Euro 2020 Thread (Or should it be Euro 2021?)

[hallelujah]

You are a nice man

Generous to a fault.

[harrybarracuda]

He doesn't exactly inspire confidence and a mistake always seems to be around the corner with him, but he's generally done well this tournament. I think most people are hoping that Henderson or Johnstone at WBA will eventually usurp him though.

And yet he just broke Gordon Bank's record.

[hallelujah]

And yet he just broke Gordon Bank's record.

It's a funny ol' game etc.

[helge]

Denmark made their substitutions

And couldn't replace Mathias Jensen when he left the field to get his stitches

Can't happen

[happynz]

If football doesn't work out for Denmark's Yannick Vestergaard he should consider switching codes from football to rugby union. He's a big enough lad to play lock.

[PAG]

Apparently shops have been running out of England flags to sell, and it's been reported that some desperate fans have resorted to buying French flags and painting red crosses on them.

[hallelujah]

It certainly looked wild enough when we scored/won last night:





Proper mayhem.

[Troy]

England should be disqualified for the laser incident...

That'll teach 'em...

[cyrille]

In football, dribbling is the equivalent of Mike Tyson's punch in the face: it messes with all plans.

Raheem Sterling completed more dribbles in extra-time (4) than Antoine Griezmann (3), Gareth Bale (3), Thorgan Hazard (3), Diogo Jota (2) and Kai Havertz (2) managed all tournament.

Maehle (sp?) had been brilliant all tournament, but being a right footed left back was something England exploited. Especially after the Danish manager messed up by using up all of his subs on the hour.

Southgate's team selection and use of subs has been an absolute tactical masterclass.

[dirk diggler]

England should be disqualified for the laser incident...

That'll teach 'em...

They should be disqualified for the cheating that led to the infringement of light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation direct to the goalkeeper's corneas.

[harrybarracuda]

Imagine having that miserable, humourless fucker for a boss.

Should have had one of these.

An England fan who pulled a sickie to watch the Three Lions beat Denmark at Wembley was sacked after her employer spotted her on TV.

Digital content producer Nina Farooqi, 37, pretended to be ill so she could travel from Ilkley, west Yorkshire, to London for the Euro semi-final.

She said her friend had won last-minute tickets through a ballot and that her company was unlikely to give her the day off due to being short-staffed.

As a football superfan, the opportunity was too good to pass up and she had to catch a lunchtime train from Leeds to London to make it in time for kick-off on Wednesday evening.

But heartwarming scenes of Nina and her friend celebrating England’s equalising goal featured on the BBC’s live feed for five seconds and was soon picked up by broadcasters around the world.

She said her phone ‘blew up’ at half-time, with messages from friends in Australia and the US who said seen her on their screens, and even discovered TV presenter Stacey Dooley had shared the footage on Instagram.

Nina took a 6am train back up to Yorkshire to get to work on time but received a call later that morning telling her not to bother coming in.

The 37-year-old told The Daily Telegraph: ‘They said they’d seen I’d been at the game, and I was honest about why I did it.

‘But I didn’t get any sympathy at all and they said that’s it. That’s their call and the consequence of what I did.

‘It’s mixed emotions: we’re through to the final, I’m still on that high, but I’ve also lost my job.

‘There is a bit of regret, no one wants to get fired, but then also I would have hated the regret of missing out. I’d do it all over again.’

Nina said she used her office job to fund her trips to football games while freelancing as a football photographer and video producer and that friends in the women’s game had rallied round to source offers of new work for her.

She added: ‘This hasn’t come around since 1996, I vividly remember crying on my mum’s sofa when Gareth Southgate missed his penalty, and the football fan in me just couldn’t do it. Football is my life.’

Euro 2020: Woman fired for pulling sickie to watch Wembley semi-final | Metro News

[cyrille]

Nina Farooqi, 37,

Should have had one of these.

A disguise would have been better.

[Edmond]

Give her a job Gaz.


Would just about move him to the level of sainthood.


Come the end of the summer he'll be knighting the queen.

[cyrille]

I see the bloke who did such a terrific job working as VAR in the England vs Denmark game has been rewarded with a spot on the VAR panel for the final.

Good show!

[harrybarracuda]

I see the bloke who did such a terrific job working as VAR in the England vs Denmark game has been rewarded with a spot on the VAR panel for the final.

Good show!

I don't see what all the fuss is about. Obvious penalty.

[Edmond]

Apparently also up for a knighthood.

[helge]

Apparently also up for a knighthood.

That'll anger Cyrillo

[Switch]

That'll anger Cyrillo

The British honours and awards system remains an anachronism. Despite attempts to make it more relevant, it is still viewed as being supportive of class system that is no longer relevant in the modern world.

Sir Sean Connery disagrees.

[David48atTD]

Apparently shops have been running out of England flags to sell, and it's been reported that some desperate fans have resorted to buying French flags and painting red crosses on them.

That took a second for the penny to drop.

[David48atTD]

Prediction?

Dan (Italian) and Simon (a Pom) are sports journalists

Dan: Italy 4-1 England
Simon: Italy 1-0 after extra time.
For England to get to a major final is extraordinary, a ground-breaking moment for generations of supporters who have known nothing but disappointment.
England's young, likeable side have been a revelation and it will be a fitting reward for both them and the bravery of coach Gareth Southgate to lift the trophy in front of home support. However, I think Italy will just be too strong.

---

If Italy wins I will…

Dan: Kiss every one of my colleagues in the office while singing Nessun Dorma, have a big plate of lasagne and glass of Chianti for breakfast, then start dreaming about the World Cup in 18 months time.


If England wins I will…

Simon: Probably cry a little bit. Then, when I've recovered some composure, sing "It's coming home" and throw beer in the air while eating a bucket of vindaloo, until I can sing no more. Or Dan hits me.

Lots more here

[baldrick]

when the national team plays, domestic violence in England increases by 26 per cent. If England loses, the figure is even higher — DV surges by 38 per cent.

stella

[Jofrey]

Lots of polls in the Irish media asking who they would prefer to win. Results are overwhelmingly in favour of Italy.

Reading the comments on these polls is quite an experience. References to 800 years of oppression, Brexit and Tory scum abound.....nothing about football. On another twitter thread a guy called for English flags to be burned if people hung them up outside their houses in Ireland. He didn't enjoy my comparison of his views to the Orange order/Loyalist bonfires in the North where they burn Irish flags.

It may be time to move on from the old ways of thinking. If England win, I'll be happy for Southgate and all the players. Lads like Sterling, Kane, Rashford and Grealish all seem dead sound and they are playing for sport - not politics. If turds like Boris Johnson want to seize on the moment, we'll just have to deal with that as it happens.

However, I do reckon Italy are a better team and may just edge it....either way, best of luck to both teams.

[cyrille]

^

Lads like Sterling, Kane, Rashford and Grealish all seem dead sound.

But as with everything else about 'What England are like' this is now getting massively overplayed in the English media. It's quite understandable that other nations get sick of hearing it (only if they check out English media of course.)

I'm starting to tire of it myself - doubtless the players in other teams are just as likeable/dislikeable.

[helge]

The British honours and awards system remains an anachronism.

We are saying:

"Medals you pin on idiots", and by accepting them, I guess you confirm that theory.

Embarrasing

[Edmond]

With all that's gone on in the last 18 months, if they actually win it at Wembley, there's just gonna be mass fucking in the streets.


With Chitty videoing from inside his builder's van.