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The 2020-2021 Football Thread

Italy still look a really dangerous team where it counts. Still, nobody gave Austria a chance in this match and yet they came so close to knocking Italy out. A heartbreaking result for the Austrians but a great performance.
 
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JamesMike said:
Watching the Netherlands/Czech Republic match. Go Netherlands!
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Well, yes.

Even before the dismissal of de Ligt, - which was catastrophic, not just in numerical terms, allowing advantage to the Czechs, but because de Ligt was key to the strength of the Dutch defence - the Dutch had failed to impose themselves on the game, or impress with ambition, capacity or intent.
 
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Well now the Dutch have gone, that make things interesting for England. If they get past Germany, and yes that's still a big if, Sweden, Ukraine and the Czech Republic (who England have already beat) between them and a Euro final at Wembley. Meanwhile, Italy, Spain, France and Portugal slug it out in the other half of the draw.
 
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mrsmith1 said:
Well now the Dutch have gone, that make things interesting for England. If they get past Germany, and yes that's still a big if, Sweden, Ukraine and the Czech Republic (who England have already beat) between them and a Euro final at Wembley. Meanwhile, Italy, Spain, France and Portugal slug it out in the other half of the draw.
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We won’t get past Germany.
 
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Another demonstration of why tournament (particularly knockout) football is different from club football. One moment of rashness from De Ligt and the Dutch are suddenly in serious trouble, from which they never recoevered. I think many of us underrated the Czechs in spite of Schick's heroics. I, for one, didn't realize that the Dutch have a pretty lousy record against them at the Euros.

With the Dutch out, this is starting to look like the 'easy' side of the bracket. That is good news for whomever wins the England - Germany match, because they won't face a superior team in the quarterfinals and will be favorites to make the final. On the other hand, this also improves Denmark's chance of going even deeper, and who doesn't want to see that? Not to mention that the Czechs and (probably?) the Swedes will have a chance to do the same.
 
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Apple fanboy said:
It’s Germany. It will be the same as normal.
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This is England's best chance to beat Germany in a competitive fixture in years. Southgate is not an adventurous manager, but solidity and control is not an unwise goal against Germany. If he caved to the media and threw all of England's darling attacking players out there (who are GREAT attackers...playing week in-week-out, in different systems, with different teammates, in their respective club sides...), he'd be asking for it. With that being said, I expect Germany to win. But they are not such big favorites that I'd be shocked if they didn't.
 
Lord Blackadder said:
This is England's best chance to beat Germany in a competitive fixture in years. Southgate is not an adventurous manager, but solidity and control is not an unwise goal against Germany. If he caved to the media and threw all of England's darling attacking players out there (who are GREAT attackers...playing week in-week-out, in different systems, with different teammates, in their respective club sides...), he'd be asking for it. With that being said, I expect Germany to win. But they are not such big favorites that I'd be shocked if they didn't.
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Likewise.
The Belgium v Portugal game has turned into a scrappy affair. KDB going off is a big loss for Belgium. Think they’ll hold on though.
 
I think Kane is every bit the player we know him to be but England’s style of play so far has not played to his strengths. He can’t do it all on his own and yes if the team is not going to play to his strengths then drop him.
 
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SteveManila1960 said:
I think Kane is every bit the player we know him to be but England’s style of play so far has not played to his strengths. He can’t do it all on his own and yes if the team is not going to play to his strengths then drop him.
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Southgate has already cast the die - Kane is top dog and England will succeed or fail with him starting every match when fit. That doesn't mean if England do fail it will be Kane's fault, just that Southgate has built the team around him. Kane is a great striker without a direct replacement, it's a debatable decision but hardly a silly one.

We obviously won't know till the match is played but I am eager to see what happens, as a neutral I see this easily going either way. England are solid if a bit conservative. Germany are more talented and have the mentality but have been wildly inconsistent of late.

The excuses are already there for both teams 😉 . If Germany win the English can point to the fact that Germany always beat them in knockout matches anyway and see it as 'situation normal'. If England win Germany will see it as predictable given Germany's recent not-so-great form and the fact that England had home field advantage and a run of good form behind them.

I'm hoping for a wild 4-4 draw that goes to penalties. 😀
 
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Croatia are a decent outfit with plenty of experience and a few players of real quality.

Baffling OG by Spain, thanks to my crappy 'multiview' on ESPN+ I got no replay but it looked like the keeper simply whiffed at the (overhit) backpass.

EDIT: I thought Spain were walking this but Croatia just sucker-punched them twice with some old-school route-one football. 3-3 and extra time. Croatia are less skillful but are also pure grit.
 
Wow, a crazy match, I didn’t expect an 8-goal thriller!

It is hard to analyze it too much because the game lost its shape for a bit and became wild, and then at the end everyone was gassed and walking/stumbling around. Croatia fought really hard and stunned the Spanish in regular time, but Spain found extra gears when they needed them.

Morata scores the winner though - how about that for narrative?
 
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That Croatia v Spain game had everything.
A dodgy back pass for the 1st goal, being 1-1 at half time, 3-3 at full time and then Spain scoring 2 goals in extra time!
 
The best thing about this tournament thus far is that every major contender looks flawed. The Dutch are already out despite scoring the most goals in the group stages, Portugal had the top individual scorer (behind Own Goal, of course!) but are no longer with us either. Spain, Germany, France, Belgium, and England have all looked fragile and/or stodgy at times. The Danes, Swedes Czechs, and Swiss, and others have proven capable of creating upsets and will play with a certain level of confidence against the favorites.
 
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