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.
Legend. Shame they didn't qualify for the WC last time round.Lol Zlatan 4 eva!
Sweden is going to advance past Denmark, up 4-1 on the aggregate with 10 minutes remaining. Zlatan with two more goals in the game to give him 11 in qualifying.
All true. His national team career is a little on the JJ Watt/Megatron storylines. His club career is another matter.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.
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.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.
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?Since Ukraine/Russia can't be in the same group, I guess we have to hope for Poland/Russia or England/Northern Ireland for our historical political tensions draw.
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.)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.
http://m.footballseeding.com/national-ranking-uefa/ranking-2015/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.)
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.Anyone else apply for tickets to the actual tournament? I was notified today that my request was partially successful. I'm going to be there around during the Group Stage.
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.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.
Kompany out of the Euros
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.That is a huge blow for Belgium, although they have good cover with Vertonghen or Alerwiereld.
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 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.