Wales silenced the many critics on the English side of the border by winning their group at Euro 2016.
Belgium 3 Rep of Ireland 0 (Group E)
Roy Keane’s head must have exploded with rage after the Republic of Ireland’s defence committed communal suicide to gift Belgium three goals.
If Clark in particular isn’t sporting the blackest eye in all of Christendom tomorrow after his particular horror show for the third goal, then Keano has clearly mellowed in middle age, for there was a time when he would have simply ripped the centre-half’s head off and shoved it where the sun don’t shine.
Those errors were a real pity for, although the Irish struggled to have a lot of joy going forward, through the first half they had done well enough to keep a much improved Belgium at bay. The Belgians were far more cohesive and together as a unit, but had the Irish got through the first 20 minutes of the second half without conceding, who knows what that might have done to the brittle temperament of Wilmot’s team.
As it was, within that period they were two down, although they’ll feel a bit hard done by that at 0-0, they could have had a penalty for a high foot on Long. They didn’t get it, Belgium instantly sprinted down the other end, McCarthy sold himself and allowed De Bruyne to get away, the ball was fed into Lukaku and a lovely finish later, it was 1-0.
Witsel, completely untracked by any midfielder, strolled into the box to make it 2-0 with a glancing header just past the hour but as we saw yesterday, that is not always conclusive. But 3-0 is and when Clark first ran the wrong way and then conclusively failed to tackle Hazard on the counterattack, it was the simplest of tasks for him to roll the ball to Lukaku to wrap up the game.
Ireland might get lucky yet, given that they next play an Italian side already through. They would be resting players, and so a win could send them through.
Iceland 1 Hungary 1 (Group F)
Another late goal was served up in the fixture between Iceland and Hungary. The Magyars rescued a point three minutes from the finish. The result turned the Group of Meh on its head. It looked to be sending Hungary through, where, moments earlier, the Icelandics were set to be in the next round.
You couldn’t really argue with the result. Hungary had the bulk of the play, plenty of territorial advantage, though their opponents perhaps had the better chances. Iceland’s goal came from the softest of penalties, Hungary’s came from an own goal. It summed up a group that seemed to have just been tacked onto the main competition.
Portugal 0 Austria 0 (Group F)
The goalless draw between Portugal and Austria, was an entertaining one. Once again, the game was dominated by Ronaldo, for good and, largely, bad. One of the greatest goal scorers of all time had the kind of evening that he can’t have had more than three or four times in his career. He missed a string of very good chances, pulling a penalty kick against the post. He scored from an offside position and eventually came up blank.
You have to give credit to him for keeping going, for trying to get into scoring positions, but the more he misses, the more everything becomes about him, be that because of an armour-plated self-confidence or a monstrous ego that simply demands feeding, that he be the hero of the day.
Courageous as it might be, it can also be self-destructive for him and his team because the more he misses, the more he ignores anything other than his personal crusade to crush everything around him and bend the game to his will. He starts to take free-kicks from increasingly ludicrous distances, he passes less and less and shoots more and more – 20 times in two games.
He might still go berserk against Hungary and steer his side through to the next round but you do start to think the unthinkable – might Portugal be better off without him?
Romania 0 Albania 1 (Group A)
In the other game, Albania sprung a surprise by defeating Romania 1-0. After making a promising start on the competition’s opening night against France, the Romanians have fallen away badly, never really recovering from Payet’s late strike that won that first game.
Against Albania, they started brightly enough before being knocked out of their stride by some pretty boisterous stuff from their opponents midway through the first half.
From there, it was Albania on top to the break and they deservedly got in front when the Romanian ‘keeper, Tatarusanu, lost his bearings when tracking a swirling cross from Memushaj, leaving Sadiku to plant a clever header into the far corner.
Romanian pressed against a massed defence after the break without ever looking convincing and, failing to find a goal, they became the first side to be eliminated from the Euros.
Albania meanwhile have to sit around for three days to see if they are going to be one of the four third placed sides that make it through to the next round, another of the tournament’s flaws. With three points and a poor goal difference, it’s perhaps unlikely, but the Romanians would still swap places with them quickly enough.
Switzerland 0 France 0 (Group A)
France made a number of changes and pretty much coasted through their final game with Switzerland, an arrangement that suited the Swiss down to the ground since they needed just a point to make certain of their own automatic qualification.
As a consequence, we got a pretty tepid 90 minutes of football, the Swiss marginally the better team overall perhaps, Pogba the outstanding individual on show, especially during the first half when he came close to a goal on three separate occasions.
After the break, we watched a game of little more than shadow boxing, enlivened only by the introduction of Payet from the bench, the match destined for a 0-0 draw long before the end, the evening’s greatest entertainment coming from the Swiss shirts which ripped apart at the slightest touch, leaving them looking like a troupe of strippers looking desperately for a hen night.
