Goooooooooooooooooooooooooool

[sidewinder]

Interesting to hear Juergen Klinsmann’s views on the BBC commentary. He thought it was pretty evens at half time. Maybe said to keep the locals happy? 

17 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

Also, Pickford is one of the best keepers I've ever seen on the goal line.  I'm just referring to his awesome saves on the line, not him being an amazing universal keeper overall.

He’s the best keeper they’ve had for years and - importantly - ups his game for the big occasion.

I can remember Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton though, who still set the standard for this team. Banks in particular.

Edited 29 Jun 2021 by sidewinder

[mjazzg]

Good and efficient performance by England throughout the team.  Another clean sheet, strong defensively. Sterling deserves all the plaudits tonight. Now they need to make the most of the kind draw.

And I agree about Pickford.

Edited 29 Jun 2021 by mjazzg

[mikeweil]

On 26.6.2021 at 4:19 AM, Dmitry said:

Ukraine lost two matches, barely won against North Macedonia, still made it to the 1/8, and will be facing Sweden. Talk about being lucky…

... and now they beat the Swedes with a last minute goal.

Edited 29 Jun 2021 by mikeweil

[Brad]

7 hours ago, sidewinder said:

Hands up all those who are so ancient that they can remember seeing the last competition win by an England side against this particular national team/nemesis in 1966.. 

[medjuck]

9 hours ago, sidewinder said:

Hands up all those who are so ancient that they can remember seeing the last competition win by an England side against this particular national team/nemesis in 1966.. 

2 hours ago, Brad said:

I remember the movie (documentary) about it. Paid to see it in a theater. 

[Brad]

43 minutes ago, medjuck said:

I remember the movie (documentary) about it. Paid to see it in a theater. 

It’s the first football game I remember seeing when we lived in Barcelona although I probably  I saw football when we lived in Uruguay and São Paulo in the late 50s and early 60s. 

[Dmitry]

14 hours ago, mikeweil said:

... and now they beat the Swedes with a last minute goal.

England-Ukraine this Saturday in Rome. If the Ukrainians will neutralize the elastic Sterling, we might have a game!

Edited 30 Jun 2021 by Dmitry

[mjazzg]

54 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

England-Ukraine this Saturday in Rome. If the Ukrainians will neutralize the elastic Sterling, we might have a game!

But what about the elastic Saka and Grealish?

[Dmitry]

1 hour ago, mjazzg said:

But what about the elastic Saka and Grealish?

Luckily, your manager isn't good enough to understand how important Grealish is for your side.

[mjazzg]

54 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

Luckily, your manager isn't good enough to understand how important Grealish is for your side.

His safety-first conservatism is an issue but so far it's worked.  Against better teams it may become a bigger issue.

[Dmitry]

Interesting statistic, tracing the teams who made it from the Group Stage into the 1/4-finals.

100% В - Belgium, Denmark. 2/2.
66 % А- Italy, Switzerland. 2/3.
66 % D- England, Czech Republic. 2/3.
50% Е - Spain. 1/2.
33 % С - Ukraine. 1/3.
0 % F - 0/3.

The objectively strongest group F - France, Germany, Portugal, is decimated. 

45 minutes ago, mjazzg said:

His safety-first conservatism is an issue but so far it's worked.  Against better teams it may become a bigger issue.

I'm just talking friendly trash, I hope you aren't taking it to heart. I was so hopeful England would show us the fast and dynamic football this squad is born to play - Shaw, Walker, Phillips, Mount, Foden, Grealish, Kane, but this hasn't been the case yet.

[mjazzg]

24 minutes ago, Dmitry said:

Interesting statistic, tracing the teams who made it from the Group Stage into the 1/4-finals.

100% В - Belgium, Denmark. 2/2.
66 % А- Italy, Switzerland. 2/3.
66 % D- England, Czech Republic. 2/3.
50% Е - Spain. 1/2.
33 % С - Ukraine. 1/3.
0 % F - 0/3.

The objectively strongest group F - France, Germany, Portugal, is decimated. 

I'm just talking friendly trash, I hope you aren't taking it to heart. I was so hopeful England would show us the fast and dynamic football this squad is born to play - Shaw, Walker, Phillips, Mount, Foden, Grealish, Kane, but this hasn't been the case yet.

no, not taking it to heart at all, it's not that important. I'm not sure we'll see too much dynamism under Southgate but I can forgive him that if we keep winning but when we lose to Ukraine and haven't unleashed our creative players then he's in trouble 

The hype over here today is ridiculous, you'd think we'd got to the final by beating Germany not the quarter-final

Edited 30 Jun 2021 by mjazzg

[erwbol]

22 hours ago, Dmitry said:

Also, Pickford is one of the best keepers I've ever seen on the goal line.  I'm just referring to his awesome saves on the line, not him being an amazing universal keeper overall.

He's also a butcher who should have gotten a deep red card and a lengthy ban for what he did to Virgil van Dijk last season.

[mjazzg]

12 minutes ago, erwbol said:

He's also a butcher who should have gotten a deep red card and a lengthy ban for what he did to Virgil van Dijk last season.

Wasn't his finest moment and was definitely a red card tackle but butcher is taking it a bit far. It wasn't a Harald Schumacher on Batiston.or even a De Jong on Alonso.

That aside, he always plays well in an England shirt.

[Dmitry]

Today, in his annual call-in with the serfs, Putin has voiced his dissatisfaction with the performance of his hockey and football teams. Rest assured, changes will be made. The serfs are rejoicing. 

I must add that the Stalin-lookalike coach of the Russian national soccer team makes 2,500,000 Euros per year. That is way more than an average Russian serf makes these days, even though the playing field is leveling for the serfs.

[mjazzg]

Magnificent match between Italy and Belgium. Italy have been my team of the tournament, they can pass the opposition to death. However, their tactical innovation is based largely on Spinnazola, my player of the tournament so far. Such a shame to see him so badly injured. His absence could make a big difference.

[Brad]

Spain was lucky to get through today. They looked terrible and that red card on the Swiss player was a travesty. They deserved to win. Sadly, the Italians will probably win. 

[Dmitry]

I don’t remember seeing a National team miss three penalties in a row. That was painful to watch.

italy is the favorite for me, after their lesson today. 

[mjazzg]

A step closer to it coming home  but Italy are still my favourites to win as they've been consistently the best team

[Dmitry]

What a bad game from the Ukrainians… Their mental stamina appears to be immature.

Still, good luck to the English!

[sidewinder]

Kane woke up !

Significantly better performance tonight though.

Edited 3 Jul 2021 by sidewinder

[mikeweil]

My bet for thge final: England - Italy

[Brad]

Infuriating loss as they were better than Italy but it was a good tournament although it could have been better. Big things will be expected next year. 

[Dmitry]

A good match. Spain was surprisingly-good in the second half. I was not sure who’d win until the very end. 
Italians were not prepared for such a good game from the Spanish, but their discipline was strong. Good luck to them!

Also, if you have not been watching the Copa America, you’ve missed out on a lot. The elimination matches were amazing. Tonight’s Argentina-Colombia was more intense than most of the Euros. Messi finally scored a penalty that mattered!

Saturday is the final - Brazil-Argentina at Maracana!!!

 

Edited 7 Jul 2021 by Dmitry

[mjazzg]

Great match from a neutral's point of view.  Some great play, especially by the Spanish but both sides lack a proven goalscorer  (neither Morata nor Immobile score enough from the chances presented them) which would take them to the next level.  Italy have been my team of the tournament so I was pleased to see them prevail.

Copa America is on in the middle of the night so not likely to see it.