Tuesday, 17.12.2024
Portugal made another dominant performance as they were clearly superior to their Austrian opposition. Despite having a clear shot dominance and multiple good chances, Robert Almer was in the way to prevent the Iberian side from capitalising on a strong offensive display.
Spain threw their hat in the ring for the title of “most impressive team” with their 3-0 victory over Turkey on Friday night. A stellar performance from Celta’s Nolito saw Spain overcome their issues with their build up play.
It took a moment of individual class from Eder to separate the two teams after a stale match in which both teams displayed similar issues in possession of the ball.
Germany met their neighbours Poland at the Stade de France in the 2nd round of the European Championship group stage on Thursday evening. Both teams had won their opening games and went in with an element of security knowing that a draw would virtually guarantee their progress into the next round.
In one of the most well-anticipated matches of the European Championships so far, England took on Wales in a pivotal Group B clash.
Tactics beat individualism. Experience breaks talent. That’s what you will read after a match like this. And to some extent it seems to be true. Not many bet their money on an Italian win, but Antonio Conte’s pulled off the upset.
England kicked off their Euro campaign at the stunning Stade Velodrome in Marseilles on Saturday night. Their first opponents were Russia, under the stewardship of CSKA Moscow manager Leonid Slutsky following the well-publicised soap opera that was the departure of Fabio Capello. Vasili Berezutski’s last minute header snatched a draw for the Russians, though England fans have much to be optimistic about over the coming weeks.
France hosted Romania on Friday night in the opening game of the much anticipated 2016 European Championship. France, as the host nation, qualified without playing a competitive fixture since losing to Germany in the World Cup semi-final. Behind them lies an expectant set of fans and with the French previously winning a World Cup and European Championship on home soil history is on their side.
Before the EURO tournaments starts, we would like to offer a short preview of all 24 participating teams, including predictions of possible starting line-ups.
Pressing, Gegenpressing, total football … those are all terms usually associated with the Dutch national team from 1974 or, recently, with Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and Bayern Munich. But, during history, there have been other divisive figures who contributed to modern football. Valeriy Lobanovskyi has long gone underappreciated but he put his mark on the sport, and his USSR team gave a strong contribution to the game.