Wales 3 Russia 0 (Group B)
Russia’s truly dismal Euro 2016, on and off the field, is at an end, a little bit like putting down a horse with tuberculosis. Wales proved to be the veterinarian with the lethal injection in their bag, completely destroying the Russians in the first 20 minutes and then cruising through the rest of the game.
Russian coach Leonid Skutski watched on impotently, wearing the lugubrious look of a man who has an appointment with a salt mine as soon as he gets home, clearly desperate to be anywhere else in the world.
The Welsh were utterly dominant on an evening when their big players turned up and performed superbly, Bale, Ramsey and Allen in top form, Bale terrifying the arthritic Russian rearguard with his pace and close control, Allen dictating the play from the middle of the park, Ramsey fetching and carrying, playing beautifully.
Let’s not forget that Wales had a bit of good fortune when the draw was made in being in one of the weaker groups, but it was an advantage that England enjoyed too and look at the mess they made of it. What Wales have done is employ sensible and deliverable game plans in each fixture, they’ve played to their maximum and, had it not been for a bit of bad luck, they might even have ended with the clean sweep in the group. As it is, top will do won’t it, with a real chance of making it into the last eight given that they play a third place team in the last 16.
Slovakia 0 England 0 (Group B)
England on the other hand are on course for a meeting with the second placed team in the Portugal, Hungary, Iceland, Austria group and then, should they come through that, a quarter-final meeting perhaps with France. They endured a frustrating evening against the massed ranks of the Slovakian defence, incapable of breaking it down and ending with a goalless draw.
Plenty will be made of the six changes that Hodgson made but just how influential that was is hard to say. England did, after all, enjoy all the possession and made a number of good chances, which is exactly what they’ve done in the games where his “first choice” team played and they only scored three in those two games, so it’s hardly conclusive.
Much as it’s hard to judge how good or otherwise France have been thus far, so it is with England. They’ve played in three games where the opponents have barely come out of their own 18 yard box. Also they’ve dominated possession which is good, but then maybe it’s just because the opponents have allowed them to.
They’ve created a lot of good chances, which is good, but then they haven’t taken many – bad – but at the same time, it’s harder to score goals against sides who only want to put bodies behind the ball. Are England genuinely creative? Are they incompetent in front of goal? Have they been criticised unfairly? It’s hard to tell until they come up against a side that’s willing to engage in the match.
But equally, we have no real idea if England can defend either because thus far, they’ve been put under no pressure for any length of time. All that we can say is that for all the brickbats that will be launched at Hodgson in the next day or two, he has guided his side through the group stage – and England’s history shows that that achievement should never be taken for granted – and that the tournament starts for real now. It’s going to be a big week of preparation.
Ukraine 0 Poland 1 (Group C)
Many had expected this to be the Lewandowski show but the Polish striker has still yet to hit the mark. Even so, Poland have come through their group comfortably enough, courtesy of three clean sheets and a couple of 1-0 wins, setting up a knock-out meeting with Switzerland, a game they’ll fancy winning, especially if Lewandowski can break his duck.
The 1-0 victory over Ukraine was routine stuff for Poland, rarely looking in any kind of danger, Blaszczykowski curling in the winner early on in the second half. Ukraine have continued their largely woeful tournament form, their mentality certainly questionable when it comes to playing at the top level where they seem to lack any kind of self belief, such a crucial ingredient in the game.
Croatia 2 Spain 1 (Group D)
The surprise of the day came when Croatia got a late winner to defeat Spain. Having made five changes in an England stylee, Croatia did rather better out of it, masking the loss of the injured Modric and regrouping superbly after the disappointment of their draw with the Czech Republic and all the unsavoury events off the pitch.
When Morata gave Spain the lead early on, and with the title holders knocking the ball around with their customary ease, it looked like it might be a long night for Croatia but they gradually found their feet and began to give as good as they got with some quick and direct attacking play.
They got a crucial equaliser through a clever Kalinic finish right on the brink of the break and that gave them the platform to really go for things in the second period. They were unfortunate to concede a penalty, though justice was done, of sorts, when Ramos’ spot kick was saved, albeit that goalkeeper Subasic was so far off his line when the kick was taken that he was almost behind Ramos – what do those goal line officials do?
As it was, it was Croatia who nicked the winner in the dying seconds, Perisic ending a curiously unsettled night for De Gea by smashing the ball past him at the near post. That condemned Spain to second place in the group and a last 16 meeting with the side they demolished in the 2012 final, Italy. Their grip on the trophy is slipping.
Czech Rep 0 Turkey 2 (Group D)
Turkey gave themselves a chance of progress too with that 2-0 win over the Czechs. They were made to work hard for it and had to ride their luck on occasion but in the finish, they were deserved winners against a Czech side that, like Ukraine, have failed to live up to their pre-tournament billing. Turkey now have to sit through the games tomorrow and hope that other third place finishers allow them through instead, a pretty unsatisfactory way of conducting things.
