UEFA European Football Championship 2020 (21) , the Time has Come

The real Germany have turned up tonight , 60 mins played ... Portugal 1 Germany 4

Full time , Portugal 2 Germany 4

originally posted by: gortex
The real Germany have turned up tonight , 60 mins played ... Portugal 1 Germany 4

Gary Lineker quote:

“Football is a simple game,” he said after England were knocked by Germany in the semi-finals of Italia '90. “Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”

Not always true, of course, but apt tonight... unless Portugal Ronaldo pull off a miracle!

originally posted by: Encia22
a reply to: SecretKnowledge

I don't want to think badly of anyone, but this is still a conspiracy site, and football has never been immune from shady tactics.

I know the permutations are endless, but could Southgate, directed by the FAPTB, be aiming for second place in the group?

From Sky Sports: www.skysports.com...

Last-16 knockout stage
This is where England's gameplan becomes a lot more interesting.

Gareth Southgate might even prefer to avoid a potential last-16 meeting with one of Portugal, Germany, France or Hungary; the second-place side in that group lie in wait if England win Group D.

If England finish second in their group, they will likely face an on-paper easier opponent in the next round - the runner-up from Group E, meaning one of Spain, Sweden, Poland or Slovakia.

The permutations are endless and probably impossible to predict, but weird things have happened in football over the decades.

In the end, the ball is round ⚽... anything can happen!

This is why the last 2 matches in every group are played at the same time. So no team knows what they need to finish second.

Every match starts out as a draw, take it from there.

a reply to: Encia22

In the France - Germany game they were poor but tonight they made Portugal look average , pretty sure we're destined to meet them at some point and penalties will no doubt feature ... it's written in the stars.

a reply to: gortex

Do you still fancy England against ze Germans after watching that?
What a match that was, best one of the tournament so far.

Of those 3 if i were youz i'd hope to get the Portuguese.

I certainly wouldnt be calling any other team 'easier' in a knockout match. Not with the England team ive seen so far anyway

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

Do you still fancy England against ze Germans after watching that?

The old enemy ? , bet I do ... bring em on.

I certainly wouldnt be calling any other team 'easier' in a knockout match. Not with the England team ive seen so far anyway

Slow and steady wins the race.

a reply to: gortex

We'll see Mr. Rabbit, we'll see

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

I don’t think Southgate is getting kick backs, or being approached in any way by sponsorship reps. But I do think the FA and EUFA haven’t changed since the FBI went for Blatter. I image there’s still individuals in those organisations who are very persuasively lobbied by the big brands. They in turn do things like threaten players not to move the cola bottles and imo put pressure on Southgate to play Kane and keep him on long as possible.

I’m not saying these are certainties, but IMO lies on the probable side of probability.

I don't think Southgate's getting any kickbacks, at least not in the traditional sense. No brown envelopes full of cash or payments into offshore bank accounts.
He's far too squeaky clean for that.

But I don't doubt for one minute that he's listening to 'advice' from elements within the F.A. and I also don't doubt that there will be an incredibly well paid job waiting for him when his tenure is finally up, possibly alongside a couple of consultancy roles here and there.

Southgate seems to be developing a smug, condescending, I know best attitude.
I get the impression he really believes he is some sort of tactical genius.
He isn't.
And his tactics are boring as hell and more importantly always seem to fail in big matches.

I'm sure he's a genuinely nice guy outside of football.

And another draw ... Spain 1 Poland 1 , one of the most forgettable games of the tournament so far.

Well done Wales! It wasn’t pretty, but holding out with 10 men was tough, despite a bit of Bale magic almost happening.. A hard earned second place.

originally posted by: McGinty
Well done Wales! It wasn’t pretty, but holding out with 10 men was tough, despite a bit of Bale magic almost happening.. A hard earned second place.

Yep, they've done well. I have many Welsh friends and I'm happy for them.

Italy had eight different players with respect to the first two games. Mancini wants to keep everyone seasoned and it was a good way of trying some different combinations of players.

