Euro 2020 FINAL: Is it coming home or going to Rome?

The conversation around diving is one of the dumbest conversations in all of sports. Every player/club/country will at one time or another, go down with minimal contact because the game rewards players for exaggerating contact in the box. The discord on who is doing it at a more extreme level is obnoxious.
For me, it's not about who is flopping more, but how the flopping looks. English players dive just as often as players of any other country now - 30 or 40 years ago, that almost certainly wasn't the case, as there used to be a collective sense that the Brits played football "the right way", unlike those "dirty Continentals", and as such diving was strongly discouraged at the peer-to-peer level amongst players. (I wonder how much Jurgen Klinsmann was to blame for this change in attitude, given that he came to Spurs with a reputation for diving, promptly made fun of himself with a massive swan dive after scoring his first Tottenham goal, and generally behaved like a mensch apart from his flopping.) Some, mostly older, English fans will still tell you that English players don't dive as often as Continental players do; they're almost certainly wrong. But you really won't see an England player flop to the ground, writhe in agony on the ground in a way that would make you fear for his life if you saw the same behavior away from a football pitch, and then get up 15 seconds later looking completely unharmed and brandishing pretend yellow cards at the referee.
 

Ale Xander

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Not sure how anyone outside of England is rooting for England.

They’ve had a wildly skewed travel schedule, got the easiest possible path to the finals in the tournament, and made it to the finals on an own goal and one of the most egregious dives you’ll ever see. Even then they needed Schmichael to deflect the ball directly back to Kane‘s foot to convert.

Forza Italia.
Don't know about this. I guess it depends how you rank Czechs and Croatia v. Wales and Swiss
 

sodenj5

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Don't know about this. I guess it depends how you rank Czechs and Croatia v. Wales and Swiss
In terms of halves of the bracket, it isn’t even close. Belgium, Portugal, France, Spain, Italy and Croatia.

England knocked off Germany, fair enough, but then they beat Ukraine and needed a joke of a penalty to beat Denmark.

Italy beat the #1 team in the world, beat Spain, and has looked like the best team in the tournament from the beginning.
 

CodPiece XL

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This is probably going to be a bit of a ramble as I go into a full Monty Python " when I were a lad" post. Admittely this was decades ago but when I was in my teens I signed on S-forms for a provincial Scottish team ( aren't they all). We played continental teams frequently, and Italian teams were by far the worst for time wasting, flopping , faking injuries etc. We played Scadinavian teams, German, Austrian, French, Spanish etc. It wasn't even close. This was young kids playing friendlies mostly, it was like Italian kids were tought to do this, or it was in their DNA. We actually dreaded playing italian teams. We couldn't understand why kids who were for the most part, technically more gifted would resort to this type of cheating. Teams from Portugal and Spain tended to exaggerate injuries more than most but again, nothing compared to the Italians. It's kind of interesting looking back, Spanish players were the most prone to committing the " professional foul" , Italian players would put on a clinic in shirt pulling, and fouling while defending corners. There was the running joke that jerseys should be exchanged after the game not during, even though at that level jerseys were never exchanged. In general , there was certainly more emphasis on playing the "right" way, even players on your own team would ridicule you for play acting, diving, you got up and just got on with it.

I'm kind of spitballing here I'm not sure why it's become more of a blight on the game than in the 80's and 90's. Maybe it's because there's more money involved, there's more incentive to fake fouls, gain penalties, get the other players booked....sent off. One of the other general changes over the years has been players not playing to the whistle. If a player goes down, they immediately start complaining to the opposing team to knock the ball out. How many times do you see a situation where a player goes down, his team has the ball they continue their attack, lose posession, and immediately start shouting at the other team to kick the ball out.

As far as time wasting, one thing I would love to see change is the stadium clock showing the real time left. Meaning that during an injury, real or otherwise, the ref stops the clock. When players start going down like flies, the ref just points to his watch and stadium clock and says "fair enough, but you're not killing time off the clock". Not sure if that would make a difference.
 

