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 […]
With England fans massing in the old town and more unwanted rain, we opted to watch England-Wales in a relatively quiet bar just off the high street; it did however seem like there were more people watching the football/ sheltering from the rain than the owners had anticipated, which made the service a bit random. […]
The first round of games concluded with an interesting game in which an unknown Hungary overcame 10-man Austria; their second goal, a delightful chip from Zoltan Steiber was particularly enjoyable. The evening game saw underdogs Iceland frustrate Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal by holding them to a draw; the Real Madrid star complained afterwards that Iceland […]
Just in case anyone missed the first round of group matches (as if!), my friend Stig posted a nice summary of the best and worst so far; with apologies for any Google translate vagaries: If you’ve missed something in Euros, you need not despair. I’ve been keeping myself up to date, and can share with […]
Unfortunately I didn’t get to see any of the Spain-Czech Republic game but from what I have read it seems like the Czechs provided stern resistance and managed to keep Spain at bay until Pique’s late header sealed all three points for the holders. I felt that Ireland were a little bit unlucky not to […]
Having spent our honeymoon in Rio for the first week of the World Cup in 2014, my wife and I instantly became converts to attending international football tournaments and committed to coming to the Euros even as we boarded our flight back. Having spent a year living in Marseille as a student, we initially planned […]
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