Once the football actually got underway, it was a decent first day for Euro 2016 – but God save us from opening ceremonies full of interpretive dance and blokes playing records pretending to be musicians.
By Dave Bowler
France 2 Romania 1 (Group A)
Hosts France beat Romania and just about deserved their slender 2-1 victory, but the real justice came in the shape of the match winner, Dimitri Payet. He was head and shoulders above anyone else on the field. He finally proved the difference between the two sides with a wonderful last-minute strike. He curled a shot across goal from 25 yards out and into the top corner, a candidate for goal of the tournament already.
It ended an evening of frustration for the hosts, one which might, on another occasion, have ended in catastrophic defeat. The French were edgy at the start of each half and should have conceded in both. Goalkeeper Lloris came to the rescue in the opening minutes. Then Stancu missed dreadfully after beating the offside trap just after the break.
Both opportunities laid bare a French defence that might be found wanting by better opponents. That back line looked to be the most likely source of France’s Achilles heel as they went in search of the title.
Chances Go Begging for France
That said, creative as they were at the other end, their profligacy in front of goal will also be cause for concern when they sit back and really analyse the game tomorrow morning. In the first half alone, four highly presentable chances went begging. There were two apiece for the front men. Griezmann, who looks so absurdly youthful that I’ve seen older-looking pregnancy scans, came closest. His strike hit the post from an acute angle. He put another first-time shot wide later in the half.
Two headers from Giroud should have caused consternation in the Romanian defence. Instead, there was relief as they sailed off target. Whenever he missed a chance, Giroud stuck out his tongue to its full extent and appeared to start grooming his lustrous beard with it, a bit like a cat. We can only hope this trick doesn’t extend to all of his anatomy.
After the early second-half scare, France gradually got back in the groove and started to dominate. Within a minute, Tatarusanu was both hero and villain, making a fine save from Pogba before woefully missing a Payet cross, allowing Giroud to nod in in the 57th minute.
From there, it looked as if France might run away with the game. But a sprightly Romanian side showed good character, and Stancu made amends for his earlier miss by converting a penalty that Lloris should perhaps have saved eight minutes later.
Payet finds a way
France fans might well be concerned that it took their side plenty of time to respond. They only really threatened again in the last ten minutes. Payet made them wait until the death before finding the winner that he at least deserved.
Ultimately, it was the result, if not the game, most expected. Both sides could take heart from it. Romania showed enough to suggest that second place in this group is not beyond them. France had got past that inevitably nervy opener and were on their way. A good night was had by all.
Wales 2 Slovakia 1 (Group B)
It was Bale who gave Wales the lead after 10 minutes with a free-kick from distance. In that sense, it looked spectacular, but in truth, it was anything but. Yes, he got the ball up and down, but having first built his wall, Kozacik then decided he didn’t trust it. He stepped across to stand behind it, so leaving a gaping hole into which Bale could shoot. It wasn’t in the postage stamp, and would have been a routine save had the keeper stood his ground. As it was, Bale had scored Wales’ first tournament goal since 1958.
From there to the break and beyond, Wales controlled the game. They should have had a penalty after Skrtel elbowed Williams in the face. The fifth official, or whatever these see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil dummies are called, somehow contriving to miss the offence from no more than two yards away. How pleasing it was in the end to see the thuggish Skrtel distraught in defeat at the final whistle.
It could have been different. The Slovaks should have opened the scoring but for a great clearance by Davies. Gradually they worked their way back into the game and were level through Duda just beyond the hour.
Wales show they are not just about Bale
Wales looked like they might buckle, but Coleman’s substitutions were intelligent and game-changing. Ledley threaded a fine ball to Ramsey – who’d have thought a man on his money would need to wear that haircut to win a bet? – who, despite stumbling, helped the ball on to Robson-Kanu. He duly scuffed in the winner.
The post-match narrative inevitably surrounded Bale. The Real Madrid man was less influential than the hype would suggest. That’s a paradoxically good sign for the Welsh. Their victory was won largely through good organisation, hard work, and a great team ethic rather than a star player. They’ll perhaps rue the fact they play England rather than Russia next. Had the fixtures been the other way round, they’d have fancied their chances of booking their passage two games in.
They could still do that. After England’s draw with Russia, Wales sit clear at the top of the group. So a draw would do them fine.
England 1 Russia 1 (Group B)
]England looked the best team we’d seen thus far, albeit that the Russians looked the most chaotic. England started the game with a real pace and intensity. That was essential for them if they were to succeed, given the nature of their players.
