OMG..Iceland, whose population is roughly the same as Corpus Christi, just knocked England out of the tourney!
Iceland 2 England 1 This is the greatest upset in Euro Cup history... - Iceland doesn't have a permanent coach. The guy who's running the team is a dentist. - Icelanders learned this game by watching the English Premier League on television. - There is no professional league in Iceland. - The Premier League is the richest league in the world. Like the NFL, it's games are televised everywhere. - 25 years ago, the Icelanders built four indoor training facilities for their children to learn the game and practice it year-round. The current players are the very first product of that system. This sounds like Jamaican bobsleds to me... The English fans are furious. No, make that suicidal and furious. Losing is one thing, but becoming the butt of jokes around the world is something else. Did Britain exit Europe in search of easier soccer matches? Will the Icelanders open their soccer camps to English boys? The English scored early on a penalty kick, which the Icelanders quickly answered with a goal of their own. After Iceland scored a second first-half goal, the stadium went dead silent. It remained silent to start the second half as English incompetence reached historic proportions, with EVERY crossing pass sailing wide or over the goal. The other end of the field resembled a shooting gallery with the English goalie as the duck. At that point, The English crowd began to boo and whistle at their own team. That's AMERICAN style booing which I don't recall hearing from an English crowd before. They literally booed their team off the field. It was a disgraceful performance by the English both on and off the field... The celebration in Iceland is still going on. The little country of 330,000 people......which has fewer registered soccer players than the state of Rhode Island......is on their way to a date with France in Paris, and the whole world will be cheering them on...
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The natives are restless http://www.bbc.com/sport/football/36573171 England fans vent fury England's players slumped to the ground in despair and embarrassment when one final corner was wasted and Iceland had completed their landmark win. It left them within range of the fury of England's travelling support, who had gathered in their thousands as usual in Nice in the expectation of seeing them reach the last 16 of Euro 2016. And they wasted no time in letting England's players feel their full fury, frustration that had built up throughout the game exploding in anger directed at those who had failed to perform. Goalkeeper Joe Hart held his hands up in apology to no avail as some supporters hurled England shirts and flags in the team's direction. When England left Brazil after their failure there in 2014, they were actually applauded at the end of a 0-0 draw in a dead rubber against Costa Rica - there was no such escape here as the supporters came to terms with one of the most embarrassing, painful nights in the history of English sport.
Iceland looks like Italy to me. They sit in 2 rows of 4 playing matchup zone defense that is both suffocating and confusing. They aren't the most talented team in the world, neither were all those Italian world champions. They play world class defense. I've watched this game twice now and it was no fluke. England hasn't won a knockout round in 20 years. Who are they to mock anyone other than themselves?
I think that the very early goal had England overconfident. Although they seemed overmatched in the midfield, they did a nice job finishing. The first goal off a set piece from a deep throw in was well done. In the second half their defense was stifling. What a story this is.
Gip, Agreed. It's a great sports story and really fun to watch. Did you catch the transcription of the announcer for Iceland? It's funny stuff.
I saw the video but not the translation. My first thought was the old "act like you've been there before" but then I realized, they hadn't.
I saw the video but not the translation. My first thought was the old "act like you've been there before" but then I realized, they hadn't.
hahaha. it's basically taking multiple shots at Britain for leaving the EU and telling them to go home. As you said...
Wales played perhaps the most complete game by someone not named Germany today. In the past, Belgium had used their back 4 to stand tall and press the rest forward to control the tempo. They essentially dare you to have an offensive player better than their back 4. That isn't the smartest strategy to leave Bale in 1 on 1, so they changed what they did and the end result was everyone except Bale scored in a convincing 3-1 victory for the Red Dragons.
Germany breaks their Italy jinx. The Germans had never beaten the Italians in an international tournament. That's almost impossible to comprehend, but now the streak is no more. The game was high on tactical but low on excitement for the average fan, until the penalty shootout which went 9 rounds.
They really did. France is always tough at home regardless of the opponent but France did well to show the talent gap early. I give credit to Iceland to keep fighting and outscore the French in the 2nd half, but there's just too great a difference between the two countries. So, we have Portugal and Wales on one sides with France and Germany on the other.
What a fitting ending to this tournament. France who was totally dominated by Germany in the first 45 min. of their game and still took a 1-0 lead into halftime lost to a Portugal team that lost their world class player Rinaldo 25 min. into the game. Their keeper played out of his mind and when the ball got by him his posts made the save.
Watched the entire match. Very impressed by both teams. Nice win for Portugal without its star player for most of the night. I don't mind low scores when the defense is outstanding, as it was tonight on both sides. It's like watching a good pitchers' duel. Also, I noticed the Euros don't flop like the Latin American teams. Less drama. More enjoyable.