Headlines
SPAIN
·
The Player – Andrés Iniesta
Iniesta was, once again, in the
center of Spain’s fortune. After a game where they dominated the play entirely
but had a lot of trouble in the moment to pick a shot, Iniesta himself
included, but near the end Iniesta found his Barça teammate Gerard Pique in
Cech’s box and assisted him perfectly.
·
The Moment – De Gea saves the day
Certainly De Gea wasn’t expecting
such a calm game at his end. Czech Republic preferred to defend and so they
barely threatened the Man.Utd keeper, but when they did he was there. Right
after
·
The Team
A very hard game for Spain. They eventually
got the win that they deserved, but there were some weakness that showed,
mainly the lack of goal instinct in the team. Like they’ve used us to, Spain
was perfectly able to carry the ball dangerously near Cech’s goal, but then
they were unable to capitalize.
They got the breakthrough when Pique and
Ramos were trying to help, in a sign of how disappointing were the Czechs, that
these two could be up front.
CZECH REP.
·
The Player – Petr Cech
With Vrba abandoning its usual style and
using, virtually, a line of six defenders, they gave the control of the ball
away to Spain, which Del Bosque’s squad then transformed in innumerous chances
to score, that always found Petr Cech on the way for glory. Only in the 87
minute he was beaten, by a close range header from Pique
·
The Moment- Selassie’s chance
It was a great clearance from Fábregas,
but more than the moment, it was proof that if Czech Republic tried to come out
a little more they could’ve created chances. As it was only in set pieces they
did it, and after the goal conceded, but then was too late, especially against
a fantastic and focused De Gea.
·
The Team
When we were expecting Czech Republic try and
battle like equal, Vrba had other ideas and decided to go for a simple draw and
let it be resolved in the following matches. With four full backs on the pitch,
the Czech almost had a defensive line of six players, had little to no
possession and dangerous chances lacked.
A very poor game from Vrba’s
team.
- FIL’S FINAL THOUGHTS
A very one-sided game, perhaps the most of the
Euro so far, and it was all because Czech Republic decided it wanted to try and
draw the game, rather than attacking it. It was a poor display, but one that
almost worked, due to having a fantastic goalkeeper in Petr Cech.
Spain played like always, great quality
find space but then, in front of goal, such lack of composure, Morata
especially on focus in this chapter. It looked like Spain was going down to a
disappointing and undeserved draw, when Pique joined the attack and headed a
perfect ball from Iniesta.
It wasn’t easy but Del Bosque’s team did
the job and will face Turkey knowing a win will qualify them. And Czech
Republic will have to show what brought them here or they risk being one of the
disappointments.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1-1
Headlines
REP.IRELAND
·
The Player – Jeff Hendrick
Great game from the Bolton
midfielder. Never forgetting his defensive responsibilities, he was never
afraid to be the first creative force of the Irish, pushing them forward in
their period of dominance that only ended with the goal. Hendrick was a monster,
appearing everywhere, and testing Isaksson several times.
·
The Moment – Hoolahan’s strike
Great technique in the shot from the
Norwich offensive midfielder, after a good cross from the right, Wes Hoolahan
hit the ball with such strength, it was impossible for Isaksson to stop it. A
deserved goal at the time, as Ireland was dominanting the play fairly easily.
·
The Team
A promising game for Martin O’Neill, he’ll
certainly will be more worried with the fact that his team wasn’t able to hold
on to the lead. Until they scored, Ireland was impressive, always quicker to
the ball than Swedish players, and creating good chances.
With Hoolahan’s goal, the team retracted
from attacking, allowing Sweden the draw. It was a good match, though, and
Ireland must believe they can upset either Belgium or Italy.
SWEDEN
·
The Player – Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The PSG
superstar wasn’t at its best. Zlatan didn’t do a bad game, but it was
necessary, and expected, that he would bring his team forward, being the big
thinker of Sweden’s game, and instead he had less touches than usual,
especially on the first half where he really seemed off it, affecting his team.
