Five decades of euro pain is over. Italia!!

What an exceptional tournament, and how fitting that our new Euro Archon, who has gallantly tried to be a diplomat between a classic European football rivalry which boiled over in the lead up to this titanic final, tipped a 1-1 final result. Over the month this well-mannered football observer has made some wise calculations, arguable none better than a prediction for the Final; may you bask in the glory over the next 12 months Yianni, for no doubt you will be back trying to be the first to win the double at next year's World Cup. Well done to Dung who till the semi-finals was pushing Yianni. And Angelique, who in her first tournament came a very respectful equal third. Equal, for her Bapou, Stylianos made a late surge by also predicting a 1-1 finish. Great stuff! As mentioned, what a tournament, and what an incredible final. Congratulations to Mancini's Italy and its wonderful supporters throughout the world. The pain of having two previous finals (2000 and 2012), the wait of fifty-three years, plus the humiliation of not qualifying for the last World Cup is finally over. There was not too much expectation for this team in the lead-up to this tournament, nor did their fans overburden their players with hype once they made their way to the final, despite, once again, fifty-three years of wait. Del-Piero said following England's victory over Denmark, that despite England having the better squad, the Italians would have preferred the home team to be in the final due to the pressures that come with being the home side. Commiserations to Gareth Southgate and his fantastic squad of players, and particularly to the three young men who were unfortunate with their penalty efforts, and are now being subjected to racial abuse by 'those' fans. There is no point talking about the game here for there are more qualified people that have, and will no doubt continue to ponder on the how's. For the English media, it will be more of a case of days, weeks, months, and most probably, years analysing the 'what ifs'. Personally, the fantastic use of wingbacks which resulted in the fastest goal in Euro Finals history turned out to be a ball and chain for England. The unfortunate injury of Federico Chiesa late in the second half when the screws were being tightened on an impressive England defence, arguably ended Italian chances of closing up the game early. Instead, fans had to endure the agony of the penalty shootout. I was shown the impressive stats following the Spain v Italy semi-finals, so I thought of returning the gesture. The statistics which came out of today's match: Possession: Italy 61% to 39%; Pass Success Accuracy 89% to 75%; Total Goal Attempts 19 to 6; On target 6 to 2. Blocked Shots 4 to 1. 

Onto the World Cup (November 21 December 18) in Qatar which will host 32 teams battling it out in 8 groups. It is fair to say that Italy will be flying into the tournament with higher expectations from its fans, while other teams such as the French, will need to sort out some of their niggling internal issues. Spain needs a striker, and fast, Portugal to have Jota passing to Ronaldo, Germany, well who cares but they will be there nevertheless, and England, well what can I say, sure, of course they can come, for xenia stipulates that we welcome everyone to the World Game 😉.  Hope to see you all in November 2022. Don't forget to get vaccinated. Good night.

Luke Shaw, celebrating his first international goal and England's sensational opener. Photo: Tom Jenkins.

Federico Chiesa, the key to Italy's revival in the second half. Photo John Sibley

Leonardo Bonucci equalises for Italy: 1-1. Photo: Tom Jenkins

Player of the tournament: Italy's goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Photo: Carl Recine

Final Football4Mates Euro 2020 Ladder

Coming Home; a new Euro Archon

2020 Euro Archon, Yianni.

Charming; England makes its first Euro final; the hills are alive with the sound of... 'it's coming home' 😒.

On two mornings of incredible highs for the fans of two nations that have qualified for the final, Yianni, who has been leading the competition since the completion of Round 2 group games, has wrapped up the Euro Archonship for a historic second time. As predicted in the lead up, the England V Denmark game proved to be the make or break match for the two leading contenders, Yianni and Dung. However, a predicted draw from Dung, and a dodgy penalty decision, which handed England (a deserved winner) their first European Championship Final ticket, gave Yianni victory after the penultimate game. This was a special moment for our Archon hero to celebrate with England fans who for the first time in two generations now truly believe in their own self created, global eye-rolling myth, that our world game, football, 'is coming home' (to that island). Special mention goes to Angelique, who had two sensational games of predicting outcomes and scores. Her ten points have propelled our rookie into third place with an opportunity to take second, a position that some of us at the bottom could only imagine. Aramis has likened his predictions to Scott Morrison's vaccine policy; making predictions of how he would like games to finish, rather than using any logic, reason or data to predict outcome and results. Nevertheless, this day belongs to Yianni, who kicked off the tournament by predicting Italy in the first game. These scoreline predictions have proven to be an unstoppable weapon in Yianni's arsenal during the Euro 2020, amassing 27 bonus points. Congratulations!!!

