jcbio11
Registered User
Slovakia got England, Russia and Wales. Could be better, could be worse. Going to be a great tourney anyways.
UEFA EURO 2016 - Final Tournament
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Savi
Registered User
It's a tough group, but also a fun group. Pretty close to my ideal draw I think
These are games you're looking forward to. I don't think you're looking forward to playing Romania and Albania, right?
joe89
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- Apr 30, 2009
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Yeah I agree it's a fun group.
I just didn't want the automatic loss game vs Germany or Spain, the rest I'm fine with. If you advance from a group like this you have the chance of an easier knockout draw, which I find far more desirable than an "easy" group draw when 16 of 24 teams advance.
If all Pot 1 teams win their group this is how the quarters will set up
Spain vs. Poland/Ukraine
England vs. Portugal/Italy
Belgium vs. Germany
France vs. *one of Russia/Austria/Wales/Iceland/Slovakia
France really have no excuses not the make the semis, though in the R16 they will face Poland/Ukraine, not sure a walkover. However France will likely meet Germany in the semis, or even Belgium
Spain have an easy route to the semis if they win their group
Spain vs. Poland/Ukraine
England vs. Portugal/Italy
Belgium vs. Germany
France vs. *one of Russia/Austria/Wales/Iceland/Slovakia
France really have no excuses not the make the semis, though in the R16 they will face Poland/Ukraine, not sure a walkover. However France will likely meet Germany in the semis, or even Belgium
Spain have an easy route to the semis if they win their group
Live in the Now
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cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
Groups A and F look pretty straight forward. Hungary, Romania, Albania, and Iceland are a cut below and will have to bunker and hope for wastefulness from France, Austria, Portugal and Switzerland; 1 of these 4 may **** the bed, but it would be a genuine upset. And though they'll make it tough on themselves because that's how they roll, Italy should lock up the spot behind Belgium in group E...though that'll be a fun group none the less.
B, C, and D look like they'll be a blast though.
Savi
Registered User
Actually, we should let Italy finish top and take second place.. I'd rather have England waiting in the quarters than Germany..
Live in the Now
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Iceland is a cut below but they have a knack for getting the results. They're also just as inexperienced in these situations as Austria, which has the potential of leading to an odd result.
Romania will be very difficult to break down, I think. They only conceded two goals in qualifying, granted that wasn't an extremely talented group, but that's quite an achievement.
Eye of Ra
Grandmaster General of the International boards
Power Man
Grrrr
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
No way the italians qualify from the group by anything more than the skin of their teeth. While I expect Wilmots to psyche y'all up to roll through the group stages despite his poor tactics. I hear what you're saying but that's already Italy's gameplan; and they've been doing that for generations.
Those groups will certainly be ripe for some upsets with bunkering sides facing some inexperienced or out of form sides who'll have to dominate possession and crack the buses they face. But those would be real upsets where an inferior side steals a result playing like Greece; whereas in the other groups there will be much more evenly matched teams going at each other like with England/Russia/Bales/Hamsik, Poland/Ukraine, Croatia/Turkey/CzechRep or Groupstage-n-rebuilding-Italy/Sweden/Ireland.
Romania greeked their way through a weak group and start the euros with the hosts. If France don't **** the bed I see that ending up the kind of drubbing that rattles Romania's defense so that even a misfiring Swiss squad should put them away cleanly in match two so that who progresses is settled before the third set of matches.
Iceland is the team who I can see stealing the results they need if Portugal doesn't turn up for the opener...like they didn't for a large chunk of this qualifying campaign...and Austria has a crap opener of their own against Albania, that leaves their confidence low. But Iceland's even more inexperienced than Austria and are already playing with house money, so there may not be as much desperation to advance as there should be from Austria...who will face some genuine pressure to advance given their group, their qualifying campaign, and their bright future.
You're probably the underdogs in each match, but each game is one you should have a geniune shot at earning a result in. Might be the most balanced group given Russia's tendency to get cocky/complacent and take their foot off of the gas once they're satisfied with themselves enough; England's ongoing lack of coherent direction/plan; and the fighting Bales' utter dependence on him to carry them.
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Fro
Cheatin on CBJ w TBL
Portugal won 7 of 8 in qualifying. This was the first time in years that they actually didn't struggle to qualify. If you're referring to only winning games by 1 goal, well, that's not really important considering Santos is a results first manager, and no one really cruised to easy victories consistently except maybe England. Also, Albania aren't in the group, it's Hungary.
