Euro 2020 has given the football world something to cheer about in these difficult times, even if allowing fans back into stadiums remains a controversial and potentially dangerous issue.
How good have the European Championships been? Just when the world needed a pick-up from this seemingly never-ending pandemic, Europe’s top national teams have turned on a genuinely thrilling summer of football.
How about those giant-killing runs from Switzerland and the Czech Republic? The Swiss actually led their penalty shoot-out against Spain, only for Spanish goalkeeper Unai Simon to save two spot-kicks – Swiss attacker Ruben Vargas blasted a third over the crossbar – to dramatically win the game for La Roja.
Meanwhile, the Czechs might have relied almost entirely on Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick for inspiration, but he delivered it in spades by notching five of their six goals.
They ended up being beaten 2-1 by a better Denmark outfit in the quarter-finals, but not before dumping a highly-fancied Dutch side out in the Round of 16.
But surely the biggest stories are Italy eliminating one of the tournament favourites in Belgium 2-1 in Munich, before England hinted that football may actually be coming home with their 4-0 thrashing of Ukraine in Rome.
We saw the best and the worst of the Italians in Munich, with Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Insigne scoring a couple of belting goals. Napoli mainstay Insigne is a magical footballer, although quite why the Belgian defence backed off him before half-time remains a mystery.
Perhaps they were still annoyed by Ciro Immobile’s egregious play-acting in the build-up to Barella’s goal, with the Lazio striker diving for a penalty and rolling around as if he’d just been shot outside the six-yard box, before immediately springing to his feet to celebrate with team-mates as soon as Barella’s shot flew in.
It was a ridiculous look for a player of Immobile’s undeniable talent, but sadly it sums up the contributions of a striker who always performs better in a Lazio jersey than an Italian one.
At any rate, the Azzurri are now just one game away from reaching the final of Euro 2020 after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup altogether.
Standing in their way is Spain and a trip to Wembley Stadium, where authorities are set to allow a crowd of up to 60,000 fans enjoy all the action.
Let’s be honest: the decision to play games in multiple host cities hasn’t really worked.
It seemed like a questionable idea even before COVID hit and with games taking place from Seville to Saint Petersburg and as far away as Baku in Azerbaijan, it can’t have been easy on travelling fans.
You can understand UEFA’s desire to explore new frontiers, but from a practical standpoint, it’s been a bit of a nightmare.
Harry Kane celebrates with Jordan Henderson. (Photo by Chris Ricco – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
It’s also now England’s tournament to lose, with both their semi-final and the tournament’s finale set to take place in the decidedly non-neutral confines of Wembley Stadium.
There had been furtive talk of the decider potentially moving to Budapest, with the Hungarian government opting not to set limits on the number of fans attending fixtures at the Puskas Arena.
And it’s hard to argue the four games in Budapest weren’t some of the best in the tournament. They were certainly the most fun to watch on TV, with fans filling every seat of the four-star stadium.
But with COVID’s Delta variant threatening to run rampant across Europe, there are renewed questions around the wisdom of letting so many spectators congregate.
It’s a tough one. On one hand it makes sense to try and limit the spread of the disease, but on the other there’s an obvious desire to try and return to some sense of normality.
Thank goodness we’ve at least had some football to take our minds off things for a while.
It’s been a fantastic tournament so far. Here’s hoping the final three games live up to all expectations.
Chopper
Roar Rookie
AA you are a first class clown. lol
dennis emery
Guest
Multiple age groups ? I wonder which nation won the U17 and U20 World Cups four years ago ? Could it be England ? No the FIFA stats are wrong and the above post is correct.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
You cant compare one of the richest international teams conditioning departments to one of the poorest australian club teams. There is no correlation in anything that i've said to even compare :laughing:
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
keep up the original insults Gerry, you're doing well :thumbup: :laughing:
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
you sound like a stereotypical fan of england. as for rugby, you couldnt pay me to watch that sport
Chopper
Roar Rookie
Zero injuries AA? Perhaps you could persuade England's physios to take a look at Adelaide because in another column you note that Adelaide have had multiple soft tissue injuries during the last season.
