Euro 2020

[ONIGP]

Looking forward to Spain v Italy tonight. I hope the Azzurri win; lots of Italian friends/family and they are a very watchable team with passion guaranteed. Spinazzola will be a big miss for them, for me he had probably been the outstanding player of the tournament. Calling him a "full back" just doesn't cut it. I'm no European football expert but had never even heard of the lad until the competition started. Spain play lovely football but it sends me to sleep! Despite their 2 x 5 goal hauls they have looked fairly toothless in front of goal but I wonder if Morata and/or Moreno fancy themselves against Chiellini and Bonucci? England v Italy could be an excellent Final if the stars are aligned. I won't be trying to squeeze into my Cannavaro shirt but for tonight "Forza Italia!".

 

[Alun]

I’m going to show my age and mention the 1958 World Cup, the first I remember. All four home nations qualified.

Wales did best by reaching the quarters after initially failing to qualify for Sweden, but got a second chance against Israel because nobody would play them. Look it up.

England drew all three group games and then went out after a playoff. This was especially sad as we had a great team six months earlier but at Munich three great English players lost their lives - Tommy Taylor, Roger Byrne and of course Duncan Edwards. Bobby Charlton understandably lost form and didn’t make the squad. I wonder how we’d have done with the original team. I can’t imagine how Bobby felt when England won in 1966 and United won the European Cup in 1968.

Wasn`t it Russia that beat England in the play off, after England hit the post about three times.

 

[Alun]

Looking forward to Spain v Italy tonight. I hope the Azzurri win; lots of Italian friends/family and they are a very watchable team with passion guaranteed. Spinazzola will be a big miss for them, for me he had probably been the outstanding player of the tournament. Calling him a "full back" just doesn't cut it. I'm no European football expert but had never even heard of the lad until the competition started. Spain play lovely football but it sends me to sleep! Despite their 2 x 5 goal hauls they have looked fairly toothless in front of goal but I wonder if Morata and/or Moreno fancy themselves against Chiellini and Bonucci? England v Italy could be an excellent Final if the stars are aligned. I won't be trying to squeeze into my Cannavaro shirt but for tonight "Forza Italia!".

I will go for Italy, to me they have been the best team in the tournament, I think they have too much for Spain. An Italy England final would be a good final as up to now we do not know how good both sides really are.

 

[Ian]

Yes, I hope its a good open game with plenty of goals.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

The thought of an Italy-England final gives me goosebumps. The two best teams in the competition by a distance.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Spain have been brilliant tonight, but simply don't score enough goals. Another fantastic finish from Chiesa.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Deserved equaliser for Spain.

 

[bigmart]

Spain for me the much better team but Italy very dangerous on the counter.

 

[aldoes mustache]

need some sendings off for both teams and a couple of injuries please but yes a great game

 

[aldoes mustache]

if we get through and play the way we can we will beat Italy spains shooting was piss poor

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

if we get through and play the way we can we will beat Italy spains shooting was piss poor

Harry Kane is the best striker left in the competition and that could be key. If he had been playing for Spain tonight, they would have won comfortably in ninety minutes.

 

[Ian]

Yeah, Spain were the better side but they missed some sitters. I wasn't particularly blown away by Italy who came up against a good side but they are dangerous on the break. Let's hope we can get through tomorrow relatively unscathed.

 

[bring back the cowshed!]

Playing at our best we can win tonight and win the trophy. Denmark and Italy will have to do what no other team has done - score against us - and then prevent us from scoring, like only Scotland has done. Hopefully the game against the Scots was our one poor game of the tournament.

As you see in every close match at this level, luck can play a huge part - the width of a post, a lucky bounce, a moment’s lack of concentration, a referee’s interpretation of a foul tackle. But above all, the team with the most belief in itself triumphs over adversity. All four semifinalists have belief in spades, which made last night’s game so close.

My prediction is England to win with something to spare if we get the first goal. If Denmark score first, we will come back to win narrowly.

 

[Alun]

Spain came alive and outplayed Italy for long periods but could not take their chances, to me Spain were the better team, but due to missed chances Italy hung in there and looked dangerous in attack, scored a good goal on the breakaway , only for Spain to score a deserved equalizer, Extra time, I thought there was only one team trying to win it. Italy seemed content on taking it to penalties. My only concern was either team scoring in the last minute of extra time and taking the honour of scoring the latest goal away from Connor Jennings. Now for England tonight, not a brilliant record against Denmark but with home advantage, they should have too much for Denmark, I expect a close game with England winning.

 

[ONIGP]

An enthralling match last night and I agree with most of the anlalysis above. Providing we can beat Denmark tonight, I think we are better suited to playing Italy than Spain, I also think it would be a better spectacle. The skill levels were really impressive last night and at best I would give us a 50/50 chance of winning a final against either. However, that is pie in the sky unless we turn up tonight. We need to perform with same the intensity and concentration as we have in the previous few matches, otherwise we could be in for a shock. I am assuming that Southgate will employ the back 4 again but, like most of the country I've given up trying to double-guess him. I've no idea who he will play in attack with Kane and Sterling! A narrow win to herald a memorable occasion on Sunday... please!

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Saka replacing Sancho is likely to be the only change tonight according to reports.

 

[bigmart]

Saka replacing Sancho is likely to be the only change tonight according to reports.

Spoilt for choice in those positions

 

[Ian]

Yeah, great depth to the squad and these players are young and hungry. Come on England!

 

[Boz]

Can’t criticise Southgate given how he’s managed to get us this far. However, England seem to be blessed with decent attacking players and right-backs and less well endowed elsewhere on the park. Interesting to speculate whether another manager with a Keegan/Guardiola approach would have gone for a more attacking line-up and how that would have turned out.

 

[Rockford's Love Child]

Can’t criticise Southgate given how he’s managed to get us this far. However, England seem to be blessed with decent attacking players and right-backs and less well endowed elsewhere on the park. Interesting to speculate whether another manager with a Keegan/Guardiola approach would have gone for a more attacking line-up and how that would have turned out.

Probably not as well, as we would have conceded too many goals.