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
Because even at their best Italy only plays as good as they have to; so ****ing around in qualifying/friendlies leaves them with a misleading low coefficient. Basically the opposite of why England typically has very manageable groups in qualifying and tournaments. They are the New York Giants / LA Kings of international football.
Wow; I didn't keep a close eye on your campaign outside of the of matches I ended up watching...which as you say were very close results (the 2 v denmark, one of the serbia matches, and the 3-2 with Armenia)...remembered the opening loss to albania being an early shock result; and that must've mixed with how ugly your qualifying campaign was for the WC in that group with Russia and Israel, at least before you turned that around. So I guess I just figured you were barely scrapping by again; but yeah, that's a stellar record, and it looks like Iceland's chances are even grimmer than I thought. If they lose the opener in a close game, then I think that it's very likely that they'll be pretty content by the time they face Austria, especially if they look good against Hungery after that honorably loss in the opener to ensure that they'll be greated as conquering heroes when they go home regardless of that final match with Austria to join Portugal in the knockouts.
And I really shouldn't have made that error about Albania/Hungery seeing how I had typed up a comment mentioning the drama of Xhaka versus Xhaka + the larger stories about all of the albanian-eligible talents that have been groomed in the swiss system who will be on both sides of that match...before deleting that paragraph since I don't really expect the action to be all that engaging despite all of those storylines that will give it cheap off the pitch drama/intrigue, with instead the swiss grinding out a very sloppy and physical win in a relatively ugly display of football.
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4 points and a decent goal difference is a realistic target for Iceland, which should see them through. If they lose to Portugal it likely won't be a blowout given how they play under Santos. It's also worth noting how coming second in Group F gives you a more favourable opponent for the next round as runner-ups in Group B and F play each other, meanwhile winning the group likely gets you a match with Italy or Belgium.
Power Man
Grrrr
Your old Jofa helmet
Registered User
Ukraine is on par with Poland,probably even better if manage to contain Levandovski. We played them quite recently and won. Should have no problems with N. Ireland. Like our chances so far...
cgf
FireBednarsSuccessor
I'm not even sure 3 points is all that likely since Hungery will park the bus against them to and Iceland won't have the same kind of skill advantage with which to break them down that Portugal and Austria will enjoy when they play against the Hungarian bus. So Iceland are likely going to have to fight tooth and nail to grind out a win in that one.
And Austria really impressed me this qualifying cycle, so I have them as sizable favorites for that final match day if a draw against Iceland isn't enough for them to qualify. They've got a nifty team on the rise brewing around Alaba; who continues to become one of my absolutely favorite players. I can even see them drawing against Portugal; particularly if they hit the ground running and get their smooth possession game clicking against the Hungarian bunker in the opener.
On par with, sure; but containing an inform Lewandowski is a tough task even for the top sides, and I can't see that match as anything but a pure toss up where Lewy's class makes me lean towards the poles being the slightest of favorites. Can see it coming down to which of you slips up against that N. Ireland bus...assuming our squad gets its head out of its ass before the tourney and doesn't keep sleepwalking until its time to play the big teams.
TBH I can see them getting those results, though each would be very close matches, and I wouldn't be surprised one bit if England drew or lost to any of the three other teams in the group; as even the mighty-Hamsik's can be difficult and a threat to a tournament-form-England.
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TheMoreYouKnow
Registered User
Let's not forget that four 3rd placed teams make the 2nd round as well..so really one win may actually be enough to qualify.
eyetest is useless
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- Oct 25, 2014
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If people think France is the favourite of the tournament, they haven't paid attention.
France has played piss-poor football for a long time now, they clearly don't get along, and their coach hates creative players.
Add that Benzema might not be here, that Fekir's health will be a question mark, that Lacazette is half the player he was last year, that Evra still starts, etc, etc, etc...
Basically, the only positives are that they have a somewhat easy group and more important, they're at home, where they have won Euro 84 and WC 98.
France has played piss-poor football for a long time now, they clearly don't get along, and their coach hates creative players.
Add that Benzema might not be here, that Fekir's health will be a question mark, that Lacazette is half the player he was last year, that Evra still starts, etc, etc, etc...
Basically, the only positives are that they have a somewhat easy group and more important, they're at home, where they have won Euro 84 and WC 98.
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