UEFA EURO 2016 - Final Tournament - II

[cgf]

Hopefully Jogi gets over his Gomez fascination before we have to face Poland in the finals.

 

[Ivan13]

that was team croatia. HNS joined FIFA in 1941. HNS was found in 1912.

That wasn't team Croatia, just as that abomination of a state wasn't Croatia.

 

[2CHAINZ]

Haha Italy got screwed hard. Playing Spain and if they win potentially Germany in quarter and potentially the hosts in the semis.

Italy owns Germany, Croatia owns Italy but I'll admit I didn't want to play Spain.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Haha Italy got screwed hard. Playing Spain and if they win potentially Germany in quarter and potentially the hosts in the semis.

I'm still trying to figure out how/why it lined up the way it did. Italy (1st in Group E), somehow gets tasked with Spain (2nd in Group D), while Switzerland and Poland are already set to meet despite neither team finishing first.

It almost seems random.

I was expecting something like:

1A vs 2B, 1C vs 2D, etc.

Maybe that's how it used to run, before the expansion.

 

[Moncherry]

I'm still trying to figure out how/why it lined up the way it did. Italy (1st in Group E), somehow gets tasked with Spain (2nd in Group D), while Switzerland and Poland are already set to meet despite neither team finishing first.

It almost seems random.

I was expecting something like:

1A vs 2B, 1C vs 2D, etc.

Maybe that's how it used to run, before the expansion.

Since 4 group winners play the 3rd place teams, there's only two group winners left to play 2nd place teams, thus some 2nd place teams play each other.

There's nothing wrong with Italy vs Spain, it's a group winner against a runner-up, Italy expected to play Croatia which is still a hard game anyway.

 

[Hadoop]

Absolute insane quarter with Italy, Spain and Germany. My goodness.

 

[Dr Pepper]

Absolute insane quarter with Italy, Spain and Germany. My goodness.

Whichever side emerges from that brutal half of the bracket, here's hoping they aren't exhausted and picked apart by whoever's waiting on the other side after a relative cakewalk.

 

[Pouchkine]

Looks like some teams would have been better winning their groups! Favorites like Spain and overrated England come to mind! I guess this bizarre 24 teams Euros deserve such a bracket!

 

[HajdukSplit]

Looks like some teams would have been better winning their groups! Favorites like Spain and overrated England come to mind! I guess this bizarre 24 teams Euros deserve such a bracket!

I don't have as much of a problem with the expansion, but I think its ridiculous that there are unbalanced knockout stages, I guess there's no real way to fix it but its not fair certain group winners face 3rd place teams and certain group winners face runners-up. It all comes down to luck of the draw

Maybe they could re-seed after the group stage based on group stage performance? So Northern Ireland would be ranked #16 and they would play the #1 seed which say will be Italy if they win today (they are only team capable of getting 9 points). Then do the typical NCAA basketball format (1-16 vs. 8-9 etc..)

 

[Ivan13]

The perceived favorites, who really aren't favorites (lol at England being bunched with the likes of Spain and France) failed to deliver, that's why they're on the same side of the bracket, not because the system is flawed.

 

[HajdukSplit]

So assuming the favorites win today (Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Austria) this is how the re-seeded knock out stage would look like

1. Italy
2. France
3. Germany
4. Croatia
5. Poland
6. Wales
7. Spain
8. Belgium
9. England
10. Portugal
11. Switzerland
12. Hungary
13. Slovakia
14. Austria
15. Northern Ireland
16. Turkey

Italy vs. Turkey
Belgium vs. England
Poland vs. Hungary
Croatia vs. Slovakia
Wales vs. Switzerland
Germany vs. Austria
Spain vs. Portugal
France vs. Northern Ireland

but at the end of the day the "big" teams have themselves to blame in this current format for not winning their groups. But like I said before, in Group E, it was better to finish 2nd place than 1st place now

 

[Wee Baby Seamus]

Didn't see it mentioned here, Zlatan announced his international retirement after Euro 2016 yesterday

 

[Ivan94]

Absolute insane quarter with Italy, Spain and Germany. My goodness.

The first quarter also isn't a cakewalk.

Swiss - Poland
Croatia - Portugal

4 undefeated teams.

 

[HajdukSplit]

The one positive for Croatia is they get extra day rest, Portugal only have two days recovery, but Croatia's record against Portugal is poor, albeit the one official match was essentially a Croatia B side back in Euro 96

 

[hatterson]

And the bracket is set.

Bottom half looks like some great likely 1/4s

Germany/Spain and France/England.

 

[Live in the Now]

Ireland/France has lots of narratives.

 

[Deficient Mode]

Ireland/France has lots of narratives.

Is Henry commentating for British television this tournament?

 

[HajdukSplit]

Is Henry commentating for British television this tournament?

Yes, not sure which one specifically though (BBC or ITV)

 

[ProPAIN]

Far from perfect performance but they managed to make it and on top of that have a decent chance at the semis. This team is better than Hungary, Northern Ireland and Wales talent wise. They just need the effort and direction. Even against Sweden there lacked cohesion and game plan. They only score on the counter.

They won't have a better opportunity to make it as far as possible.

 

[ProPAIN]

Is Henry commentating for British television this tournament?

He's a little bit everywhere, but mostly the BBC. I think Kilbane is the resident Irishman

 

[Dr Pepper]

Ireland/France has lots of narratives.

Definitely.

Probably still plenty of Irish who aren't fond of Henry's hand cheating them out of the WC.

 

[BSHH]

Hopefully Jogi gets over his Gomez fascination before we have to face Poland in the finals.

Since when does Löw have any glimpse of fascination for Gomez? Although Gomez scores regularly, Löw drops him as early as possible.

Gruß,
BSHH

 

[cgf]

Since when does Löw have any glimpse of fascination for Gomez? Although Gomez scores regularly, Löw drops him as early as possible.

Gruß,
BSHH

When selecting the squads and playing Gomez at all. Like Keissling, the goals that we can bounce in off of his head aren't worth the negative impact he has on our chance creation and spacing in the final third. Those goals are fools gold for a team who generates as much as pressure as we do.

 

[Deficient Mode]

Yes, not sure which one specifically though (BBC or ITV)

He's a little bit everywhere, but mostly the BBC. I think Kilbane is the resident Irishman

Well hopefully he's there for the France/Ireland match and they ask him about the rivalry.

Since when does Löw have any glimpse of fascination for Gomez? Although Gomez scores regularly, Löw drops him as early as possible.

Gruß,
BSHH

He doesn't. Gomez disappeared from the national team after he transferred from Bayern, and he had to be in great form for Besiktas to be called up again. Nothing like Schürrle or Podolski, who hold down roster spots and playing time no matter how awfully they're playing domestically, and how many better options Germany has for them.

When selecting the squads and playing Gomez at all. Like Keissling, the goals that we can bounce in off of his head aren't worth the negative impact he has on our chance creation and spacing in the final third. Those goals are fools gold for a team who generates as much as pressure as we do.

Interesting that the chance creation and spacing were at their best yesterday with Gomez on. Sure, a lot of that has to do with Kimmich being on, but let's not pretend he's a death sentence to the team's creativity.

 

[cgf]

Let's also not pretend like that better spacing wasn't pretty much entirely the result of Kimmich's superior influence on the right + the lower quality of our opposition.