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EURO 2020 Thread.

Final, 2-1, Denmark. They'll play in the semis against the winner of England - Ukraine.
 
Something about England scoring early after the whistle. Maguire scores on a header off a free kick at the 46 min mark to make it 2-0, England.

 
Kane with a header off a nice centering pass makes it 3-0, England. Considering that England has yet to give up a goal in the Euros, it's hard to see Ukraine winning this match.

 
And another goal for England on a header off of a corner kick, making it 4-0, England.

 
Long article, very interesting. Talks about the interconnections between the professional teams, coaches, and players. Talks about the continuing influence of Johan Cruyff (through Pep Guardiola), which is cool because I watched him play many times at RFK Stadium when he was in Washington, and who basically was my introduction to international soccer.

 
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Anggurlind is gonna smoke these foos then probably beat Eatally too. Which is good- taking this home will make them feel less insecure about Yank FC saaaawhcker sneaking up on them like a Chinese bottle-rocket.
 
Denmark gets on the board first, and breaks England's streak of allowing no goals, at the 29 minute mark. 1-0, Denmark. Just a perfect strike on a free kick from @ 25 yards out.
 
And Stirling gets an equalizer for England (after being stuffed by the Denmark GK when he was in free a few minutes before), at the 39 minute mark. 1-1. It was actually an own goal, as the sliding defender knocked it into the goal.

 
Sterling's a helluva player, so I mean no disrespect. But watching him run brings back childhood memories:

 
1-1 at the end of regulation (and 6 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the 2nd half). They'll play 30 minutes of OT.

Both sides had legitimate shots on goal in the 2nd half. England seemed to have more (by a good bit) of the opportunities, but that's just my take while also surfing the board and talking on the phone. ;)
 
Stirling goes down in the box and the ref awards England a PK. It's reviewed by VAR, and the call was upheld. My personal take, you could call it, but I did not think it was sufficient for a PK call in OT of a Euro semifinal.

Kane took the PK, and it was blocked by the GK. However, the GK could not control the ball, and Kane knocked in the rebound for a goal. 2-1, England.


 
Stirling goes down in the box and the ref awards England a PK. It's reviewed by VAR, and the call was upheld. My personal take, you could call it, but I did not think it was sufficient for a PK call in OT of a Euro semifinal.

My personal take, if it’s a foul in the first minute of a friendly, then it’s a foul in the last minute of stoppage in OT of the World Cup final.
 
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Overall, I thought Denmark we're the better side. I was rooting for them. That being said, I like Southgate and am pulling for England to bring it home. Should be a good one. Italy are strong.
 
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My personal take, if it’s a foul in the first minute of a friendly, then it’s a foul in the last minute of stoppage in OT of the World Cup final.

that's a popular concept with non-refs. Amongst refs, most just laugh at the concept.

some calls in soccer are no brainers. other calls are far more subjective. all of the better refs I know will freely admit that there are fouls that they would not call in a well-played game where the foul is rather incidental, but that in a game that is getting out of hand, they would whistle for a foul on the same exact play. a good ref tries to manage the game, and adjusts as the situation warrants.

The awarding of a penalty kick, or the issuing of a red card, are the two most impactful calls a ref can make. While not every PK is successfully converted, a large number of them are, so the awarding of a PK is huge, regardless of the level of competition. In a tie game, in extra time, most refs are going to want a clear violation, where there is absolutely no dispute that the call is warranted, when awarding a PK.

On the play in question, Stirling got bumped by one defender. That bump may have impacted his going down on the challenge from the 2nd defender. And even if he had not gone down as a result of the challenge, he had a bad angle to the goal, and had (if I recall correctly) at least one defender between him and the GK/the goal. By the book, it was an accurate call, as the challenge by the 2nd defender did trip Stirling's right leg. And that's why I didn't expect it to be overturned by VAR. But if I were the ref in that situation, I would have been motioning Stirling to get up, and not called the foul. Would VAR have buzzed down if I had done that? I have no idea. 99.99% of the soccer refs in the world have never reffed a game where VAR is employed. You make a snap judgement call, and in my snap judgement of the play in real time, there was not enough to warrant giving England a PK, especially in extra time of a EURO semifinal, with the score tied.

I was in a group text with a bunch of refs during the game. After the call, all of them were giving their opinion of the call, and saying whether or not they would have called a PK. About 50% felt they would have called it, and about 50% felt they would not have called it. None of them are FIFA level refs, so take it for what it's worth.
 
Sterling has stood out for me in this tournament. Whether or not the penalty was the correct call, it was Sterling who made the great move which started everything. Again and again Sterling has been the one in the midst of good things happening for England. He's been damn impressive.
 
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I don't like the call. and I really don't like the fact if it's blocked you can kick it in.
Exactly. That is a bad rule. My goodness you basically are saying have two penalty shots. That is a bad rule that needs changing.
 
This is the first time since 1966 that England will be playing in

FWIW, I thought England was the better team. Denmark was out of gas in Overtime.

Gotta like the England vs Italy final matchup.
It's a dream matchup for fairy tale stories. Italy totally disgraced 3 years ago without being able to qualify for the WC now playing for the European Championship against a team in England who is at home only playing in its second Big tournament final but looking to go 2 for 2 in hardware.
 
I watched the 1982 World Cup Final with my Italian Grandmother and have been an Italy fan ever since. But England wins this game 7 out of 10 times in my opinion. Spinazolla was a big difference maker for Italy. I don't think they're nearly as dynamic without him. Kane and/or Sterling will make one more play at some point. Hope I'm wrong. If it gets to penalties, huge pressure on England.
 
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