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No Eden Hazard and injured KDB is a depleted Belgium

It was a walk for Italy to the SF
im Biased but Belgium could have won that game and they beat that Denmark team that had played their best half of the tournament. England clearly had an easier road to this final. That means nothing right now though.
 

allstonite

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As far as time wasting, one thing I would love to see change is the stadium clock showing the real time left. Meaning that during an injury, real or otherwise, the ref stops the clock. When players start going down like flies, the ref just points to his watch and stadium clock and says "fair enough, but you're not killing time off the clock". Not sure if that would make a difference.
Do they already do this? There was a throw in with about 2 minutes left of the 2nd extra time period (I think) and the first England guy picks up the ball, looks around, wipes it on his shirt, then puts it down so another guy slowly wandering over could take the throw. There was a field level shot and I could clearly see the ref in the background yelling and pointing at his watch. I had always assumed they do something like this but I don’t think I had ever seen it so clear

Edit: And of course I doubt the extra-added time ever truly adds up. I think the closest I’ve seen is the extra 2 minutes above the 5 in the quarterfinal where Donnarumma spent like half of the 5 on the ground. Trying to explain to a drunk Italian fan why it didn’t blow exactly at 95 was not easy
 

CodPiece XL

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Do they already do this? There was a throw in with about 2 minutes left of the 2nd extra time period (I think) and the first England guy picks up the ball, looks around, wipes it on his shirt, then puts it down so another guy slowly wandering over could take the throw. There was a field level shot and I could clearly see the ref in the background yelling and pointing at his watch. I had always assumed they do something like this but I don’t think I had ever seen it so clear
Refs point at their watches frequently but my confusion is why the commentators are always guessing at how much time will be added when we're into the last minute , then they "get word" that 4 mins will be added. I'd just like to see the stadium clocks tied to the refs watch....so there is no doubt. Everyone sees it. As I said, not sure it makes a difference. I guess the question is, if for example there is a throw in, like you describe, there's no reason to assume players will waste time with their "ball rubbing" rituals but if it happens, the ref decides to add an extra 15 seconds...I think it would be cool to see that reflected on the stadium clock.
 

allstonite

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Refs point at their watches frequently but my confusion is why the commentators are always guessing at how much time will be added when we're into the last minute , then they "get word" that 4 mins will be added. I'd just like to see the stadium clocks tied to the refs watch....so there is no doubt. Everyone sees it. As I said, not sure it makes a difference. I guess the question is, if for example there is a throw in, like you describe, there's no reason to assume players will waste time with their "ball rubbing" rituals but if it happens, the ref decides to add an extra 15 seconds...I think it would be cool to see that reflected on the stadium clock.
Got it. Thanks for the clarification that makes sense and would add an interesting wrinkle
 

Kliq

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Do they already do this? There was a throw in with about 2 minutes left of the 2nd extra time period (I think) and the first England guy picks up the ball, looks around, wipes it on his shirt, then puts it down so another guy slowly wandering over could take the throw. There was a field level shot and I could clearly see the ref in the background yelling and pointing at his watch. I had always assumed they do something like this but I don’t think I had ever seen it so clear

Edit: And of course I doubt the extra-added time ever truly adds up. I think the closest I’ve seen is the extra 2 minutes above the 5 in the quarterfinal where Donnarumma spent like half of the 5 on the ground. Trying to explain to a drunk Italian fan why it didn’t blow exactly at 95 was not easy
I mean, extra time in general is kind of dumb. Just stop the clock all the time and play to exactly 90 minutes as opposed to a rough estimate by the referee.

To me there is a difference between time-wasting like taking forever to make a throw-in and a keeper sitting on the ball. In those instances, referees will card you for time wasting. Feigning an injury is particularly dirty because refs will not card you for an unnecessary visit from the training staff.
 

67YAZ

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Flip flop flop blah blah blah

Has Donnarumma taken the mantle as world’s best keeper at this tournament? That title has been a bit muddled in recent years with several world class net minders seeming about even on the whole - Neuer, tee Stegen, Alison, Donnarumma, Oblak. De Gea has been up and done in recent years, while Courtois seems to fly under the radar amidst the melodrama that is Madrid. I’m a Ederson hater, but have been really impressed with Mendy’s shot stopping.

in any case, the Spain match showcased everything Donnarumma does - great reactions, great shot stopping, and excellent distribution (his quick roll out sparked the counter for Italy’s goal).
 

coremiller

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Flip flop flop blah blah blah

Has Donnarumma taken the mantle as world’s best keeper at this tournament? That title has been a bit muddled in recent years with several world class net minders seeming about even on the whole - Neuer, tee Stegen, Alison, Donnarumma, Oblak. De Gea has been up and done in recent years, while Courtois seems to fly under the radar amidst the melodrama that is Madrid. I’m a Ederson hater, but have been really impressed with Mendy’s shot stopping.

