Euro 2020[1]

[Leonormous Boozer]

Depends how you look at it:

England 100% in major tournament finals before this one.

Italy - loser of the last two Euro Finals they've played in.

It's a new final with two sets of players few of whom have yet to reach a final of a major international tournament. IIRC only Chiellini for Italy was in the 2012 side for Italy.

But A few players for England who have reached the CL, Europa league finals, so good experience there.

Expecting a cagey one as most finals are. England can lose if they play too timid and don't play to win - racked by fear. Italy for sure can win.

There is no destiny in sport or meant to win and whoever wins will deserve it ultimately, by playing the better on the day. Needs to be said as peeps, media Bojo here are already getting carried away, which inevitably leads to a massive let down if England do lose on Sunday.

We already know other home nations hate us and can't wait to put the boot in if England lose. We don't care. If England win it would be all the sweeter.

FYI WC 1994 was a pretty bad WC from memory with games at bad Times and finished by an awful, dull final. Granted England didn't qualify for the finals and ROI did and upset Italy in the Group stages. Only good game was Brazil v Holland.

94 really mixes opinions for some reason, a lot of people here have it down as the best world cup even though we did better in 90 and played better football in 02. It did have a very entertaining Nigeria team, a Bulgarian underdog story and Brazil , even if not a traditional Brazil side, won which always adds to it imo. Had Brazil had a finisher in that world cup they'd have absolutely stormed it, created some amount of easy chances that would have been remembered as wonder goals had they not ****** up. It's a shame that Italian team of the early 90s never won a finals tournament, some iconic players.

As for Sunday, Im not from a home nation so can't speak for them but other than talking about onfield events I won't stick the boot in should Italy win I'll only really talk about the game, doubt *****. Looking at the game I don't really see how England score, Italy will be wise to Sterling and Saka so I don't see any lapses in concentration like against Belgium and England don't have the players to go through the middle. Rice and Phillips really showed themselves to be mid table players v Denmark, asking them to deal with Jorginho and Veratti is a new level entirely. Saying all that I just have a bad feeling about it and if Southgate opts for both Hendersons I'll have England as favourites for sure.

Until Sunday I'll continue to play the villain of the thread and call out any BS opinions like Doyle's in as antagonistic a way possible though!

 

[Which Tyler]

Now here's some "pointless patriotism" I can get behind: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...and-teams-names-english-heritage-explains-all

What's in the England team's names? English Heritage explains all

St George's flags featuring surnames of almost every person in England will fly from heritage sites to cheer on team

Harry Kane can trace his surname back to a word for "warrior". Declan Rice to "impetuous". Kieran Trippier to "dance". Kyle Walker will have to make do with "trampler of cloth in a bath of lye" which, to be fair, was once a very important job.

English Heritage is getting in the football spirit by revealing the origins of the names of the England players. It will also fly a St George's flag featuring the surname of almost every person living in England at its properties to help cheer on the team before Sunday's Euro 2020 final against Italy.

More than 32,000 surnames, from Aamir to Zyla, will fly on a flag at sites including Stonehenge, Osborne on the Isle of Wight and Carlisle Castle, which, English Heritage points out, "has endured more sieges than any other place in the British isles".

The charity is using the patriotic outpouring created by England's success so far to launch a project it has been working on for some time. From Friday people will be able to go to a "names of England" website and tap in their surname to discover its origins and prevalence.

Raheem Sterling would discover his name has Scottish origins, that he's one of 1,972 adult Sterlings and they most commonly live in Durham. Sunderland-born Jordan Henderson will find there are more Hendersons in Newcastle than anywhere else. The name derives from "Henry's son" and he is one of 29,309 Hendersons.
article continues...

 

[General Melchett]

Curious to know if England fans would accept a 'bought penalty' to win the Euros or would you rather lose fair and square? I think the Italians will fancy their chances if it goes to penalties - they held their nerve very well v Spain and so I think England should try and nick and goal and then shut up shop.

 

[ncurd]

Curious to know if England fans would accept a 'bought penalty' to win the Euros or would you rather lose fair and square? I think the Italians will fancy their chances if it goes to penalties - they held their nerve very well v Spain and so I think England should try and nick and goal and then shut up shop.

Depends,

On Wednesday's game England completely dominated the stats second half onwards, the Denmark free kick that led to their goals was probably not a free kick and Kane was possibly unfairly not given a penalty earlier in the match (it looked more like the one given).

So if one the square of it England are the better team and had some decisions go against them that may have created equal opportunity or the opposition scored of stuff equally contentious. Sure its fine.

Plus all penalties are bought in some way so its a bit of a moot point.

 

[TRF_Olyy]

People are acting like that was the only bit of diving in the game

Like when MacGuire jumped for a header from a corner - forearm on the shoulder of the Danish defender - he goes down screaming like he'd been punched full force in the face, medics running on etc., and wins a FK. Perfectly fine to play on seconds later

Honestly who cares, at this stage? Diving is as much a part of the pro game as having 11 players and kicking the ball
Despise it, but the hand-wringing over it by the anyone-but-England lot is ridiculous

 

[ncurd]

People are acting like that was the only bit of diving in the game

Like when MacGuire jumped for a header from a corner - forearm on the shoulder of the Danish defender - he goes down screaming like he'd been punched full force in the face, medics running on etc., and wins a FK. Perfectly fine to play on seconds later

Honestly who cares, at this stage? Diving is as much a part of the pro game as having 11 players and kicking the ball
Despise it, but the hand-wringing over it by the anyone-but-England lot is ridiculous

I'd much rather referees played advantage more like rugby (its always coming back) and didn't need to be 'sold' a free kick/penalty.

