[Closed] Euro 2016 begins!

We get France. 😆

1 owed!

We get France.

Is that revenge I smell in the air?

And I followed the Mrs Binners philosophy and bet on an Ireland win

Likewise. It was my lowest paying out bet, but happy to get a little bit back and ROI to go through.

Bloody hell, one side of that last 16 looks heavily weighted.

We really are in the harder side of the draw....

Switzerland v [b]Poland[/b]

[b]Croatia[/b] v Portugal

[b]Wales[/b] v Northern Ireland

[b]Hungary[/b] v Belgium

[b]Germany[/b] v Slovakia

[b]Italy[/b] v Spain

[b]France[/b] v Republic of Ireland

England v [b]Iceland[/b] (On pens)

*goes down the bookies*

just concentrate on france! 😆

Revenge...??

No, course not...

EDIT: Image posting fail.

Do the people who interview footballers at the end of matches go on a special course to drill all the good questions out of them?

Very emotional here too Deadlydarcy. Was at the Germany game in October in Aviva but this one was even more emotional.

If we get revenge for the hand of Henri I don't care what happens after that!

Looking at that draw I fancy Croatia to make the final. Maybe win it.

Right, so with all that finished...

The whole 3rd place qualifiers thing has worked out to be quite good hasn't it (and not just because we scraped in). There hasn't really been a meaningless match in the last round has there? Both for the teams playing and the other qualifiers watching. Listening to Portugal v Hungary and Austria v Iceland earlier on the radio, the permutations were multitude. Even tonight's game had a bearing on who Norn Irn and Wales would play.

nah no a fan tbh.

Why not?

Yes good idea. Has been better for the fans keeping the interest alive and also the smaller countries in terms of revenue for their association. The IFA will get around £2m for getting to the 2nd round, some of this will be spent on grassroots development and the rest on the stand we broke at Windsor

It's made the group stage about jockeying for position rather than out and out wins which I suppose has made some matches more competitive but it's also made quite a few teams play for a draw. The biggest issue for me, even after all that jockeying we've ended up with a very lopsided knock out stage and some odd match ups. It's an interesting change but I think it needs work.

It's certainly been more exciting than watching 1st and 2nd in a group play out a draw while 3rd and 4th play a game wishing they were already home.

Genuine q: was there a final round game played where a team could [i]not[/i] qualify? I realise there were a few played like say, Ireland completely outplaying 😀 the already-qualified-as-winners Italy.

But overall, it's been good I reckon. The expanded 24 team competition also made the original qualifying groups more interesting too IMO.

deadlydarcy - Member
Why not?

just think it's a crazy amount of games to get rid of 8 teams, plus 3rd(out of 4) going through doesn't really sit right, it's rewarding mediocrity. (and least of all)it's been devised largely to generate revenue.

Thats ****in amazin Ireland......so chuffed. How no one got sent off in that game I will never know. Great to see the team spirit and the crowd at the end.

Just wondering, what's going on with the kits at the Euros?

Why were rep Ireland in white last night green doesn't exactly clash with blue? There's been a lot of teams wearing away kits when they've not needed to.

often shorts or socks that clash. Seems daft to me

Rainbow rules.

If teams' colours are next to one another in the rainbow sequence, the designated "away" team must change strip.

Never been a football fan but seems this tournaments thrown up some great surprises for the litte teams.

England vs Iceland is a tough call. Pure bred Scot married to an Essex girl. Don't like footie so unlike many from up here I normally doubt care if England win or lose. BUT we got married in Iceland, I love the place, it's immense, amazing, incredible.

Sorry but England you nust have to lose !!! I reckon my Mrs will be cheering them on as well.

Come on Iceland, massive upset in the making. Iceland to win Euro 2016

[i]Sorry but England you nust have to lose !!! I reckon my Mrs will be cheering them on as well.

Come on Iceland, massive upset in the making. Iceland to win Euro 2016[/i]

#SHOCK NEWS!# Jock supporting ABE! 😯

we should be wary of Iceland in the next round...they've had some pretty big names turn out for them in the past...

