What a night of twist and turns. But we have ended up facing Germany Tuesday night. We all know what the result will be. Its always the same!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The 2020-2021 Football Thread
- Thread starter Scepticalscribe
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
We saw which Germany turned up in the last group match, and it was pretty bad. They were very lucky to scrape a draw against Hungary and advance. England really has to fancy their chances to get past them, then the rest of that side of the bracket looks relatively clear, like it did in the 2018 World Cup. I can see them reaching the Finals... or laying a massive egg against Germany.
I’ve got nothing against the Hungarian team, but if their elimination means less mentions of Orban I’m ok with that.
France will feel relaxed about facing the Swiss, even if the latter have played reasonably well.
Now the rubber hits the road for England. In the next round they will either achieve their biggest competitive win since 1966, or regress towards the mean and lose to the first good side they face in the knockout rounds.
Portugal - Belgium is hard to predict, it could go either way. Let’s hope it’s a goalfest.
France will feel relaxed about facing the Swiss, even if the latter have played reasonably well.
Now the rubber hits the road for England. In the next round they will either achieve their biggest competitive win since 1966, or regress towards the mean and lose to the first good side they face in the knockout rounds.
Portugal - Belgium is hard to predict, it could go either way. Let’s hope it’s a goalfest.
We are England. We are facing Germany. We don’t fancy our chances!
Indeed, we have a large Portuguese immigrant community here in western Switzerland so am awaiting the car horns and general noise with impatience. Sorry about he laughing smiley above but it's true. Mind you a German acquaintance is not enamoured of the German team this time out.
Indeed.
And - for political (socio-cultural) reasons, I am delighted to see Hungary out, even though they played well last night.
Last edited:
Wales a goal down to Denmark. They are just about holding on to that. It’s mostly one way traffic. Good goal from Denmark as well.
Unfortunately, the (marked) gulf in class between the two teams is too wide for Wales to bridge.
Agreed. But to be honest getting to the last 16 in Europe is still an achievement for Wales.
A massive achievement, agreed, and far further than I ever thought they would manage to get.
Sadly inevitable, though.
Wales were lucky to head in at only 1-0 down at the break.
A 4-0 defeat was probably a fair reflection of the game. Wales were poor.
Perhaps the occasion overwhelmed them, but, firstly, they did very well to get as far as the knock-out stages of the competition, and secondly, unfortunately, I really don't think that they had the quality to be able to compete seriously at this level.
Agreed. Plus Denmark played well.
Denmark are a good side, and the Eriksen near-tragedy seems to have really galvanized them as a unit.
I think they have a decent shot against the Netherlands too, best of luck to them.
EDIT: Austria are putting up a real fight against Italy here. It just shows the fine margins of knockout tournaments. Italy are better and can and should win this, but success is not guaranteed. Austria making the Italians work very hard and darn near went ahead just now...Arnautovic with a VAR'd offside goal.
...but the Italian defensive record remains intact for now. Is anyone ever going to score a goal against Italy? Then again, they will need to score themselves if they want to take control of this match.
I think they have a decent shot against the Netherlands too, best of luck to them.
EDIT: Austria are putting up a real fight against Italy here. It just shows the fine margins of knockout tournaments. Italy are better and can and should win this, but success is not guaranteed. Austria making the Italians work very hard and darn near went ahead just now...Arnautovic with a VAR'd offside goal.
...but the Italian defensive record remains intact for now. Is anyone ever going to score a goal against Italy? Then again, they will need to score themselves if they want to take control of this match.
Last edited:
Italy 2-0 up - both goals scored in extra time - against Austria, who were much the better team over the original ninety minutes, and suffered the indignity (due to VAR) of having had a goal disallowed.
Agree that the Eriksen near-tragedy seems to have motivated Denmark as a team, and that is the sort of thing that could have destroyed a team just as easily.
Agree that the Eriksen near-tragedy seems to have motivated Denmark as a team, and that is the sort of thing that could have destroyed a team just as easily.
Austria just pulled one back - with 6-7 mins of Extra time left!
All 3 goals have come from subs
All 3 goals have come from subs
I’d love to see Austria get another. Think they deserve it
They had a few tries since - but it's just over with the final score 2-1 to Italy.
At least the Austrians scored - breaking their 12 game record of clean sheets.
The Italians are unbeaten in 31 games.
Indeed but the ET won’t help then in the next round. They will be tired.
Sadly not. But they had some close chances.