The 2002 World Cup ultimately had too many bolters that diluted the quality of the semi-finals somewhat. This tournament is bordering on the same now.
Bolters in the Euros have pedigree.
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France have more quality than other country. Giroud is a functional player who has proved his worth for them. Benzema is a great player and was excellent tonight but his selection upset the psychological balance in the team.
The 1 point from 6 against Turkey in the qualifiers may not have been a great sign of the French after all. Deschamps to be sacked?
It didn’t help Mbappe is involved in a transfer Saga either tbf.
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He’ll walk I’d say.
The Greeks had no tradition in 2004. Think they’d never won a game at a tournament beforehand.
Deschamps has a weird faith in Sissoko; there are definitely better players not in the squad. But he likes his pace.
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One big team, France, has gone out to an underdog. Holland were never a real contender. Portugal went out to a contender. So did Croatia.
In 2002 two of the favourites went out in the group stage. The other one went out in the last 16.
There’s loads of quality left yet in this tournament.
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I bloody wish I was around for 1990 and 1994.
Deschamps has surely done enough for another crack at it in Qatar.
Must explain why Southgate isn’t letting Sancho near the pitch despite his obvious talent and pace.
France really payed the ultimate price of Neil Lennon making a balls of Celtic and sending Osmanne Eduard’s form into the toilet
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UEFA need to go one further and expand to 32 teams
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Zidane waiting in the wings probably muddies the waters
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- Mbappe
- Lukaku
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It is unfortunate thought that England v Germany meet in the Round of 16. That’s a heavyweight pairing worthy of the final.
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We are lucky that John Delaney put forward Croke Park, Dublin as the venue for this Round of 16 clash tomorrow, June 30th, 2020.
England are hardly a heavyweight considering they’ve only ever won one knockout game in the Euros and that was via lottery
One of the great shames …he was coming to the boil nicely …