me to say it. I think this tournament will be a little too soon but i do think we will need to collectively turn away from our tv's at some point soon.

[John83]

Yeah, they have some excellent players at the moment. 7 of their squad played in the Champions League final, not in minor roles either, and most of them have stiff competition to play.