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!
