Euro 2020

England is actually one of the most talented teams in the world. They were the 3rd betting favorite after France and Belgium. They just can't seem to put it together mentally in big tournaments.

Yeah, what they love doing in most tournaments is to play a couple of games that make you think, "Damn - if you play like that you could do this." And then fall to pieces.
 
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Yeah, what they love doing in most tournaments is to play a couple of games that make you think, "Damn - if you play like that you could do this." And then fall to pieces.

On paper, if England can beat Germany, there's no reason why England shouldn't make the final. However, the same could have been said at the World Cup and they went out to Croatia unexpectedly. Even a weakened Germany should be the same, in that whoever wins this game should be favourite to make the final.
 
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Portugal had five billion chances but squandered them against Belgium for a 1-0 victory to Belgium.

That was a tough game. Portugal was lucky not to get even more cards than they did, but yeah, quite the thriller until the very end. I think the game against Italy will be very similar.
Go Belgium tho. :)
 
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Daaammn, last night's games were CRAZY. And what an upset, France abruptly kicked out by the Swiss. They played with so much heart it was hard not to root for them, as they bravely struggled against the French star-studded team. France had an extremely poor defensive showing though, they're usually pretty well organized but not so last night.

Today the big game: Germany-England.
 
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I have no idea what is going on with Mbappe, he's been few levels below his usual self this tournament. A missed penalty can happen to anyone but it will not help him.
 
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"… I don't remember how the game was. I was [too busy with] just watching the advertisement banners."
 
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"Those bloody Germans !"

I strongly assume that The Sun will also have its amount of insults as well.
 
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Congratulations to England - the better team won.
 
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"Those bloody Germans !"

I strongly assume that The Sun will also have its amount of insults as well.

Yeah, don't listen to those tossers. The vicious gutter press is a big part of the reason the England team are usually nervous wrecks!
 
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I can't believe the Germans had such a long winning streak at Wembley Stadium. Was a very exciting match and you could feel the tension.

Now it's time for Spain and Italy to lose and get a new champion in there.
 
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I can't believe the Germans had such a long winning streak at Wembley Stadium. Was a very exciting match and you could feel the tension.

There's a lot of nonsense involved in this supposed big rivalry between the German and England team regarding past results. It strikes me as a very contrived notion that seems more imagined than a reality.

For the World Cup:

1966 - England won (final)
1970 - Germany won (quarter final)
1982 - Draw (group stage)
1990 - Draw (Germany wins on penalties) (semi final)
2010 - Germany won (round of 16)

So they've only played against Germany 4 times since 1966 in the WC and Germany have only won 3 times, one of which was really a draw.

For the European Cup:

1996 - Draw (Germany wins on penalties) (semi finals)
2000 - England won (group stage)
2020 - England won (round of 16)

So Germany have never beaten England at the Euros if you count going to penalties as a draw and even if you don't it was still already 1-1 going into that match.

Combine the two and its:

England 3 Germany 2 with 3 draws
or
England 3 Germany 4 with 1 draw

I think it's more to do with the fact that the two penalty wins were both semi-finals quite close together and so looms larger in people's memory than the reality of the two teams being remarkably equal.

So they adjusted their pitch to be "55 years since they beat Germany 'In a knock-out match" thereby removing that awkward time we won in the group stages in 2000 and the time we drew in the group stages in 1982.

Well, that only leaves 4 times they've met between 1966 and 2021, it's not even once per 10 years. It's a barely credible stat, especially if you then factor in the penalty wins as draws, as Germany have only beaten England twice in open play in the last 55 years!
 
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Another big game for us tonight. There better not be any more of this sort of crap. This is why I'm not really into football culture - I can't stand this sort of mentality.

At least this bloke is trying to set it right.
 
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That was really disgusting. Being a sore loser is bad, but being a sore winner? It's on a whole new level.

Anyway, I missed the Belgium - Italy game but I watched the Switzerland - Spain game. While the game was very one-sided, Swiss GK, Sommer, really shined. He even saved a penalty in the shootout. He was very solid throughout the whole tournament. He is 32, I think, but GKs can play in top form for longer than outfield players so I can see bigger clubs scrambling to sign him.
 
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