Euro 2020 Final - England vs Italy

[Jacksgranda]

6 hours ago, Bishop Briggs said:

The BBC have a "Pick your team of the tournament" vote - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/57785782

Naturally, the BBC have rigged the choices with lots of England players. Do your duty and get it up them!

 

Done

[eindhovendee]

Not sure if been posted already.

[oneteaminglasgow]

12 minutes ago, Lyle Lanley said:

 the ending. 

I didn’t realise that the Italian celebrations were right in front of Pickford. 

Glorious.

[A_Veitch]

Yann Sommer deserves to be listed in among the goalkeepers in my (biased) view. Highly underrated goalkeeper and surely was better than whoever this Welsh keeper is.

[eez-eh]

I won’t pretend I have first hand experience of how it usually works but it seems a bit mental if Southgate was ordering the takers based purely on his own thoughts rather than consulting with the players to see who was up for it, as that video implies.

[101]

7 minutes ago, eez-eh said:

I won’t pretend I have first hand experience of how it usually works but it seems a bit mental if Southgate was ordering the takers based purely on his own thoughts rather than consulting with the players to see who was up for it, as that video implies.

Other managers talk about letting the confident ones go first, it would be interesting if that what Italy did, regardless of how confident some of the takers were taking a penalty without hardly touching the ball before hand does strike me as odd.

[topcat(The most tip top)]

11 minutes ago, eez-eh said:

I won’t pretend I have first hand experience of how it usually works but it seems a bit mental if Southgate was ordering the takers based purely on his own thoughts rather than consulting with the players to see who was up for it, as that video implies.

After getting England to massively overachieve for years now Southgate is still getting undeserved criticism

The suggestions that he, of all people, hasn't spent enough time thinking about penalty shoot outs is one  of  the  more far fetched examples

Edited July 12, 2021 by topcat(The most tip top)

[forameus]

I'll be honest guys, I've said before that I'm usually on the more neutral side of things.  I've got an English Da who moved up here when he was early teens, and watched them win the World Cup here whilst probably not being too popular.  I was brought up watching largely English football, which I then realised was just as shite as up here, so why not actually watch our shite.  However, I still didn't really feel the need to want England to get beat on the International stage, unless it was directly affecting us.

This year was the first time I've felt like actually wanting them to get beat, and I've got to say, after seeing all the seethe and salt coming from down there these days, I think I'll stick with this for a wee while.  Nae luck Da.

[Left Back]

4 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

After getting England to massively overachieve for years now Southgate is still getting undeserved criticism

The suggestions that he, of all people, hasn't spent enough time thinking about penalty shoot outs is one  of  the  more far fetched examples

Should have phoned SSC for some advice.

[Jim McLean's Ghost]

27 minutes ago, eindhovendeeaggio said:

Not sure if been posted already.

Needs a Turkish guy collapsed on his arse at the very bottom imo

[Jacksgranda]

5 hours ago, Michael W said:

 

In fairness I was trying to load it with as many Italians as possible as an act of pettiness. Ronaldo (no Italian available) and Locateli in there instead. 

Me, too!   No Englishmen in my team, either. (Petty, petty.)

[Jacksgranda]

5 hours ago, 101 said:

England sticking a world cup bid in today, is like a divorced Da turning up at court for the custody hearing the night after taking a shit on the kids bouncy castle to get one over on his ex.

[Frankie S]

I was at the match last night with my 12-year old son, and while we enjoyed the game, the rest was utter chaos. My son and I arrived at our entrance point (Entrance 1) in plenty of time, and joined a sea (the shapeless mass couldn’t be described as a queue) of thousands of bodies swarming towards the entry points. Once you were absorbed by the throng there was no way back  - people were crushing in from all sides. I almost went hoarse from shouting at people not to push forward - there were loads of children in the middle of the scrum and I genuinely thought there was a danger of another Hillsborough the way things were going -, but to no avail. I can only hope no-one got hurt.

