Tag: France

  • Euro Cup 2024 – A Casual Fan’s Impressions – Round of 16 Day 3 and Day 4

    Euro ‘24 is behaving better than I thought it would. The Group Stage was highly entertaining, and on the whole, the Round of 16 has been the dramatic sporting event I was hoping for. Now, I recap:

    Day 3

    France v Belgium

    I will say, I am still not very impressed with France. The match was fine, and I enjoyed it, but honestly, I am still not seeing a reason why France will win the whole thing.

    Portugal v Slovenia

    This was Great! When I think about about Big Time, Large Marque International Football, this is the type of match I hope for. It seemed like no mater what Ronaldo tried, it just wouldn’t work. I’m not a huge fan of his, but I do admit that he is one of the best, ever. This is most likely his last dance, and I did feel like he was putting it all out there. But Slovenia had a defensive answer for everything that Portugal threw at them. Except when it came to the shoot out when Diogo Costa, the Portugal goal keeper, had three of the most impressive stops the world has even seen. Never, never, never has anyone ever stopped three shoot out shots in a row. It was simply amazing! This match was a classic.

    Day 4

    Romania v Netherlands

    The Dutch were all business and dispatched Romania. Not much drama here, and the Netherlands wants to make sure we haven’t forgot about them.

    Austria v Turkey

    Another fun match to watch. I did think going into this that Austria was going to win… But Turkey played a solid match.

    Thoughts:

    Well, I still think Germany Spain today will be the match of the tourament, and the winner will most likely win the whole thing. But, Portugal may just have elevated themselves into a contender. Looking forward to this weekend.

  • Euro Cup 2024 – Day 8 to Day 13 – A Casual Fan’s Impressions

    I keep thinking that my life slows down when Summer rolls in and the kid gets out of school. No, I am a foolish man. Issues and projects pop up, and kid get sick, but through it all I kept watching matches, or watching highlights late at night on YouTube. Either way, this is what I saw…

    Day 8

    Slovakia v Ukraine

    Nice flash of aggressiveness in Ukraine to fight back and win this one.

    Poland v Austria

    Austria was in control of this match, and I couldn’t help but feel bad for Poland.

    Netherlands v France

    Two heavy weights going at it. I couldn’t shake the thought that France doesn’t have the players to make up for Mbappe’s absence due to his broken nose.

    Day 9

    Georgia v Czechia

    I wasn’t expecting much from these teams, but it was a fun match to watch.

    Turkey v Portugal

    Portugal was not messing around, and Ronaldo played like a team leader out there – unselfish play, pulling the defense away from the ball.

    Belgium v Romania

    Hey! Belgium showed up and played like the Red Devils.

    Day 10

    Switzerland v Germany

    Germany was on autopilot for this – they could have played harder. That’s not to say that Switzerland wasn’t out to win, but Germany didn’t look dominate.

    Scotland v Hungary

    Poor Scotland. Poor, poor Scotland. This match broke my heart for the Scots, but you want drama in a tournament, and that’s what happened. Poor Scotland.

    Day 11

    Albania v Spain

    Spain is here to win. Anything less than the Cup will be a failure to them.

    Croatia v Italy

    Another super dramatic heartbreaker. Croatia did everything right up until the last thirty seconds, and they let Italy take this from them. This is what makes the Group Stage so much fun; it’s not over until it’s over.

    Day 12

    France v Poland

    With Mbappe not at 100%, he is still crazy dangerous out there on the pitch, but again I was left feeling that he doesn’t have the support behind him. And again, Poland played well, but just couldn’t get over the hill.

    Netherlands v Austria

    Wow! This was a match, and another reason why the Euro Cup is so completely exciting. I knew the Dutch were always contenders, but Austria (who I am not familiar with) who had some luck, skill, and played like the wanted it more.  

    England v Slovenia

    Well… England won the group. The Three Lions played better, but they still don’t look like a solid team out there. Getting a little worried that they will be bounced in the first round of the knockout.

    Denmark v Serbia

    A pretty solid draw. Serbia fought for it, and Denmark wasn’t messing around either. Another really fun match in the tournament.

    Day 13

    Ukraine v Belgium

    Belgium played to not lose, and Ukraine tried.

    Slovakia v Romania

    This is the only match I didn’t get a chance to see, nor catch the highlights. Sorry guys, no offense.

    Czechia v Turkey

    This Match was CRAZY! There should be a rule that when a match starts to spiral out of control, that the game takes a 15-minute timeout, and a new official is brought out on the field. I know the ref is getting the majority of the blame for this match being a dumpster fire, but what I saw was two desperate teams out there willing to do anything to win – they both had chips on their shoulders.

    Georgia v Portugal

    At least the Group Stage ended on a high note, with Georgia achieving a major upset. I will agree with Ronaldo that he was completely manhandled and fouled relentlessly, and never got a call. That was some bad officiating. Yet, I don’t want to take anything away from Georgia’s win, handedly, over a Portugal team that should have crushed them.

