Scotland 2 Austria 2 FT
Incredible second equaliser by John McGinn after 85 minutes, an overhead kick placed into the far corner from an angle, perfect contact off the sweet spot
Austria had gone 2-1 ahead after 80 minutes with a peach of a header
Some big guns got off to bad starts last night, Holland and Croatia both beaten, France only drawing at home to Ukraine
Quote from: sid waddell on March 25, 2021, 09:39:59 PM
Scotland 2 Austria 2 FT
Incredible second equaliser by John McGinn after 85 minutes, an overhead kick placed into the far corner from an angle, perfect contact off the sweet spot
Austria had gone 2-1 ahead after 80 minutes with a peach of a header
Some big guns got off to bad starts last night, Holland and Croatia both beaten, France only drawing at home to Ukraine
Ukraine got lucky with their equaliser, but France with their talent should be winning that one at home easily. I think Croatia's WC final appearance in 2018 was the swansong for some of their best players of the past decade, e.g. Rakitic, Perisic, Manduzovic, Modric, will take a while to rebuild to that level again. Spain only drew at home to Greece also, having taken the lead. Good game between 2 nations with a good WC pedigree, Hungary 3 Poland 3. England 'only' won 5-0, modest given the respective strengths of both sides.
Quote from: sid waddell on March 25, 2021, 09:39:59 PM
Scotland 2 Austria 2 FT
Incredible second equaliser by John McGinn after 85 minutes, an overhead kick placed into the far corner from an angle, perfect contact off the sweet spot
Austria had gone 2-1 ahead after 80 minutes with a peach of a header
Some big guns got off to bad starts last night, Holland and Croatia both beaten, France only drawing at home to Ukraine
Delighted for Super John McGinn. Always comes across as a great lad.
Did Sterling dive for that England penalty?
Thought that meself...would need another look. Co-commentator (dixon?) had bit of hesitation when reviewing it...must be told to say nothin...
Oh No that's only them pesky Europeans that would dive.
Quote from: Captain Obvious on March 31, 2021, 08:15:47 PM
Did Sterling dive for that England penalty?
I would say 100% yes
And I'm not even watching
Germany getting beat by north Macedonia.
Quote from: imtommygunn on March 31, 2021, 08:52:02 PM
Germany getting beat by north Macedonia.
Unreal, only getting bate because I had the Krauts minus a goal!
Armenia top of that group followed by North Macedonia if they hold out!
Denmark have one foot in the finals already
4-0 up away to Austria and a goal difference of 14-0 after three matches
They're available at 66/1 to win last year's European Championship
Quote from: imtommygunn on March 31, 2021, 08:52:02 PM
Germany getting beat by north Macedonia.
Beaten 2-1
The Macedonians scored the winner after 85 minutes
One of the wurst results in Germany's history
Up there with that joke ;D
I would say the result they got in Dublin, must be years ago now, was up there too.
England always seem to know how to win in qualifiers then fall apart in the tournaments.
Quote from: sid waddell on March 31, 2021, 09:44:03 PM
Quote from: imtommygunn on March 31, 2021, 08:52:02 PM
Germany getting beat by north Macedonia.
Beaten 2-1
The Macedonians scored the winner after 85 minutes
One of the wurst results in Germany's history
The 'I had a Macedonia' shirt will be making an appearance in the German's training sessions.
Timo Werner performed one of the great comedy misses tonight
Think Kieran Tierney falling over
But Tierney is actually good
Quote from: imtommygunn on March 31, 2021, 09:57:03 PM
Up there with that joke ;D
I would say the result they got in Dublin, must be years ago now, was up there too.
England always seem to know how to win in qualifiers then fall apart in the tournaments.
Semis last time and shit the nest when favourites to get to final...
I was in Croatia for the semi finals and final, the semi final was unreal
What is the deal with Werner? He looks like he has the potential to be brilliant but has been, on a lot of the occasions I saw him, brutal. There was a miss he had with Chelsea earlier was as bad as it gets too.
Quote from: Milltown Row2 on March 31, 2021, 10:04:46 PM
Quote from: imtommygunn on March 31, 2021, 09:57:03 PM
Up there with that joke ;D
I would say the result they got in Dublin, must be years ago now, was up there too.
England always seem to know how to win in qualifiers then fall apart in the tournaments.
Semis last time and shit the nest when favourites to get to final...
I was in Croatia for the semi finals and final, the semi final was unreal
Yeah bar that one tournament and tbh they got a good draw and struggled to get to the semis. A poor Colombia could have beat them and Sweden in the quarters no world beaters. They always seem to be less than the sum of their parts. (Though are a bit over hyped too)
Yes this Im amazed there is not more chat about this in England. Southgate is a terrible manager. A brick could have got England to the semis of the world cup the way the draw opened up. When they played anyone half decent ie Croatia and Belgium twice, they lost. The current England squad is great but with that manger they are being held back big time.
