Does anyone here actually believe that Italy didn’t intentionally lose that match?
Ireland vs. England would be interesting…
They didn’t intentionally lose it. Whatever they did they would finish top of the group, so they might not have been as motivated as they would have been if they had needed a result, but what would they have to gain by intentionally losing?
They’re normally dire games.
I stand corrected and will stand in the corner. I thought they lost to avoid the bracket of death.
I’d say if they could have done that they might have been tempted, but nothing that happened tonight would have changed anything for them.
If goal difference was more important than the head-to-head results perhaps they would have been happy to concede a few, but the head to head mattered more and because they beat Belgium it was a done deal from the start as far as Italy were concerned.
Italy also rested eight players, I think.
Just back from the pub and am slightly deaf from the noise. What a night!
If Italy turned up or not is not the question. Ireland turned up. Look at the stats and you’ll see an unusual Irish performance. We reallly reallly tried in that game and it paid off.
Hopefully we’ll do it again against the French. Odd are we’re fuck but we’ll go down singing and happy that’s for sure. The fans have already won the tournament as far as the country is concerned and they’ll be welcomed back with cheers*
No beer left in Lille tonight 
- I not joking. WE love the way they’ve behaved and there is a movement to get people at the airport to welcome them back. Not the team the fans!
Yes! All four teams from the British/Western European Isles in the last sixteen. It’s like 1958 all over again!
well - apart from Scotland, obviously… 
So this coming Monday (according to Bob) Kane will score on a penalty kick in the second half, but it’s a little bit hazier if it’s before or after Kane’s goal that Iceland (unsure about player) will also register a penalty goal, for a 1 - 1 draw.
No more draws in this tourney
:smack:
:dubious:Bob has been decommissioned.
Didn’t expect Bale to be (to me anyway) the most impressive so far.
Maybe a Ray Hudson shrine.
I have a question for the British fans:
Does having multiple UK teams make sports more enjoyable in international tournaments for UK fans? IF England is eliminated then you can root for Northern Ireland, etc., as a backup? Or is the rivalry between, say, England and Wales strong enough that English fans wouldn’t root for Wales against, say, Germany?
From my ignorant-American perspective, it seems akin to as if the United States were to enter a Team Texas and Team California and Team Florida, etc., into the FIFA World Cup, and if Florida were eliminated one could still root for Texas and California.
It’s not quite like your last sentence, but for me (and I think a decent percentage of England fans) you’re more or less right. I’ll always root for England against any other team, but I’m also pleased RoI, NI, and Wales have done well. That lasts up until the final - i.e. I don’t want any of them to win the whole thing! We’d never hear the end of it.
In my experience, and in general, the English are quite happy to root for the other parts of Britain and Ireland to do well. Not so much the other way around though.
That said, you’ll likely find as many opinions on this as there are people. My opinion of this is largely coloured by where I come from - near the Scottish border. There’s no bloody way the people I grew up around want Scotland to do well - and no way that the Scots just 7 miles away want England to do well either. I am perfectly happy for the Irish and the Welsh to run deep into any tournament though.
So I seem to have contradicted myself - but not really. Cumbria has fewer than 1m people in it. We’re hardly representative of the nation. I still think, in general, the English would be happy to see Scotland do well.
I well remember a Scotsman and his two sons assuring me that he could never support England at the then current 2006 WC, while they were in the stands at Headingley…supporting England quite vocally.
Sometimes there is no understanding you lot.
In fairness, I would imagine supporting England at cricket is a little different for the Welsh, Scots and Irish - at Test level at least, it’s effectively supporting Britain and Ireland, since England is the only place the Welsh, Scots and Irish can play.
Certainly I’ll back England over any team but then consider NI, ROI, Wales and Scotland as my second tier “home nations” that I’ll support after the inevitable English capitulation.
Unfortunately it happens far less the other way round which I find very petty and small-minded.
Obviously, being English, I primarily support England, but I always like to see British and Irish teams (even Scotland, despite my sniping) do well at both international and club level.
That’s a fair point.
It’s not unexpected though. England massively dominates the coverage, even when other home teams are at the tournament, and that rankles a bit. Personally I don’t mind the England football team doing well, although I’m not sure how I’d feel if they ever got to another final. That’s maybe a step too far…