With his improvement, the team freed
themselves, and was able to get the draw.
·
The Moment- Great play for the draw
It was the moment where finally Ibra created
something decent, and it resulted in Ireland’s defense shaking all over, and
Clark’s own goal. After a good play of involvement with two other teammates,
Ibra found a good cross that, if Clark wouldn’t, Seb Larsson was ready to
finish. He didn’t have to.
·
The Team
It was enough to draw, but Sweden’s match,
especially what they did in the first half, was poor and will mean troubles
down the line, should the problem not be sorted. It’s a team that clearly
depends too much on Zlatan, and when he’s not at its best, Sweden becomes a
docile team, easy to control. That’s what happened until the goal, and then
Ibra showed up.
- FIL’S FINAL THOUGHTS
An entertaining match, that sometimes lacked
quality but compensated in the will the players always put in every single
moment. Ireland was fantastic in the first half, always looking to push forward
and trouble Sweden’s defenders, which they did regularly.
They had at least three good chances,
and one already in the 2nd period, before Wes Hoolaan’s goal. After
that, a mixture of Zlatan’s anger towards the result, and the Irish midfielders
losing gas after all that running, Sweden took back control, and ended up
getting the draw.
It’s a fair result, if you followed the
match, but it has to be said, if there was a winner, it was always going to be
Republic of Ireland. Sweden needs to try and catch up with Zlatan, or Hamren’s
team will be in trouble.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0-2
Headlines
BELGIUM
·
The Player – Thibaut Courtois
Surely one of the most furious
persons with the exhibition his defense teammates had. It was absolutely
appalling and that resulted in Courtois being one of the best players on the
pitch, due to the amount of saves he had to made.
He showed he’s here if Belgium needs
him, but he also needs help, as he can’t stop everything
·
The Moment – A wasted bet
It was one of the biggest shocks of the
Euro’s so far, not to see Jason Denayer in the starting XI, either at center or
right back. Instead, Wilmots went with Laurent Ciman, from Montreal Impact,
with catastrophic results, with the first goal being a clear lack of chemistry
between him and Alderweireld.
·
The Team
Horrible display again, leaving a lot of
questions that need answer. Wilmots decide to shuffle things again and with
horrific results. Against an Italy that was always going to defend, putting
Nainggolan, Witsel and Fellaini, that all lack a touch of creativity, Belgium
had to rely on Lukaku for central creation, with De Bruyne and Hazard stuck to
the respective lines. An awful display that needs correction or surely heads
will roll.
ITALY
·
The Player – Graziano Pellé
What a game
from the Southampton player. The main reference for Italy’s attack, Pelle was
fantastic in doing what’s been doing all year for the Saints, holding the ball
and then following his pass, always ready to finish.
He lacks more goalscoring ability, but he never stops trying and got his
reward in the end.
·
The Moment- Giacherrini’s goal
It was bad communication in Belgians
defense, sure, but there was the beautiful pass from Bonucci, and Giacherrini’s
control and finish were brilliant. Not only that it was a goal that showed that
Italy might not have the names, but they surely have a fight in them.
·
The Team
Conte is a tactical master and it showed. It
might be Italy’s weakest generation, but with Chelsea’s new manager in charge,
there will be a will and possibly a way to get to European glory. The big test
will come when they need to push forward themselves, and not sit to counter.
But Pelle showed he wants to shine, and the defense is solid enough to hold
anyone.
- FIL’S FINAL THOUGHTS
It was
a brilliant display of defensive football from the Italian. That does not mean
they didn’t create chances, they definitely did and made Courtois shine in
defeat.
Counter was on point and with Belgium cracking up completely, Italy dominated
the game as they wanted, always seeming more dangerous than Wilmots’ team that
only was able to be on top with despair growing.
Italy
shut us all up with a great game. It’s just a little part of the job done, but
we can definitely say we were wrong and Italy will be in the knockout stages. As
for Belgium, every match is to win or die from now on, but the quality is
there, and they have to believe they can do it.