Colleen Nolan
Stacy Solomon
Jason Donovan
Peter Andre
Kerry Katona
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆

very good gonzy.

I honestly think Iceland will turn England over.

...but then we all know what my predictions are like.

*shakes fist at Colombia for not scoring last night*

Topping the group turned out to be a much bigger prize for Wales than expected. Should be at least aiming for a semi final and a decent chance to get in the final (where I suppose anything could happen). Anyone predict that when they qualified last October?

yes it really is a draw of two halves and Wales have won that one by some

Iceland should not beat them but England are not doing well against teams that park the bus

Topping the group turned out to be a much bigger prize for Wales than expected.

Indeed, as conversely, it didn't for Italy. (I'm still trying to work out what would have happened if we hadn't blown our lead against Sweden...second I think...finishing above Italy on result of last night??) The format has thrown up a fascinating last 16 - a very good chance for a "smaller" side to reach the final, with the "right-hand" side of the draw containing most of the traditional powers - Italy, Germany, Spain, France...and, erm, England. 😀

My sister's organised a weekend camping party this weekend. TV reception will probably be negligible, however the site has Wifi...

For all the excitement of the English commentators about drawing Iceland, they seem to have failed to notice that in the group stages the two teams have an almost identical record; Won 1 Drawn 2, GD +1, and achieved from a roughly comparable set of fixtures.

Iceland played Austria, Portugal and Hungary
England played Russia, Wales and Slovakia

If any fan is feeling down, then think yourself lucky you aren't Swedish, not one goal scored by a player from Sweden in 3 games! That's despite Zlatan's mighty [s]talent[/s] ego.

You obviously didn't read my post Rockape. I'm.married to an English lass & despite my general dislike of footie I'd be quite happy for England to win. Except that they're playing Iceland. The country we got married in & fell in love with.

So no. Not Anymore but England, far from it. But in this case Iceland all the way.

Zlatan who? 😀

It's been an odd tournament for strikers. I noticed Lewandowski and Müller haven't scored either.

[img] ?oh=7a62176abee937d08a752d4f85513a62&oe=57F8D601[/img]

so what's your predictions?

I'm going for:

switzerland, wales, croatia, france, germany, belgium, spain, england. no sure about the swiss or belgians.

Poland
Wales
Portugal
France
Germany
Belgium
Spain
England

I'll add in france, germany or spain as out right winners, most likely germany, but canny rule french home advantage, so it'll be spain! 😆

[img] [/img]

For all gamblers, don't forget most bets will be for 90mins now. So if you want an outright victory make sure you put the bet on to qualify, or words to that effect. Obviously less odds, but then games won in extra time/pens will still be included.

I don't know if anyone has linked this before, but I have been enjoying this Icelandic twitter feed this week.

https://twitter.com/rvkgrapevine?lang=en-gb

Perhaps #ENG will reconsider this Brexit idea when they realise they #ISL longships are coming and call for allies.

You obviously didn't read my post Rockape. I'm.married to an English lass & despite my general dislike of footie I'd be quite happy for England to win.

well actually I did, but lets face it....it was any easy decision for you! 😉

Goddamit Bongohooha, if you've bet on Wales winning that pretty much condemns us to being knocked out. 😥

I got Iceland in the work sweepstake, so I'm definitely hoping they'll win on Monday. Might even make the effort to watch my first game of the tournament!

Goddamit Bongohooha, if you've bet on Wales winning that pretty much condemns us to being knocked out

Why you think I bet on Iceland 😀

My mate always used to bet against Ireland in the 6 nations on the basis he'd be happy to lose the bet. And if they lost then he'd have the money to buy consolation beers.

that is standard 'fun' betting procedure.

Never bet on your own team to win, it's a double heartache if they lose.

Yes. Fun...

[img] [/img]

Fun fact...if I had done the above bet to win, rather than qualify, the odds were 5400/1 😯

Fun fact...if I had done the above bet to win, rather than qualify, the odds were 5400/1

Gotta be worth a pound then? 8)

Might get lucky with the cash out I guess... 8)

[img] [/img]

For some reason Iceland shirts are popular in Scotland.

