***EURO 2020 - 13th June***

[Cade]

Hopefully no horrible events like we had on Saturday.

 

Match 1) England vs Croatia - 14:00 BST

 

Coming from Wembley Stadium, London, England.

 

England

In Qualifying they won Group A by 6 clear points ahead of the Czech Republic with a record of 7 wins, no draws and 1 defeat, a 2-1 away loss to the Czechs.
In the 20/21 Nations League, they finished 3rd in League A Group 1 (Belgium, Denmark, England, Iceland) with a record of 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 defeats.
In World Cup Qualification, they've played three games so far, winning them all. 5-0 to San Marino, 2-0 to Albania and 2-1 to Poland.
Recent Friendlies have produced two 1-0 wins, over Austria and Romania.

As usual, the UK media has them as hot favourites to win the tournament.

But in reality they're a second-rate side who have only ever won one knock-out game in the history of the Euros.
They're very good at picking off wee teams but become a cropper when shit gets real.

A solid if not spectacular team. Dare we say "dark horse"?

 

Croatia

In Qualifying, they won Group E by three points head of Wales, with a record of 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss, a 2-1 defeat to Hungary.
In the 20/21 Nations League, they only narrowly avoided relegation to League B in League A Group 3 (France, Portugal, Croatia, Sweden). Only their head-to-head record against Sweden kept them up. 1 win (against Sweden), no draws, 5 losses.
In World Cup Qualification, they've played three games so far, losing 1-0 to Slovenia, beat Cyprus 1-0 and beat Malta 3-0.
Recent Friendlies have produced a 1-1 draw with Armenia and a 1-0 loss to Belgium.

Not much else to say about this lot.

 

 

 

Match 2) Austria v North Macedonia - 17:00 BST

 

Coming from Arena Națională, Bucharest, Romania.

 

Austria

In Qualifying, they finished 2nd in Group G, 6 points behind Poland with a record of 6 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses.
In the 20/21 Nations League, they won League B Group 1 (Austria, Norway, Romania, Northern Ireland) and got promoted to League A. 4 wins, 1 draw (with Norway) and 1 loss (to Romania by the odd goal in a 5 goal thriller)
In World Cup Qualifying, they've drawn 2-2 with Scotland, beat the Faroes 3-0 and lost 4-0 to Denmark.

Recent Friendlies have seen  a 1-0 loss to England and a 0-0 draw with Slovakia.

Not a great side.

 

North Macedonia
Oh Christ, here we go(!)

In Qualifying, they finished 3rd in Group G, 5 points behind Austria in 2nd, with a record of 4 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses.
That was not good enough to bag an automatic slot for the EUROs finals.
But due to their performance in the 18/19 Nations League they qualified for a play-off spot.
They won League D Group 4 (North Macedonia, Armenia, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein) with 5 wins, no draws, 1 loss and got promoted to League C.
In the EUROs play-offs they faced Kosovo in their semi final, winning 2-1 then faced Georgia in the final and won 1-0.

This is their first ever appearance at a football finals. 
In the 20/21 Nations League, they finished 2nd in League C Group 2 (Armenia, North Macedonia, Georgia, Estonia) recording 2 wins, 3 draws and 1 loss.
In World Cup Qualifying, they've lost 3-2 to Romania, beat Liechtenstein 5-0 and beat Germany 2-1 !!!

Recent Friendlies have seen a 1-1 draw with Slovenia and a 4-0 win over Kazakhstan.

I have no idea what to make of them.

 

 

 

Match 3) Netherlands/Ukraine - 20:00 BST 

 

Coming from the Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

 

Netherlands

In Qualifying, they ended 2nd in Group C, only 2 points behind Germany, recording 6 wins, 1 draw (with Northern Ireland) and 1 loss (to Germany by the odd goal in a 5-goal thriller).
In the 20/21 Nations League, they finished 2nd in League A Group 1, one point behind Italy, recording 3 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss (to Italy by a single goal)

In World Cup Qualifying, they've lost 4-2 to Turkey, beaten Latvia 2-0 and beaten Gibraltar 7-0.

Pre-tournament Friendlies saw them draw 2-2 with Scotland and beat Georgia 3-0.
They're a damned good side.

Not sure they'll get all that far in this tournament but they remain a serious threat to anyone.


Ukraine

In Qualifying, they topped Group B, three points above Portugal, ending with a record of 6 wins, 2 draws and no losses.
In the 20/21 Nations League, they finished bottom of League A Group 4 (Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Ukraine) with 2 wins, no draws and 4 defeats and got relegated to League B. They did beat Spain, though.

In World Cup Qualifying, they've drawn 1-1 with France, and Finland, and Kazakhstan.
Pre-tournament Friendlies saw another 1-1 draw, with Bahrain, then a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland and a 4-0 win over Cyprus.

Capable of moments of magic but pretty mediocre otherwise.

