Watched this bizarre match- Norway dominated the whole way, missed about 3 certain goals and Hungary capitalized on their only chance. Other than baseball, football is the cruelest game. I'm guessing Hungary will park the bus for the second leg.
Euro 2016 qualifying
- Thread starter OCST
- Start date
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Ireland fans are over there somewhere <a href="https://t.co/2M8T55M5il">pic.twitter.com/2M8T55M5il</a></p>— Daniel McDonnell (@McDonnellDan) <a href="">November 13, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Well with Dzeko on the field and the preponderance of play down the Irish half it was probably always coming. Still 1-1 heading back to Dublin is excellent. Hopefully they get roared on to qualification at the Aviva.
The problem with Svenska in the Zlatan age is that unfortunately for him this has been one of the worst generations for Swedish football outside of him in a while. Once Henrik Larsson and Anders Svensson got old it really just became ZLATAN! and ten other guys. He was sensational against Portugal, but he got no help from the rest of his team. Once Portugal was in the world cup everyone talked about how Ronaldo had a weak supporting cast, but those guys were world class compared to the bums Zlatan was saddled with.
If my calculations are correct, these will be the seedings for the Finals draw in December:
Pot 1:
Germany
Spain
England
Portugal
Belgium
France
Pot 2:
Italy
Russia
Switzerland
Austria
Croatia
Ukraine
Pot 3:
Czech Republic
Sweden
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Hungary
Pot 4:
Turkey
Republic of Ireland
Iceland
Wales
Albania
Northern Ireland
Pot 1:
Germany
Spain
England
Portugal
Belgium
France
Pot 2:
Italy
Russia
Switzerland
Austria
Croatia
Ukraine
Pot 3:
Czech Republic
Sweden
Poland
Romania
Slovakia
Hungary
Pot 4:
Turkey
Republic of Ireland
Iceland
Wales
Albania
Northern Ireland
All true. His national team career is a little on the JJ Watt/Megatron storylines. His club career is another matter.
I believe they are making a movie out of his life.
The thing with Zlatan was that for a world class player he was kind of a late bloomer. When Sweden had a pretty good squad from 2002-2006 Zlatan wasn't ZLATAN yet, he had all the skills but was much too inconsistent and would disappear for long stretches of time. It wasn't really until his second stint with AC Milan did he really put it all together.
Yep, seedings confirmed:
I'm not sure how Wales (recently in the FIFA rankings' Top 10) is in Pot 4 - they would have to be in a potential Group of Death along with Spain, Italy and maybe the Czechs or Poland, while a Group of Life might consist of England, Austria, Hungary and maybe Iceland or Northern Ireland.
I'm not sure how Wales (recently in the FIFA rankings' Top 10) is in Pot 4 - they would have to be in a potential Group of Death along with Spain, Italy and maybe the Czechs or Poland, while a Group of Life might consist of England, Austria, Hungary and maybe Iceland or Northern Ireland.
I have a 2 vs 4 game and a 3 vs 4 game. I want Wales and Ireland for my 4's. Sweden or the Czech for my 3. I'm really indifferent for 2's. Just not Ukraine.
UEFA doesn't use FIFA rankings for seedlings, they use a measure of how well you have performed in the previous qualifications and tournaments, and since Wales haven't done much before this qualification they are near the bottom.Yep, seedings confirmed:
I'm not sure how Wales (recently in the FIFA rankings' Top 10) is in Pot 4 - they would have to be in a potential Group of Death along with Spain, Italy and maybe the Czechs or Poland, while a Group of Life might consist of England, Austria, Hungary and maybe Iceland or Northern Ireland.
There's always Austria / Hungary to consider?
In fact, there's the possibility of a Group of Empires with England (British), Austria & Hungary (Austro-Hungarian) & Turkey (Ottoman)
Whatever group Italy gets is going to be the Group of Death. Of course it won't matter much since so many third-place teams advance.
Let me rephrase my previous post: I don't know why the arbitrary standards UEFA uses to determine which teams are seeded in each group led to Wales being put in Pot 4... (etc.)
