Happy Saturday people! The Euro’s are back today as the round of 16 commences in an hours time, so let’s cut to the chase; here is my round up of the last group games which took place this past week and a look ahead to the round of 16 games!

If you wish to read my roundup of matchdays 1 & 2 you can do so here:

Origami with Aragami XLII: Euro 2016: Matchday 1 round up…

Origami with Aragami XLIII: Euro 2016: Matchday 2 round up…

Also do not forget to check out Forever Football Shirts out as new stock will be coming in this week from the likes of Argentina, Manchester City, Manchester United & Inter Milan!

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GROUP A: Albania make history, as France and Switzerland coast…

Group A concluded on Sunday, with both France and Switzerland already qualified; all that was left to determine was the third and final team to qualify from the group, and where the 3 sides place. France could finish no lower than second, however first place was the benchmark that the hosts set themselves by was, and nothing less would be acceptable to a French public, still clamouring to see their nation play anything close to their full potential. In truth a dour, goalless draw played itself out in Lille, with Switzerland looking more likely to score in the first half. The hour mark saw the arrival of Dimitri Payet, who instantly galvanised the French, and was unlucky not to score as his effort rattled the crossbar. When the final whistle blew, the everlasting memory of tie would be the surprisingly delicate Swiss shirts, as 3 were torn during the match, as well as the esteemed ‘Beau Jeu’ football deflating during a challenge. Nevertheless, both sides seemed content with the point, as France qualified in first place as group winners, with the Swiss behind them in second, and in turn, qualifying past the group stage of the European Championships for the first time in their history. While France and Switzerland engaged in their sparring match, the gloves were off in Lyon as Albania and Romania fought for the chance to finish third, and give themselves a chance of finishing joining France and Switzerland in the next round. While both sides showed flashes of quality, neither side had done enough in their 2 previous outings to suggest they deserved a berth in the next round. Albania in their debut appearance at the European Championships, seized the opportunity that Romania squandered against Switzerland, by defeating the Eastern Europeans 1-0, courtesy of Armando Sidiku’s strike just before half time. The fallout means, that France will meet one of the 3rd placed sides (bar Albania), while Switzerland will meet the second placed side from Group C. Albania go into the group of 3rd placed teams, however whether or not their participation continues, will be subject to the performance of the other 5, 3rd placed teams.

GROUP B: Wales have the last laugh as England draw a blank against Slovakia…

England were expected to kick on from their dramatic victory over Wales, by seizing the initiative in the group and qualifying to the last 16 as group winners. Wales meanwhile were teetering from their capitulation against England, and would have to get a positive result against Russia to guarantee their place in the last 16. While England dominated possession and kept the ball for the majority of the game, they would be left frustrated as neither Daniel Sturridge, Jamie Vardy, Wayne Rooney or Harry Kane could breach Matus Kozacik in the Slovakian goal. Meanwhile, down in the south of France, Wales were already 2 goals to the good in Toulouse after 20 minutes thanks to Neil Taylor and Aaron Ramsey; meaning that they would be finishing the group as the table toppers with proceedings as they were. The pressure on England to score further intensified as Gareth Bale added a third goal for Wales on the 67th minute mark; however it wasn’t to be for England in Saint-Etienne as they had to settle for a point and, ultimately second place. For Wales, the magnitude of this achievement cannot be understated as they not only qualified from their group, but qualified as group winners; by virtue of their impressive work, they will meet one of the 4, best 3rd placed sides, while Gareth Bale now leads the way as the tournament’s top scorer with 3 goals in 3 games. England’s inability to turn their possession into goals, means they now meet the runner up of Group F; while neither of the Group F sides have impressed; they face the daunting the prospect of a quarter final clash with France, should both sides advance past their respective last-16 opponents. Much like Wales, Slovakia have been excellent in securing qualification from the group, and while they have only finished 3rd, the 4 points they accumulated should be enough to see them through to the last 16. Russia will sadly be remembered more their off field contribution to this tournament, courtesy of the crowd trouble their fans were a part of back in the opening days of the competition.

