Euro games reports

[uttis]

Is Michael Oliver on a back hander or what?

[great_fire]

Looks like they wanted the host to go further in the competition.

[Lolmorgan]

If common sense doesn’t come back into the game with VAR, football will die.

[GlennMiller]

The irony of minute margins. Andersen's goal is ruled out for a minute offside VAR call. Seconds later, a minute brush of the ball against Andersen's naturally placed hand results in a VAR inspired converted penalty. Since when did such minute issues matter in our once great game!?

[Lolmorgan]

What happened to this clear & obvious rule.

[Brin]

Well, here we are with our 'do or die' game if we wish to progress. It's fair to say it's been an abysmal performance so far from our lot. When you reflect, it's a good job we were put in a relatively easy group otherwise we'd have been long back at home as stronger teams would have seen us off.

What does Southgate do, team wise, today? He's damned if he plays his usual safety game looking for a goal on the break or from a set piece and we lose or, if he gets brave enough to start the likes of Palmer and Gordon and again, drops Kane if he hasn't scored in the first half and brings on Watkins/Toney and we lose? I'd say go brave and then IF we lose he can always say, 'Well I tried what most fans were crying out for and it still didn't work'

Here's some news from Southgate...."It could be another brilliant night to create more memories for our supporters," he said.
"I have played in a semi-final of a major tournament, and managed in a semi-final and a final. Tomorrow, it's about the team progressing.
"We shouldn't have a fear of losing, it's about opportunity. We are trying to reach for something which is a challenge.
"We have lost matches before, life goes on. At that point when you can handle the worst you are free to try and go and win the game."


We'll see Gareth, we'll see.......

Some team news in that Phil Foden is back in the squad after returning home this week to attend the birth of his child.
Left-back Luke Shaw has been training after a long-term hamstring injury but is not ready to start, while Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo could come into midfield after coming on at half-time against Slovenia.

In case you've forgotten, Slovakia, ranked 45th in the world, produced one of the shocks of the group stage when they beat Belgium 1-0. They followed that up with a 2-1 defeat to Ukraine before a 1-1 draw with Romania saw them through as one of the four best third-placed teams.

Another banana skin game for us? Let's hope we're all happy with the result come the final whistle.

[the_idiotb_stardson]

Well, here we are with our 'do or die' game if we wish to progress. It's fair to say it's been an abysmal performance so far from our lot. When you reflect, it's a good job we were put in a relatively easy group otherwise we'd have been long back at home as stronger teams would have seen us off.

What does Southgate do, team wise, today? He's damned if he plays his usual safety game looking for a goal on the break or from a set piece and we lose or, if he gets brave enough to start the likes of Palmer and Gordon and again, drops Kane if he hasn't scored in the first half and brings on Watkins/Toney and we lose? I'd say go brave and then IF we lose he can always say, 'Well I tried what most fans were crying out for and it still didn't work'

Here's some news from Southgate...."It could be another brilliant night to create more memories for our supporters," he said.
"I have played in a semi-final of a major tournament, and managed in a semi-final and a final. Tomorrow, it's about the team progressing.
"We shouldn't have a fear of losing, it's about opportunity. We are trying to reach for something which is a challenge.
"We have lost matches before, life goes on. At that point when you can handle the worst you are free to try and go and win the game."


We'll see Gareth, we'll see.......

Some team news in that Phil Foden is back in the squad after returning home this week to attend the birth of his child.
Left-back Luke Shaw has been training after a long-term hamstring injury but is not ready to start, while Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo could come into midfield after coming on at half-time against Slovenia.

In case you've forgotten, Slovakia, ranked 45th in the world, produced one of the shocks of the group stage when they beat Belgium 1-0. They followed that up with a 2-1 defeat to Ukraine before a 1-1 draw with Romania saw them through as one of the four best third-placed teams.

Another banana skin game for us? Let's hope we're all happy with the result come the final whistle.

England will win tonight-not that I care- and all the hype will begin again.

This will continue until they are beaten by the tactically superior Swiss or Austrians.

My choice would be for the Godfather of Geggenpressing- Ralph Rangnick to enjoy a sweet revenge over the dumb English media who hounded him during his reign at Man Utd.

Even supporters with a rudimentary grasp of football appreciate his huge influence on the modern game- infact it can be argued that he was the main influence behind Germanys last world cup win.

I then hope Ragnick goes on to lift the trophy and cast a glance at the pouting, sulky- 5 years past his best- Ronaldo who inexplicably claimed he had never heard of Ragnick during his enormous tantrum at Old Trafford.

For a modern footballer to claim he has never heard of Ragnick is a bit like a monk asking a colleague to explain who the Jeaus fella was.

[Grist_To_The_Mill]

Surely we can't feck this one up?

[Back of the net]

We will win tonight and go on to win the tournament.
Genuinely patriotic fans who don’t hate our country will celebrate as they should.

[Brin]

Come on you little minnows!!!! Really enjoyed watching Georgia beat Portugal the other night and I in Keven Keegan style 'Would love it' if they could repeat the same against Spain. Shame but I can't see that happening.

What they have achieved though has been fantastic for such a small country to choose players from and how they've set about each game.

Spain's young footballers Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams are "great for the sport" - but Georgia manager Willy Sagnol's admiration stops there as he plots their last-16 downfall at Euro 2024.
Yamal, 16, and Williams, 21, have been two of the standout attackers in Germany and will be opponents for Georgia in Cologne on Sunday (20:00 BST kick-off).
"It’s always nice to see young players come in at the top level," said Sagnol.
"Lamine is 16 years old. I try to remember where I was when I was 16… I was miles away from that! It's nice and brings something fresh to football.
"I think the problem of the football world is that in the last 15 years, it has been like a ping pong [match] between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi - so this is great for the sport."
Playing in their first major tournament, Georgia's team have defied the odds to reach the knockout stages, already surpassing expectations in their home country.
It will be a special occasion for Georgia when they take on three-time European champions Spain, yet Sagnol does not want his side to fear the opposition.
"Spain have shown lots of very, very good things in the group stages - but also Georgia has shown some interesting things," Sagnol said.
"Spain didn't concede any goals and it's clearly the best team from the competition up until now. That's why it's going to be a tough match.
"We've played four times against them recently and we lost four times, but it's a different game, and so, many things can happen."

Match stats:

Spain's 7-1 win in Euro 2024 qualifying was the only time Georgia have conceded seven goals in an international fixture.
Georgia's one win in seven meetings against Spain came in a June 2016 friendly in Getafe, with Tornike Okriashvili scoring in a 1-0 win.
Spain have been knocked out in the last16 in three of their past four major tournament appearances.
Georgia are into the knockout stages in their first major international tournament.
Georges Mikautadze has scored (3) or assisted (1) all four of Georgia's goals at Euro 2024.
Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili has saved 16 of the last 17 shots on target he has faced in the tournament.

They've lightened up the Euros but I can only see a Spanish win.