EURO 2024 and Copa America 2024 Championships

After Portugal beat Czech Republic 2-1 and Turkey beat Georgia 3-1 yesterday, the second round of group games start today at the Euros.

Three teams really need to get at least a point on the board from today's games if they want to have a realistic chance of making the last 16.

Due to their goal difference from the first game, only being able to reach 3 points from the group would make it hard for Scotland and Croatia to progress if they lose again. Croatia should get the points against Albania, but Scotland will find it hard against Switzerland. Hungary don't have a terrible goal difference yet...but unfortunately for them they're playing Germany, and have the most difficult game today to get anything from.

Wins for Germany and Switzerland today will see them qualify, and likely make Scotland-Hungary in the last group game a dead rubber and for pride only.

 

So much for that prediction! Albania get a deserved 2-2 draw with Croatia, and Croatia now need to beat Italy in their last group game if they're going to progress from the group. It's looking a bit like a tournament too far for Croatia's golden generation.

 

The 2 Euros Group A matches today finished Germany 2-0 Hungary, and Scotland 1-1 Switzerland.

Germany have qualified for the last 16 with 6 points so far, and Switzerland are pretty much guaranteed to as well with 4 points (no team has ever failed to qualify from a Euros group with 4 points). Scotland had a much improved performance than they managed against Germany, and with 1 point earned, they should qualify as a best 3rd place team at worst if they can beat Hungary in their last group game to get to 4 points. Hungary are almost certainly out with 0 points so far, but have a very slim chance if they can beat Scotland heavily in the last game, but with a -4 goal difference so far it would have to be a big win indeed to get one of the best 3rd place spots.

Tomorrow's games see a heavyweight clash between Italy and Spain who both won their first game in Group B, as well as games in Group C between Slovenia and Serbia, and England and Denmark. A win for England would see them qualify.

 

The 2 Group C games from today's Euros both finished 1-1, so England not yet officially qualified, although a draw keeps them in the driving seat for winning the group. They didn't play well against Denmark though, and Denmark probably deserved the win more. Even the commentators on BBC (usually overly praising of England...) were frustrated with England not being more adventurous and just plain poor for the offensive talent they have. They were hugely critical of Southgate, assuming he's setting them out to be, having them sit back and be too defensive.

England are on 4 points, with Denmark and Slovenia on 2, and Serbia on 1, before the last games in the group. England-Slovenia and Denmark-Serbia are the last group games.

Today's main event, Spain-Italy, will kick off in just over an hour.

 

No such thing as an ex jock, we're Scottish 'til we die

 

Spain beat Italy 1-0. The Spanish have been one of the most impressive teams so far, but they should have beaten Italy by more (20 shots to 4) as they dominated the game. They have the old Spanish failing of having so much possession and good play, but not scoring the number of goals that they really should do. Still, they've now qualified for the last 16 and will be one of the favourites for the title.

 

It's really only some English folk that use "Jock" to call all Scots people that, like some use "Paddy" to call all Irish people. Both are mildly annoying, Scottish people don't really like it being used and would never use it ourselves. More insulting is when they use Cockney slang to change jock to "sweaty sock"....now that could end in violence if said direct to our faces!

 

Today's Euro games are Slovakia-Ukraine, Poland-Austria and Netherlands-France. The last one is the game of the day, are the Netherlands back to the kind of form that can challenge the French, or will it be a straightforward win for Mbappe and co? I expect the latter, as don't think the Dutch are back near the top table of European football just yet.

 

Ukraine beat Slovakia 2-1 which means, if Belgium beat Romania tomorrow, that all 4 teams in the group could go into the last game with 3 points and with all to play for.

Austria beat Poland 3-1 and, with Netherlands-France ending in the first goal-less result of the tournament, that means that Poland are the first team to be officially eliminated. They can't catch either the Netherlands or France on 4 points and, even if they managed a win over France in their final game, they can't finish 3rd as Austria have the head-to-head advantage over them.

 

Yesterday's results at the Euros saw Portugal qualify for the last 16 with a 3-0 win over Turkey, and Belgium got their first win on the table with a 2-0 result over Romania, which does indeed see all 4 teams in that group go into the last game with 3 points and all to play for. The final game yesterday saw Georgia and Czech Republic draw 1-1, which keeps them both in with a chance of qualifying going into their last group game if either gets a win against Portugal and Turkey respectively.