GROUP C: Stubborn McGovern exposes Germany’s failing finishers, while Poland qualify despite luckless Lewandowski…

Although faced with the improbable task of meeting World Champions Germany in their last group game, Michael O’Neill’s Northern Ireland left themselves with a chance of qualification by of finishing 3rd, following their excellent victory over the Ukraine. Much like France, Germany could ill afford to finish any lower than 1st in their group, and after their draw with Poland in match-day 2, victory was a must for Joachim Low’s men. The groups other front runner, Poland, were also in action as they took on a disappointing Ukraine side, looking to seal a minimum of second place in the group. Joachim Low ended the Mario Gotze ‘false 9’ experiment and instead went with the orthodox striker: Mario Gomez to lead his line, and the switch paid dividends as Gomez poked home the opening goal on the half hour mark, following intense German pressure. While the German attack led by Gomez, Gotze, Mesut Ozil and Thomas Muller poured forward at will, the second goal proved to be elusive, as Muller continued to struggle with his finishing (although he was unlucky to hit the cross bar on one occasion) and Gotze in particular spurned a host of chances. While the strikers were guilty of fluffing their lines, a huge degree of credit must go to Northern Ireland shot-stopper Michael McGovern for keeping the German front-line at bay with a series of top draw saves. Down in the south of France, Poland also saw off the Ukraine by the same score-line in a meeting of the co-hosts of Euro 2012, to ensure their progression to the next round also. It would be substitute Jakub Blaszczykowski who would score the all-important goal; less than 10 minutes after entering the field of play. The fallout of the final days play in the group, meant that Germany advanced as group winners by virtue of their superior goal difference, ahead of Poland, who also finished with 7 points. Moreover, both sides went through the entire group stage without conceding a single goal, so a big congratulations should go to both sides for that achievement. In 3rd place, Northern Ireland went through with 3 points, and in turn, put themselves into the running for berth in the last 16. Sadly for Mykhaylo Fomenko’s Ukraine side, they crashed out of the competition, without registering a single point, or scoring a single goal, and with 5 goals conceded; they also had the worst goal difference in the competition at this point, all in all, (much like their neighbours Russia) it has been a competition to forget for the Eastern European nation.

GROUP D: An 8 year unbeaten streak comes to an end, as Croatia stun Spain…

The last time Spain lost a match at the European Championships was on June 20th 2004, when they were eliminated by Portugal in the group stage. Since then, Spain have played 14 matches, winning 13 (2 were by way of a penalty shootout), drawing 1 and losing 0; scoring 28 goals and conceding a meagre 4 goals along the way, the last of which coming 7 games ago, against Italy in their opening game of Euro 2012. Just like the 2012 tournament, Spain and Croatia met in the group’s final game, in 2012 it would be Spain winning by a solitary goal, with Jesus Navas being the difference maker, 4 years ago in Gdansk. The story seemed to be repeating itself here in Bordeaux, as Alvaro Morata completed a beautiful Spanish attack inside of just 7 minutes, to net his 3rd goal of the tournament, drawing him level with Gareth Bale in the race for the golden boot. At the stroke of half time however, Nikola Kalinic was able to fire past David de Gea in the Spanish goal to end ‘La Roja’s run of 7 games without conceding in the Euro’s. With the Croats back in the tie, the game opened up with both sides committing to the win, even though Spain were going to be group winners, with things staying at a draw. Bjorn Kuipers made a controversial decision to award Spain a penalty on the 70th minute mark, when David Silva was judged to have been fouled by Sime Vrsalijko. The replay showed that there was minimal contact made when Silva fell to the turf, nevertheless, Sergio Ramos stepped up to take the penalty, only to have his effort easily saved by Danijel Subasic in the Croatia goal. Following that intervention by Subasic, the tone would be set for a famous Croatian victory, as a late Ivan Perisic goal gave the Croatians the unlikeliest of leads, and although David Silva would have the last chance of the game; the Croatians held on as they usurped the top of the group away from the grasp of ‘La Roja’. Lens played host to clash between the Czech Republic and Turkey, where the winner would put their name into the hat as one of the best 3rd placed sides. Turkey were hoping that they could repeat their Euro 2008 exploits, and qualify from the group at the expense of the Czech’s. In truth, neither side had really deserved to go through based on their performances in the group; especially Turkey, as they had been outclassed against both Croatia and Spain. Sadly for the Czech Republic, football doesn’t adhere to such adages, as they succumbed to a 2-0 defeat, following goals from Burak Yilmaz and Ozan Tufan. The fallout of the group means that Croatia will be playing against one of the sides from the 3rd placed teams, while Spain get the tie they were dreading most, as they meet Italy in the round of 16, in what is the match-up of the tournament so far. While Spain are unbeaten against the Italians in each of their last 4 competitive meetings, going back to Euro 2008, you can guarantee that they were not expecting to meet Antonio Conte’s side so soon. For Croatia, maybe I need to rethink my stance, whereby I have proclaimed to be nothing more than nearly men when this tournament is said and done! Turkey, with just 3 points face a struggle to make it to the last 16, while Czech Republic have (in my opinion), their just rewards, following their superb comeback against Croatia, they faltered against one of the worst performing sides in the completion, in Turkey.

