Oh yeah, that competition, another crappy and superfluous money grab without any real importance for football fans.
Ah yes, late to the party again…
Low, Low, Low, Low, it’s tra-gic,
You know-ooo-whoh…
Wouldn’t believe there’s no Looooooow.
Low, Low, Low, Davies’ cryin’ (whah-whaaaah) X 2.
Now Davies’ been in Low before,
(uuuuuhhhhh - uuuuuuhhhh)
And he knows what Low is for,
(uuuuuhhhhh - uuuuuuhhhh)
It should mean a little, a little more,
(uuuuuhhhhh - uuuuuuhhhh)
Than pic-king aaaaaa-a-a-aaaass!
WOOOOO!!!
Keegan in 2000?
Beckenbauer in '96 (final actual coaching gig?) (Sure, in his case, somewhat protracted, but still relative success up to the end?)
Immobile’s fakery against Belgium was bonkers, but IMO the most egregious dive I saw so far was I can’t remember which Italian in the box against Spain (towards game’s end) suddenly jerking his head back as though he got smacked in the face, and of course hit the pitch. In replay, there was nary a freaking thing near his gruesome visage, {{{N-O-T-H-I-N-G}}}.
Moot nitcpicky point because England won, but they could’ve easily wrapped it up at the 93-minute mark, where Kane should’ve dummied Sterling’s cross so it’d end up to an arm-waving Grealish, who had a plum (far superior) position to finish. Instead, Kane got crowded out and buddy with annoying man-bun (forgot name) ended up skying it.
Eh - EinsteinsHund - you been a Munchengladbach fan for a while?
Heh - Rob Friend’s gardener figured he’d ask. 
Is it a complete political nonstarter for the UK to play as a United Kingdom team instead of sending 4 squads - England, Wales, Scotland, N. Ireland? There would be even greater talent this way (you could have Gareth Bale playing for the UK) Or is the mutual hatred and nationalism just too strong for it to work?
It may be a pity for the occasional great player from the Smaller Nations (no, I don’t mean the golfer Bale, think Ryan Giggs) as it is very unlikely that they will ever win a big tournament, but the way I see it it is a huge privilege to be represented four times where no other country is represented by more than one team. It is unfair and based on tradition, so of course the Brits love it and will not give it up. I wouldn’t if I was them.
It’s not about nationalism, it’s about the fact that we have different football associations, and different leagues. UEFA and FIFA would love us to play us one nation, but the separate football nations (most notably the welsh. NI and Scottish FAs) won’t have it because (a) revenues and (b) their players would get less exposure to international football.
England V Scotland is the oldest ‘international’ football game - we get to play as separate nations because we started the concept.
We have played as one team at the Olympics, but that was an exception made for the London Olympics.
It is a non-starter but not because of mutual hatred and nationalism. The problem is that the effect is to crowd out the smaller nations. Just on population, England makes up c.90% of the UK; it also has a much stronger league. A UK team would be a de facto England team with a rare Celtic star making his way in every ten years or so. The effect would be to effectively exclude Wales/Scotland/NI from representation at tournaments.
Scotland, by dint of their performances, excluded themselves from tournaments from 1998-2018. I cannot tell you what a big deal this year’s involvement in the Euros was, far beyond the normal interest in football. Losing that in exchange for maybe getting a player subbed on in a dead rubber group game isn’t going to fly.
As to the unfairness, that is very much a question of perspective. Nobody from within the UK thinks that they are represented four times: England represent the English, Scotland the Scots and so on. If England win, that’ll be nice for them but even if people in Scotland/Wales/NI are happy that England have won (and not everyone will be) only a vanishingly small percentage will feel that “their team” has won.
Indeed, there will be a lot of football fans from the other countries supporting Italy on Sunday.
Do England actually have much chance in the final? Italy seem a step above anyone they’ve met so far.
The bookmakers are giving the edge to England.
Especially if the troglodytes amongst the England supporters continue to boo their opponent’s national anthem. What the fuck does it achieve? It makes us look like dicks, and it can only motivate the opposition more. If you ask them they will say “it’s just banter”. Twats.
Bookmakers give the edge to where the money is
Then you show a complete misunderstanding of the cultural make up of the UK. We aren’t represented 4 times, the UK is a union of 4 countries, each nation is represented once.
Of course they have a chance. Italy have the edge, certainly, but England are no push over. They’ve only conceded one goal in the whole tournament. It’s going to be a much more even game than if Denmark had gone through.
I think it’s a 50/50. If it was at a neutral venue I’d make Italy slight favourites but Wembley evens it up a bit.
I don’t think so. The UK is one country and as such is represented only once in the UN and was represented only once in the EU when it was still a member. The UK is a Union of 4 Nations, not countries.
Semantics? As a half Spaniard I can tell you one could discuss the concept of nation vs country until the cows come home. I don’t understand why thinking that being represented four times instead of one is a privilege shows a misunderstanding of the cultural make up of the UK. It is rather your answer that shows it is a privilege and that you are not even ready to recognize it as such shows to me you don’t want to give it up. OK, neither would I if I had it.
Yeah, since 1976 when I was eight.
I personally don’t care, I’m more than happy to support Team GB in the olympics.
But that really isn’t relevant - what’s relevant is that the four countries of the UK have four separate national football associations, and international tournaments are actually about the teams that represent national football associations. We don’t have a UK FA, and there’s precisely zero desire amongst the FAs to create one.
That’s a misconception. The bigger bookmakers give odds on what their analysts tell them and are happy to risk taking a bath if punter money is overrepresented in one direction. They don’t follow the punter money.
Again, this is not an accurate description of what is happening. No-one in the UK thought they had three teams in the Euros this year. For the purposes of international football, the entity known as “the UK” simply does not exist.
And even worse, laser pointing at Schmeichel before the Harry Kane penalty.
Don’t know about other sports, but in hockey there is sharp surveillance for such toxic behaviour.
That was worse. I hope they find that “supporter” - if he is found I’m certain he will be banned and maybe even charged with an offence.