lopernv Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 Now that the tune-up games are underway and the tournament is only 12 days away from kick-off, and because of the enormity of the tournament, I thought it would be appropriate to start a Euro 2016 thread. Group A: France Romania Albania Switzerland Group B: England Russia Wales Slovakia Group C: Germany Ukraine Poland Northern Ireland Group D: Spain Czech Republic Turkey Croatia Group E: Belgium Italy Republic of Ireland Sweden Group F: Portugal Iceland Austria Hungary First fixture is France v Romania on June 10th at 21:00 GMT, 4:00 PM EST. Interesting developments with Bellerin called up to Spain's 23 for Carvajal, which makes me pretty happy as an Arsenal fan. I just hope the Barca boys don't get naughty thoughts into his head. Regarding Portugal, I'm pretty excited this year bar our striker situation. It's always been that way, and Eder is a football-playing meme at this point. Good to have experience with R Carvalho back in the team. Easy group, just hope there is no complacency, should be an easy path to first in the group. Group E looks like it should be pretty interesting, and Group D will have a great fight for second place I reckon. Albania-Switzerland should be a good fixture, a lot of Albanians by birth in the Swiss team and vice versa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadragon76 Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 Easy? Eh... Iceland has grown by leaps and bounds during the qualifying rounds. They should not be taken lightly at all. Same for Albania.. They went 1-0-1 against France during the qualifying rounds (France was paired in that group, BTW). I'd be a little leery about having an 'easy path' at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopernv Posted May 30, 2016 Author Share Posted May 30, 2016 1 hour ago, Seadragon76 said: Easy? Eh... Iceland has grown by leaps and bounds during the qualifying rounds. They should not be taken lightly at all. Same for Albania.. They went 1-0-1 against France during the qualifying rounds (France was paired in that group, BTW). I'd be a little leery about having an 'easy path' at all. Iceland definitely has a good squad, but if we are placing Portugal in the same tier as England, Italy, France, etc, it really should be another in the W column. Decent team but let's be honest, they aren't world beaters, and they have no experience at continental or international tournaments ever. I don't mean to down-talk them but that's the reality of the situation. Everything is turned up to 11. I think I am most worried about Austria, Alaba is quite dynamic. As for your last comment? Do you mean Portugal, not France? France was not in the qualification stages as they are hosts, Albania did play Portugal and go 1-0-1. Anyways not trying to be overly defensive here, I think it's good discussion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2001mark Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 I'm intrigued by England's results here, yet another new era commences. @2001mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seadragon76 Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 1 hour ago, lopernv said: Iceland definitely has a good squad, but if we are placing Portugal in the same tier as England, Italy, France, etc, it really should be another in the W column. Decent team but let's be honest, they aren't world beaters, and they have no experience at continental or international tournaments ever. Everything is turned up to 11. I think I am most worried about Austria, Alaba is quite dynamic. As for your last comment? Do you mean Portugal, not France? France was not in the qualification stages as they are hosts, Albania did play Portugal and go 1-0-1. Anyways not trying to be overly defensive here, I think it's good discussion. Nope. While you are right in that France wasn't in the qualifying stage, they did play friendlies with the other teams in that group. Portugal is swept by the French while Albania went 1-0-1 against them (Tied at France in November 2014 and then a win for Albania in Albania 8 months later). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopernv Posted May 30, 2016 Author Share Posted May 30, 2016 19 minutes ago, Seadragon76 said: Nope. While you are right in that France wasn't in the qualifying stage, they did play friendlies with the other teams in that group. Portugal is swept by the French while Albania went 1-0-1 against them (Tied at France in November 2014 and then a win for Albania in Albania 8 months later). That was to make up for the lack of a 6th team in the group I'm assuming... I had no idea that happened, never really paid attention to the friendlies. Albania is tactically very good, I would think France has enough talent up front to deal with it but I suppose we'll find out. I guess I'm just skeptical of good results from home friendlies. I shouldn't really be guaranteeing wins at this point but I think at this finals stage those heavy-favourite team's greatest enemies in those types of matches are themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DS729 Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 I'm not a giant on soccer, but I'm pretty pumped for this Euro tournament. Serious question, does anybody really have a chance of winning besides Germany, Belgium, and possibly Spain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlin Wall Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 12 minutes ago, DScruggy729 said: I'm not a giant on soccer, but I'm pretty pumped for this Euro tournament. Serious question, does anybody really have a chance of winning besides Germany, Belgium, and possibly Spain? When Leicester can win the PL I think even Turkey could win the Euro. But I see France and Italy as serious title contenders, too. I'm a simple person, I have a pixelated David Beckham as profile photo since 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnclearInitial Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 27 minutes ago, DScruggy729 said: I'm not a giant on soccer, but I'm pretty pumped for this Euro tournament. Serious question, does anybody really have a chance of winning besides Germany, Belgium, and possibly Spain? In a short tournament anything can happen, Greece and Denmark have won it since 1992. Though France is a favourite, plus they're at home, which always helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabcake Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 Here are my predictions: Group A France - Easily the best team in this group, despite some injuries and questionable selections from Deschamps (no Lacazette? Seriously?). Switzerland - Possible dark horses IMO. Xhaka, Shaqiri, and Rodriguez are immensly talented and should lead his team to the knockouts. Albania - Surprised people by qualifying and will surprise them even more by getting some points, enough to beat Romania to 3rd place. Romania - Just don't have the talent to compete in this group. One of their best players, Vlad Chirches, is a bench warmer at Napoli and will no play well. Pantimilion will be the only saving grace. Group B England - Perfect in qualifying, they have too much talent IMO to not win this group. Hodgson IMO is not a great manager but he has players like Kane, Rooney, Vardy, Sturridge, Hart, and Sterling that can lead this team. Wales - This team is more than Gareth Bale and they proved that with a strong showing in qualifying. They will do enough to get through the group. Slovakia - They have the talent with guys like Hamsik and Skrtel to get places. Russia - Not enough talent IMO to emerge from a very tough group. Group C Poland - Germany are a fantastic team but they have just enough holes for Poland to exploit. Lewandowski is arguably one of the top 3 strikers on the planet and they have a good supporting cast. Germany - It will be a dogfight between them and Poland but Germany have more weaknesses than people think, though. Emre Can is not a RB, Götze's playing time has essentially been zero, and they have injuries to deal with. Ukraine - They have two of my favorite players in the world right now in Yevhen Konoplyanka and Andriy Yarmolenko. They will be enough to take them through. N. Ireland - A feel good story of qualification, they will give Ukraine a fight for third but ultimately fall short in an insanely tough group. Group D Spain - Will recover from a terrible showing in Brazil to take a relatively weak group. Alvaro Morata will challenge for the Golden Boot, and David De Gea will snatch the starting job from Iker Casillas. Turkey - A very popular dark horse pick, Calhanoglu and Turan can lead this team farther than people think. Croatia - A team with a lot of controversy surrounding it, their collection of big names such as Modric, Rakitic, Mandzukic, and Perisic will just be enough to take them through. Czech Republic - Not too much beyond Cech. They will not put up too much of a fight. Group E Belgium - One of the favorites to win it. Their quality up front, with the likes of Hazard, De Bruyne, Mertens, Lukaku, and Origi, will allow them to cruise through this group. Italy - This team will qualify despite Antonio Conte's team, not because of it. Notable omissions include Sebastian Giovinco, Andrea Pirlo, Domenico Berardi, and others. They will qualify for the knockouts because of a weak group. My pick for disappointment of the tournament. Ireland - This is a better team than you think. A well balanced squad with an in-form striker in Shane Long, their weakness will be their lack of a true No. 1 goalie. Sweden - Zlatan can only carry them so far. They will disappoint. Group F Portugal - Too much quality to not qualify from this group. Ronaldo may disappoint, as he's done before, but they actually have a decent supporting cast. Austria - David Alaba is world class and I think this tournament will be Marko Arnautovic's coming out party. They may be the dark horses of this tournament. Iceland - The feel-good story of qualification, they will do well enough to keep that feel good story going into the knockouts. Hungary - Not enough talent to progress. I'll put the knockouts in a separate post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabcake Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 From my above post, Ukraine, Croatia, Ireland, and Iceland were the four best third placed teams, thus qualifying them for the knockouts. Round of 16 Switzerland-Germany: Switzerland are good but Germany are better. They will be too much for the Swiss to handle. Spain-Ireland: See above. Spain will run all over Ireland. England-Croatia: This will be close, and Croatia definitely has the potential for an upset. But the dynamic duo of Kane and Vardy will carry England to the quarters. Portugal-Italy: As I said, Italy will be my disappointment of the tournament. Ronaldo and Portugal will come through win an easier win than people will expect. Poland-Iceland: Iceland's feel good story ends here. Lewandowski will run riot. Belgium-Turkey: Turkey will put up a good fight but Belgium's quality in the final third will be too much to handle. France-Ukraine: Ukraine are decent but France have undoubted quality. Despite their injury problems, France should qualify relatively easily. Wales-Austria: The closest Ro16 matchup, Alaba and Arnautovic will overpower the Wales defense. Quarterfinals Germany-Spain: An awesome quarters matchup that will go right down to the wire. In the end, though, Germany will overcome Spain's excellent midfield. England-Portugal: Portugal will prove difficult for England but England will prevail. There is something different about these Three Lions. Poland-Belgium: Belgium can be considered favorites, but their defense is their weak link. Poland's talent up front and on the wings will knock Belgium out. France-Austria: Call me crazy, but I'm not buying the French here. IMO Giroud is not good enough to lead their line and with their weakened defense the French will have no answer for Arnautovic. Semis Germany-England: The Germans won't quickly forget the friendly loss to England in Germany a few months ago. They will overwhelm the mediocre English defense. Poland-Austria: Austria's dark horse run will come to an end here. Poland's quality will overwhelm the Austrians. Finals Germany-Poland: What could be the dawn of the next great football rivalry. Germany have too many holes and Lewnadowski will be motivated to beat his Bayern teammates. He'll be too much for Germany to handle. Awards: Top scorer: Alvaro Morata (Spain) Also in contention: Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Harry Kane (England) Best player: Robert Lewandowski (Poland) Also in contention: Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshSteeler Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 Official Welsh song for the tournament The Right will always be wrong,Conservatives-Dragging the world kicking and screaming into the 19th century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnPheitseog Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 The best thing that Les Blues have going for them is that they perform best at home. Always a chance at home to win the thing Formerly known as DiePerske Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshSteeler Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 Since the tournament format was introduced in 1980 only France in '84 have won it as hosts. The Right will always be wrong,Conservatives-Dragging the world kicking and screaming into the 19th century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnus Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 England will either win their group or come second, then bow out in either the first or second round of knockouts. Same as always. But one can hope. Go Lions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crabcake Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 England Euro 2016 squad: Rashford, Barkley, and Wilshere all make it yet Drinkwater doesn't. I personally would've taken Drinkwater, but that's me. We'll see how it pans out for England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnclearInitial Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 On 5/30/2016 at 6:53 PM, Crabcake47 said: Romania - Just don't have the talent to compete in this group. One of their best players, Vlad Chirches, is a bench warmer at Napoli and will no play well. Pantimilion will be the only saving grace. FWIW, Tatarusanu usually starts in goal for Romania Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berlin Wall Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Damn, Marco Reus will miss this tournament due to an injury. Gündogan, too. They both already missed the World Cup. I'm a simple person, I have a pixelated David Beckham as profile photo since 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lopernv Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 What happened to Chirches at Spurs? Also so many FM legends on that Romanian team.... Silviu Lung Jr, Gabriel Torje, Nicolae Stanciu (he might be the real deal though)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshSteeler Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 Wales Euro 2016 squad: Goalkeepers: Wayne Hennessey (Crystal Palace), Danny Ward (Liverpool), Owain Fon Williams (Inverness). Defenders: Ben Davies (Tottenham Hotspur), Neil Taylor (Swansea City), Chris Gunter (Reading), Ashley Williams (Captain, Swansea), James Chester (West Brom), Ashley Richards (Fulham), James Collins (West Ham). Midfielders: Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Joe Ledley (Crystal Palace), David Vaughan (Nottingham Forest), Joe Allen (Liverpool), Jonathan Williams (Crystal Palace), George Williams (Fulham), Andy King (Leicester), Dave Edwards (Wolves). Forwards: Gareth Bale (Real Madrid), Hal Robson-Kanu (Reading), Sam Vokes (Burnley), Simon Church (MK Dons), David Cotterill (Birmingham City) The Right will always be wrong,Conservatives-Dragging the world kicking and screaming into the 19th century. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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