Haha, A team to win the Euros now plays one additional game, with the difference that it is easier than it has ever been to qualify from the group stage. So no, not every game matters if you can still make it through with 3 or 4 points.
I am not upset, I actually lived in Portugal and love the country, so stop trying to make this personal. I am just using them as a clear example of how adding more teams has hardly made the competition more difficult. In no Euro before 2016 has a team ever qualified from the group stage with 3 points (or the equivalent when wins were worth 2 points). The bar is lower now, not higher.
All of the teams that qualified in 3rd reached the final round of the group stage with the possibility of going through in 2nd (as per the previous format), so they would all still have been alive in the competition. The fact they didn't achieve second, but still qualified, shows it is easier and not harder now.
Sorry disagree, it's like saying it's easier to qualify for the European Cup because you don't have to win the league, and you would be correct. But as we know very well, the race to finish top 4 usually goes to the last game of the season, if not us, then someone else.
It's true you can qualify with 3 points. It's also true that you can still go home with 3 points as Albania discovered the last time, but at least they went into their last game with the possibility of making the knockout stage instead of having nothing to play for as was the case before Euro 2016. Then, only Ukraine were eliminated after their first two games, this time it's Macedonia. In the last WC, only 2 teams could get out of a group, and one group was so tight that a country was eliminated because of their fair play record. I don't think it gets more unfair than that, and I would certainly be very upset if it happened to me.
12 months ago, 16 teams who didn't finish in the top two in their qualifying group, still had the chance to qualify for the Euros. Only 4 of them got there. So it's a struggle for most countries just to qualify, it's not easy for a lot of them to get out of their group, and it's impossible for most of them to win it. Only Portugal and a few others have the talent and the squad depth to go all the way.
I'm not making it personal, it's you and only you, who is still upset at why Portugal won the Euros. Where you live and what you love, is up to you.
F***ing embarrassing. What is it with Southgate? Always prefers a fine and never takes a chance. When you consider ( allegedly) English football far superior than Scottish football yet we can't score with the talent we have. F***ing wankers the lot of them.
On the flip side. I'm glad Scotland got a point as that's the least they deserved as it means they can still go through.
As for Southgate, he can F**k right off.
England have got their 4 points and have probably qualified. Most countries fans dance in the stands at the prospect, England fans boo their players off the pitch.
It's true that Scotland can maybe qualify, thanks to the beauty of the race for third, (as opposed to the old format where they would be going home for good) but in order to do that, they have to find a way to score a goal. All heart passion commitment and determination, but no cutting edge upfront. Yet.
Basically all started because they were struggling to find one country to hold the tournament , platini had the brainwave to hold it in multiple countries
The idea to spread it all over the place was to ensure there would be no access and infrastructure issues before the tournament. Then the virus hit. It's now back to the early days of the championship, when only the semis and final of it were in the one country.
Would love to see VARs number one fan on here justify that….
Pretty easy tbh.
Defender elbows forward in face in penalty area.
Forward has streams of blood flowing because of said elbow. Could easily have broken his nose. And we need to question why a penalty should be given for it, by the man in the middle?
The debate reminds me of the days where player welfare was not a priority and you had to boot someone off the pitch just to get booked, let alone a red.
When Spurs got their penalties at Anfield in the pre-VAR days, Lovren came out swinging "we need the VAR" "where is the VAR?" Well Dejan there it is and it's now in operation. A camera can't be conned.
