glad that France finished the first round at first place !
no goal for the last game against Switzerland but beautiful things from Payet, Pogba and Griezmann.
Carry on like this boys and with more success, we could go very far !

I predicted France and Romania to win ... zero points poor moi
Did anyone score any points on those matches ?

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

Nobody had an Albania-win in that game

I might become desperate for points and from now on predict completely against the general
opinions. "Small countries" don't exist anymore, and neither do "Big countries".
At this moment I don't see any country that rises above the others.
It might have something to do with the condition of the fields?
So many times a promising attack was killed because the ball couldn't be controlled
or a player slipped at the crucial moment.

Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

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marcovandereijk
I might become desperate for points and from now on predict completely against the general
opinions. "Small countries" don't exist anymore, and neither do "Big countries".
At this moment I don't see any country that rises above the others.
It might have something to do with the condition of the fields?
So many times a promising attack was killed because the ball couldn't be controlled
or a player slipped at the crucial moment.

Supposedly, we can blame the stadium rock concerts for that...

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marcovandereijk
"Small countries" don't exist anymore, and neither do "Big countries".
At this moment I don't see any country that rises above the others.

I agree a bit with you.
I would say that even if big countries don't play a dream football, Italy, Germany and Spain will be hard to defeat.

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jpasc95

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marcovandereijk
"Small countries" don't exist anymore, and neither do "Big countries".
At this moment I don't see any country that rises above the others.

I agree a bit with you.
I would say that even if big countries don't play a dream football, Italy, Germany and Spain will be hard to defeat.

I see the same thing happening too.....although there are some countries that have perfect ball control......but it's useless if you can't score

__________________________

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jpasc95

Quote
marcovandereijk
"Small countries" don't exist anymore, and neither do "Big countries".
At this moment I don't see any country that rises above the others.

I agree a bit with you.
I would say that even if big countries don't play a dream football, Italy, Germany and Spain will be hard to defeat.

I don't think, it is a good idea including all the small countries in the finals. It should be max 16 countries. Many of the matches, when you have 24 countries, become irrelevant and boring.

We have the qualifying matches, where less good countries are taken out, and then we have the finals, where we usually have more interesting games with "high quality" football. That's how it should continue to be.

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buttons67
ronaldo is the most overrated player in history, if hes the starman he wouldnt need a stronger portugal, he would be able to show the world how good he really was, but in reality, ronaldo scores plenty goals because of the chances created for him by his teammates who dont get the credit.

Agreed.

However, he got some bonus points for taking a selfie with a fan who rushed on the field after the game against Austria and waving the security guys away.

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mtaylor
I don't think, it is a good idea including all the small countries in the finals. It should be max 16 countries.

I agree.
But you realise of course that Sweden would be one of the countries that would not have
qualified? No Zlatan then.
But nevertheless, I think it does not add that much to have 24 countries and even
some of the numbers three going into the 8th final!
Albania only scored one goal during the entire tournament, and they might reach the
8th final! That's ludicrious.

Just as long as the guitar plays, let it steal your heart away

The Cinderellas are what's charming about these championships!

I remember Honduras in 1982, Costa Rica recently and many, many others.

The group stages are always a bit boring (be it 16 or 24 teams), mainly because the favourites are taking minimal risks, to make sure they're well-positioned before the play-offs.

IMHO, of course

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marcovandereijk

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mtaylor
I don't think, it is a good idea including all the small countries in the finals. It should be max 16 countries.

I agree.
But you realise of course that Sweden would be one of the countries that would not have
qualified? No Zlatan then.
But nevertheless, I think it does not add that much to have 24 countries and even
some of the numbers three going into the 8th final!
Albania only scored one goal during the entire tournament, and they might reach the
8th final! That's ludicrious.

I could live without Zlatan. He was not in the World Cup 2010/2014. In Euro 2012, he was not that inspiring.

Zlatan we can see in French League (or where ever he chooses to play) and Champions League, if we want.

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mtaylor
and then we have the finals, where we usually have more interesting games with "high quality" football. That's how it should continue to be.

Finals can be very boring though - two teams playing "tiki-taka", no thank you. I actually like the fact that lesser ranked countries have a chance, it makes it more exciting, and less predictable. Why have a tournament, after all?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-06-20 15:48 by Koen.

Spain beat Turkey 3-0; in the next game, Belgium beat Ireland 3-0;

These are the two games with the biggest margins, otherwise, the games really have been tight; sure, France beat Albania with 2 goals after the 86th minute.

Most of the matches have been real good, that 3 games a day schedule is too much.

We will have the round of 16; just one more round added.

I know some veterans of the Euro do not care for all of the teams, I can see their point. In the early Euros even, there may have been only 4 teams.