Italian ecstasy. Italy overcomes Spain in the penalty shootout to reach their FOURTH Euro final.  

So on we roll, back to Wembley, again, for the final. It's rather ironic that the country that voted to be out of the European Union hosted both the semi-finals and is also 'home' to the final. On their second attempt at being the hosts, England has finally made their first final in 55 years, and in typical English fashion, are feeling confident after overcoming Germany (12), Ukraine (24), and Denmark (10). This is a great moment for a country that is geographically, and many English would argue, culturally, not European. It has been a quality campaign by Gareth Southgate's men, conceding one goal, and as I was reminded earlier, from a set-piece. Nevertheless, the Kane - Sterling partnership is beginning to build momentum now and the Engish have clicked into the upper gears of confidence. Southgate has nailed his selections, and the manager deserves a lot of credit from some of their trashy media. One more game and just one simple victory awaits Kane and his teammates. Bobby Moore's spirit can rest once and for all. However, cocky as they are, England will be up against an opponent not German, but Italian. The myth of the Italian Catenaccio is as nauseating to hear as the English singing that blasted 'coming home' song. In the stats department, the Azzurri have been behind in the possession and pass accuracy only to the Spanish (6), and overcame the no. 1 ranked team Belgium. Unlike the English they have yet to fall behind, and unlike the Spanish, the Italian conversion of shots to goals was more efficient. I will hand the next lines to Barney Ronay, who in his article in the Guardian wrote the following about Italy;

It feels right that Italy should reach the final of these Euros. They have been a dose of adrenaline and an oddly moving spectacle at times. ...This has been football as appassianato, in the musical sense - notes and combinations performed with an extreme and unrelenting emotion...Italy's rawness, the conviction of the players, their pleasure in one another feels like a reminder of other things. It will be a pleasure to spend one more day in their company".

It will be a pleasure indeed to watch this final, and the House of Nicola will be looking forward to this group of players silencing Wembley. FORZA ITALIA!

Semi-Finals: Unity and Belief

 

Kasper Dolberg celebrates his sublime finish and Denmark's second goal (2-1) against the Czechs.

Three games to go, four points separate our top 2, Yianni and Dung, four distinguish fifth from ninth. It will be interesting to see which way our mates lean for the outcomes and scores for our two semi-final matches; one titanic game, the other bubbling on sentiments. The Sound of Music Original Soundtrack was the UK's highest selling album when the three lions senior mens football team last made an appearance to a major final. Unity and belief have been something of a theme for Italy and Denmark, England has shown their depth with each game, and the Spanish have been a quiet but potent package.

Some stats to think about: In the tournament so far Spain has the most goals (12), possession (67%), passing accuracy (89%), Italy, the most attempts on goal (101), Denmark, the highest balls recovered (225), and England clean sheets (5). 

Manoeuvring through the Euros, Mikel Oiarzabal celebrating with Uni Simon after another Spanish victory.
 Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images

Wednesday 5.00 am Italy v Spain

Thursday 5.00 am England v Denmark 

France OUT and Euro 96 Ghosts laid to rest.

Round 16, arguably one of the greatest in the tournament's history. Two incredible games yesterday, Croatia v Spain and France v Switzerland. Two teams (Spain and France) leading in their respective matches 3-1, looking set for their quarter-final when their opponents (Croatia and Switzerland) miraculously pull two back, the final goal for both teams coming in the 90th minute. Relief for the Spanish, who managed to pull two in extra time, but SHOCK for the World Champions, France, bowing out on penalties (4-5). Incredible comeback by Switzerland, who never gave up, the French pinching themselves from a nightmare. Today, Southgate put both his and his nation's 1996 Euro ghosts to bed as England kicked out the Germans. Thanks to John Aloisi's brilliant analysis on Optus Sport, all credit goes to Southgate and the way he built his team following the introduction of Jack Grealish and the link-up play between England's number seven, Shaw, Kane and Sterling for both England's goals. This nation's hope of finally making a final is looking very positive indeed; Ukraine next. Well done to Simon (3-1), Stylianos (1-0) and Nestor (3-0), who were the only three who went with Southgate's lions. In the competition overall, Yianni holds onto his lead from Dung, who has closed the gap to just four points and moved ahead in his game predictions. Still enough time for movement amongst the leaders (Yianni, Dung, and Evie) and our cellar dwellers (Nestor, Simon, and Nico). Quarter-Finals, here we come.