GROUP E: Brady channels the luck of the Irish against Italy, while Zlatan and Sweden say goodbye…

With Italy already qualified as group winners (what a poison chalice that turned out to be!), 2nd and 3rd place were still up for grabs in the groups remaining 2 games. A Belgium win would ensure they finished 2nd, while a win for Sweden would see them finish 2nd at the expense of Belgium. As far as Ireland were concerned, they had to win in order to qualify to the last 16 of the competition, as 2 points accrued from 2 draws would have left them rock bottom of the 3rd placed sides. Antonio Conte made a significant number of changes, which saw: Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Daniele de Rossi, Emanuele Giaccherini, Marco Parolo, Graziano Pelle, Eder and Antonio Candreva all rested ahead of the showdown with Spain. If Ireland were to avenge their Euro 2012 defeat to Italy in the same fixture 4 years ago, there would be better chance than now. Martin O’Neill’s charges came out the blocks firing, and took the make-shift Italian side by storm, however that final piece of finishing or ingenuity was missing, despite the industry of the Irish. Martin O’Neill rang the changes from the 70th minute with Aiden McGeady entering the field of play, however it was the introduction Wes Hoolahan which was the masterstroke. His 77th minute introduction, first saw him miss a guilt edge opportunity, before turning provider a few moments after, as he set up Robbie Brady to put the ball past Salvatore Sirigu, and score what was the winning goal, and pave the way for the Irish’s progression to the next round of the European Championships for the first time in their history. In Nice, Zlatan Ibrahimovic played his last game in the yellow of Sweden, despite his best efforts however, the Swede’s were unable to breach the goal of Thibaut Courtois. The game seemed destined for a draw, before Chelsea target, Radja Nainggolan lashed home a curling effort that deflected on route to beating the impressive Andreas Isaksson, to give Belgium a late lead. Just 60 seconds later in Lille, Brady gave the Irish their lead and with that Belgium secured second place, while the Republic of Ireland finished as one of the 4 best 3rd placed teams, to book a date with France in the last 16.

GROUP F: Ronaldo rises in the game of the tournament, as Iceland make history…

This was not in the script, Cristiano Ronaldo to have zero goals, and Portugal to be relying on a win over Hungary to seal their place in the next round! Such was the predicament that the misfiring ‘Seleccao’ found themselves in, that Fernando Santos’ side were playing second fiddle to a Hungary side wrote off by almost everyone as whipping boys of the group. Playing simultaneously, would be Austria, another nation who had disappointed throughout these finals, as they met the resilient and resourceful Iceland, led by Lars Lagerback. The group was as such that any 3 of the 4 teams could still qualify from group. Kicking off before their Group E contemporaries, the first goal of the final match day came after 18 minutes at the Stade de France, when Jon Dadi Bodvarsson gave Iceland the lead; however just a minute later in Lyon, former West Bromwich Albion and Fulham stalwart: Zoltan Gera riffled home a terrific strike from outside the box to send Hungary into dream-land. With the scores as they were, Hungay were going win the group with 7 points, and Iceland would be just behind them with 5 points, with Portugal finishing 3rd with just 2 points. Portugal rallied however, and just before half time their persistence paid off when Nani finished coolly beyond Gabor Kiraly, to level matters. With Austria in a dire strait, Marcel Koller brought in Marc Janko and Alessandro Schopf into the mix at half time, and the latter proved to be a masterstroke as he equalised for Austria on the hour mark. Back at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Hungary captain Balazs Dzsudzsak let rip from a free kick shortly after the interval, and a wicked deflection off Andre Gomes, saw the ball fly past Rui Patricio, to give Hungary the lead once again. 3 minutes later, it was as if he awoke from his slumber, or maybe it was the change to a short sleeve shirt; Ronaldo found the back of the net at long last, with a sumptuous back heel flick that was expertly guided past Kiraly to equalise once again. The glory for Portugal would be short lived however as Dzsudzsak was once again the beneficiary of a deflection, as his curling effort came off of Nani, to once again deceive Rui Patricio; 3-2 Hungary! It was just 5 minutes later when then Austrian goal went in at the Stade de France, before Ronaldo; just as he did in the penultimate group match with Holland in 2012, rose to net a brace, as he headed Portugal’s 3rd goal home. At this stage, the groups looked as they did at the start of the day, with Hungary and Portugal in the automatic qualification spots. With the exhilaration in Lyon drawing to a close, there would be a final sting in the tale in Paris, as Arnor Ingvi Traustason scored a winning goal for Iceland in the 4th minute of stoppage time, to gift Iceland their first ever win at a major competition, and with it a dream tie with England on Monday as they finished runners up in Group E; while Hungary, against all odds, won the group and will meet Belgium on Sunday. Portugal, who were destined to renew rivalries with England until that late Icelandic intervention, will now meet conquerors of Spain; Croatia, while Austria go home on a whim.