in any case, the Spain match showcased everything Donnarumma does - great reactions, great shot stopping, and excellent distribution (his quick roll out sparked the counter for Italy’s goal).
Matt Turner!!!! https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-most-valuable-soccer-player-in-america-is-a-goalkeeper/

More seriously, the advanced stats suggest it's probably Oblak, at least as far as shot-stopping goes.
 

wonderland

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Flip flop flop blah blah blah

Has Donnarumma taken the mantle as world’s best keeper at this tournament? That title has been a bit muddled in recent years with several world class net minders seeming about even on the whole - Neuer, tee Stegen, Alison, Donnarumma, Oblak. De Gea has been up and done in recent years, while Courtois seems to fly under the radar amidst the melodrama that is Madrid. I’m a Ederson hater, but have been really impressed with Mendy’s shot stopping.

in any case, the Spain match showcased everything Donnarumma does - great reactions, great shot stopping, and excellent distribution (his quick roll out sparked the counter for Italy’s goal).
Could Donnarumma done better on the Morata goal? I felt after backpedaling to his line, he didn’t charge down Morata really which basically left Morata plenty of time to pick a side.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Flip flop flop blah blah blah

Has Donnarumma taken the mantle as world’s best keeper at this tournament? That title has been a bit muddled in recent years with several world class net minders seeming about even on the whole - Neuer, tee Stegen, Alison, Donnarumma, Oblak. De Gea has been up and done in recent years, while Courtois seems to fly under the radar amidst the melodrama that is Madrid. I’m a Ederson hater, but have been really impressed with Mendy’s shot stopping.

in any case, the Spain match showcased everything Donnarumma does - great reactions, great shot stopping, and excellent distribution (his quick roll out sparked the counter for Italy’s goal).
I haven't watched Donnarumma enough to have a strong personal opinion but I haven't seen hardly anybody making the claim that Donnarumma is on top of the heap. If anything, I tend to see people suggesting that he has tons of talent but still has a fair amount of developing to do in terms of his decision making and, especially, his ability to play the ball with his feet.
 

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Great keepers have another dimension to their game with organization and anticipation. It doesn’t happen at Donnarumma’s age, but there’s nothing in his game that makes me think he won’t be the clear cut best by his mid twenties.
 

Zososoxfan

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Agree with all the keeper talk in here generally. To me, there's still an elite class of keepers although the stratification amongst this group has shrunk a lot over the past 2-3 years and I'd say you can argue about current form but not much else separates them:

Alisson. Went through a rough season for his standards, would've been my clear cut number 1 after last season.
Ederson. Was clearly a notch below Alisson last year, but improved immensely this year. Insane distribution to go along with elite size and shotstopping.
Neuer. Reestablished himself in this first tier after injury and a couple of subpar seasons (for his standards). Question is how much longer can he stay this good.
MATS. Elite in every way, but was let down by some decision-making mistakes this season, likely precipitated in part by playing in front of a deteriorating Barca defense.
Courtois. Potentially just came off his best season ever (at least since his Atleti days). Not sure if his distribution is on the same level as Alisson, Ederson, Neuer, MATS. Was not firmly in this tier until this year IMO.
Oblak. Had an excellent season to add to his pretty elite resume. Not sure if his distribution is on the same level as Alisson, Ederson, Neuer, MATS.

What's been just as interesting, is how things have changed in the tier just below this. We have a couple of newcomers, and a couple of guys that have firmly dropped out IMO:

Donnarumma. You could argue he belongs in the first tier already. I'd like to see some more seasons before doing so personally.
Onana. Would be considered elite by more people if he played in a better league. Will be there shortly anyway.
Emi Martinez. Coming off an amazing EPL season and potentially Argentina's biggest hope to beat Brazil tomorrow. Recently showed he's a penalty specialist ("te voy a comer hermano"). Elite size and quickness, with decent skill and distribution.
Mendy. That worked out pretty well, eh Blues fans?? Why does everything always work out for this barftastic club!??!

No longer in that tier is Szczesny and I don't think Pickford makes it in. He's too small and not an athletic freak like MATS (who's still a bit taller) to be considered elite. He also really doesn't seem to exude calm, which is a notable trait of every other keeper listed here (although not sure about Donnarumma's disposition).
 

