Euro 2020 thread (Part 1)

5869

Karim Benzema scored twice tonight. And at least one of them was a lovely goal, I can’ barely remember the other one, so much has happened in the last six hours, oh yeah, he headed in from a yard.

But when Deschamps recalled Benzema, he signalled that this France would be a Travelling Wilburys circus, not the disciplined special forces unit of 2018. That’s why they lost. Because as well as displaying outrageous footballing ability tonight, France were also a Kevin Keegan style shambles. They were Brazil 1982 crossed with Newcastle 1996 crossed with PSG of recent years at their worst.

Benzema was not the problem. But recalling Benzema was.

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5870

They reminded me a bit of the French defence in 1982. They went out on penalties as well after leading 3-1.

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5871

Some lads way too quick to anoint Mbappe the best player in the world

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5872

Do you not think it’s more likely people are too quick to dismiss him after a couple of poor games?

He was class at the World Cup, for example.

5873

Very harsh to discredit his abilities after one bad tournament. Didn’t Ronaldo stink out the 98 final.

5874

Tomorrow late afternoon.

5875

The euro’s is a bear pit, harder to win than the stinky world cup

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5876

I hate shocks in tournament knock out stages. Switzerland v Spain not a great one for the neutral.
Unless you’re swiss.

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5877

Agree he’s a brilliant player. However, even at this stage in their careers he’s nowhere near Messi or Ronaldo. Massively reliant on his pace

5878

He was poor enough against City in the Champions League semi-final too but he was carrying an injury I think.

5879

Ronaldo was a spotty cod of a man with a wafty fringe at his age.

5880

You want to see the big teams make it to the end but at the same time you need a genuine sense that they could lose or else the early stages are pointless. 1 or 2 bolters is enough to make a tournament.

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5881

Keane and Veira both said same thing. Watch him for the Swiss third goal. A show pony

5882

He’ll forever be considered mentally weak now. He’ll never really shake it off.

5883

He’s already done more on the major stage of international football than Messi.

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5884

Mbappe is a fucking great player. But he was terrible tonight and believed his own hype going into this tournament. Deschamps lost control of the group. I’m reminded of Jimmy Sloyan telling us who ran the Mayo team. Mbappe is such a star that he now has a large say in running the team. Benzema would not have come back otherwise. Big players have missed penalties before. Maradona missed. Van Basten missed. If Mbappe has any head on him at all he’ll use tonight as a lesson and come back better. France still have the best squad in the world and will still have in 17 months’ time.

5885

I’d say he’s one of the best players in the world now and has the potential to be the best player in the world in 2 or 3 years time. He’s still only 22 in fairness.

5886

Not at that level yet, but he’s definitely one of the top players in the world. He is ridiculously quick but does have nice feet too. Even today, had a lovely flick to set up the second goal.

5887

Ronaldo did have some sort of an epileptic life threatening fit a few hours before kick off in the 1998 World Cup Final. He was outstanding all tournament up until then, but rising from his near death bed to do his stuff in a World Cup final was a bridge too far.

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5888

Benzema and Giroud both heading for 35, for all the talk of squad depth when you are brining on a cart horse like sissoko in a knock out game it puts the proof in the pudding.

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