Looking ahead to the last 16…

Before we look ahead to the round of 16 let us first look at the fixtures:

SWITZERLAND vs POLAND

CROATIA vs PORTUGAL

WALES vs NORTHERN IRELAND

HUNGARY vs BELGIUM

ITALY vs SPAIN

GERMANY vs SLOVAKIA

FRANCE vs REPUBLIC of IRELAND

ENGLAND vs ICELAND

SWITZERLAND vs POLAND

Both the Swiss and the Poles have the chance of making history for their respective countries with a quarter final berth; both sides have quietly gone about their work, earning goalless draws with France and Germany, while collecting 6 points from the other teams in their group. Both sides have difference makers, although we are still waiting for Lewandowski and Xherdan Shaqiri to come to the fore at these games; I expect the dangerous Lewandowski to have a better game in Saint-Etienne on Saturday, and for Poland to ultimately progress on penalties, after a 1-1 stalemate.

CROATIA vs PORTUGAL

I think this game has the making of being the best 90 minutes of the whole tournament. Portugal, for all of their criticism for poor finishing, have not been short of creating chance, after chance, after chance; it’s just a shame that Ronaldo has been mis-firing and that there is no one else to take the burden from him. Croatia have been one of the most lauded teams of the tournament, and rightfully so after dynamic performances against each of Turkey, Czech Republic and Spain. I do still wonder about their mental strength, particularly here in the knock-out stages; coming back from a goal down to see off Spain, is no easy feat, and that can only do wonders for their belief. Nevertheless, I still think that the Croatian journey will end here, as Portugal triumph 3-2 in another whirlwind encounter.

WALES vs NORTHERN IRELAND

Of tournament debutants, none have imposed their will on proceedings more so than Wales have, and against Northern Ireland, they will have to contend with the tag of being favourites for the first time, and how a side so used to being underdogs will perform in this role reversal will be interesting; nevertheless, I still think that Wales will be too much for Michael O’Neill’s side to handle. In my opinion, Northern Ireland qualified on the basis of how poor the Ukraine were, and while they match pound for pound with most of the Welsh personnel, they have nothing to compare with the quality of Gareth Bale or Aaron Ramsey, and as has been the case in the competition so far, they will be the match winners for Wales; therefore, I believe they will defeat Northern Ireland 2-1.

HUNGARY vs BELGIUM

The crusaders of Group E Hungary, have been rewarded with the task of overcoming ‘the Red Devils’ Belgium. Hungary have proven that they can conjure moments of magic as well, as upset the odds, and against Marc Wilmots side they will have the ultimate stage to revel in their role as underdogs. Undone by a possessed and meticulously drilled Italy side, Belgium have since rebounded with 2 wins and 2 clean sheets and in hindsight; that aberration may have worked in Belgium’s favour as they avoided a battle with Spain here in the last 16. I expect the Hungary fairytale to end here, as the quality of Belgium will be too much for the Eastern European side to contain. Moreover, while Hungary have shown a knack for scoring, they have also surrendered a lead 4 times now, making them equally susceptible at the back. Furthermore, 2 of the goals they scored against Portugal were deflections, and this is the kind of luck that you are never afforded twice; thus I see Belgium defeating Hungary 3-1.