 

 

 

 

[Jeffros Furios]

England will bore out a  result , Austria should win and I fancy Ukraine to beat the Dutch .

[Maroon Sailor]

England, Austria and Holland for me

[Morgan]

England, Austria and Holland is what I would wish for, and expect.

[Hømme]

England and Holland wins.

 

I can't call the other match. I'll be cheering on the North Macedonians!

 

[Cade]

OH FFS got the feckin thread title wrong.

 

MODS! Can someone change it to EURO 2020?

 

[Spellczech]

10 minutes ago, Cade said:

OH FFS got the feckin thread title wrong.

 

MODS! Can someone change it to EURO 2020?

 

Don't. Makes me feel younger...

[Spitonastranger]

ABE always 

[Maroon Sailor]

5 minutes ago, Spitonastranger said:

ABE always 

 

They will qualify no problem, so need them to make sure Croatia and the Czechs don't get anything from them

[Mikey1874]

The big day when we find out about the much fancied prospects with some of the best young talents in Europe. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The big thing in Netherlands' favour is Frank de Boer has helped continue a more harmonious squad always the Dutch achilles heal. Exciting to find out. 

[CloustonHMFC]

England, Austria and Netherlands to win. 

 

As a Scot living in Austria I will quietly be hoping they do well as long as they don't come up against us.

 

As much as I don't ever want England to do well beating both Croatia and Czech Republic would be very good for us.

Edited June 13, 2021 by CloustonHMFC

[JackLadd]

I hope England think Croatia are old or not as good as 18 as they have more than enough in their squad to beat them plus a resilience and togetherness that the kneelers can only dream about. ideal scenario is they beat England and Czechs and field a reserve in the last game vs us.

[1971fozzy]

Selfishly I’m hoping England win as it will help us. Flip side is that if they get beat it’s always funny.

expect Ukraine and Austria to win their games

[kila]

There’s always a bunch of images that won’t load in the OP. Are they stadium pics you linked to?

[milky_26]

10 minutes ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

I agree with you but Jermaine Jenus wouldn't.....

croatia are in the middle of what you would call a decline or slump if you look at their results. from 2020 onwards in all games the have played 13, won 4, drew 2 and lost 7. you can look at the teams they have lost to, belgium x1, france x2, portugal x2, sweden x1 and slovenia x1. 

 

i would say they are nowhere near their 2018 level and teams can get at them. That does not mean england will do anything against them but they have a good chance

[Stu_HMFC]

Got a free £5 bet from Bet365 for the England game .

 

England 3.0 

Lovern to be booked 

Kane to score any time 

75/1 

[rmreido]

5 hours ago, JackLadd said:

I hope England think Croatia are old or not as good as 18 as they have more than enough in their squad to beat them plus a resilience and togetherness that the kneelers can only dream about. ideal scenario is they beat England and Czechs and field a reserve in the last game vs us.

My thinking also.

ABE never want the auld enemy to win, c'mon Croatia, do the business 

[Cade]

1 hour ago, kila said:

There’s always a bunch of images that won’t load in the OP. Are they stadium pics you linked to?

Aye.

 

I could try to get around that by saving them and uploading them myself instead of direct linking, I'll try that for tomorrow's thread and hope it works better for everybody.

[Seymour M Hersh]

Come on Croatia. 

[BigStein]

Hoping this game silences the nonsense about this England team being particularly better than previous England teams

[Cade]

Score draw would be nice.

Puts the English gas at a peep and opens up the group for us.

In theory.

[BackOfTheNet]

And for those that don’t know, and who’ve not had enough football once Ukraine v Holland finishes, first game of Copa America (Brazil v Venezuela) is on at 10pm our time. On iPlayer I believe.

[The Real Maroonblood]

6 minutes ago, BackOfTheNet said:

And for those that don’t know, and who’ve not had enough football once Ukraine v Holland finishes, first game of Copa America (Brazil v Venezuela) is on at 10pm our time. On iPlayer I believe.

👍

It is on iplayer. 

 

[Cade]

Cheers, Mods!

Slainte! 

[HMFC01]

England 4-1 anytime scorecast Kane, Sterling, Sancho, Rashford, Foden...  I went with kane, sterling, Rashford.    Could end up any score so I picked this one.   Alot of tips for 2-0.   BT sport Stevie Nicol thinks 2-0, asked why, he said his head says 2-0 but his heart hopes England gets thumped ☺.    I with Nicol. 

 

Austria&North Macedonia draw 1-1.   Although I think North Macedonia might sneak a 1-0 win. 

 

Netherlands 2-1 anytime scorecast Depay.   I like this one the best. 

 

Have a good day folks.   Whatever you do. 

 

[BackOfTheNet]

11 minutes ago, The Real Maroonblood said:

👍

It is on iplayer. 

 

Yup. Just checked as I thought it was but wanted to make sure. Every game will be in iPlayer, was meant to be in Argentina and Colombia but was stripped from Colombia for political unrest and then Argentina for COVID outbreaks. So instead they’re having it in… Brazil. Which is second only to USA for COVID deaths. So not sure of the understanding there. All games will have no fans though.