I also think much like rugby sin binning and then YC for repeat offences would go a long way to cut a lot of nonsense out.

What I don't have any time for is the over-selling theatrics like they just suffered a career threatening injury. Sure go down if you feel you've been impeded but no need for anything else.

 

[Welsh Exile]

England, tbf, are nowhere near as bad as the majority of teams when it comes to diving. They do it, obviously, as does everyone but Italy, Spain, the South American's are next level. It's like an art form for them.

 

[Bada-Bing!]

Who was the Italian player lying in the penalty box clutching his leg when Italy scored in the quarters? Then 30 secs later gets up and celebrated the goal with his team mates.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Will Euro 2020 change England for ever? I’ve heard it all before | Joseph Harker

Gareth Southgate’s team are great, but far from ushering in an era of inclusivity, victory would stoke ugly nationalism, says Guardian deputy Opinion editor Joseph Harker

www.theguardian.com

 

[ncurd]

The things Johnson will do to get the Welsh and Northern Irish to support us.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Mason Mount fan Belle 'won't wash or sell' midfielder's shirt

Football fan Belle McNally went viral after footage of the player handing her his shirt was shared online.

www.bbc.co.uk

Something a bit more heartwarming

 

[ncurd]

Mason Mount fan Belle 'won't wash or sell' midfielder's shirt

Football fan Belle McNally went viral after footage of the player handing her his shirt was shared online.

www.bbc.co.uk

Something a bit more heartwarming

Whilst she may change her mind in the far future its great to see something like that and them not immediately selling it.

One of the depressing things volunteering at the Olympics was before we barely started the amount of people selling their uniforms, pin badges and other tat they got for doing it, just as it had barely begun.

 

[Gavin]

The things Johnson will do to get the Welsh and Northern Irish to support us.

I'm confused, Boris wanted to leave Europe so why does he want England to remain in the Euros?

 

[Welsh Exile]

Euro 2020: Danish family attacked by England fans - BBC News

A nine-year-old boy was forced to flee after his father was punched in the stomach by England fans.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Welsh Exile]

With this and the jeering of the little German girl who was crying the English fans haven't endeared themselves to neutrals that's for sure.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Horrible people, Jesus Christ.

 

[FLOBALOB]

Its about time they started to bring in retrospective yellow cards for diving/theatrics. Referees could review games afterwards and punish obvious offenders. Something has to be done, as its making a
mockery of the game. Part of the problem is the players have to go down/ dive to get awarded a fk. /penalty when fouled, even if the contact doesn't cause it.
In a Leeds game i saw last season Patrick Bamford was clearly fouled in the penalty area, but stayed on his feet to try to carry on ,but didn't get awarded a pen. He remonstrated with the ref ,asking him if he should have gone down/dived. Lesson was learnt. A foul doesn't automatically mean you have to roll around on the ground as if you've been shot

 

[Reiser99]

Euro 2020: Danish family attacked by England fans - BBC News

A nine-year-old boy was forced to flee after his father was punched in the stomach by England fans.

www.bbc.co.uk

Hope they are arrested and jailed for that.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Hope they are arrested and jailed for that.

Jail is maybe a bit harsh perhaps but definitely should be named and shamed, fined, banned from games, made to attend a "stop being a scum bag" course, and made to do quite a bit of community service or something.

But I wouldn't lose any sleep if the bloke was banged up for a few months either.

 

[Reiser99]

People are people. We're all tribal at the end of the day it's just that most of us can realise that it's all a load of bollix and there's far more important things in life.

Rugby only appears better because it's such a minority game. If it had footballs numbers it'd be exactly the same. It's just as tribal. In fact, we had some Wales and England rugby fans not exactly covering themselves in glory on social media this 6N.

See I was thinking about your first post and I disagree. While I agree that there certainly are always idiots in all walks of life and that the world in general is still very tribal, football fans behave on a different level that is not really seen in other sports unless I'm completely oblivious to it. (Maybe American sports? I don't follow the news there to know, but they possibly have comparable numbers to football.)

There is something about football in which it is seen as a part of the game to be extremely confrontational and almost like football matches are battlegrounds. I've had too recent examples. I was at West Ham vs Chelsea in the cup at the London Stadium and literally the whole match was spent listening to, "Stick your blue flags up your arse". On top seats were ripped out as well as other attempts at violence. Tell me another example where fans would even consider ripping up seats. I also went to Leyton Orient with some school kids after a football tournament. Myself, the P.E teacher and 2 boys we were taking home had to be escorted by the police past the away supporters entrance where they banging on the locked gates until the home fans had gone because of the threat of violence. Honestly I'm amazed people think football matches are an appropriate place for children with what goes on there.

After the England match this week, we have a bus damaged and opposing fans attacked. Abuse sent towards a young German girl crying previously. Something about football takes this beyond mere tribalism and people who normally wouldn't behave like this seem to think it is either acceptable, expected, traditional, maybe all three and football authorities have allowed it to continue for years.

For me it goes back to the hooligan days of the past when fans were literally organising fights on a weekly basis. That legacy still tarnishes the game today and if anything is getting worse again.

Jail is maybe a bit harsh perhaps but definitely should be named and shamed, fined, banned from games, made to attend a "stop being a scum bag" course, and made to do quite a bit of community service or something.

But I wouldn't lose any sleep if the bloke was banged up for a few months either.

I don't. They have assaulted someone for no reason than he supports the opposing team and in this case it's because he is from a different country, which therefore makes it racist. As I've written above, something about football makes people think this is how to behave and unless it's dealt with harshly it will continue. I imagine there are other examples not reported.