Today sees the final group games played in Group A, with Germany and Switzerland fighting it out to win the group, and Scotland and Hungary hoping they can get the result in their game that could see them qualify too. A draw wouldn't do it for either team. Going to be a nailbiting time in the Claymore95 household! With it being the final game, both kick off at the same 9pm Central European Time.

There's also the small matter of USA kicking off their Copa tournament against Bolivia later on tonight...

 

Group A of the Euros is complete, with Germany winning the group and qualifying along with Switzerland after a 1-1 draw. Hungary beat Scotland 1-0 with a goal 10 minutes into injury time and have to wait to see if 3 points and a -3 goal difference is enough to get them one of the 4 best 3rd place spots. Scotland are eliminated.

And now I'm going to have a wee rant. Scotland were pathetic! A game they had to win and they were completely toothless, as they were against Grrmany. It was only with 10 mins to go that we actually tried to win the game, as never even had a chance before that. Scotland top domestic goal scorer, Lawrence Shankland, did more in the 20 minutes he had than Adams did in the two and 3/4 games he had over Shankland. Every Scotland supporter wanted Shankland to be starting. They didn't deserve to qualify, but not even going for it until it was too late is unforgivable.

I have a tongue in cheek laugh at England's Southgate being too defensive, but he has nothing on Scotland's Clarke. He should, but I bet he won't, be sacked for someone who actually will try to win a game. We might not be one of the better teams in Europe, but we're better than he's had us showing in this tournament.

 

Yeah, it was weird with the player that was knocked out and surrounded by sheets and medical staff. They showed a replay after he was taken off to see if it was a penalty, and it all looked pretty innocuous. It was unclear from the replay what happened and where he was injured. There was a clash, but nothing you don't see in just about every game. Maybe there was another replay angle that showed what happened more clearly and they didn't show it out of respect for the injured player. But good that he seems to have recovered, as there was a lot of worry there from the players on the pitch.

Agree re Scotland, no pace on the pitch at all up front, and practically no threat. That was always a worry, as it was that we were missing our top 2 RB/RWB's, a position that every team we played, rightly, saw as a weakness and attacked. Ralston was out of his depth in the first 2 games, but will give him his due that he played a little better last night. My gripe with the lack of attacking threat is that we didn't try anything else. Shankland for Adams should have been much earlier, if not from the start. Shankland doesn't have pace, but he at least has a goal threat and did better at holding the ball up and offering something than Adams did in all 3 games where he was doing little but running around like a headless chicken. And we have wingers in Morgan and Forrest that should have at least be given a chance to offer something, anything, more than we had shown...not just 10 minutes for Morgan when it was too late! All Scotland fans think Clarke sticks with his favourites for far too long, and that game was a microcosm of the issues fans have with him. If he stays, and I bet the suits find a reason to stick with him, then I fear we won't be qualifying for another tournament anytime soon.

Injuries were a problem for Scotland, with Aaron Hickey, Nathan Patterson, Lewis Ferguson and Lyndon Dykes all missing the tournament, and Kieran Tierney being injured against Switzerland. With a small player pool, losing some key players is going to be an issue for a team like Scotland. But, even with those available, I struggle to think it would have made a difference.

 

Italy score a equalizing goal in the 8th minute of injury time to qualify as Group B runners up, and to break Croatian hearts. They must have thought they'd won and qualified with less than a minute remaining, but now have to wait to see if 2 points is enough to get them through as a best 3rd place team...I doubt it.

Spain beat Albania 1-0, and had made 10 changes to their team as had already won the group. Albania go home, but they made a good impression on many in the toughest group of them all. A draw against Croatia and defeats by 1 goal to Spain and Italy is nothing to be ashamed about.

 

I always remember, unfortunately, the 1990 World Cup when Scotland opened against Costa Rica. Every Scottish fan thought "easy win"...but of course, in true Scottish fashion, it was anything but! A 1-0 defeat followed by a 2-1 win over Sweden and a 1-0 loss to Brazil saw us exit, as per usual, at the group stage

 

Busy day at the Euros with 4 games and 2 groups finalised. England play Slovenia and a point would confirm progression, although the 4 points they already have will probably be enough.