There were lots of decent England fans amongst the crowd, but the rogue element was high. ‘Fans’ were pushing from all directions with no regard for the safety of those caught in the middle; other ‘fans’ were throwing beer over the crowd, soaking everyone, with cans and bottles flying everywhere. Yet more ‘fans’ were scaling the walls in their dozens to get into the stadium without passing the entrance points. All this behaviour would be imbecilic at the best of times, but as we emerge from a pandemic it was almost beyond belief.

After nearly an hour of being crushed from all sides, we were finally swept through the entrances by the sheer pressure of the crowd, by which time the stewards had more or less given up trying to activate the match tickets (let alone check Covid certification etc.). I got my ticket checked (only by holding my phone out in the general direction of a scanner, not due to any intervention by a steward), but my son was pushed over the mess of bent and fallen barriers by the pressure behind, with no chance to get his ticket scanned.

Once inside, we realised that it was a a two step activation process, with the second step to be triggered at the turnstiles, so if you hadn’t had your ticket activated at the entrance point you couldn’t access the QR code needed to get in at the turnstile. We pushed back against the crowd to get back to the entrance point, but the stewards were unable to help, and we finally discovered helpful UEFA staff who were able to activate my son’s phone, and we were eventually able to join the lengthy queues at gate G. Of course the result of hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people swarming in at the entrance points without getting their tickets activated meant huge delays at the turnstiles.

In the time we queued at Gate G (at least 30 mins) there were no less than FOUR occasions where people within the stadium flung open the fire doors and large numbers of ticketless idiots swarmed towards the open doors. Able-bodied people were also trying to storm the disabled access points. Simply beyond belief. The Times today estimated that 400 fans got into the game without tickets. From what we saw and experienced, I suspect their estimate is on the (very) low side.

The complicated entrance protocols (three-pronged checks on Covid certification, match tickets and ID, none of which actually happened for us as we were swept past the entrance barriers) were always going to cause severe delays and in the context of a 75% crowd might just about have been workable, without the substantial Neanderthal contingent attempting to force their way in.

The police presence was surprisingly low key for a match of this scale (there were no police at all within the stadium perimeter), and the stewards were either incapable, unwilling or simply too overpowered to fix the problem. It took ages to close the doors, and they were soon thrown open again. This looked like co-ordinated criminal behaviour by a determined element of idiots, though The Times is reporting today that stewards were opening fire doors to evict intruders, then being overpowered by a fresh surge of non-ticket holders. 

Once inside the stadium it was almost inevitable that our seats would be occupied by non-ticket holders. Luckily they moved when asked, but it was clear that the section we were in was not 75% full, in line with the overall 75% capacity limit, but was actually close to 100% (or more) with 4 people standing in the 3 seats in front of us and people standing in the back and in the aisles.

Contrary to media reports, the rogue behaviour we witnessed was not committed by a ‘tiny minority.’ It was a minority, but a very significant one. To be fair, there were many England fans who were absolutely disgusted by the behaviour of their compatriots, and there were loud choruses of boos every time a fire door was thrown open, with packs of idiots surging towards it. There were numerous England fans around me who were asking if my son (and other kids) was ok during the crushes.

To be honest, I feel sorry for the majority of England fans whose reputation is constantly trashed by the abject behaviour of the idiotic minority. Those fans are an utter liability, and if I were English I’d have given up supporting the national team by now.

FWIW, I didn’t hear any booing of taking the knee (only applause) or any sign of racist abuse where I was, but the constant booing of every Italian touch was utterly tedious. The England songbook was disappointingly limited - they only seem to have two songs - one about the massive size of Harry Maguire’s head and the other about ‘Scotland getting battered everywhere they go’ (apart from at Wembley presumably).

Quite a contrast between the antiseptic experience of nursing a cup of lukewarm water for 3 hours before the Scotland v Czech Republic game at Hampden and last night’s chaos in London. I generally find that an enjoyable football experience falls somewhere between the two extremes.

