EUROPEAN 2016 Championship Finals France

Post by **FLICKFLACKER404** » July 2, 2016, 4:38 pm

Ecstatic scenes in wales last night were sales of ''white lightning'cider trebled

Post by **stattointhailand** » July 2, 2016, 5:56 pm

Flickerflacker you forgot the story

EU executives are concerned that Britain has found a loophole in the sheep export regulations, after 25,000 tickets for the EU quarter finals were sold to a Mr Shaun the Sheep of Pontypool

Post by **Zidane** » July 3, 2016, 7:27 am

Germany 1 (Ozil 65) Italy 1 (Bonucci 78 pen) Germany win 6-5 on penalties.

You have to say justice was done,and the better team over 120 minutes finally won,but what drama in the penalty shootout !

Germany reached the Euro 2016 semi-finals after winning a thrilling penalty shootout against Italy in Bordeaux.
Joachim Low's World Cup holders looked on course for victory in normal time - against a country they had never beaten at a major tournament - when Mesut Ozil rounded off a slick build-up with Mario Gomez and Jonas Hector to score at the near post in the 65th minute.
Italy did not flinch but were grateful for a moment of madness from Germany defender Jerome Boateng when he needlessly handled, allowing Leonardo Bonucci to score the first penalty of his career with 12 minutes left.
Germany missed more penalties in one shootout than in their history - three - but were once again the winners on penalties.

Germany will play the winners of the France v Iceland tie,who kick off at 2am Monday morning Thai time,in the semi final.

Post by **mathusalah80** » July 3, 2016, 6:21 pm

[quote="Zidane"]Germany 1 (Ozil 65) Italy 1 (Bonucci 78 pen) Germany win 6-5 on penalties.

Zid, Cannot believe you put yourself through the purgatory of watching that match, for 120 minutes

; I made the intelligent decision to go back to bed after the first goal. You either need to see a psychiatrist, or to receive a medal.

Other than possibly the Belgium v Hungary game, the only matches which have generated any excitement or passion, have been those involving either Wales or Iceland. At the very least, we can be sure it will be worth losing sleep tonight, and early on Monday morning. Thereafter, we can only hope that the fairytale will continue, to the benefit of us long suffering viewers. [-o<

Post by **Zidane** » July 3, 2016, 6:39 pm

The penalty shootout was good with some dreadful misses.If I had got up around 4.20am instead of 1.45am I would have said it was a good nights entertainment !

Post by **Zidane** » July 4, 2016, 8:09 am

Sadly,the dream is over for Iceland.......they were 4-0 down at half time and I'm sure many watching on TV went back to bed.They made a fist of it in the second half and a 5-2 scoreline gives it a bit of respectability.
But well done to them ! Iceland and Wales have been a breath of fresh air in this tournament. =D>

Euro 2016: France 5-2 Iceland
France scored five to brutally extinguish the Iceland fairytale and set up an intriguing Euro 2016 semi-final against world champions Germany in Marseille on Thursday.
There was almost a stunned disbelief around the Stade de France at the break as the host nation walked off with a 4-0 advantage, two of them coming in the closing minutes of the half.
Olivier Giroud's low strike and Paul Pogba's powerful header from a corner had settled early French nerves and put their side in control.
Dimitri Payet scored his third goal of an increasingly memorable tournament for the West Ham playmaker with a precise low strike from 20 yards that skidded across the greasy surface before Antoine Griezmann deftly lifted the ball over Iceland goalkeeper Hannes Halldorsson.
After the restart Kolbeinn Sigthorsson stabbed home at the near post from Gylfi Sigurdsson's cross as Iceland refused to give in before France restored their four-goal advantage when Giroud headed in a free-kick.
Still, there was more to cheer for the excellent Iceland fans when Birkir Bjarnason headed a second for his side in the final stages of what has been a remarkable tournament debut for their team.

So,the semi final line up is....
Wales v Portugal,2am Thursday Thai time
Germany v France,2am Friday Thai time

Anyway,on yet another rainy morning in the sunshine paradise of Udon Thani,here is a nice picture of a young lady from Iceland.

And for statto,subdued now his adopted country Poland is out.....some Polish fans.

Post by **Zidane** » July 6, 2016, 7:46 am

Good luck to Wales ! There semi final against Portugal kicks off at 2am Thursday morning here in Thailand.....
From the BBC....

