BEL-ITA

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Wycombe-level timewasting from Italy at the end. Never seen anything like it at international level. It's really horrible to see. Such a fun team when they get going but unfortunately that's made them very unlikeable for me.

Obviously massively jinxing it, but IF England were to get to the final, I think both Spain and Italy are very beatable.
 
Wycombe-level timewasting from Italy at the end. Never seen anything like it at international level. It's really horrible to see. Such a fun team when they get going but unfortunately that's made them very unlikeable for me.

Obviously massively jinxing it, but IF England were to get to the final, I think both Spain and Italy are very beatable.

Have you never seen Italy before?
 
Sad for Belgium. But Italy have shown some serious talent here. They have surprised me with their pace and skill TBH.
Confidence builds with each passing game. I wrote them off but they do seem to have a spirit about them, a momentum that will be difficult to stop.
 
Wycombe-level timewasting from Italy at the end. Never seen anything like it at international level. It's really horrible to see. Such a fun team when they get going but unfortunately that's made them very unlikeable for me.

Obviously massively jinxing it, but IF England were to get to the final, I think both Spain and Italy are very beatable.
For me the trophy is Italy’s to lose they’ve been the most consistent team in the tournament that’s why I think it will be 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Vs🇮🇹 Final
 
Really good game, that. I know people loved Mad Monday, but there was a fair amount of rubbish keeping and defending on show both those games. Tonight was just a quality 90 mins of two good teams going at each other. Reminded me of Brazil/Belgium at the same stage at the last World Cup - just with the opposite result.

Italy - I think the same thing now that I did after I watched their opening game. They're a really good side, but they're a World Class striker away from being a great side. Immobile was utterly useless today....over and over, he kept bungling their otherwise terrific moves. But he has to play because their only other option, Belotti, redefines the meaning of the term 'carthorse'.

They're still the favourites, but on our day, we could beat them. And so could Spain, if they can go 90 minutes without shooting themselves in the foot.

And Spinnazzola is a huuuuge loss. For me, he's the player of the tournament up to this point.
 
For me the trophy is Italy’s to lose they’ve been the most consistent team in the tournament that’s why I think it will be 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿Vs🇮🇹 Final
Spinazzola out though. He's been a big player for them. And, let's be honest, those two goals today were pretty soft. Struggled against Austria. Certainly nothing to fear.
 
Italy are very good at tournament football, you get the feeling they sold there mama a long time ago just to waste a few seconds. Fancy them over the Spanish now, Italy favourites for the tournament for me. The next World Cup is the last chance for Belgium’s golden generation but they need a better manager than Martinez.

Been a cracking tournament football wise, in fact I would say it has been the most entertaining I have seen (first World Cup I watched was 86) which just goes to show that there can be a shambles all round from UEFA/FIFA but it’s on the pitch that really matters.
 
If offered Spain or Italy in the final v England I’d snap there hands off.

Have to get there first though.
 
If you get the chance have a look at Italy’s second goal . Watch Immobile on the floor absolutely hilarious.
 
Been a cracking tournament football wise, in fact I would say it has been the most entertaining I have seen
Agreed! The best tournament football wise for years and not just because England are right bang in it.
The games have been largely excellent and the goals... well, a terrific tournament has delivered much more than I can ever remember. So good!
 
1st goal apologies . If VAR is there to help then he should get some sort of punishment to discourage play acting . But it did make me laugh
 
Agreed! The best tournament football wise for years and not just because England are right bang in it.
The games have been largely excellent and the goals... well, a terrific tournament has delivered much more than I can ever remember. So good!

Euro 2008 was sensational - goals all over the shop and a number of great teams (Spain of course, but also the Germans, Dutch & Russians). Course we weren't there, which always puts a bit of a downer on things.

And, to be fair, the last World Cup in 2018 was pretty excellent as well. Including the final, for once.

I'd probably put this tournament in third place this millenium behind those two......
 
Horrible.
They were fantastic overall but the play acting? FFS

It’s tournament football though. It’s Twitter headlines for now and everyone forgets it when the dust has settled. It borders on cliche for Italy to be doing it so heavily however they pulled out every stop to nullify Belgium and slow the game down. You hate it when someone does it to you. You love it when you’re doing it to someone else.

I’m terms or pure entertainment, the World Cups of 1998 and 2018 are the top two in my lifetime. In 2018, there was one 0-0 in 64 matches - one! This Euros has certainly come alive in the knockout stages when the good teams get a chance to play each other. It again justifies why the 16 team format works best to me.
 
I think the tournament burst into life on that night of Hungary v Germany / France v Portugal. I thought the group stages were pretty formulaic - no big upsets, only two occasions (I think) where the team that won had to come from behind to win (BEL v DEN, POR v GER), no teams looking really convincing. Not to mention the Eriksen incident making everything seem a bit trivial (for a few days, at least).

Since then though, it's been brilliant. Easily the best knockout stages of any tournament I can remember. Upsets, dramatic late goals, comebacks - even games like England Germany, which on paper are less obviously grandstand, I thought were utterly compelling (although I am of course extremely biased on that front). I don't think the significance of fans being in attendance, should be overlooked, either. Adds such a wonderful edge to everything.
 
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