Euro: UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying

[HajdukSplit]

Game was largely meaningless but Cyprus beat Kazakhstan away, which only further shows how poor that Scotland result was earlier this campaign

Not too many games stand out today, Dutch host Northern Ireland which is a must win match for them to finish in the top two; in the competitive Group E, Croatia host Hungary in a rare competitive match in Split while Wales go to Slovakia in a game behind closed doors; some important games in Group E as well with Slovenia going to Macedonia (if Slovenia can get a win there then they have a realistic shot at 2nd place)

 

[maclean]

Incredible really. Also Making plans for the boorish Bulgarians , trying to take the shine off the skeletons in their own closet. Racism still exists pretty much everywhere.

Yeah, I read about the English team "preparing for racism in Eastern Europe" and had a little chuckle intermixed with a fair bit of indignant anger.

They brought back up a quote from last April when Montenegro got a 20 000 pound fine for racist abuse and Danny Rose stated, ""When countries get fined what I probably spend on a night out in London, what do you expect?"

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Interesting tidbit - England requested that UEFA shift the game against Czech Republic in Prague this Friday to a different date because they are afraid the Friday night date and cheap Czech beer will make their fans lose their legendary English civility. UEFA has refused, the game is going ahead as planned, around six thousand English fans are expected.

link?

 

[HajdukSplit]

Hungary basically gifted Croatia two goals, the first goal was something from a U10 match where Modric was one on one with the keeper for a good 25 yards

 

[YNWA14]

It's too bad so many coaches follow the 'if it ain't broke' fallacy. The Netherlands have been doing well in spite of de Roon and Babel so they just keep getting selected. Truthfully Malen/Promes, van de Beek and Wijndal/Willems/van Aanholt should play over those two and Blind. I get supplementing youth with experience but there is enough of that in other positions not to have to hold onto these deadweights. Though I guess 1 good performance every 10 games justifies their inclusion.

 

[maclean]

link?

I mean, I read about it in Czech, but here, the first Google result I came up with: English police urged Uefa to reschedule Friday night Prague game amid fan fears

In an interesting turn of events, 80-year-old Czech crooner and winner of 42 "Golden Nightingale" awards, Karel Gott, darling of the nation, will be having his memorial service in the centre of town tomorrow night as well, with thousands expected to turn up. Extinction Rebellion is also promising manifestations. Should be a wild Friday night!

 

[HajdukSplit]

Another gift from Hungary, complete joke from them this game

Big result for Wales so far

 

[YNWA14]

Babel and Blind have killed almost every single dangerous looking attack today. Dreadful.

 

[YNWA14]

de Ligt and Blind were comical in that sequence.

 

[YNWA14]

Malen to Memphis. This game wouldn't even be in doubt if Koeman hadn't opted for such a cowardly starting XI and trotting out sub-par players that have no business on the NT.

 

[YNWA14]

As if the hero is Luuk de freaking Jong, lol

Whatever, I'll take it, but I hope Koeman learns from this.

 

[MaxV]

Even if they don't qualify, Northern Ireland is having one heck of a Euro qualifying run.

 

[YNWA14]

Fantastic run from the real de Jong and a great finish from Memphis; two wonderful players.

 

[MaxV]

That was a tough loss. Wow.

 

[Ajacied]

Even if they don't qualify, Northern Ireland is having one heck of a Euro qualifying run.

They just park the bus and hope for the best. Hardly something to be proud of.

Oranje came to life once Malen and van de Beek entered the game for de Roon and Babel. Hopefully this is the turning point for Koeman and he realizes that de Roon/Babel are decent players and could even surprise every now and then, but they don't add nearly as much as Donny and Malen. Blind is once again having an outstanding season, but he had some shaky moments today. Frenkie was decent, but shadowed hardcore. Wijnaldum was way too neutral and this game shows why he isn't worldclass in my book.

Depay scoring twice on a off day was nice for him. He needed this after all this shit going on in Lyon.

 

[YNWA14]

Wijnaldum had 3 of the best chances in a time where the team weren't really creating anything and there was no space to work with, and he mostly had to work with Blind/Babel who were absolute black holes in the game today. He did absolutely fine in the context of this game. People have weird expectations of world class players sometimes (IMO of course).

 

[maclean]

That was a tough loss. Wow.

for whom?

 

[maclean]

I mean, I read about it in Czech, but here, the first Google result I came up with: English police urged Uefa to reschedule Friday night Prague game amid fan fears

In an interesting turn of events, 80-year-old Czech crooner and winner of 42 "Golden Nightingale" awards, Karel Gott, darling of the nation, will be having his memorial service in the centre of town tomorrow night as well, with thousands expected to turn up. Extinction Rebellion is also promising manifestations. Should be a wild Friday night!