Group D also is completed today, with France playing the already eliminated Poland, and the group surprise package, Austria, playing Netherlands.

 

Well, the surprise package beat Netherlands 3-2 to end up topping the group, after France drew 1-1 with Poland. I think it's fair to say Austria are dark horses for the tournament now, and I don't think any team will be looking forward to playing them. At the moment, looks like they'll be facing Turkey in the last 16, but could also be Czech Republic or Georgia.

France will play the runners up from Group E, so anyone really as that's the group with all 4 teams on 3 points currently. Netherlands also qualify as one of the best 3rd place teams, but will need to see who they end up playing once the groups are finished.

 

If England can beat Slovenia (currently 0-0 at half-time) or get a point and win the group anyway (basically would need Denmark not to beat Serbia by more than a goal for that to happen - also currently 0-0 at half-time), the draw will open up for them a lot, as they'll be in the opposite half to Spain, Germany, France and Portugal. Clearly that's not going to be an easy half to get out of!

Of course, if Denmark do pip them to be group winners and England finish runners-up, they'd face Germany next and be in the "wrong" half of the draw, lol. They'd probably be better losing to Slovenia in that case and qualifying in 3rd, as then would be in the other half with that result too. Someone should keep an eye on the Denmark-Serbia game and let them know if it goes to 2-0/3-0/etc and they're behind Slovenia (ie. just let them win, boys...)

This will all probably be academic of course, and England will beat Slovenia. But they've not exactly looked world beating (again) in the first half.

 

It is pretty apt that both final games in Group C have finished 0-0, in what has been the most snore inducing group at the Euros.

Germany scored more goals themselves in their group than all the teams in this group combined. There was only 1 win in the 6 group games, and that by England over Serbia in the first game means England win the group, Denmark finish 2nd and Slovenia finish 3rd. They were both level on points, goal difference, goals scored...so it went to yellow cards issued*. Again, apt for the group.

The results confirm that Croatia have been eliminated, as they can't finish as one of the four best 3rd place teams now.

*Edit - actually, it wasn't even yellow cards that put Denmark ahead of Slovenia, that was level too, it went down as far in the rule book as better qualifying record...and they were in same qualifying group...and finished level on points there too...but Denmark had the head-to-head tiebreaker

 

The group stages of the Euros are completed today, and we'll have the full lineup for the last 16 confirmed.

In Group E, it's likely that 3 of the 4 teams will qualify as they're all on 3 points already, and the eventual 3rd placed team only need to better Hungary's -3 goal difference to go through. Current goal difference in brackets: Slovakia (0) play Romania (+1), and Belgium (+1) play Ukraine (-2). Slovakia-Romania could be a boring 0-0, as that result would see both teams go through. I don't see either going gung-ho for the win (watch it be one of the best games of the tournament now ). Ukraine really need to push for the win, as they're relying on either Slovakia or Romania winning if they only manage a draw with Belgium.

In Group F, Georgia play Portugal and need a win to progress, which would seem unlikely but Portugal may rest players as they've already won the group. Turkey play Czech Republic in the other game, with Czech Republic also needing the win if they're to progress.

 

Group E finishes with all four teams on 4 points after two draws, and Ukraine are the ones to miss out on progressing via goal difference. Romania and Slovakia actually went for it in a 1-1 draw, but Belgium were clearly happy with the draw late on as they sat back and drew 0-0 with Ukraine. Their reward for settling for the draw is a last 16 tie with France...

 

I read that it's the first time a team with 4 points has failed to progress from the groups at the Euros, which makes it even tougher luck for Ukraine (especially when Slovenia have progressed from England's group with 3 points).

8 changes for Portugal...which looks like it might hand Georgia a place in the last 16 seeing as they're now 2-0 on them. Fair play to them though as, even with 8 changes, Portugal are still a good team.

 

Yeah, Darren Fletcher is usually commentating over here. I can't recall if he's one that I like, most of them do my head in

Czechia doing well to level after playing most of the game with 10 men, will be some result if they can do it. You wouldn't think they're the team playing with a man short at the moment. This ref loves a card or 10!