Quote from: JPGJOHNNYG on April 01, 2021, 01:16:57 PM
Yes this Im amazed there is not more chat about this in England. Southgate is a terrible manager. A brick could have got England to the semis of the world cup the way the draw opened up. When they played anyone half decent ie Croatia and Belgium twice, they lost. The current England squad is great but with that manger they are being held back big time.
its not the first time England had a great squad though.
Around 05 they had Cole, Terry, Ferdinand, Beckham, Lampard, Scholes, Gerrard, Owen, Rooney
96 they had Seaman, Pearce, Adams, Gazza, Ince, Shearer, Sheringham
Both of these periods could have been seen as really good teams but when it comes to the big tournaments they completely shit in the nest.
Their media do them no favours mind you
There's no real evidence to say Gareth Southgate is a terrible manager
There's no real evidence to say he's a particularly good manager either
Maybe he's just a competent but average manager, which is what I would lean towards
There will be more evidence available this summer
Quote from: Taylor on April 01, 2021, 03:16:49 PM
Quote from: JPGJOHNNYG on April 01, 2021, 01:16:57 PM
Yes this Im amazed there is not more chat about this in England. Southgate is a terrible manager. A brick could have got England to the semis of the world cup the way the draw opened up. When they played anyone half decent ie Croatia and Belgium twice, they lost. The current England squad is great but with that manger they are being held back big time.
its not the first time England had a great squad though.
Around 05 they had Cole, Terry, Ferdinand, Beckham, Lampard, Scholes, Gerrard, Owen, Rooney
96 they had Seaman, Pearce, Adams, Gazza, Ince, Shearer, Sheringham
Both of these periods could have been seen as really good teams but when it comes to the big tournaments they completely shit in the nest.
Their media do them no favours mind you
I think there is more depth there now. The first 11 may have been very strong (on paper at least) for those two eras, but there wasn't strong back up across all positions. I don't think they had a quality left sided midfielder for either era. They almost have too many options right now, and when they inevitably f**k it up Southgate will have all the Captain Hindsight's telling him he picked the wrong players.
Quote from: Taylor on April 01, 2021, 03:16:49 PM
Quote from: JPGJOHNNYG on April 01, 2021, 01:16:57 PM
Yes this Im amazed there is not more chat about this in England. Southgate is a terrible manager. A brick could have got England to the semis of the world cup the way the draw opened up. When they played anyone half decent ie Croatia and Belgium twice, they lost. The current England squad is great but with that manger they are being held back big time.
its not the first time England had a great squad though.
Around 05 they had Cole, Terry, Ferdinand, Beckham, Lampard, Scholes, Gerrard, Owen, Rooney
96 they had Seaman, Pearce, Adams, Gazza, Ince, Shearer, Sheringham
Both of these periods could have been seen as really good teams but when it comes to the big tournaments they completely shit in the nest.
Their media do them no favours mind you
England never seem to really know their best team. In some ways they have a lot of players at the same level and it can be difficult to make a case for one over the other. Even up front now they have Kane, Rashford, Sterling, Grealish, Foden, Greenwood, Lingard and does Mount fit in there as well?
Its how the England team fairs against the likes of France, Spain, Italy and Germany at the tournaments that decide if they are at the next level.
As some results have shown lately there are teams not performing at their best, but they manage to bring it to tournament football.
England are poor enough at playing tournament football, its totally different to these qualifiers.
When it gets to the tournaments some teams are actually playing for their country, they are playing to be picked up by a EPL or other top European teams
Sometimes I feel the English lads are hard to motivate
Spain were always poor at tournament football until they weren't
Quote from: sid waddell on April 01, 2021, 05:32:20 PM
Spain were always poor at tournament football until they weren't
So they developed and ended up winning them.
Quote from: Milltown Row2 on April 01, 2021, 05:33:20 PM
Quote from: sid waddell on April 01, 2021, 05:32:20 PM
Spain were always poor at tournament football until they weren't
So they developed and ended up winning them.
Yes
And then they were no longer poor at playing tournament football
By jove you've got it
Quote from: sid waddell on April 01, 2021, 05:34:49 PM
Quote from: Milltown Row2 on April 01, 2021, 05:33:20 PM
Quote from: sid waddell on April 01, 2021, 05:32:20 PM
Spain were always poor at tournament football until they weren't
So they developed and ended up winning them.
Yes
And then they were no longer poor at playing tournament football
By jove you've got it
My point is after all these years of playing in nearly every tournament, they haven't cracked it bar 66...
They have started to retain ball better, this will enable them to tire other teams and make them make mistakes.