Personal and national football ghosts laid to rest as England defeat Germany at Wembley. 

Boilover: Switzerland comes back from 3-1 to knock out France on penalties. Photo: Daniel Mihailescu.

Fighting his own demons and the Spanish public, Alvaro Morata restores Spanish hopes. Photo: Friedemann Vogel/Reuters

Groups done, congrats Yianni

 

Two penalties and the record-equalling 109th goal for Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal 2 France 2.

On a morning when Portugal was almost sent home packing, up stepped the legend to keep the nation's hopes alive. Great tipping there by Dung, a fantastic scoreline prediction to reduce the gap to Yianni by less than ten, and complete for himself a cracking Round 3 set of predictions (23 points). But let's not take this away from Yianni, who still had a great round (22 Points) and maintains his healthy lead. Congratulations Yianni, winner of the Group games. Fifteen games to go, plenty of time for many of us to redeem our reputations, or make a dash for the Archon title; can Dung keep the momentum, or will this be Yianni's year? He is now the outright leader in Outcomes and Predictions.

Now we move into the Round of 16 and all the big guns are still in this tournament, so anything can happen with the tipping and the results. Remember to keep in mind extra time, points for penalty outcomes do not count to your outcome predictions. It will be interesting to see how people swing in their predictions. How many will go with England to beat Germany, Croatia v Spain, Sweden against Ukraine, Wales v Denmark? Tantalising games.

The march into the Round of 16 begins.

 

Roberto Manchini, on the touchline and rolling back the years with a magic touch as his team cruise into the Round of 16: Italia 1- Wales 0.

Andreas Christensen celebrating another Danish goal against the hapless Russians (Denmark 4-1).

Italy, Wales, the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium and Denmark are the first to go through to the Round of 16. Yianni remains in pole position with another blistering set of scoreline predictions; the lad is on FIRE. But we now have a new contender, a player who has been quietly chipping away in his customary way; Dung, who as of today has displaced Evie, who herself made an impressive prediction with Austria, to move into second. Joining for the highest morning tally was Nico (12 points). The former Euro Archon, however, has plenty of work to catch the leaders. Many of you picked either the Netherlands score or Belgium but astonishingly had Russia beating Denmark. The Danes, who have played positive football, were unlucky against Finland and should have put away Belgium in the first half. Still, we have some F4Ms battling hard, trying to collect their first scoreline predictions for the tournament, and finally, we can say congrats to Simon and Nestor, who have now broken their dismal run of scoreline failures.

We hope you are enjoying the competition so far and that there is a buzz within your household in a typically slow, cold time of the year. Typically when the rest of the world is enjoying their summer and watching international football competitions such as the Euros or World Cup, slurping on a frappe or KEO on the beach, we endure the early dark, cold, and often lonely mornings, which include sneaking into the TV room and trying not to wake the entire household. Most often, we watch these games on our own. If lucky, with our kids, who may join us, those at least who are interested in waking up and sit with us, enduring or living in the hope of watching an exciting game; thanks Alexander for your company during the weekend fixtures, sorry that you had to watch England v Scotland. So far, the surprise packet has been our rookie Angelique, who has collected four scoreline predictions, a tally that to date is far better than some of our more seasoned veterans - including yours truly. Before each round kicks off, Angelique makes a conference call to yiayia. The two discuss tactics and possible outcomes to each fixture, reaching a mutual understanding and compromise before settling on a result and score. This is what the competition is all about; create a dialogue, interest, fun and a bit of banter; watching your favourite team progress is a bonus: Forza Italia! 

                                                            Let me know if I have missed something in your scores.