Crucially, they failed to turn territory and chances into goals in the first 45 minutes when they were so utterly on top. They should have put Russia away and put the rest of the tournament on alert. Up until the final ball or effort, there was much to admire in England’s play.
In fairness, for a change, they remained patient and ultimately got the goal that had been coming, Dier curled in a free-kick when the otherwise impeccable Akinfeev copied Kozacik’s error and went behind his wall. Having said that, Dier’s free-kick was better than Bale’s.
England let it slip
But one goal always leaves a game on a knife-edge. With the game deep in injury time, a long ball, the kind that English defenders deal with a dozen times every Saturday, defeated them. Berezutski was there to loop a header across goal and in.
The pundits immediately complained about a lack of experience in the game management late on. Frankly, that’s nonsense. If you dominate the ball, create openings, and yet score just once, and that from a set play, it’s your forwards who should be answering the questions, not the defenders.
Albania 0 Switzerland 1 (Group A)
Some of the best news for England and Wales came in the day’s first game. The 10-man Swiss struggled past Albania by a single goal. That victory went very close to guaranteeing the Swiss passage to the next round. Even if it were as the third-placed side in Group A. That’s where it was interesting for England and co, because the winners of Group B could face the third-placed side from A.
Assuming France were to come through as the group winners, any of the other three sides might sneak through as one of the four best sides in third position. On the evidence thus far, none of the three had anything with which to frighten any opposition.
Although the Swiss collected the victory, it was gifted to them by a second horrific goalkeeping error in two games. Berisha missed a corner to allow Scher to score in Giroud fashion early on. Albania wilted for 20 minutes thereafter, before coming back strong and looking to get on top. Then Cana was sent off for a second yellow card.
No Swiss avalanche of goals
The expected Swiss avalanche of goals did not materialise after the break. Gashi missed a golden chance to level late on. Credit has to go to Sommer for a decent save, not that he should have had the chance. Sadiku, the man Gashi had just replaced, earlier spurned two great chances of his own following sumptuous passes from Hysaj. Berisha atoned in part for his early mistake by keeping Seferovic at bay.
Both sides carved out chances. Neither outfit inspired any confidence that they might ever take one of them. Should either – or both – get through, you could only see them as last 16 cannon fodder. It’s an argument that perhaps 24 sides are too many for a European Championship after all?
Turkey 0 Croatia 1 (Group D)
The Croatia vs Turkey game was all but a carbon copy of the England game of the previous evening. Except Croatia avoided the concession of a late goal to emerge 1-0 winners. But just as England had the night before, they took the game far closer to the wire than they should have done. If anything, they were even more dominant but proved just as incapable of finding the goals that should have closed things out long before the finish.
Just as Rooney had impressed in a playmaking role for England, Modric was even better for Croatia. Omnipotent throughout the game, he grabbed the winning goal with a beautiful volley from distance. Once again, the assist came from a grim piece of goalkeeping.
Croatia show great promise
Croatia looked like a side that could go a very long way through this competition. They were competitive from back to front. Also, they were dogged and determined, as personified by Corluka’s refusal to bow to a gaping head wound. They looked physically strong but still blessed with the impressive technique and quality that Croatian sides have long been famed for.
But also like England, they were up against moderate opposition in a very disappointing Turkey. Nevertheless, they could only find one goal. For the lack of a prolific goal scorer, their ambitions might yet be thwarted. Perisic, for instance, had a map of Croatia shaved into his head. He might do better to have a map of the goal put on there instead. He missed a string of great chances to make the game safe, but he was not alone in his profligacy. It was an issue they would somehow have to resolve in the knock-out phase of the competition.
Poland 1 N Ireland 0 (Group C)
And then it was déjà vu all over again in the game between Poland and Northern Ireland. The Poles had all the play and all the chances but in the end could again only find one goal. That came from Milik’s crisp finish early in the second half. Polish legend Boniek was in the crowd looking like Roy Hodgson’s used car salesman younger brother as he celebrated the goal.
Perhaps this game played out rather more predictably than the ones involving England and Croatia. The Northern Irish side were always going to be short of possession. They concentrated purely on keeping a clean sheet in their tournament opener, following their standard modus operandi against the bigger nations.
Lewandowski out of sorts
The work, concentration, and organisation shown by Northern Ireland could not be faulted, but if you end up having to play virtually the whole game in your own half, it is exhausting. Their use of the ball up to Lafferty left a bit to be desired. It meant they could rarely get any respite. Also, the absence through injury of Brunt rendered their set pieces largely impotent. That said, they deserve huge credit for keeping one of the competition’s most dangerous attacking sides largely at bay.