ITALY vs SPAIN

The pick of the 8 ties, Italy and Spain meet in the knockout stages for the 3rd straight European Championship, in a rematch of the 2012 final. At that time, Spain were at the peak of their most indomitable cycle, featuring the likes of: Xavi and Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres, Juan Mata and Jesus Navas. Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Pedro, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva, Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos still remain from that legendary squad and all of their nous and championship level experience will be required if they are break down the stiffest defence in all of Europe. Buffon, Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini will all return at the heart of ‘the Azzurri’s defence, and will be desperate to finally overcome ‘La Roja’ after disappointments at Euro 2008, Euro 2012 and the 2013 Confederations Cup. Bar the Euro 2012 final, the other 3 contests were fiercely close, and it comes as no surprise that those games all ended as draws after 90 minutes. Italy will be gunning for revenge after Leonardo Bonucci’s penalty miss in the Confederations Cup 3 years ago, saw Spain triumph 7-6 in what was the most intense penalty shoot-out I have ever witnessed, however if there is a side with the genius and quality to unlock that defence, it is Spain; especially with Andres Iniesta in the form he is in. This match is so hard to call, but I am going to go out on a limb and say Italy finally rid the monkey of their back, and defeat Spain on penalties, after another goalless 90 minutes.

GERMANY vs SLOVAKIA

World Champions Germany may be bereft of goals at this time, but their class is forever, and much like their last 16 tie with Algeria in Brasilia back in 2014; they are met with a plucky challenger, this time in Slovakia who will no doubt raise their game to its highest level in order to try and upset the champions of the world. Slovakia have shown that they are worthy of their place in the last 16, and in Marek Hamsik, they possess a legitimate, world class midfielder, however his efforts alone will not be enough for the Slovak’s as I see Germany winning a testing encounter by a 2-0 scorline.

FRANCE vs REPUBLIC of IRELAND

November 18 2009, Thierry Henry kept the ball in play using his hand and fed William Gallas, who headed home France’s ticket to the World Cup in South Africa; the victim of his trickery: the Republic of Ireland. That moment has long left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Irish, and what greater stage would be set for revenge, than to eliminate France out of the European Championships in their home turf. It will be no easy task for ‘the Green Army’ as quality in the final third has been lacking too often in this tournament. Moreover, their presence in the last 16 may not have even come to be, had they played against Italy’s A-Team yesterday evening, and as we saw against Belgium; when met with a physically stronger and exceptionally better skilled outfit, they are there to be exposed. While no one will ever question their commitment, or desire, the Irish are up against it, in a way that I cannot even pontificate, and thus I expect Didier Deschamps side to prevail 3-0 in an emphatic victory in the city of Lyon.

ENGLAND VS ICELAND

Iceland might represent the smallest population of all of the nations in the competition, however the steel and will they have displayed in the group phase has earnt them many admirers so far, finishing ahead of both Portugal and Austria in Group F; the Nordic nation have now been given the task of navigating past England in the round of 16. Roy Hodgson’s side meanwhile, laboured as they eeked through their group, in spite of their struggles in front of goal however, ’the 3 Lions’ will could not have asked for a better last 16 draw, as they look to reach the quarter-finals of the competition. England have dominated possession in their 3 group games, however goals have been hard to come by, despite boasting a front line that has the likes of: Harry Kane, Jamie Vardy, Daniel Sturridge, Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney at their disposal. Lars Lagerback’s fundamentally drilled side will present yet another side, content with allowing England to hold on to the ball for large periods, and then break on the counter; a style that Roy Hodgson will quickly have to find an antidote for, especially with the margins for error at the knockout stage being so low, and the cost of failure so high. Monday’s game I believe therefore, will represent a game not dissimilar to England’s group matches, where despite having a high percentage of possession, England will struggle to break down a defensively resolute unit. More worrying, is England’s susceptibility to the sucker punch, as they found late on against Russia, and to their horror against Wales, and who has there been more opportunistic in this tournament than Iceland? Despite these deficiencies, England have a glitteringly talented side, and their full backs in particular have been devastating when going forward, moreover Eric Dier continues to exhibit more and more influence and class with each game, and although the forwards are misfiring, there is such a derth of options, that goals are just a matter of when, not if. In the end I see England prevailing 2-1, in a nervy game, as they await the French for a mouth-watering showdown, at the Stade de France on July 3rd.

In Closing…

Well there goes another mammoth blog, this should sort you out before kick-off in an hour! I will be back to build up the Quarter Final next week!

Until then,

God bless and have a great day people!

Steven,

OSSSUU!!!