Probably of little interest to anyone, but just in case the thousands of British fans heading here without tickets happen to make the news, I did want to add that the Karel Gott memorial service is not expected to bring thousands downtown, but HUNDREDS of thousands. (also there's the Signal Festival going on, basically lightmapping on various buildings around the city that always clogs up transit like crazy)

 

[MaxV]

for whom?

Northern Ireland.

 

[MaxV]

They just park the bus and hope for the best. Hardly something to be proud of.

What do you want them to do? Match skill-for-skill?

Smart move to trap and counter.

 

[MaxV]

Awesome goal by Ozdoev vs Scotland, but I think he'll lose it.

The ball clearly grazed Barinov's Jersey on the way in.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Group C
Belarus - Estonia 0:0
Netherlands - N. Ireland 3:1

Big turn around for the Dutch who scored three goals in the final 10 minutes to beat Northern Ireland who's hopes to finish in the top two now are severely diminished. Due to H2H they will either have to beat Netherlands or Germany by multiple goals.

Group E
Croatia - Hungary 3:0
Slovakia - Wales 1:1

Easy win for Croatia who control their own destiny, at least two points are needed to qualify, win will certainly do it with two games left. Decent result for Wales but in all likelihood they will need to win at least two of their final three games and their fixtures aren't too bad (Croatia H, Azeri A, Hungary H). Hungary and Slovakia still in the hunt but they will need to get results away from home in all likelihood to finish 2nd (Hungary still go to Wales, Slovakia go to Croatia), both still play Azerbaijan at home beside their away game

Group G
Austria - Israel 3:1
Macedonia - Slovenia 2:1
Latvia - Poland 0:3

Poland get an easy win and despite their poor September should still win the group. Austria with a big come from behind win while Slovenia lost their match in Skopje. However on Sunday Slovenia-Austria play so that's still very much up for grabs. Israel have an outside shot still because of their fixtures remaining but not really in their hands.

Group I
Kazakhstan - Cyprus 1:2
Belgium - San Marino 9:0
Russia - Scotland 4:0

Zzzzzz, congrats to Belgium who already qualified with three games to spare, maybe just maybe they will face some challenge next month in St. Petersburg. Russia only need one point from their final three games to officially qualify but if they can keep winning they will actually get a good seed at Euro as its based off strictly qualifying results, no longer UEFA coefficient. Scotland is 5th in this group with a -12 GD

 

[Eye of Ra]

They just park the bus and hope for the best. Hardly something to be proud of.

Oranje came to life once Malen and van de Beek entered the game for de Roon and Babel. Hopefully this is the turning point for Koeman and he realizes that de Roon/Babel are decent players and could even surprise every now and then, but they don't add nearly as much as Donny and Malen. Blind is once again having an outstanding season, but he had some shaky moments today. Frenkie was decent, but shadowed hardcore. Wijnaldum was way too neutral and this game shows why he isn't worldclass in my book.

Depay scoring twice on a off day was nice for him. He needed this after all this **** going on in Lyon.

I think Netherlands should use this lineup:

Cillessen
Blind - Ligt - Dijk - Dest
Wijnaldum - Jong - Donny
Bergwijn - Depay - Malen

Might be too early for Dest, but no denying he has world class skill-set. Maybe Vrij or Veltman instead. Dumfries is mediocre.

 

[HajdukSplit]

Today's games all kick off at the same time, not too many intriguing matches though

England go to Czech Republic which on paper is probably one of the few competitive games they will face in their group though anything but an England win will be a surprise. The favorites in Group B (Portugal and Ukraine) both face the group minnows at home. The biggest game will be in Reykjavik between Iceland-France. Won't necessarily say Iceland have to get a result but if they lose then they will need to win in Turkey later in the campaign, though in the last few years they have had a lot of success against the Turks, home and away

 

[Ajacied]

I think Netherlands should use this lineup:

Cillessen
Blind - Ligt - Dijk - Dest
Wijnaldum - Jong - Donny
Bergwijn - Depay - Malen

Might be too early for Dest, but no denying he has world class skill-set. Maybe Vrij or Veltman instead. Dumfries is mediocre.

You know your stuff. This is exactly how I would play as well. Maybe switch Bergwijn with Stengs, who has yet to get a call, but he's been the best Dutch winger this season, bar none. Dumfries is great defensively, but a black hole on the offensive side of things. Replacing him with Dest would be lovely.