I think it's good that the EC and the WC has the same model. The only problem is time. A month for a football tournament is a long time. The Olympics in Brazil in August takes 16 days...

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BroomWagon
Spain beat Turkey 3-0; in the next game, Belgium beat Ireland 3-0;

These are the two games with the biggest margins, otherwise, the games really have been tight; sure, France beat Albania with 2 goals after the 86th minute.

Most of the matches have been real good, that 3 games a day schedule is too much.

Tuesday and Wednesday you have 4 games a day..... you will be exhausted

Per the prediction game, I've seen it happen before and my World Cup was pretty bad;

Sometimes, one would do better picking the opposite to happen than what they think will happen.

The predictions are really tough on everyone now; but it's all in fun.

Saturday and Sunday, more unexpected results than not.

I'm trying not to pick with the heart as much as I did in 2014.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-06-20 21:15 by BroomWagon.

Medals, medals, medals. Here is my country's medals in international football through the years:

- Olympics: Gold 1948, Bronze 1924, Bronze 1952.

- World Cup: Silver 1958, Bronze 1950, Bronze 1994.

- European Cup: Bronze 1992.


Summary: It seems like Sweden had its best teams between 1948 and 1958!

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Stoneage
Medals, medals, medals. Here is my country's medals through the years:

- Olympics: Gold 1948, Bronze 1924, Bronze 1952.

- World Cup: Silver 1958, Bronze 1950, Bronze 1994.

- European Cup: Bronze 1992.


Summary: It seems like Sweden had its best teams between 1948 and 1958!

Sweden must have won 3rd place in USA '94 World Cup; not too bad, I remember watching one of the matches vs. Brazil; it looks like they actually played Brazil two times; once in the group, once in the knock out round. That really shouldn't happen. It must have been the brackets.

That must have been a good team.

[eloratings.net] <---- scroll down to June, 1994.

And a lot of great Olympic hockey teams.

I think per the official US football or as we say soccer federation, the USA's first real international match was against Sweden though; there were some games previous to Canada, one in 1885 and 1886; but it appears in 1916, Sweden was played officially.

[eloratings.net]

Before the USA got carried away with American football; gridiron, they probably did have some competitive teams and then, it took 70 years to finally become competitive again.

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DandelionPowderman

What are the latest standings guys. Still out of touch in Formentera, Spain.

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Silver Dagger

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DandelionPowderman
[/URL]

What are the latest standings guys. Still out of touch in Formentera, Spain.

Soon after Slovakia vs England is finished it will be updated, I think.

As of now, before these games.

1. Cristiano 29 points

26 points each, so, GD decides placing:
2. DidleyBo
3. RollingHansie
4. TomSea

5. Torres 25 points

6. SilverDagger 24 points
7. ChelseaD 24 points

20 points each:
8.DandelionPowderMan
9.RoughJusticeOnYa

10. QuiQueStone, 19 points

11. Albert and 12. Skyhawk, 18 points

13. ComeOn, 17 points

14. MarcoVanDerijk, 17 points

15. Lorenz, 16 points

16. Schwonek, 14 points

17. GibsonMan and Medzvel, 11 points.

That is an abbreviated table.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-06-20 22:24 by BroomWagon.

Team USA still has a chance to win Copa América Centenario though, Broomwagon. Semifinal between USA and Argentina coming up tomorrow. It will be a tough one but I hope Team USA wins!

No way - Argentina will win it all, they are very strong.

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BroomWagon
As of now, before these games.

1. Cristiano 29 points

26 points each, so, GD decides placing:
2. DidleyBo
3. RollingHansie
4. TomSea

5. Torres 25 points

6. SilverDagger 24 points
7. ChelseaD 24 points

20 points each:
8.DandelionPowderMan
9.RoughJusticeOnYa

10. QuiQueStone, 19 points

11. Albert and 12. Skyhawk, 18 points

13. ComeOn, 17 points

14. MarcoVanDerijk, 17 points

15. Lorenz, 16 points

16. Schwonek, 14 points

17. GibsonMan and Medzvel, 11 points.

That is an abbreviated table.

Thank you Broom.

Italy and Spain look the strongest so far. But let's see.

Wales 3 up; they are taking it to the Russians, Wales, France and Spain look to be the best teams there.

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BroomWagon
I read two books on Maradona, watched a movie on him; maybe even 2 movies. I have a big poster on my wall of him; it's not that I'm such a massive fan of his, it's that he really defines that era, he was larger than life.

But I think in the end, it is difficult to compare players. I appreciate them all.

What a pain you haven't see him in the real field during the 80's! Unbelievable football player!