OT - 6/21 Euros/Copa America Open Thread
Group A finished yesterday with Italy and Wales securing spots in the knockout stage. Turkey has been eliminated and Switzerland finished third with 4 points and a -1 goal difference. They will have to await the results of the next few days to see if they advance or not.
Saturday was the most entertaining day of the tournament, with Spain and Poland drawing, Hungary holding onto the draw against France and the goal fest of Germany's 4-2 win over Portugal.
Today, we get group B and C finishing up. As it stands, Belgium are guaranteed a spot in the knockouts. Russia and Finland would need wins to guarantee advancing. Denmark have 0 points, but a win against Russia would make things interesting. In Group C, Netherlands have won the group. Ukraine and Austria both sit at 3 points and play each other today and sit in 2nd and 3rd in the group. North Macedonia cannot advance.
12pm - Ukraine v Austria - ESPN
12pm - North Macedonia v Netherlands - ESPN2
3pm - Russia v Denmark - ESPN
3pm - Finland v Belgium - ESPN2
In Copa America, still early in the group stages. The games have been very entertaining, but the stakes are fairly low since four of the top 5 in each group advance to the knockouts. But we should see some good matches today.
5pm - Uruguay v Chile - FS1
8pm - Argentina v Paraguay - FS1
The Maginot Line erected by the Greeks is preventing the advance of the North Macedonians.
I guess their Maginot line was more effective than the one created by the French.
The German strikers going out of play to get around the Maginot line was a blatant and missed red card in my book.
In other matches, the French players were quick to fall to the pitch and allow rapid advances by the German offense.
The Maginot Line did its job. It redirected the German forces northward through Belgium, as planned. The problem was that they broke through the Allied lines in the Ardennes, which were not as heavily defended as other sectors.
Hard to decide whether I want to see Denmark or Finland go through. Usually I like Finland better, but Blind Channel was hard on the ears, and it would make for a special tournament if Eriksen's teammates can rally without him.
I guess my main hope for today's games is that nothing absurdly dangerous or violent happens while my children are watching. This tournament has been brutal.
A general question: is there a reason to dislike the French team? Mbappé has been amazing to watch, but it kind of feels wrong cheering for them. I'm only a very occasional soccer viewer, so please present reasons in either direction, even if you think I should already know about them.
Yes.
They are French. That is more than enough to dislike them.
I mean, that's only slightly racist. But at least it's overt?
Ah yes, the vastly inferior French race
National originist? Pick whatever ~ist you like, I suppose.
Never understood the antipathy towards the French - they were our first ally! They helped us trap Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown. Merci Marquis de Lafayette! Vive Les Bleus!
(I guess they have a reputation for being rude but I've never been there so...)
The French are not rude. They are just less hesitant to correctly identify you as an outsider when you go there not speaking any French and not knowing where you're going.
Any culture that prizes the little politenesses of hello, goodbye, please and thank you, as the French do, can't be considered rude.
It's too big of a country to be rude or otherwise in general. In my experience of Bordeaux, people were shockingly polite. In Paris, they can be assholes to tourists, as can denizens of any big city.
One thing that I think happens to tourists a lot is that Parisians pretend not to speak English. Sometimes people just openly refuse to speak English, even when you know otherwise. I was once trying to buy a train ticket, and the guy told me his colleague spoke English, and his colleague pointed at the Spanish flag pin on his chest, and said "today I speak Spanish" in French. So I started speaking Spanish to him. He was really not very happy that he had to help me. But a lot of these unpleasant experiences are avoided if you start by trying to speak French, even if your French is awful.
If there is a general issue that Americans have with French people, it's that they are too similar. Both tend to think their country is the greatest, and that everyone should speak their language. What's funny is that we can tell it's ridiculous when the French do it, but not when we do.
International team play isn't the best way to fly in to soccer viewing, but YMMV. You see brilliant players but oftentimes the quality of play suffers because the teams don't have enough time to jell and group play can lead to ties when sides become overly happy with defensive play ("parking the bus").
And to be honest club fans spend a lot of time crossing their fingers hoping the studs don't get injured or play too many minutes.
I've never gotten excited for the Euros. World Cup, of course. But it does highlight certain players in addition to the Messi/Ronaldo/Robben that always play for the biggest clubs. You can find a few players that perform above themselves and can track them back to their home clubs, which can spark an interest there. More often than not, I've found myself more interested in the teams from Eastern Europe, mostly because I've tended to dismiss them out of hand, only to see them pull off something unexpected.
I am this way 100%. Even though I love the world cup and am enjoying watching some Euro, copa America and Team USA, the club game is simply much much better is terms of quality. I'm a Man City fan, so I am biased as they play some of the most watchable soccer, lots of goals, beautiful in possession.
Yes. The second City/Liverpool in 18/19 when City took over the table from Liverpool was the best 2-1 match I've seen. There was defense and offense, both sides well matched and fit. THAT's the sort of match someone new to the game should be watching.
Not a 0-0 snoozefest between two teams that just need a point/draw to get to the knockouts.
delete
I find it much easier to invest in outcomes for national teams than I do for clubs. IDGAF what club wins what game, except insofar as I hope the clubs that just bought all the best players lose. But since those are usually the ones that win, it's not really fun to watch.
I'm an Italian supporter, so I don't like the French because they have beaten Italy in a few tournaments over the decades, though Italy has won a few as well.
But the biggest reason to root against them is that they're the favorite. And because I feel like Deschamps really doesn't get the best out of them. They are by far the most talented team of the last half decade. And they have succeeded almost in spite of him IMO. But I don't dislike their players. Mbappe is crazy fun to watch. Pogba looks much much different for the national team than he does at ManU. Kante is just a brick wall across the front of the defense.
Only reason not to cheer for this France team is because they left Alan St. Maximin at home.
Allez les bleus!
France is the reason I started watching international soccer in 1998. Zidane, Henry, etc. This current team is just as fun to watch!
My first exposure to Zidane was his headbutt. Not a fan. But this team is really fun.
Austria up 1-0 at half. Rooting for a draw in that one.
Netherlands up 1-0 on NM. Haven’t been watching that one
A lot of teams are rooting for Austria to hold on so that Ukraine finishes with 3 points in 3rd place. Including France and Portugal, I'd have to think!
Dutch put it away early in 2nd half with 2 goals from Wjinaldum. 3-0 after 60 minutes.
What did Spain and Poland draw?
Ukraine and Belgium are fake ass countries, get em outta here
Russia just trying to milk the clock this whole game. Denmark just have no creativity or guile in the box.
But that was some pizzazz from outside the box!!!!! Damsgaard puts the Danish up 0-1!!
That was a beauty
Group B be crazy
Wow what an amazing series of events for Denmark here!
Uruguay-Chile was an ok game. Thought there’d be more chances than there were.
Argentina-Paraguay just kicked off. Argentina should get three points but Paraguay are a sneaky good team
I caught the second half of this game, where Paraguay dominated possession and the chances. It was such a breath of fresh air compared to watching the European version of the game. The thing that stood out to me was the speed at which they played and with how much space. This wasn't the casual trot into our formation, pass a few times to get to the opponent's third and then try and break down the D. But neither was it sprint away on the counterattack. Very entertaining stuff, even though Paraguay couldn't find that one touch to take advantage of their opportunities. I do wish they had played one or two their corners into the box rather than playing them short, but oh well.