N Ireland 0 Germany 1 (Group C)
Self belief is not a characteristic that the Germans have ever seemed short of and nor was that ever the case against a spirited, but somewhat limited, Northern Ireland. The game could have been over by the break when Germany might have been approaching double figures but for some more indifferent finishing and the goalkeeping heroics of McGovern who kept it down to just the one from Gomez.
The Germans continued to dominate with some ease after the break as Kroos played more successful passes in the game than the entire Northern Irish team put together, but the reigning world champions were in cruise control and the game ended 1-0, crucially so as it turned out, for keeping the goal difference healthy was essential for the men in green.
When Turkey upset all expectations later in the day by defeating the Czech Republic 2-0, it meant that Northern Ireland were assured of a place in the last 16 as one of the best four third placed sides, a remarkable achievement for a country that started qualification in pot five when the draw was made a couple of years back.
Hungary 3 Portugal 3 (Group F)
Finally we get a game bursting with goals, from the unlikely proposition of Portugal versus Hungary. A breathless 90 minutes, the game where, finally, Ronaldo shows up at Euro 2016 and saves his team from exit, albeit by taking them no higher than third in the group and behind Iceland – hardly the work of a superhero.
And for 45 minutes it looked as though he might not even do that, continuing his grim Euros as the focus of everything but the deliverer of nothing. In that time, the Hungarians grabbed the lead with a thunderous, Ronaldoesque drive from Gera from the edge of the box and Portugal looked miserable and disjointed.
Just before the break though, a fine run from Nani was picked out by Ronaldo and he thrashed an equaliser inside Kiraly’s near post. From there, you might have expected Portugal to go on and win, but such is the disjointed nature of their side, they were behind again thanks to Dzsudzsak having his free-kick deflected in.
But finally, cometh the hour, cometh Ronaldo at last, with the kind of opportunity he needed, once where he could play on instinct rather than the studied and slightly grim determination with which he addressed free-kicks from increasingly preposterous distances. This time, a low cross, speared in, was marginally behind him, but improvising superbly, a back heel half volley fixed the goalkeeper and flew in.
And still it wasn’t over. Another deflected shot from Dzsudzsak flew into make it 3-2 but Ronaldo, the confidence flowing back, found a trademark bullet header to even it up. A magnificent game ended in slow motion as both sides accepted the draw that would give them a top two finish. Or so they thought.
That was because Iceland and Austria were locked at 1-1. But as the final whistle was going in the Portugal game, Iceland produced a swift breakaway, won the game, snuck past Portugal into second place and booked a knockout tie with England. Many England fans seem happy with that given Iceland has a population of 330,000. But so does Leicester and we know what they’ve just done.
Iceland 2 Austria 1 (Group F)
Iceland should not be underestimated by anyone though and in some ways, they could be the nightmare scenario for England. Conventional wisdom of the last few days has had it that England will have been looking forward to the knockout stage because then, they’ll be up against teams willing to open up and play, and they’ll find it easier to score goals.
Iceland aren’t going to do that, they’ll stay at home, defend in numbers and ask England to break them down the way Slovakia did. England should prevail, and it could be a great way of getting momentum. But the weight of expectation now is going to be immense.
There’s none of that in the Irish campaign after grabbing a late winner, against a second string Italy sure, but which, nonetheless, took them all the way to the brink. The Irish, in stifling conditions, worked tirelessly, enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and might have had a penalty just before the break when McClean went tumbling in the box, but when Hoolahan missed a sitter just before the end it seemed like curtains.
But within a minute, Hoolahan atoned with a magnificent curling cross into the box, Brady getting there first to nod in and send Ireland off to a well deserved meeting with the French in the next round, all of which will stir up memories of the Hand of Henry all those years ago. Meanwhile, the international career of Ibrahimovic came to a close with a 1-0 defeat against Belgium who grabbed second place in the group and a meeting with the Hungarians, Sweden ending up bottom of the pile.
Italy 0 Rep of Ireland 1 (Group E)
There’s none of that in the Irish campaign after grabbing a late winner, against a second string Italy sure, but which, nonetheless, took them all the way to the brink. The Irish, in stifling conditions, worked tirelessly, enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and might have had a penalty just before the break when McClean went tumbling in the box, but when Hoolahan missed a sitter just before the end it seemed like curtains.
But within a minute, Hoolahan atoned with a magnificent curling cross into the box, Brady getting there first to nod in and send Ireland off to a well deserved meeting with the French in the next round, all of which will stir up memories of the Hand of Henry all those years ago.
Sweden 0 Belgium 1 (Group E)
Meanwhile, the international career of Zlatan Ibrahimovic came to a close with a 1-0 defeat for Sweden against Belgium, who grabbed second place in the group. They booked a meeting with the Hungarians, while Sweden ended up bottom of the pile.
Next up, the knock-out stage of Euro 2016, as told by your narrator, Dave Bowler