JayMags71

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Agree with all the keeper talk in here generally. To me, there's still an elite class of keepers although the stratification amongst this group has shrunk a lot over the past 2-3 years and I'd say you can argue about current form but not much else separates them:

Alisson. Went through a rough season for his standards, would've been my clear cut number 1 after last season.
Ederson. Was clearly a notch below Alisson last year, but improved immensely this year. Insane distribution to go along with elite size and shotstopping.
Neuer. Reestablished himself in this first tier after injury and a couple of subpar seasons (for his standards). Question is how much longer can he stay this good.
MATS. Elite in every way, but was let down by some decision-making mistakes this season, likely precipitated in part by playing in front of a deteriorating Barca defense.
Courtois. Potentially just came off his best season ever (at least since his Atleti days). Not sure if his distribution is on the same level as Alisson, Ederson, Neuer, MATS. Was not firmly in this tier until this year IMO.
Oblak. Had an excellent season to add to his pretty elite resume. Not sure if his distribution is on the same level as Alisson, Ederson, Neuer, MATS.
No love for Handanović?
 

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Refs point at their watches frequently but my confusion is why the commentators are always guessing at how much time will be added when we're into the last minute , then they "get word" that 4 mins will be added. I'd just like to see the stadium clocks tied to the refs watch....so there is no doubt. Everyone sees it. As I said, not sure it makes a difference. I guess the question is, if for example there is a throw in, like you describe, there's no reason to assume players will waste time with their "ball rubbing" rituals but if it happens, the ref decides to add an extra 15 seconds...I think it would be cool to see that reflected on the stadium clock.
Change the halves to 35 minutes each and stop the clock whenever there's a play stoppage. There. No more time wasting. They will have to go to the corner flag for that.
 
Change the halves to 35 minutes each and stop the clock whenever there's a play stoppage. There. No more time wasting. They will have to go to the corner flag for that.
Sigh...the countdown clock has been tried in the US already, more or less, including in the early days of the MLS. People hated it. And it exists at the college and high school level in the US...but consider the following further reading:

https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/65449/ref-watch-time-to-follow-the-rest-of-the-world.html
https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/84083/logic-demands-the-ncaa-and-high-school-change-thei.html
 

Philip Jeff Frye

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Sigh...the countdown clock has been tried in the US already, more or less, including in the early days of the MLS. People hated it. And it exists at the college and high school level in the US...but consider the following further reading:

https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/65449/ref-watch-time-to-follow-the-rest-of-the-world.html
https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/84083/logic-demands-the-ncaa-and-high-school-change-thei.html
I went to a women's NCAA playoff game between Yale and Duke several years ago. Duke was a heavy favorite and dominated the game but it was tied late and Yale scored a stunner of a goal with the clock showing 0:01. The Yale players went crazy, the Duke women were literally in tears. Everybody had to line up for the kick off so that last second could be played. Seemed really stupid.
 
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Nick Kaufman

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Sigh...the countdown clock has been tried in the US already, more or less, including in the early days of the MLS. People hated it. And it exists at the college and high school level in the US...but consider the following further reading:

https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/65449/ref-watch-time-to-follow-the-rest-of-the-world.html
https://www.socceramerica.com/publications/article/84083/logic-demands-the-ncaa-and-high-school-change-thei.html
Really? The big problem is that if a goal is scored in the dying seconds of the game, it might be disallowed because people aren't aware of the clock? And if there are a couple of seconds left on the clock and players are in the midfield, they stop playing?

And these are insurmountable problems that cannot be addressed at the professional level by adding a couple of big ass clocks behind each goalpost?

The biggest obstacle towards changing the rules is status quo bias, the idea that the game has always been played that way. But time wasting sucks and no one tunes in to watch people do that.
 

Nick Kaufman

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I went to a women's NCAA playoff gam between Yale and Duke several years ago. Duke was a heavy favorite and dominated the game but it was tied late and Yale scored a stunner of a goal with the clock showing 0:01. The Yale players went crazy, the Duke women were literally in tears. Everybody had to line up for the kick off so that last second could be played. Seemed really stupid.
Why? When the ref is the one keeping time this never happens? When Greece scored vs the Czech Republic in the dying seconds of the extra time of the 2004 semi, the Czechs kicked off the ball and the game ended due to the silver goal rule. How was that different?
 