Gerry
Roar Rookie
What you going to do if England win then bang on about how boring they were or how many advantages they have blah blah. Geez s massive chip on your shoulder man. Give it a rest and enjoy the great football being played. Italy are awesome and my heavy favourites. Denmark are playing on emotion and are dangerous. Cant yet write off Spain completely either even though they will probably get done by Italy. It would be a great result to see the Danes take it all the way. However England are playing to a plan and of course that could come unstuck as history had shown. This team though seems to have made their own history. No doubt you may have been one of the haters when England won the Rugby World Cup it wouldn’t surprise me. On that note I hope they do win so I can bug you about it every day. That would be hilarious and most satisfying.
Gerry
Roar Rookie
Shut up please you are boring us with your constant whining Geez get a life you have nothing better to do than bag the English. If you are from Adelaide the most boring city on the planet that explains this.
Waz
Roar Rookie
I don’t buy the travel factor - all top European players are used to travelling midweek and playing both weekends on either side ….
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
i will give credit to teams like ukraine & denmark who no one expected to get this far. Denmark especially for what happened to thier most influential player. what have england exactly done to derserve credit from a non english fan in this tournament? *they finished top in one of the weakest groups in the tournament, playing dull uninspiring football (4 goals against a team i commented on earlier doesnt change this) after every man and his dog said theyre so attacking lol *90% of games at home *zero injuries *on the easiest side of the draw they have everything already set up and in there favour to finally lift a major tropy in nearly 60 years, if they win i will give them credit for not choking for a change lol
Punter
Roar Rookie
So why do they win all the trophies, by purchasing the best players in those positions & those players with the clubs winning trophies are now playing for England, boring as they may be to you, they are winning, they have not conceded a goal all tournament. Now, like you I'm not an English fan, but you have to give credit where it's due.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
its the same every 4 years, the media and fans just rev them up. to be the so called originators of football and to have won so little across multiple age groups with the amount of money they put into everything from players to training facilities; shows you how "poor" as a nation they are footballing wise
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
the "champions" league where teams who finish 4th or 5th in there respective leagues (some 30+ behind the actual winner) compete in. It really defeats the purpose of what the name implies doesnt it lol how do you think those teams did so well in european competitions? $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$, it's not like they were teams with minimal financial backing You're talking about some of the richest clubs in the world here, with that sort of money behind them you would be expect to either win or go close to winning trophies lol money has completely wrecked the sport worldwide, but this is a debate for another subject lol
Para+Ten ISUZU Subway support Australian Football
Roar Rookie
Zero injuries means good team management. Southgate, has managed his squad superbly. All teams start out with the same squad size. :stoked:
Big Mig
Roar Rookie
Your silly comments show just why England supporters are disliked by most and many are t#ssers, they don’t know how to win or lose graciously. They booed the German national anthem, shouted all sorts of war slogans to the germans, and now they just keep on going. Latte? Fashionable? Give us all a break. Start making excuses for the inevitable – England are going home.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Let's stick with facts they beat Ukraine 4 zip, weak or not. Mueller did not score, life is full of should've & would've. These English players didn't just shine in the premier league, they did so in the Champions league.
Punter
Roar Rookie
Having no injuries & having the right to host the Euros is not their fault. Hungary had a great tournament & against 3 of the best teams in the world, but all played at home.
Towser
Guest
Boring , depends on which said if the fence your sitting on, who cares about attack when you pop in 4, not England fans, including me. Seen hundreds of attacking games where the “Attackee” wins not the “Attacker. Several ways to win including 4 Yorkshireman in the lineup, 2 from Sheffield like me and one a gob spit away in Barnsley, t’other up road in Leeds, sheer Yorkshire grit. Of course you can win like the Italians, such flair and fantastic Lazarus impressions and their fashionable fans, coats slung over their shoulders, instead of wearing pit boots. Hopefully an England V Italy final, pints of best bitter, wi big meaty hands vs a glass of latte , held by delicate fingers. Shackles are already loose, depends on how you look at it.
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
i could build half a team of young australian players for his weekly wage
TheSecretScout
Roar Guru
you don't think they play boring football? are you basing that off the fact they beat an incredibly weak team who played 120 minutes only days before and had players missing to injury? every match they've been in they have been boring (croatia/scotland/czech republic/germany) could've lost to the worst germany team in decades as well, (muller scores that goal 99 times out of 100 at bayern munich) everyone who follows the premier league is ranting and raving about all these attacking options, show me; show me you can attack. Because i've seen barely anything from them, this is what happens when you play with 2 holding midfielders (and you're meant to be one of the best international teams in the world) loosen the shackles southgate!! lol