Other than Portugal sneaking a win late in extra time against Croatia, who couldn’t replicate their performance in defeating Spain in the Group, and the two surprising results on Monday, the Round of 16 went largely to form. We now have the four quarter final match-ups over the next four days; here are some thoughts […]
Just as they had done against Belgium in their opening game, Italy implemented their tactical system perfectly and completely stifled Spain in the first half of the highly anticipated Round of 16 clash in Paris. The incessant pressing and near perfect defensive organisation meant that Spain couldn’t find any space to play through them and […]
With the start of the knockout phases and three matches per day, the intensity of the tournament went up a notch or two over the weekend, but my wife and I decided that the only way to spend the weekend was by watching all six games. First up was Poland and Switzerland, the game started […]
Switzerland – Poland – looks to be fairly evenly matched on paper, extra time is a distinct possibility and possibly penalties. Poland on penalties for me. Wales – Northern Ireland – Northern Ireland may well prefer playing a British side but equally the Wales defence will be prepared and used to their threat at set-pieces, […]
With the Group Stage now concluded, I thought I would share some of my thoughts on the tournament so far: Team of the Group Stage For me the stand out team so far has been Croatia, who would have claimed maximum points if they hadn’t let their concentration drop after the suspension of their game […]
Just prior to the start of the tournament I put predictions for every group stage match into an Excel spreadsheet in order to predict how I thought the tournament would develop. Now that the group stage has been completed I thought it might be interesting to see how my predictions compare to what actually happened: […]
After the excitement of Croatia’s stunning victory over Spain the previous evening, I didn’t really have high expectations for the final day of group games; I felt that Portugal would have to perform better after their first two disappointing games and that while Ireland would no doubt give it their best, having to beat Italy […]
It was always going to take a combination of team spirit, mental toughness, tenacity and a good dollop of sheer good fortune for Northern Ireland to get anything out of their game against Germany; while the World Champions may not be at quite the same level as they were in Brazil two years ago; they […]
After the match last night Roy Hodgson suggested that England had dominated all three of their matches so far and it is only a matter of time before they start to take the chances they are creating and ‘make someone pay’. While changes to the team had been anticipated, the sheer number (6 players being […]
Friday was our last full day in Nice, so we made sure we watched all of the games. After a trip to Monaco where we spent the grand total of an hour; if you aren’t into yachts, motor racing or spending 29 Euros on a cheeseburger, there isn’t really a lot more to see and […]
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