The Gray Eagle

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When I played high school soccer a million years ago, the ref would count down the last seconds of each half out loud- something like this: 30 seconds... 20 seconds... 10 seconds...
One time I got the ball at midfield after he got down to 10 seconds, so I shot at goal. I hit it well, the best shot I ever had. The damn keeper knocked it off the post and out of play, and the half ended.
 

teddykgb

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People proposing major structural changes to the most popular sport in the world is something we can really only get during these major tournaments. It’s like clockwork
 

Dummy Hoy

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He’s fantastic. He’s in a group with Gulasci, Navas, Schmeichal, Onana, & Szczęsny. There’s a lot of great keepers around these days.
Sommer has to bein that group. I know Monchengladbach isn’t the most popular club, but he’s one step below elite.

People proposing major structural changes to the most popular sport in the world is something we can really only get during these major tournaments. It’s like clockwork
it’s the best.
 

Nick Kaufman

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The nifty little parlor trick of condescending to a person proposing a rule change doesn't work on me because I didn't start watching football last week.

And since I started watching earlier than most of you, I remember the days when a defender would pass the ball back to the keeper and the keeper would hold it onto his hands and dribble for a while just so that he would eat away both the precious clock and our patience reserves. I am sure some of you would have had a field day poo pooing any idea that would stop this travesty, yet one day FIFA decided to do something about it and devised the rule that prevented keepers from touching the ball with their hands after a back pass. The sport is much better for it.

There will be a day when they will do something for the other time wasting techniques as well.
 
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singaporesoxfan

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People proposing major structural changes to the most popular sport in the world is something we can really only get during these major tournaments. It’s like clockwork
You are truly counter-clock wise.

Time wasting isn’t great but I suspect having a bunch of clocks and changing the time stoppage rules is going to have the potential for counter-productive impact. Players who now become more acutely aware of time left might play even more defensively, for example.
 

singaporesoxfan

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The nifty little parlor trick of condescending to a person proposing a rule change doesn't work on me because I didn't start watching football last week.

And since I started watching earlier than most of you, I remember the days when a defender would pass the ball back to the keeper and the keeper would hold it onto his hands and dribble for a while just so that he would eat away both the precious clock and our patience reserves. I am sure some of you would have had a field day poo pooing any idea that would stop this travesty, yet one day FIFA decided to do something about it and devised the rule that prevented keepers from touching the ball after a back pass. The sport has become so much better to watch.

There will be a day when they will do something for the other time wasting techniques as well.
I too remember those days and love that rule change. But I think what you do is similar to that – crack down on the actual time wasting behavior and make rules to change those behaviors, not introduce a clock system that carries potential for all sorts of other unforeseen consequences. I’d be concerned that a clock that stops could motivate behaviors that turn the end of games into the NBA, an interminable series of equivalents of 20 second timeouts. Right now at the end of games where Team A is beating Team B you have Team A with an incentive to waste time, yes, but you also have Team B with the pressure to do things quickly – take quick throw-ins and free kicks and keep play flowing even if one of their own players goes down injured etc. One of the fun parts of soccer is that sense of urgency, like when you see a team down 2 goals score one, and then the striker runs in the goal and grabs the ball for a quick restart. Changing to a clock system doesn’t just change Team A’s incentives, it changes Team B’s, and not necessarily in a good way.

I also think good refs often let time go a little beyond the allocated stoppage time if one team is mounting an attack in the penalty area. A clock system kills that practice – you’ll have the specter of games ending at some of the most inopportune moments. If a team that’s down in the last seconds of the game is in the opposing penalty box, I’d rather it have the chance to make passes and take its best shot – and also potentially score on any rebounds or goalmouth melees that ensue – than have it rush a crap shot.
 
The nifty little parlor trick of condescending to a person proposing a rule change doesn't work on me because I didn't start watching football last week.
Just because one has watched a lot of soccer doesn't mean that one is automatically exempt from the charge of trying to Americanize parts of the sport that work perfectly well for the rest of the world. One of the hidden delights of the current timekeeping system is that a team conceding a late goal can always rush back for the kickoff thinking that it may have a chance to respond, because you can never quite be sure how much time is actually left on the clock. Maybe the referee will blow for full time directly after the kickoff, or maybe you've got two minutes to equalize; what you'll never see is that Duke-Yale scenario outlined above, where one team knows it's physically impossible to score from the kickoff and the restart does feel pointless.