Play-off Draw
1. Wales or Austria v Scotland or Ukraine
2. Russia v Poland v Sweden or Czech Republic
3. Portugal or Turkey v Italy or North Macedonia
One (or both, I suppose) of Portugal or Italy missing out. Both ranked in the top 8 in the world currently, FIFA won't be happy with this. Expect the pressure for the number of spots awarded to UEFA teams to be increased going forward. Might even end up with more than the 16 they've been promised for 2026, which could be good news for the Irelands.
Also a potential Wales v Scotland play-off final. Russia v Poland will be a bit of craic too.
Quote from: Ed Ricketts on November 26, 2021, 10:03:38 PM
Play-off Draw
1. Wales or Austria v Scotland or Ukraine
2. Russia v Poland v Sweden or Czech Republic
3. Portugal or Turkey v Italy or North Macedonia
One (or both, I suppose) of Portugal or Italy missing out. Both ranked in the top 8 in the world currently, FIFA won't be happy with this. Expect the pressure for the number of spots awarded to UEFA teams to be increased going forward. Might even end up with more than the 16 they've been promised for 2026, which could be good news for the Irelands.
Also a potential Wales v Scotland play-off final. Russia v Poland will be a bit of craic too.
Slap it up FIFA the pr1cks. Italy or Portugal not there but pub teams like Panama, Trinidad no problem. The world cup should be the best 32 teams end of but FIFA want to increase the madness further to 48 giving almost all the extra 16 spaces to more pub teams from Asia, Africa and central America. Pretty sure UEFA and Conmebol should set up their own tournament. Especially after the new rat president at FIFA goading them for not voting for 2 yr world cups.
Don't agree, it would be like the euros then with Brazil n Argentina thrown in for good measure. Memories that teams such as Cameroon, Ghana, Costa Rica and South Korea have provided have been fantastic.
There has been alot if moaning about a tournament in Qatar as well. Its fantastic. Something different, a winter wc. Remember the crying about the wc in Russia. Wasn't sure about it myself but it was run very well and fair play. Different continents deserve their turn
Quote from: An Watcher on November 26, 2021, 10:33:14 PM
Don't agree, it would be like the euros then with Brazil n Argentina thrown in for good measure. Memories that teams such as Cameroon, Ghana, Costa Rica and South Korea have provided have been fantastic.
I agree with that but throwing in teams even further down the rankings will lead to more one sided games that won't really help the tournament.
Quote from: Ed Ricketts on November 26, 2021, 10:03:38 PM
Play-off Draw
1. Wales or Austria v Scotland or Ukraine
2. Russia v Poland v Sweden or Czech Republic
3. Portugal or Turkey v Italy or North Macedonia
One (or both, I suppose) of Portugal or Italy missing out. Both ranked in the top 8 in the world currently, FIFA won't be happy with this. Expect the pressure for the number of spots awarded to UEFA teams to be increased going forward. Might even end up with more than the 16 they've been promised for 2026, which could be good news for the Irelands.
Also a potential Wales v Scotland play-off final. Russia v Poland will be a bit of craic too.
Had a strong feeling that would be draw. That Italy stoppage-time penalty miss against Switzerland could prove costly. Portugal nobody but themselves after trying to play for a draw against Serbia.
Quote from: An Watcher on November 26, 2021, 10:35:23 PM
There has been alot if moaning about a tournament in Qatar as well. Its fantastic. Something different, a winter wc. Remember the crying about the wc in Russia. Wasn't sure about it myself but it was run very well and fair play. Different continents deserve their turn
Maybe not so fantastic for the migrant
workers slaves they have building the joint. Great to move the tournament outside of the usual haunts alright, but Qatar seems like a truly rotten part of the world. Glad Ireland decided to give this one a miss.
That Jorginho with his stupid penalty taking style is only a cod.
Far too smart for his own good.
Quote from: An Watcher on November 26, 2021, 10:35:23 PM
There has been alot if moaning about a tournament in Qatar as well. Its fantastic. Something different, a winter wc. Remember the crying about the wc in Russia. Wasn't sure about it myself but it was run very well and fair play. Different continents deserve their turn
They do, but reports of people dying while construction was ongoing annoyed me. The heat will be a leveller however.
Different Continents have hosted the World Cup. It's been in America, South Korea/Japan, South Africa
Next years World Cup was a whole scandal, and Platini had to resign over the corruption, along with thousands dying on the construction site.
Qatar's Lord Haw Haw is none other than Richard Keys.
Quite the reinvention.
Quote from: An Watcher on November 26, 2021, 10:35:23 PM
There has been alot if moaning about a tournament in Qatar as well. Its fantastic. Something different, a winter wc. Remember the crying about the wc in Russia. Wasn't sure about it myself but it was run very well and fair play. Different continents deserve their turn
Fantastic? Not for me for a multitude of reasons, 'something different' doesn't enter the equation