Euro 2016: Wales set for historic semi-final with Portugal

Wales are preparing for the biggest game in their history when they play Portugal in Lyon on Wednesday for a place in the final of Euro 2016.
Chris Coleman's side have already enjoyed a memorable run to reach their first semi-final at their only major tournament since 1958.
England were the last British team to reach the final of a World Cup or European Championship 50 years ago.
"We'll be the underdogs, but we believe in each other," manager Coleman said.
More than half of the 3m population of Wales are expected to watch their country take on regular Euro semi-finalists Portugal - eclipsing the national television record for a sporting event which was only set on Friday for their 3-1 quarter-final victory over Belgium.
The Prince of Wales also sent the team a "huge good luck" message, saying: "I'm sure they have got a very good chance of beating Portugal. Everyone here will be keeping their fingers crossed."
Ranked a record low of 117 in the world in August 2011, Wales could end the tournament in the top six in world football, having already won four of their five games at Euro 2016.
They beat Slovakia and Russia in the group stages, with their only defeat a last-minute 2-1 loss to England. They knocked out Northern Ireland 1-0 in the last 16 before overcoming Belgium - the highest ranked side at the tournament - to set up the meeting with Portugal.
However, they will be without influential midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who is suspended for Wednesday's game.
Arsenal's Ramsey has been hugely influential for Wales, scoring one goal and providing four assists, and was man-of-the-match against the Belgians. Defender Ben Davies is also banned.

Post by **stattointhailand** » July 6, 2016, 3:20 pm

Just think if Thatcher hadn't shut all the mines they wouldn't have had time to play football :-"

Bale would have been playing Part time for Merthyr Tydfil

Post by **mathusalah80** » July 6, 2016, 7:14 pm

[quote="Zidane"]Good luck to Wales !
Wishes which I suspect will be echoed, by non partisan football fans, all over the world. A bet I am sure Zid would not accept is that Wales will be responsible for a record TV audience,( for any Euro match), tonight.
With both Portugal a Ronaldo performing well below their potentials throughout this tournament I felt the odds favoured Wales to produce another shock. However Ramsey has been magnificent for Wales, and, arguably, the main driving force behind their success. Without him, sadly, I feel the scales have now been tipped in favour of Portugal.

Post by **stattointhailand** » July 6, 2016, 8:10 pm

Just heard that the England players didn't manage to vote in the referendum ............. None of them could find the BOX, let alone put a cross into it

Post by **Zidane** » July 7, 2016, 8:32 am

Portugal 2 (Ronaldo 50,Nani 53) Wales 0

So,unfortunately,the Welsh dream is over but they have covered themselves with pride in this tournament !
Wales sorely missed the influence of Ramsey in midfield and,overall,looked a little leg weary following on from their excellent result against Belgium.
Portugal were the better team on the night and two goals in three minutes from Ronaldo and Nani at the start of the second half sealed the victory.

Tonight is the second semi final,France v Germany,on at 2am Thai Friday morning.

Post by **Brian Davis** » July 8, 2016, 4:33 am

With dogs waking me again, I only caught the last 30 minutes of France v Germany. Now it wouldn't be in my nature to have any sympathy for the Germans

, but an observation that with a bit of luck and the ball just running nicely, Germany could have scored several whilst I was watching. But no sodden handkerchiefs here!

Post by **Zidane** » July 8, 2016, 8:15 am

Germany 0 France 2 (Griezmann 45 pen,72)

Bit of a surprise but France made the most of their opportunities and made the Germans pay dearly for their mistakes.
Griezmann out on his own as the top scorer in the tournament with 6 goals and maybe more to come ?

From the BBC....

Hosts France advanced to the Euro 2016 final with their first victory over Germany in a major tournament since 1958 on a night of high emotion in Marseille.
Antoine Griezmann, the tournament's top scorer, made the decisive contributions in each half to set up a final against Portugal at the Stade de France on Sunday.
Griezmann scored from the penalty spot right on half-time when Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger was penalised for handball by Italian referee Nicola Rizzoli in an aerial challenge with Patrice Evra.
France held out against German pressure before Griezmann settled the destination of a pulsating semi-final with 18 minutes left when he turned in from close range after keeper Manuel Neuer could only half-clear Paul Pogba's cross.
Joshua Kimmich then hit the woodwork for Germany and also saw a header brilliantly saved by France keeper Hugo Lloris - but there was no way back for the World Cup holders.

