Tag: #Euro2020/21

  • England Lost

    It was just heartbreaking. There was a pit in my stomach when extra time started. I knew, just knew, that if England didn’t score in the extra period, that they would lose in penalty kicks. I don’t know a ton about international football, but what I do know is that England has a bad history when it comes to shoot outs.

    And that history continued.

    I don’t blame the game plan that Gareth Southgate had for his English team. It has been working since The World Cup in 2018, and in each following match, their defense got better and better. Think about it. In the Euro 2020/21 Tournament, England only gave up two goals. That’s pretty amazing. That was the plan, and it was working. England scored super early, and played its defense. Even after giving up a goal, The Three Lions were bending, but they didn’t break.

    But Penalty Kicks. It had to be Penalty Kicks.

    And England’s goalie, Jordan Pickford, did an amazing job, and kept them in it. But Gianluigi Donnarumma, Italy’s goalie, had the better day.

    And that’s how matches go. You can have your best day, but if there other guy has a better one, there’s not much you can do.

    And I felt awful for Bukayo Saka, when he missed the final penalty kick, sealing England’s loss. He’s a kid; 19 and playing the biggest game of his life. I just felt awful for him. The only solace I found was how the whole English squad rallied around him after missing the kick. Saka was in tears, but all of his team mates were there consoling him. They even showed Southgate giving him a hug. And if there is one name in England who knows what that feels like, it’s Southgate. And if there is one man who can tell Saka that one play doesn’t define you, it’s also Southgate.

    Thus comes to an end for Euro 2020/21. I had a lot of fun watching the matches, learning about the players, and even enjoyed rooting for a team that came so close.

    All I can say is that I am looking forward to the Men’s World Cup in 2022, and Women’s World Cup in 2023.

  • ODDS and ENDS – Euro Final: England v Italy, Now What… Olympics?, The Emotion of Summer Vacation

    “Odds and Ends” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    Shock beyond shock, I’m going to talk about the Euro 2020/21 Final on Sunday between England and Italy. Looks like I am only about 50% correct when it comes to picking finals, so I am pretty happy about that. It’s not a done deal for England, who I thought didn’t look great against Denmark, and now they have a real competitor, Italy, who is playing at the top of their game. It should be a good match, and no matter what the outcome, this is the best an English team has done is 50 years, so hats off to this squad.

    And then after Sunday… no real big sporting events to look forward to. Some of you might point out the Olympics, but man, should that even be happening? Shit is bad in Japan with Covid, and there won’t be any spectators, and as we have learned in the past year, sports without fans is kind’a dull. I’m not knocking any of the athletes in Tokyo, but this sure must be a little of a letdown for them as well.

    We are two weeks into Summer Vacation, one week in on the Summer Day camp, which leaves nine weeks until school starts up again, and according to my kid, Summer goes on forever. I remember that feeling of optimistic listlessness. Nothing to do, not wanting to do anything, needing to do something, and it felt like this wonderful inertia would go on forever. I thought I remember what Summer Vacation felt like, but I had forgotten. It’s like I knew the right words to say when an adult talks about it, but having the weight of the correct emotion behind it was lacking in me. Now I see it again, living through the excitement of my daughter’s vacation.

  • England v Denmark Today

    So… I really don’t know that much about international football, let alone European football, but that isn’t a good reason to stop me from talking like I’m an authority on EURO 2020/21.

    In that sense, I was wrong about Belgium, and very wrong about Italy. It feels like it’s the 80’s again with Italy playing well, and maybe winning a championship. Also, Denmark is the sentimental favorite of the tournament. They whole thing with Christian Erikson collapsing and almost dying on the field is just crazy to begin with, but Denmark seems to have found their stride.

    Which does make me nervous for England. (It’s the Cub fan in me coming out.) Sure, the Three Lions beat up on Ukraine, but that match wasn’t as much as a test as compared to the Germany game. And England is playing at home today, which should give them an edge. But Denmark has the better story, and is the underdog, and they lost their best player but somehow keep finding ways to win.

    So, I’ looking forward to the match.

    Problem is that the game is at 3pm, and that is when I need to get the kid from day camp. And she wants to go to the park after camp today.

    I might have to bribe her with ice cream so dad can watch the match in air conditioning at home.

  • ODDS and ENDS – Euro 2020/21, Summer Camp, Sleep!

    “Odds and Ends” is my continuing series of random thoughts and follow ups…

    Again, I will be talking about Euro 2020/21. As of this moment, Switzerland just got bounced by Spain, and Italy and Belgium just started. Though I was completely wrong about Sweden last week, I still hold that the final will be Belgium against England. Yes, over the Fourth of July Weekend, I will be rooting for England.

    Finally, some good news with Summer Camp, as it has taken up my whole week. The pediatrician’s office got the revised vaccination form to me today; a whole day earlier than they said. The weight taken off, not only my shoulders, but my wife’s shoulders, is enormous! The kid will get to go to summer day camp! She gets to be around kids again! We all get a break from each other! I feel like I won the lottery!

    One last thing. After my wife’s birthday, which was in the middle of June, I decided that I would do another thirty days of no alcohol. I did it last year as a sort of detox and reset on getting healthy. I was told that when you stop drinking you begin to notice changes such as, the ability to sleep through the night, your complexation clears up, you become more focus, and relaxed, and you lose weight. When I did it last year, I noticed none of those benefits. Nothing. I couldn’t sleep, I had a bad complexation, I was foggy, not relaxed, and I put on weight. Sure, it was the middle of the pandemic, but I thought I would have got something. This time around, I can report that I am, in fact, sleeping better, and through the night. As for the other benefits, again, nothing. Seems to be that I might have to do this five more times before I start seeing all the benefits at once.

  • England v Germany; Final Thoughts

    I would like to claim that I called the match. That might not be accurate, but I don’t care. Sterling scored again, and Harry Kane found the back of the nest as well. 2-0 was a pretty solid win for England over a German team that had two very good chances to at least tie the match.

    I have my money on Sweden beating Ukraine later today, which, no offense to anyone, does give England a pretty good chance to make it to the final. Okay, I’m calling an England v Belgium final. There you have it.

    Anyway, that was fun, and that’s what watching football over the summer should be like.