Loving the Euros? I certainly am…
The football is top-end and as mentioned last week, the officiating has been great regarding the way games are being allowed to flow, especially the infrequent stoppages and quick VAR decisions. I fancied France from the start, but after their group-stage game against Portugal, my mind changed…
For me, Les Bleus were second best. That was following Germany’s destruction of Portugal, and the Germans have been nowhere near their usual quality.
It really is one of those tournaments that you just can’t predict.
Form team Italy could quite easily have been dumped by Austria, had Marko Arnautovic’s brilliant header not been ruled out for offside! And with Holland undone by the Czechs, results continue to defy the odds.
England are as they’ve always been… starting games quick, playing high up the field and then gradually retreating – especially after scoring – into boring, uninspired and predictable football.
Tonight’s game against Germany is probably the most interesting of the Last 16. I find it embarrassing that the English press continue to splash back-page headlines relating the game to historic warfare between the nations. What a bunch of sad bastards and even sadder is the fact that a large portion of the English public see it the same way.
I think the game will go to a penalty shootout. It will be interesting to see the likes of Timo Werner, Kai Havertz and Antonio Rudiger against Mason Mount, Ben Chilwell and Reece James! Chelsea v Chelsea.
Also interesting is the timing of Uefa releasing new rules that will change European football dramatically. I wonder why they break the news mid-tournament? They’ve approved a proposal that will see the away-goals rule scrapped from all club competitions from next season.
This means it will not be used in the Champions League, Europa League or Europa Conference League next season.
Ties in which both teams score the same number of goals over two legs will no longer be decided on the number of away goals scored, instead with two 15-minute periods of extra time at the end of the second-leg. If there is no winner after the additional half hour, a penalty shootout will determine the outcome.
According to the Uefa committee that proposed the change, the impact of the current rule – which was implemented in 1965 – now runs counter to its original purpose as, in fact, it dissuades home teams – especially in first legs – from attacking, because they fear conceding a goal that would give their opponents a crucial advantage.
As with most of us, I’m generally against the continued changing of rules, even though some of them have been rather beneficial.
And while I understand the argument that home teams aren’t as aggressive as they might be, away teams often are more aggressive than they would be. I still feel the away-goal rule added real drama.
It’s disappointing to think that by the end of this weekend we’ll have seen all the quarterfinals!
The Euros are just flying by, with the semis next week and the final the following Sunday.
However, just over four weeks after that the Premier League kicks off again, with of course a barrage of transfer activity in-between.
On a more serious note, I’ve been reading about the current Delta Covid variant that is sweeping across the country…
It’s much more contagious than previous strain and it’s still nowhere near its peak in the Western Cape.
So as always, let’s stay safe, keep your distance, mask up and wash dem handies…
Come on England!