As far as the game itself goes, Italy were deserved winners. It was a decent effort from England, but they were outclassed - players of the quality of Insigne are a joy to watch and Italy’s centre back pairing (Chiellini and Bonucci) are a cut above. The first touch of every Italian player was sublime, and they absolutely bossed the match and thoroughly deserved to win.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Frankie S

[DukDukGoose]

5 minutes ago, Frankie S said:

I was at the match last night with my 12-year old son, and while we enjoyed the game, the rest was utter chaos. My son and I arrived at our entrance point (Entrance 1) in plenty of time, and joined a sea (the shapeless mass couldn’t be described as a queue) of thousands of bodies swarming towards the entry points. Once you were absorbed by the throng there was no way back  - people were crushing in from all sides. I almost went hoarse from shouting at people not to push forward - there were loads of children in the middle of the scrum and I genuinely thought there was a danger of another Hillsborough the way things were going -, but to no avail. I can only hope no-one got hurt.

There we’re lots of decent England fans amongst the crowd, but the rogue element was high. ‘Fans’ were pushing from all directions with no regard for the safety of those caught in the middle; other ‘fans’ were throwing beer over the crowd, soaking everyone, with cans and bottles flying everywhere. Yet more ‘fans’ were scaling the walls in their dozens to get into the stadium without passing the entrance points. All this behaviour would be imbecilic at the best of times, but as we emerge from a pandemic it was almost beyond belief.

After nearly an hour of being crushed from all sides, we were finally swept through the entrances by the sheer pressure of the crowd, by which time the stewards had more or less given up trying to activate the match tickets (let alone check Covid certification etc.). I got my ticket checked (only by holding my phone out in the general direction of the scanners, not due to any intervention by a steward), but my son was pushed over the mess of bent and fallen barriers by the pressure behind, with no chance to get his ticket scanned.

Once inside, we realised that it was a a two step activation process, with the second step to be triggered at the turnstiles, so if you hadn’t had your ticket activated at the entrance point you couldn’t access the QR code needed to get in at the turnstile. We pushed back against the crowd to get back to the entrance point, but the stewards were unable to help, and we finally discovered helpful UEFA staff who were able to activate my son’s phone, and we were finally able to join the lengthy queues at gate G. Of course the result of hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people swarming in at the entrance points without getting their tickets activated meant huge delays at the turnstiles.

In the time we queued at Gate G (at least 30 mins) there were no less than FOUR occasions where people within the stadium flung open the fire doors and large numbers of ticketless idiots swarmed towards the open doors. Able-bodied people were also trying to storm the disabled access points. Simply beyond belief. The Times today estimated that 400 fans got into the game without tickets. From what we saw and experienced, I suspect their estimate is on the (very) low side.

The complicated entrance protocols (three-pronged checks on Covid certification, match tickets and and ID, none of which actually happened for us as we were swept past the entrance barriers) were always going to cause severe delays and in the context of a 75% crowd might just about have been workable, without the substantial Neanderthal contingent attempting to force their way in.

The police presence was surprisingly low key for a match of this scale (there were no police at all within the stadium perimeter), and the stewards were either incapable, unwilling or simply too overpowered to fix the problem. It took ages to close the doors, and they were soon thrown open again. This looked like co-ordinated criminal behaviour by an determined element of idiots, though The Times is reporting today that stewards were opening fire doors to evict intruders, then being overpowered by a fresh surge of non-ticket holders. 

Once inside the stadium it was almost inevitable that our seats would be occupied by non-ticket holders. Luckily they moved when asked, but it was clear that the section we were in was not 75% full, in line with the overall 75% capacity limit, but was actually close to 100% (or more) with 4 people standing in the 3 seats in front of us and people standing in the back and in the aisles.