I do like the backpass rule and think it makes the game better. But sometimes I do wonder if there's a relationship between attempts to keep the ball in play for a greater proportion of matches and the amount of squad rotation we see in the modern game. I'm sure that as players have gotten stronger and fitter and push themselves closer to the limit more and more, most of this would have happened naturally, in much the same way that MLB starting pitchers just don't throw complete games any more. But the old backpass song-and-dance sort of served as a series of mini-timeouts, allowing players to catch their breath and push themselves for longer because that much more of the 90 minutes didn't involve having to run around the pitch. And as soon as you need a deep squad of rotatable players to compete for trophies, it becomes that much easier for mega-clubs to distance themselves from the Nottingham Forests and Ipswich Towns who used to be able to give the Liverpools and Manchester Uniteds all they could handle over the course of a season.

By the way, if you're not familiar with Brazil vs. Sweden at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, you should check out this video:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/av/football/44500178

The Welsh referee Clive Thomas blew for full time while the ball was in the air from a Brazilian corner which was subsequently headed into the net for what would have been the winning goal. Thomas, in being so fastidious with his timekeeping, broke the unwritten rule of letting the final attack always play out before blowing your whistle, and he was roundly mocked for doing so. Sometimes, sport works better when you just let it happen.
 

Section30

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The best way to handle diving was demonstrated by the Ref in the Italy/Spain game. He refused to call the fouls that looked borderline and motioned play on. After 15 minutes the Italian players realized they were hurting their team by being left out of important play development the diving decreased.

Cynically I wonder if that explains why Italy was so gassed at the end of the game. They hadn't had enough rest periods laying on the ground clutching parts of their body.

2nd cynical observation: The only Italian player who didn't beg for a card was the only player who actually had a serious injury. Spinazzola.

How about a yellow card for any player that asks/motions for a card to the ref.? The best refs I played with all would ask the first player to approach them, Are you the Captain? No? then don't talk to me while putting their hand on their card pocket.
 

swiftaw

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Yep:
Wave an imaginary card: Yellow
Complain to the ref if you aren’t captain: Yellow
Go down holding your head when VAR shows your head wasn’t touched: Red
 

54thMA

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It probably was the direct cause of the juicy rebound... we should make it a dead ball.... ;)
Imagine if Italy ends up with a PK on a similar foul that decides the match; the entire country of England would implode, sink into the ocean and take all of the UK with it in the process.
 

67YAZ

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Imagine if someone had flash a laser pointer in Pickford’s eyes! The English fans would have demented to leave Europe!
 

Royal Reader

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Imagine if Italy ends up with a PK on a similar foul that decides the match; the entire country of England would implode, sink into the ocean and take all of the UK with it in the process.
There was a popular meme going around pre tournament suggesting exactly this ending, only the predicted opponent was Portugal and the taker, of course, Bruno Fernandes (kind of cute to think it wasn't Ronaldo but maybe in this scenario he's been subbed off or something).
 

54thMA

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Westwood MA
There was a popular meme going around pre tournament suggesting exactly this ending, only the predicted opponent was Portugal and the taker, of course, Bruno Fernandes (kind of cute to think it wasn't Ronaldo but maybe in this scenario he's been subbed off or something).
It's England's time, they're taking this thing home, the celebration will be glorious and I say this as a supporter of Italy.

As previously mentioned; far from a rabid soccer fan, but I do enjoy the Euros and the World Cup due to how passionate the fans get, there is no similar US situation, instead of a city/region behind you, literally the entire country is behind you.

It really is special as a sporting event, I've watched just about every match.
 

Philip Jeff Frye

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 23, 2001
10,229
It's England's time, they're taking this thing home, the celebration will be glorious and I say this as a supporter of Italy.

As previously mentioned; far from a rabid soccer fan, but I do enjoy the Euros and the World Cup due to how passionate the fans get, there is no similar US situation, instead of a city/region behind you, literally the entire country is behind you
The only equivalent I can think of is the US hockey team winning the Olympics, but only happens every 40 years or so.

I hope Covid allows me to be somewhere in Europe during the World Cup.
 
Channel 4 here in the UK - one of the five main non-satellite channels, but not a Euro 2020 rights-holder - showed the 1966 World Cup Final (in colour) in its entirety this afternoon. BBC1 is currently showing Darkest Hour right now. I think it's fair to say everyone is pretty psyched for tomorrow night.
 

Ale Xander

Hamilton
SoSH Member
Oct 31, 2013
72,428
Channel 4 here in the UK - one of the five main non-satellite channels, but not a Euro 2020 rights-holder - showed the 1966 World Cup Final (in colour) in its entirety this afternoon. BBC1 is currently showing Darkest Hour right now. I think it's fair to say everyone is pretty psyched for tomorrow night.
Did they show either of the Semis?