by Boxscarf » Tue Jun 19, 2012 12:10 am
So Croatia and Ireland go out. Spain and Italy qualify to face either England, France or Ukraine.
I think England and France will both qualify on 7 points, I suppose France will finish top and will meet Italy while England will get Spain.
Spain nor Italy have impressed me in this tournament, Spain have done what's needed to be done and Italy have qualified due to Ireland being extremely poor. Croatia is the team I feel sorry, they deserved to qualify, but what you deserve and what you get are often two very different things.
Spain weren't particularly impressive tonight, Croatia have shown teams how to play against Spain, however while the media and many fans are painting the current Spain team out to be the greatest team to ever play International football - I don't share that view and while I don't share that view, they will be difficult to beat, but they aren't unbeatable and had Croatia taken their chances they'd have won the match, because I felt they had the better chances tonight.
If England do beat Ukraine and do finish runners up in Group D, then I hope they'll relish the clash with Spain, rather than cower in fear. The worst thing England can do is start building Spain up and up like they did with the French. Never acknowledge your opponents strengths, never adjust your tactical approach to the opponents strengths. Focus on your strengths and your weaknesses, maximise your strengths and nullify your weaknesses. England have actually impressed me so far, I never gave England a cat in hells chance against the French, but they showed grit, determination and a fighting spirit, not usually seen with England. Again these qualities were on display against Sweden as England turned possible defeat into victory.
While England haven't been playing possession football (surprise, surprise), they have done well, they've done the basics well for the most part, apart from their attacking display in the first match and their defensive display in their second match. Hopefully they'll keep a clean sheet tomorrow and score a few goals. If Carroll starts I hope the lad scores a hattrick and puts himself in contention for the Golden Boot award (if they still do it?) England need the result tomorrow, so the pressure is on, but after that I hope they are able to play without expectation, play without pressure and just enjoy the tournament. Nobody is expecting England to advance past the QF's, least of all me. But if they approach the Spain match with a 'nothing to lose and everything to gain' mentality, there is no reason why England cannot upset the apple cart and dump the reigning Champions out of the competition.
I would love nothing more than to see England win Euro 2012, not because I'm a fan of the England team, but because I would love nothing more than to see Roy Hodgson lifting one of European footballs finest trophies. I like Hodgson, he's a decent fella, capable of good and bad like everyone else, but the abuse he suffered as Liverpool manager and the abuse he has suffered as England man has been unwarranted and I would love to see him make the editor of the scum newspaper who mocked his speech impediment eat a huge slice of humble pie in the process.
Go on Roy!
If there is room for anything else in-between the Rooney w
and rooney taps it in.