Poland showed real quality at times, but again, not when it came to sticking the ball in the back of the net. Lewandowski particularly looked out of sorts. The lack of goalmouth action in the tournament was a concern. Come the knock-out stage, would we be watching a series of penalty shootouts?
Germany 2 Ukraine 0 (Group C)
But then there’s Germany. The ultimate masters of the spot kicks. Ironically they are the one side thus far who look as if they might not need them. Although it took until injury time before they finally made it 2-0 against Ukraine. The scoreline reflected their superiority over the game. They won without really breaking sweat, save for a 15 minute spell just before the interval when Ukraine offered a genuine threat.
The world champions would face far sterner tests than Ukraine offered. But already they were looking ominously good. The midfield axis of Kroos and Ozil looked capable of destroying all comers. Each of them set up a goal with the sublime use of the ball that is their trademark. Kroos created the opener with a delightful free-kick that was planted goalwards by the head of Mustafi after 19 minutes. Ozil finished the job on a swift counterattack. His perfectly weighted cross was finished beautifully by Schweinsteiger on the half volley.
Germany look to emulate Spain
There were moments when Germany were grateful for the brilliance of Neuer and the athleticism of Boateng. Even then, Germany looked like a team with another gear or two in hand should they need it. For much of the game, they simply toyed with Ukraine by virtue of brilliant possession play worthy of Spain in their prime.
In these early rounds of Euro 2016, Germany looked a strong bet to emulate the tiki-taka men by holding both World Cup and European Championship at the same time. They were going to take some stopping.
Spain 1 Czech Rep 0 (Group D)
The day’s opening match produced the result expected and, perhaps, in the manner anticipated. Spain eventually wore the Czech Republic down with their metronomic passing. They got the only goal of the game late on, Pique’s 87th-minute effort proving crucial.
This was much more like the Spain of old. Iniesta was the conductor in the middle of it all. Their ability to move the ball around and to probe for space ultimately proved exhausting and successful. They joined Croatia at the top of the group with three points. Both looked set to qualify with something to spare.
Rep of Ireland 1 Sweden 1 (Group E)
Belgium’s fate was in the balance after this game as both Sweden and Ireland would fancy their chances against them now. The two played out a 1-1 draw in their opener. It’s the Irish who will be the more disappointed after playing supremely well for an hour against an overly rigid Swedish 4-4-2.
The Irish diamond shape gave them better angles and options. They could and probably should have been two goals to the good instead of going in at the break 0-0.
Zlatan stirs
That was remedied by a brilliant finish on the half volley by Hoolahan straight after the restart. Gradually, Ireland’s impressive exertions took their toll. Sweden, inspired, inevitably, by Ibrahimovic, slowly woke from their slumber and started to take the game to them.
Their resilience was impressive. It was somehow inevitable, however, that Zlatan would ultimately find a way to break down their resistance. He skipped away from O’Shea to get to the byline and arrow in a devastating cross. Clark with no option but to try to head clear, only succeeding in putting the ball in his own net.
The draw was unsatisfactory for both nations, given the strength of their next opponents. But after this game, Ireland would be relishing the opportunity to take on Belgium.
Belgium 0 Italy 2 (Group E)
Before Euro 2016 we downplayed Italy’s chances while saying they could yet 1-0 themselves to glory. They went one better against Belgium, albeit that the second goal came deep in injury time. They were full value for the victory with a brilliantly controlled team performance.
Italy were a unit, each man knowing his responsibility to the other ten. Belgium showed no such grasp of the game. They played as unfocused, egotistic individuals. Each tried to do the job on his own without thought or interest in the collective. The Donald Trump of football.
Italy send a message
Italy were comfortably the better side through a first half in which they scored a fine goal. Bonucci’s raking pass over 50 yards perfectly picked out Giaccherini to net past Courtois. The Belgian goalie kept his side in the game with a string of fine saves. In contrast, at the other end, Buffon had a comfortable evening as his Juventus defence worked like clockwork. The rest of the side worked themselves into the ground.
Conte’s Italy had the look of Conte’s Juve about them. In terms of their play, their approach, and, most importantly, their togetherness. The way they celebrated after Pelle smashed in the second on the counterattack. Team, staff, subs, all together, suggested that they fancied themselves to do something special in this competition.
Topping the group was theirs for the taking now. Though that looked set to pit them against Croatia or Spain.
Read the next installment of Dave Bowler’s Euro 2016 history here.