Gearing up for Round 3

It has been a disastrous tipping weekend for the majority of us. Zero points from the last six matches largely reflected how matters unfolded on the pitch; England management lacking midfield ideas despite its talent on and off the pitch, Portugal throwing out the art of defence by relying solely on Ruben Dias and Pepe to hold off the Germans, and Spain forgetting that the reason we play football is to score goals. I don't know about you, but the first thing I do these days when checking Spain's games is to head straight for the statistics and the overall passes made during a Spanish National Team match (1712 attempted passes; 1513 passes completed; 1 goal from two games). Portugal v Germany; seriously, that has to be one of the worst defensive displays ever seen at a Euro Championship. So bad that I went to bed after the fourth German goal was easily put away. Portugal, that wasn't very pleasant. 

Robin Gosens once again free to roam on the left, this time heading in Germany's fourth against Portugal (4-2).

England manager Gareth Southgate had a night to forget against Scotland, practically messing up his side's tactics and team selection during the second half (0-0). 

Attila Fiola's goal gave the French an almighty fright (1-1) and offers Hungary hope for their final Group match against Germany.

The end of Round 2 and Yianni's ten-point tips in the first of our six-weekend fixtures have given him a nice cushion to head into Round 3, which kicks of tomorrow morning. Aramis and Yianni have picked 13 matches to date; however, the 2004 Archon's superiority in scorelines (6) has contributed to his success. Well done!  With many of the groups still up in the air and plenty to work towards to avoid an early exit and embarrassment, it promises to be an exciting Round 3.

Yianni  44

Evie  33

Angelique 30

Dung 30

Aramis 29

Stylianos 27

Nico 25

Nestor 24

Si Webb 22

Italy and Wales march into the next round

 

Manuel Locatelli hits two past Switzerland, in another impressive Italian win . 

For this morning's matches Russia overcame Finland (1-0), Wales saw off the Turks (2-0) and Italy gave another impressive display in their 3-0 win over Switzerland. In the case of the Italians that's 31 goals scored to none conceded in their last ten matches; undefeated in 29. In our competition, Euro Archon Aramis has been on some winning streak of his own at the moment, predicting the outcome for the last six games straight, and securing the Russian score. Locking in the points was our leader Evie, who is continuing her consistent run, and maintains her lead from Aramis who has now moved into second. Yianni too is back amongst the scores, and for his efforts this morning moves into third.

Evie 27

Aramis 23

Yianni 22

Stylianos 21

Angelique 20

Dung 16

Nestor 16

Si Webb 16

Nico 14

Update and Goal of the Round

So we have all now had the opportunity of catching a game, watching some highlights, or reading a report; hopefully, nobody is relying on the banter provided here. If you have done none of these and have gone for past reputations or pure luck, then good for you...pending where you are sitting on the ladder, of course. Aramis, Evie, and Stylianos have to date picked the most outcomes (7 from 12 matches) while Angelique and Evie have predicted two scores; some of us are struggling to get off the mark in this department. Yianni was off to a flyer with Italy, but results since have not gone how he expected. Dung is distracted by the NBL, sorry NBA playoffs, and will undoubtedly be staging a late surge. Still early days for you, Nico and Simon; however, a couple of results in round 2 going your way will see you both striving up that ladder, so don't renounce your hopes for Archon. 

Pick of the Round 1 goal: How good is this long-range Patrik Schick goal against Scotland? And what about the keeper David Marshell who is now a meme sensation? This is not how Dave wanted to be remembered, but that's what happens when one stands so far out of the goals, Davey boy. 

David Marshell, Scotland Goalkeeper and latest Avenger.

And here again, David Marshell, Olympic Champion.

Champions Day

 

Record-breaker, Cristiano Ronaldo slotting the third goal of Portugal's goals against Hungary (0-3). 

In a record fifth European Championship, Cristiano Ronaldo overtook Michel Platini's competition record to become the all-time leading goalscorer. A thoroughly deserving victory by the champions against opponents who transformed themselves into a red bus for the entire match. Contrary to some reports, this score utterly represented the game. There is always the risk when playing defensive football; you can concede and when you do you can't get the accolades. In the morning's other game, France beat Germany 3-0, no wait...VAR...
1-0; two glorious French goals were correctly disallowed, but as it was against the Germans one could argue that they should have stood. Germany pushed but the French seemed to have things under control in this one 'tournament winning football' Aloisi. Both Champions are now up and running, great stuff.