The Final is in Paris,Portugal v France.....kick off time is 2am Monday in Thailand.

Post by **kopkei** » July 8, 2016, 11:45 am

to me this tournament was a big disappointment where all the star teams and players were present , but only shining with bad passes , bad finishes, unable to score goals and non exiting football...
so sunday we will know what team will be the best of the worst , or the less worst of the worst? ...
one of the most bad tournaments i have ever seen ...luckily i did not wake up for this in the middle of the night ,but looked at the disasters the day after.. i hope france will win as portugal was invisible in the tournament and are in the finals ?,saying enough about the total quality of this EC ...

Post by **stattointhailand** » July 8, 2016, 12:11 pm

Hey zid, but for losing a penalty shootout that could have been France v POLAND

Still think the format is wrong

At 90 mins each manager withdraws one player and 10 mins extra time (Golden goal) gets played.
At 100 mins each manager withdraws one player and play 10 mins 9 v 9
At 110 mins each manager withdraws one player and play 10 mins 8 v 8
etc

Mind you the way this tourny was played they should have started to withdraw players after the first 10 mins of the 90 :-"

Post by **mathusalah80** » July 8, 2016, 1:27 pm

stattointhailand wrote:Hey zid, but for losing a penalty shootout that could have been France v POLAND

Still think the format is wrong

At 90 mins each manager withdraws one player and 10 mins extra time (Golden goal) gets played.
At 100 mins each manager withdraws one player and play 10 mins 9 v 9
At 110 mins each manager withdraws one player and play 10 mins 8 v 8
Mind you the way this tourny was played they should have started to withdraw players after the first 10 mins of the 90 :-"

That will never happen Statts; well not unless the USA gets selected as the venue for another World Cup, and decides to 'improve' the rules.

But how about rolling back the clock, partially anyway, with the following change:
"In ALL Association Football matches, NO SUBSTITUTES permitted onto the field of play, under any circumstances, after the expiration of 80 minutes from commencement of a match ; and the 'time added' to be equivalent to the time taken to effect a substitution, timed from the moment the referee signals the substitution can proceed." (This replacing the current 30 seconds rule, which is a sick joke!).

Post by **Zidane** » July 9, 2016, 9:19 am

Jurgen Klinsmann reportedly in discussions to become England national football coach

A German general manager said U.S. men's national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann is in discussions about becoming England's national coach, The Guardian of London reported.
Germany general manager, Oliver Bierhoff, told The Guardian that Klinsmann, who starred for Germany as a player, spoke to members of the Football Association regarding the vacant England head coach job. Bierhoff also said Klinsmann would be a good choice.

Post by **stattointhailand** » July 9, 2016, 10:38 am

"Bierhoff also said Klinsmann would be a good choice."

So would Angela Merkel except that they both have the same problem

Surely they learned their lessons after Sven

Post by **Zidane** » July 9, 2016, 10:48 am

stattointhailand wrote:"Bierhoff also said Klinsmann would be a good choice."

So would Angela Merkel except that they both have the same problem
Surely they learned their lessons after Sven

No ! Angela will not be available until after the German national elections next year !
But she's as good a choice as some of the names being mentioned !

Post by **Zidane** » July 10, 2016, 11:19 am

Well,this is it,the final match of the tournament.....Portugal v France,kick off 2am Thai Monday morning.
Overall,its been a disappointing tournament with the exceptions being Wales and Iceland and,too a lesser extent,the two Irelands and Albania.
The least said about England the better ! Manager,Roy Hodgson,paid the price and rightly so.
Griezmann of France with 6 goals looks like being the player of the tournament,even in the unlikely event of Ronaldo scoring a hat trick in the Final.
There is tenuos English interest in the Final with Mark Clattenburg being the referee and,also today,in another sport Tennis,Andy Murray is in the Wimbledon Final......but he's Scottish if he loses,isnt he ? :-"
So,after today,no more getting up in the wee hours to watch mainly tedious games.The new EPL season starts on 13th August.
With it being the last day,here are a few more sights in France for Euro 2016....but which 2 would you choose for the Final ??