However, his flawless tenure of the squad was marred by the substitutions just before a set play against Italy. Gareth Bale should never have been left alone in that position. The only reason he got a shot on goal was because we got sloppy... mainly due to the subs at that critical moment before Wale's free kick.

Apart from that, I'm a happy chappy.

a reply to: Encia22

Italy look real good, its gonna take an immense performance to even score against them, let alone beat them. I called Portugal at the start of the tournament, but the Italians look strong.

Well done Wales, second place. Through to the knockout stages and thats brilliant for them.

What a miss by Bale. Lets hope he doesn't do that again.


Nobody will want to play Italy, nobody. They havnt conceded in 10 games now. Mancini has them believing again after the disaster of not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.

Hopefully Scotland can get through i'd love to see them in the knockout stages

a reply to: Encia22

I have many Welsh friends and I'm happy for them.

I have a few Welsh mates, a couple of them were over there watching the match in Rome.

I'm as happy for them as they will be for me when England qualify for the next round on Tuesday.

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

Hopefully Scotland can get through i'd love to see them in the knockout stages

I've tried.
Lord knows I've tried.
But I just can't share those sentiments.

I love Scotland and I love the Scottish people.
But its football.
And almost to a man they are all in the 'Anyone but England' camp.

I sort of get that - they are jealous and subconsciously they want to be English.
But my natural reaction is '# you'.

Ok, maybe it is ok if they qualify to the knock-out stage,,,,,just as long as they don't do as well as England.🤣🤣

a reply to: Freeborn

Looking at this morning's back pages, its all about Harry Kane. Southgate stating he's definitely starting against the Czechs and calling him 'Englands most important player'.
That he may will be, but he's not right and its not right to laud over him this way. He's a great striker no doubt. But he doesn't put his country first, he's all about himself. He ruined Spurs's big champions league final against Liverpool by claiming he was fit. I believe that was a big factor in Pocchetino leaving (and crying at the final whistle).
He's doing it again now. Not putting the team first.
Look at Jordan Henderson.
He played 45 minutes in England's last friendly before the tournament, and he was very good. We'll forgive him the penalty miss, it was only a friendly. But he would usually be the first name on the teamsheet yes?
He's not even playing now because he knows he's not 100%. He knows it won't help the team if he's selected.
Thats putting your country first, even though it pains him to do it.

Kane's all about himself. I put it down to him not playing in many big games, unlike the Liverpool, City and Chelsea players who play champions league semi's and finals every other year.
This tournament is his only shot at big big matches.

originally posted by: SecretKnowledge
a reply to: Freeborn

Looking at this morning's back pages, its all about Harry Kane. Southgate stating he's definitely starting against the Czechs and calling him 'Englands most important player'.

I’ve got a feeling Southgate will make all the same mistakes in the next two games - keeping Kane playing and under using grealish (and it’s a good point about Henderson - and we’ll get knocked out in the last 16.

If that happens Southgate will regret those words and in that scenario he should be sacked.

a reply to: SecretKnowledge

I agree entirely with your assessment of Kane and Southgate's handling of him.

For some reason Kane has become undroppable.
He has been absolutely woeful.
And when you look at his scoring record an incredibly high proportion of his goals have come from penalties and set pieces.
On form he is a fantastic player, he's not on form and looks a pale imitation of his best.

Look at Ramsey during the 66 World Cup.
He made the biggest call when he left Greaves out - possibly England's greatest centre-forward of all time then - and played Geoff Hurst.....the rest as they say is history.

We don't need two holding/defensive midfielders at all, but I suspect he'll play them though.
Safety first and all that.

Anyway, Harry on regardless.

So Mount is probably out of the Czech game because he has to self isolate. If Grealish still doesn’t start against the Czechs can we definitely conclude that Southgate’s a nob?

a reply to: McGinty

Saka instead of Foden, Bellingham or Sancho?

Two defensive midfielders?

Yes, Grealish is in.....but Southgate is still a massive knob!

a reply to: Freeborn

Saka and Grealish starting and 2 holding midfielders.

No Foden or Mount. Maguire instead of Mings, who i thought was very good last 2 games.

That team just screams "defence".