Contrary to media reports, the rogue behaviour we witnessed was not committed by a ‘tiny minority.’ It was a minority, but a very significant one. To be fair, there were many England fans who were absolutely disgusted by the behaviour of their compatriots, and there were loud choruses of boos every time a fire door was thrown open, with packs of idiots surging towards it. There were numerous England fans around me who were asking if my son (and other kids) was ok during the crushes.

To be honest, I feel sorry for the majority of England fans whose reputation is constantly trashed by the abject behaviour of the idiotic minority. Those fans are an utter liability, and if I were English I’d have given up supporting the national team by now.

FWIW, I didn’t hear any booing of taking the knee (only applause) or any sign of racist abuse where I was, but the constant booing of every Italian touch was utterly tedious. The England songbook was disappointingly limited - they only seem to have two songs - one about the massive size of Harry Maguire’s head and the other about ‘Scotland getting battered everywhere they go’ (apart from at Wembley presumably).

Quite a contrast between the antiseptic experience of nursing a cup of lukewarm after for 3 hours before the Scotland v Czech Republic game at Hampden and last night’s chaos in London. I generally find that an enjoyable football experience falls somewhere between the two extremes.

As far as the game itself goes, Italy were deserved winners. It was a decent effort from England, but they were outclassed - players of the quality of Insigne are an joy to watch and Italy’s centre back pairing (Chiellini and Bonucci) are a cut above. The first touch of every Italian player was a sublime, and they absolutely bossed the match and thoroughly deserved to win.

Sounds like a nightmare and terrible that folk like yourself with a child were subjected to that.

[PauloPerth]

1 hour ago, NotThePars said:

 

Fair play to Neville has to couch it like most footballers in muted terms but good to hear him pointing out the hypocrisy of the PM here.

Fair play to Gary Neville there.  Never thought much of him as a pundit but big respect for standing up and speaking out.

[RawB93]

53 minutes ago, Hedgecutter said:

The rest of Europe jumping on the "F*** you England bandwagon" with illustrations of why nobody except the English want them to win:

 

That Celtic fan chucking pints at the Italian fans 

Hope the next time he farts he follows through.

[Aim Here]

57 minutes ago, Jacksgranda said:

I was baffled by England's choice of penalty takers. If Saka had to take one it should have been the second or third.

I think it's a case of Southgate overthinking it.

Remember that given Southgate's previous infamy, he'll likely have been studying the f**k out of Italy's penalty takers and assuming the Italians are doing the same to England. If you're doing a heavy game theoretic analysis of penalty kicks based on statistics and penalty histories and whatnot, what better way to bamboozle the other side's game theorists than to have the most crucial penalty taken by someone about which nothing is known?

Trouble is, you still need to have a player who can actually hit a good penalty under the pressure.

By a similar oversight, Southgate earmarked Sancho and Rashford to come on to take the penalties late in the game, but didn't factor in that they still need to have their legs attuned to the match conditions.

[Jacksgranda]

4 hours ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:

The atmosphere after the first ten minutes was a disgrace. I'm gonna hazard a guess that home fans' attendance last night was, even more than normal, predicated on an ability to pay and a desire to be present at any major event than any passion for or knowledge of the game. 

Oh, and a PTTGOMN - any melt who notices themselves on the big screen and starts gurning like a loon (or, even, notices themselves - because they'te not watching the game, are they?) should be taken round the back of the stand and choked with their own BNWT replica shirt. 

half and half scarf, Shirley?

[ewan14]

3 hours ago, WhiteRoseKillie said:

Similar to my experience. Those who follow football were a lot more restrained during the tournament, and especially in the run-up to last night. Those who don't follow the game, but got swept up in the hysteria, were convinced "it was coming home".* 

Scene 

*Loathsome fucking phrase, imho. Just one more reason for Baddiel to be flayed and dipped in salt.

 

or a legendary hot shot to kick his, or Skinner's ( same difference ) , backside

[GiGi]

Me enjoying the free half day off my English employers gave everyone in anticipation of football coming home