[Taffin]

Southgate will be England's undoing.

 

Great squad of players but square pegs in round holes which have perfectly good round pegs to fill them will be his downfall.

[Cruyff]

Hopefully Croatia will be tough for England. Big test of England's character imo, they've been unconvincing v Austria and Romania. 

[milky_26]

 

 

 

[milky_26]

1 hour ago, Taffin said:

Southgate will be England's undoing.

 

Great squad of players but square pegs in round holes which have perfectly good round pegs to fill them will be his downfall.

he is playing a right back at left back and leaving shaw on the bench

[Taffin]

Just now, milky_26 said:

he is playing a right back at left back and leaving shaw on the bench

 

 

Trippier is a cracking player, but he's a right back and Southgate has two very good left backs. That said, Shaw would still be on the bench for me too.

[Class of 75]

1 hour ago, Taffin said:

Southgate will be England's undoing.

 

Great squad of players but square pegs in round holes which have perfectly good round pegs to fill them will be his downfall.

Totally agree. If England got their act together they would have a good chance of getting to the final stages. However, in saying that hopefully they win today. 

[milky_26]

2 minutes ago, Taffin said:

 

 

Trippier is a cracking player, but he's a right back and Southgate has two very good left backs. That said, Shaw would still be on the bench for me too.

chillwell isn't even on the bench

[Taffin]

Just now, milky_26 said:

chillwell isn't even on the bench

 

Just saw that. I can only assume he's got an injury, in which case I'd have started Shaw.

[Cruyff]

That's a very strange XI from England, no natural left back unless Mings is playing there. 

[milky_26]

Just now, Taffin said:

 

Just saw that. I can only assume he's got an injury, in which case I'd have started Shaw.

remember three players in the squad cant be on the bench as they can only name (starting XI and bench) a maximum of 23 but they have a squad of 26

[milky_26]

Just now, Cruyff said:

That's a very strange XI from England, no natural left back unless Mings is playing there. 

i would say walker as i'm sure ive seen him play there for city on occassion

[Cruyff]

2 minutes ago, milky_26 said:

i would say walker as i'm sure ive seen him play there for city on occassion

There's obviously a tactical reason for it. 

[jambopilms]

I guess we really want England taking points from Czech and Croatia. Is 3 points ever enough to get a third place qualification

[Taffin]

5 minutes ago, milky_26 said:

remember three players in the squad cant be on the bench as they can only name (starting XI and bench) a maximum of 23 but they have a squad of 26

 

True, but he's the best left back they've got is my logic for it being an injury...unless I just got it right earlier and Southgate has lost his marbles and will be their undoing 😂😂

 

If it's not injured, imagine the hit to morale for Shaw and Chillwell seeing a right back shoe-horned into left back ahead of you!

[milky_26]

1 minute ago, Cruyff said:

There's obviously a tactical reason for it. 

matthew upson has said it might be because their CH have not really played together so wanted the better defenders and trippier plays for a great defensive side in AM

[milky_26]

1 minute ago, jambopilms said:

I guess we really want England taking points from Czech and Croatia. Is 3 points ever enough to get a third place qualification

someone said the last euros the 4 best placed 3rd placed sides to progress were on 4 points (2 sides) and 3 points (2 sides) so we have some hope

[milky_26]

3 hours ago, Stu_HMFC said:

Got a free £5 bet from Bet365 for the England game .

 

England 3.0 

Lovern to be booked 

Kane to score any time 

75/1 

lovren not even on the bench,

[HMFC01]

Chilwell and Sancho were left out the euro squad.   Neither injured. 

[One five]

I just can’t bring myself to want England to win watching bbc 

[Cruyff]

1 minute ago, HMFC01 said:

Chilwell and Sancho were left out the euro squad.   Neither injured. 

And he’s stuck two keepers on the bench. 🤣

[Cruyff]

1 minute ago, One five said:

I just can’t bring myself to want England to win watching bbc 

Me neither. Hope they get pumped. 

[One five]

Just now, Cruyff said:

Me neither. Hope they get pumped. 

👍

[milky_26]

Just now, Cruyff said:

And he’s stuck two keepers on the bench. 🤣

there is probably a rule that the 23 must contain 3 keepers. i.e. can only have 20 outfield players in the 23. i remember the 2010 WC where north korea tried to bring an extra outfield player but were forced to define him as a GK

[Cruyff]

1 minute ago, milky_26 said:

there is probably a rule that the 23 must contain 3 keepers. i.e. can only have 20 outfield players in the 23. i remember the 2010 WC where north korea tried to bring an extra outfield player but were forced to define him as a GK

Yeah, it's definitely a rule that there has to be 3 keepers in a squad but I didn't think that counted as a match day squad I. E. including the bench. If that is the case, he obviously didn't have much choice.