[img] ?oh=e2980522afa4feccab1fa29a709e87b5&oe=57FA391F[/img]

Ha! This tournament has shown how embarrassingly bad Scotland are. Couldn't even qualify for an enhanced tournament and Northern Ireland and Wales qualify from the group stage, something we've never achieved at a major tournament. Can't see fortunes changing anytime soon either 😐

shortbread_fanylion - Member
Ha! This tournament has shown how embarrassingly bad Scotland are....

We can't afford enough foreign millionaires to pretend to be Scottish... 🙂

Should mention that's twice Wales and NI have got out of the group at a major championship they both did it at the 1958 World Cup. Gotta hurt of you are Scottish.

Hard to know how bad Scottish football in general is. Worth noting that there have been 3 players get game time at the Euros who played for Aberdeen at some point in the recently finished season.

Scotland weren't too far off getting the play-off place Ireland nabbed in their qualifying group. Scotland took 4 points from their two fixtures with Ireland. It was Ireland's near miraculous results against Germany wot got them through. I think Scotland would have had as good a chance to progress as Ireland had in their group. Pretty closely matched sides and anybody had a chance against the Italian side put out last night.

Thank god we'll have some football to take our mind off the madness soon.

Well, until England exits Europe for a second time this week 🙂

Well, until England exits Europe for a second time this week

yeah, no surprise if that line gets trotted out relentlessly for the next however many games! 🙁

Time for England to bow out with the usual bad grace.

When asked about Brexit vote:

"I don't know enough about it to be concerned about it," Kane said at England's training camp near Paris. "And I don't think the other players do as well."

- [url= http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4b77dd44a2c64336b927dc3b755cd480/indifference-uncertainty-brexit-talk-hits-euro-2016 ]Mr H. Kane[/url].

Good stuff. That's what we need. Nice empty heads ready to be filled with all of Roy's tactical wisdom. 8)

To be fair it's a nice change for a celebrity/sportsman to admit their lack of knowledge on a subject.. one of my pet hates is actors/pop stars assuming that their level of fame somehow elevates their political knowledge/opinion to having more significance that the rest of us.. think Mick Hucknell on This Morning telling us that we should all be voting to go to war in Iraq.. Harry's there to put the ball in the back of the net, not for his political insights, which have no doubt been repressed by years of media training anyway..

Edit: I'm going for:

Switzerland
Wales
Croatia
France
Germany
Belgium
Spain
England

True. But when compared to what the Italian and German played said its a little disappointing. Like you say it's probably the media training kicking in. Keep it bland.

was a poor first half, got a bit better towards the end, second started better.

My predictions gubbed at first go! 😆 Though I did say I wasn;t sure on the swiss and belgians!

That was proper clattered

whit a goal! superb shakiri!

😯 😯

What a hit.

power cube does it

I have a bet on Poland/Swiss HT/FT.

There will be no more goals. Sorry.

Penalties... going to be a dramatic start to the knockouts stage...

But that goal... 😯

Sorry for the lack of goals. I bet on a score draw.

it reminds me of england under sven

Oooh. Harsh.

not really .. wales pressing hard.. depends if they can press on for a 2nd from a penalty

Harsh from the point of view of putting it in your own net.

Wales, despite not having many shots on goal, have had NI pinned in their own half.

wales giving ni a chance.. oof wouldn't want to be the meat in that sandwich! How much gum does coleman chewing gum in a game. I reckon he has a whole packet. Clearly from the school of fergie

Ashley Williams doesn't look well...

good second half.. enjoyed the heart and commitment from both.. I hope Woy looks on to what could've been.

Great to see Wales win that

Boring game unless you are Welsh. If so well done!

That was dirge, but well done Wales.

[img] [/img]

C'mon Croatia.

I,m welsh and I,m over the moon jim,but by god you wouldn't want to watch that every week,but then playing way below how you can on your best day and still getting into the last eight is not a bad habit to learn.