End of Round 1 games and Evie holds her lead from Stylianos and Angelique.

F4Mates Ladder

Evie 20

Stylianos 17

Angelique 16

Yianni 15

Aramis 14

Dung 12

Nestor 12

Si Webb 10

Nico 10

Game Day 3: England, where is your King?

A bright start by England in our first of three Day 3 games, but true to form, Croatia, patient and determined, slowly got themselves into the game. An early second-half goal by Raheem Sterling, however, his first for England in a major tournament, was enough to see his team hold for the win and give Evie 5 points. From that point on (54 minute) Croatia had 77% possession but threatened little; Modric playing way too deep and planning for the next two games. England is good with plenty of talent all around the field and on the bench, but something is missing in this team; one key element, a Modric, Pirlo, Zidane, Xavi type figure. Years of relying solely on strikers like Keegan, Lineker, Shearer, Owen, Rooney, Kane, is not the answer, and shows that unlike the major powers, the English simply do not have the same football philosophy. It's somewhat ironic that for a country that has had a monarchy for its entire existence, England managers kill off players that are crucial 'king' type central midfielders. It's not as if the islanders haven't produced such type players over the decades (Robson, Hoddle, Scholes, Lampard, Gerrard, etc.), but for some bizarre reason, the English football hierarchy turns critical midfield leadership into a socialist type engine room, thus whitewashing the King type midfield leader. Team performances are great in qualifiers, but you need the big player for the big games in the biggest tournaments. For all that Southgate has done for this team, I am not sure his current setup will be enough. They arguably have the best squad but instead, this will be another wasted shot. Kings win tournaments. Where is England's?  I'm not convinced Si.

Raheem Sterling celebrating tucking away England victory over Croatia. Photograph: Kevin Quigley/Kevin Quigley

Victory plus bonus in the England game, and points in Austria (3-1 Macedonia) and the Netherlands (3-2 Ukraine) matches, and Evie takes the lead; well done.

F4Mates Ladder

Evie 18

Angelique 14

Yianni 13

Stylianos 13

Dung 10

Nestor 8

Si Webb 8

Aramis 6

Nico 6

Game Day 2: an unexpected leader

Andrea Bocelli treated us ahead of kick-off with Nessun Dorma, then the Italian Football team gave fans a demonstration of clever, patient, beautiful football to push aside the Turks (3-0) and the traumas of the past 18 months. International football is back and what a way to kick of Euro 2020. Day 2, and the Welsh scrambled themselves to a draw (1-1), Finland upset Denmark in a game overshadowed by the collapse of Christian Eriksen, and the world's number one ranked side comfortably swept off a determined but rather ordinary Russian side.

In our competition, Angelique, making her debut, picked two out of three game day 2 scores (Draw and Lukaku) to find herself leading early on. 

M. Locatelli and N. Barella celebrating an Italian goal against the Turks.

       Andreas Bocelli opening the Euro 2020 Championships at the Stadio Olympico, Rome.

First of his two goals; Romelu Lukaku opens his and Belgium's account against Russia.
Photograph: Kirill Kudryavtsev/EPA

F4Mates Ladder

Angelique 12

Stylianos 9

Evie 9

Yianni 7

Nestor 4

Aramis 4

Dung 4

Nico 4

Si Webb 4

Know the Team: The Netherlands

Group C favorites and a team that has been flying under the radar for some analysts; today's team is the Netherlands. Frank De Boer seems to have enough talent and quality in players such as Matthijs De Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, Marten de Roon, Georginio Wijnaldum, and Memphis Depay to see them come through a Group that includes Austria, Ukraine, and North Macedonia. Topping their group will push the orange men in a Round 16 head to head with the third-best of  Group C (Croatia, Czech of Scotland). The team was not at its scintillating best during qualifiers but a recent 4-2 win over the Germans has raised their fans' hopes.

Know the Team: Southgate's Cubs (or Lions?)

Has the moment arrived for the Lions? Can Southgate's lads finally shake off their 'are we there yet' tag and make a case for themselves by actually making a Final of a major football tournament? What! You actually don't think that I would attach the word WIN with the English football team, did you? 🤭 

The English tend to get a little ahead of themselves and their abilities to win major championships, particularly when they assemble any team that comes close to being decent. But seriously, word has it that this group is different, and given the fact that this is virtually a home tournament for the English, the favorites tag may not be as laughable. Croatia appears to be the toughest of England's opponents that also includes the Czech Republic and Scotland in Group D. 