Again, I get all of that, but the selection criteria are all arbitrary. Why does UEFA chose to care what happened as far back as Euro 2012 qualifying? That's now how FIFA seeds the World Cup draw (etc.). Personally, I'd be all in favor of seeding each tournament finals strictly on the qualifying results for that tournament alone - if you qualify as a third-place team in your group, you automatically go in the bottom pot, and if you win your group you're guaranteed a first or second seeding. That sort of system would be just as arbitrary, but at least it wouldn't punish teams for the sins of their predecessors, and therefore each tournament would be self-contained.
FIFA isn't even consistent from tournament to tournament. Of course, this is an organization that wouldn't be above manipulating the rankings to get the results they want.
Group A: France, Switzerland, Romania, Albania
Group B, England, Russia, Slovakia, Wales
Group C: Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Northern Ireland
Group D: Spain, Croatia, Czech Republic, Turkey
Group E: Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Ireland
Group F: Portugal, Austria, Hungary, Iceland
Group F looks easy for Portugal, Group E looks the toughest.
Group B, England, Russia, Slovakia, Wales
Group C: Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Northern Ireland
Group D: Spain, Croatia, Czech Republic, Turkey
Group E: Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Ireland
Group F: Portugal, Austria, Hungary, Iceland
Group F looks easy for Portugal, Group E looks the toughest.
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England and Wales will be happy with that draw. Coleman wanted to avoid England but all in all a decent shot at making the knock out stages for Wales. Northern Ireland got it tough. Ireland could sneak through in third place.
The winners of groups A, B, C, and D have an advantage in that they get a 3rd place team in the first knockout round, whereas the winners of groups E and F get teams that finished second. Here is the full listing of how the first knock-out round looks:
Runner Up Group A vs Runner Up Group C
Winner Group D vs 3rd Place from Group B, E, or F (4)
Winner Group B vs 3rd Place from Group A, C, or D (2)
Winner Group F vs Runner Up Group E
Winner Group C vs 3rd Place from Group A, B, or F (3)
Winner Group E vs Runner Up Group D
Winner Group A vs 3rd Place form Group C, D, or E (1)
Runner Up Group B vs Runner Up Group F
The 4 third place teams that qualify are allocated to the four matches (numbered 1,2,3,4) above based on which 4 groups produce three qualifiers:
A,B,C,D: 3, 4, 1, 2
A,B,C,E: 2, 3, 1, 4
A,B,C,F: 2, 3, 1, 4
A,B,D,E: 2, 3, 1, 4
A,B,D,F: 2, 3, 1, 4
A,B,E,F: 2, 3, 1, 4
A,C,D,E: 3, 1, 2, 4
A,C,D,F: 3, 1, 2, 4
A,C,E,F: 2, 1, 4, 3
A,D,E,F: 2, 1, 4, 3
B,C,D,E: 3, 1, 2, 4
B,C,D,F: 3, 1, 2, 4
B,C,E,F: 3, 2, 1, 4
B,D,E,F: 3, 2, 1, 4
C,D,E,F: 1, 2, 4, 3
Runner Up Group A vs Runner Up Group C
Winner Group D vs 3rd Place from Group B, E, or F (4)
Winner Group B vs 3rd Place from Group A, C, or D (2)
Winner Group F vs Runner Up Group E
Winner Group C vs 3rd Place from Group A, B, or F (3)
Winner Group E vs Runner Up Group D
Winner Group A vs 3rd Place form Group C, D, or E (1)
Runner Up Group B vs Runner Up Group F
The 4 third place teams that qualify are allocated to the four matches (numbered 1,2,3,4) above based on which 4 groups produce three qualifiers:
A,B,C,D: 3, 4, 1, 2
A,B,C,E: 2, 3, 1, 4
A,B,C,F: 2, 3, 1, 4
A,B,D,E: 2, 3, 1, 4
A,B,D,F: 2, 3, 1, 4
A,B,E,F: 2, 3, 1, 4
A,C,D,E: 3, 1, 2, 4
A,C,D,F: 3, 1, 2, 4
A,C,E,F: 2, 1, 4, 3
A,D,E,F: 2, 1, 4, 3
B,C,D,E: 3, 1, 2, 4
B,C,D,F: 3, 1, 2, 4
B,C,E,F: 3, 2, 1, 4
B,D,E,F: 3, 2, 1, 4
C,D,E,F: 1, 2, 4, 3
What games did you end up with? We ended up with Spain-Turkey, Belgium-Sweden, Hungary-Iceland and Poland-Ukraine. We also have a Round of 16 game in St. Etienne.