We would expect Harry and the boys to finish top and raise the islanders' hopes for European glory. 

Know the Team: The Navigators

Arguably stronger than when they won their first major tournament, surprisingly there is more to the defending champions than their inspirational captain CR. The following link is for Portugal, who have also been grouped up with France and Germany (Group F).

Know the Squad: Les Bleus

We have been here before have we not? Current World Champions, and without question, the best team on paper. Moreover, some of France's players are coming off very successful personal campaigns for their respective European clubs, and the team looks to be in better shape now than in Russia 2018. However as Amy Lawrence points out in the video, this team's only weakness may be in the players heads. Germany, Portugal, and Hungary await France in Group F. 

Know the Squad: Italy

Less than one week now before the tournament begins, and to fill up that space we thought we'd bring you some squad analysis for some of the squads with have hopes for success. The team from The Athletic has a good package of Euro 2020 squad analysis and podcasts without over-the-top observations or loud and dramatic views from ex-players or "experts"; so we'll kick off this pre-tournament special with Italy. 

The Italians are something of a dark horse that many of you may not be familiar with their current crop of players, other than they have been in relatively good form since Roberto Mancini took over the reins. In this time the Azzurri have 21 victories from thirty matches and a 10 from 10 record from their qualifying games. Mancini's men are favorites to take out Group A, which includes Wales Turkey, and Switzerland.

Bringing back the love.

European rivalries are set to ignite once again.

The teams have qualified, the draw has been made, and after five long years, Football4Mates returns to reignite the passion which only a tipping competition of this calibre can ignite; better believe that a first-round match between Wales and Switzerland can be as exciting as a Final. As the Optus Sport promo says; 

"51 games, 30 days, 24 teams"

This is not the World Cup, a tournament that creates heroes and undoes reputations, the European Championships are much, much more personal, for after all, there is no place on earth where historical snobbery, useless wars, cultural rivalry, and let's face it, pure dislike for the other mob reins more than any other place on earth than the European continent; sorry GB but you are an island after all. National but also regional rivalry, northerners versus southerners, those Baltic tribes amongst themselves, and just about everyone against the English. 

Sorry, but can someone explain to me how Scotland qualified? Of course, to make our competition more exciting, UEFA has expanded the tournament to allow just about every European country in, a bit like the European Union, but including the English and Turks, the latter are technically not European anyway. Unfortunately, even with this expansion, both the Greeks and Cypriots failed to pull it together during qualification; the former is no doubt basking in that brief golden moment back in 2004, heading to the cinemas for the King Otto documentary, while the latter are...who cares. Instead, we have other minnows such as Scotland, Finland and a Belgium team without Kevin De Bruyne. Hungry is excused as they produced the Magical Magyars (1950s), the Poles simply qualify for the food, and since they have lured Zlatan out of international retirement, we'll forgive the Swedes. England are currently favourites, perhaps for the fact that Europeans were not too keen on having some of their shithead supporters arriving at their respective countries; Gareth Southgate's talented squad will instead play all their group games on home soil. The French lost some of their appeal after pulling Germany and Christiano Ronaldo in their group, while the Virgil Van Dijk Dutch side together with Roberto Manchini's Italians could be a dark horse.

Kylian Mbappé and France aim to repeat their feats from Russia 2018.

Predict the outcome of every game, and watch for the correct score. Stay in touch with the leaders through the Group stages and march onto where others have failed, Wembly, and the title of Football4Mates Archon. All games have a purpose and every minute, bar the penalty shootout, counts. Extra time will add further anxiety, and failure leads to another two-year wait to ponder what could have been. The Kudos which come with victory brings the reward of bragging rights, and one's name on the honours roll. For the losers, it's derision and ignominy and the pondering of 'oh, if only'. 

Defending Euro Archon, Aramis will be looking at repeating his exploits from 2016, while Si W, who is favourite, and gutted that the organiser headed off to Cyprus for Russia 2018, is no doubt hoping to finish the season on a high following another second place in the Fantasy EPL. Former Archons, Niko, Yianni, Stylianos and Nestor also return.