IRELAND-SWEDEN and Iceland-Hungary. I am going to try to get more tickets tomorrow when the second window opens up. I would like to see one of the Pot 1 teams or Wales.
Is this the Euro 2016 thread? Because there's widespread reports now that Schweinsteiger will miss its friendlies and probably the June 10th match vs Ukraine with a knee ligament tear.
Also, UEFA says they may play in empty stadiums if there are credible terrorist threads.
Also, UEFA says they may play in empty stadiums if there are credible terrorist threads.
Germany made it 3-0 after 60mins against Italy in a much improved display compared to the match vs. England, although it´s ofc still a friendly.
In the buildup to the 3-0, Bonucci (Juve) somehow hung with his feet in the grass and had to come off instantly without moving at all. Hope for him to not be seriously injured, although it seems he twisted his knee. Worst case this is a damaged ACL and 6-8 months out.
In the buildup to the 3-0, Bonucci (Juve) somehow hung with his feet in the grass and had to come off instantly without moving at all. Hope for him to not be seriously injured, although it seems he twisted his knee. Worst case this is a damaged ACL and 6-8 months out.
Payet may be the best in the world at scoring from a dead ball right now. This is 35+ yards and just filthy spin.
http://www.sbnation.com/2016/3/29/11326976/dmitri-payet-is-god-france-russia-goal-west-ham
http://www.sbnation.com/2016/3/29/11326976/dmitri-payet-is-god-france-russia-goal-west-ham
I imagine City and Pep are pleased with the news, though. Especially since he recently turned 30.
So Roy Hodgson is going to name his 23 man squad on Thursday (which seems a little early). The stories coming out of the English papers today is that Jack Wilshire will be in the squad which seems a little bit of a risk. I've been trying to think about what squad I would take and I came up with this:
GK: Heaton, Hart, Forster
DF: Cahill, Clyne, Jagielka, Rose, Smalling, Stones, Walker
MD: Barkley, Alli, Dier, Drinkwater, Henderson*, Lallana, Milner, Sterling**
ST: Kane, Rooney, Sturridge, Welbeck, Vardy
* If Henderson isn't fit, I would probably take Wilshire (as I don't really see another option). My guess is Hodgson will take Wilshire and Henderson with Drinkwater in reserve if Henderson isn't fit.
** Sterling hasn't really been great this season but what are the other options? Walcott? Townsend?
GK: Heaton, Hart, Forster
DF: Cahill, Clyne, Jagielka, Rose, Smalling, Stones, Walker
MD: Barkley, Alli, Dier, Drinkwater, Henderson*, Lallana, Milner, Sterling**
ST: Kane, Rooney, Sturridge, Welbeck, Vardy
* If Henderson isn't fit, I would probably take Wilshire (as I don't really see another option). My guess is Hodgson will take Wilshire and Henderson with Drinkwater in reserve if Henderson isn't fit.
** Sterling hasn't really been great this season but what are the other options? Walcott? Townsend?
I would actually go with blessing in disguise. Vertonghen and Alderweireld have been playing together all season. That's a huge advantage for a center back pairing internationally. Plus, they are both better than Kompany at this stage in his career.
I'm a little surprised Carrick didn't get a look. Aside from Dier is their a holding midfielder worthy of a place?
That's a good point about Vertonghen and Alderwiereld playing together. Wilmots is a bit of a clown though- I'm not sure what he will do. TA and JV played fullback in the qualifiers, with Vermaelen or Lombaerts paired with Kompany. Belgium has that "too many CB" issue, so they'll have the bodies (also little Lukaku), but I still think they miss Kompany. I think he's the best CB on the Belgian squad and one of the best in the world, but his inability to stay healthy probably does make your second point true. And even if his play on the field isn't up to standard, he really is the heart of that group. A big loss, no doubt.
I'm sure Wilmots will bone it up somehow regardless.