    Overall Thoughts:

    And we are now to the Knock Out Round. I still feel like Spain and Germany are playing the best, and there is a good chance they will meet on July 5th in the Quarterfinals. France and Belgium looks like a good match up, and I have no proof of this, but I have a hankerin’ that Switzerland and Italy could also be exciting. As for England, the team I am supporting, I have a feeling that they will be upset by Slovakia.

  • UPDATED: Euro Cup 2024 – Day 1 to Day 4 – A Casual Fan’s Impressions

    We are now pretty much through the first round of Group Stage matches, and the Euro Cup is playing out pretty much the way I thought it would go. No huge surprises, or stunning upsets, but it is still early. As such, in my very casual fan way, here are my impressions of what has gone on:

    Day 1:

    Germany v Scotland

    There were two surprises in this match. First was the Red Card, which was deserved, but shocking that in the first game of the whole tournament a red card was handed out. The second surprise was the own goal by Germany, as it looked like they were about to complete a rout of Scotland with a clean sheet, but oops! In the end, Germany played like the home team, expecting to win the Cup.

    Day 2:

    Hungary v Switzerland

    Sorry everybody, I had errands that I had to run, so I missed it. I had a feeling Switzerland would win though.

    Spain v Croatia

    So, Spain has a chip on its shoulder and went out there to make a statement with their win. The story everyone wants to talk about is Spain’s 17-year-old starter Lamine Yamal, who got an assist in the match, and though he looks like a baby out there, he certainly knows how to play like a pro. What I saw was a squad that, like Germany, is expecting to win the Cup.

    Italy v Albania

    I was excited to see this Italian team, as they did win the last Euro Cup, for on the whole, it’s a completely different team. I think I read that only seven players remain from the 2021 team. I wasn’t very impressed with them, even though they did win. Now, either Italy isn’t as good as people say, or Albania is better than what most think.

    Day 3:

    Poland v Netherlands

    Thanks for nothing FS1! Sure, I would love to watch Euro 2024, but I don’t have FS1 so that didn’t happen. But, I was expecting the Dutch to win.

    Slovenia v Denmark

    Again, FS1 sucks. But, I was excited that Christian Eriksen got Denmark’s first goal of the tournament. (Eriksen was a Tottenham player, so I have a soft spot for the guy, and also, he had a cardiac arrest during the Euro Cup in 2021, which was shocking and scary as shit to watch happen live. Eriksen’s a fighter – recovered, returned to professional football, and earned a spot-on Denmark’s 2024 team.) But Slovenia tied the match. I would love to tell you more… but I don’t get FS1…

    Serbia v England

    This was the match I was looking forward to. I’m pulling for England, which might also mean that my support has doomed this team. I believe in the hype, and if you do that, then you left that match feeling a tad let down by the Three Lions. Sure, they won, but it wasn’t a rock-solid performance. Defense was shaky, and it looked like England had a hard time getting the ball to Harry Kane. Thankfully, Bellingham is there.

    Day 4:

    Romania v Ukraine

    Don’t know… As the match was on some channel that I don’t get… Romania won.

    Belgium v Slovakia

    Also, on a channel I don’t get. But was surprised that Belgium was shut out.

    Austria v France

    Looking forward to this. France has a good shot at taking the Cup, as they are always competitive. It’s starts in a few minutes, so I might update in a bit.

    UPDATE:

    Austria and France was the Euro Cup match I had been waiting for. That was fun and dramatic, heartbreaking for the Austria own goal, and then there was Mbappe getting a broken nose. If I was Austria, I would feel pretty good about myself, or as good as I could feel by losing to France because of an own goal. Austria played well against one of the best teams in the world, and they had several chances to score. As for France, I am sure they are holding their breath to find out had bad Mbappe’s nose is. I’m sure he’ll be back for the knockout stage, but then that means France needs to get to the knockout stage without him. Either way, Group D will be very exciting to follow.

  • Woman’s World Cup: Day 5

    I am having trouble with the time differences when it comes to the matches. I don’t want to sound like I’m copping out on watching. I try to stay up, but I fall asleep. Or I’ve been sleeping through my alarm. If the match isn’t at 9pm, then odds aren’t good that I will be able to watch live. What I am left with is reading and watching highlights. Not very exciting for me as I did watch all Team USA matches in 2019 and 2015. I am very proud of that fact, and sadly I am not sure I will be able to continue. USA plays Portugal on 8/1 at 3am Eastern. I’m planning on being there but I will have to fight for that one.

    So, what have I seen?

    USA v Vietnam: Seems the consensus about this match was that the USA was rusty, as they should have blown Vietnam out of the water. And that consensus is stupid by the way. 3-0 is a pretty serious drumming, and I get that Group E might come down to the point differential, but only Team USA would get scolded for not scoring enough points. My second take on this match is that Team USA would have had 7 goals is it wasn’t for Vietnam’s goalie, T. Thi Kim Tran. There was only so much Tran could do, and what she did was stop the American’s from rolling all over them.

    England v Haiti: Caught the tail end of this one. I would have thought that England would have scored more, but a win is a win.

    France v Jamaica: This was the second surprise of the tournament, after New Zealand beating Norway. Only saw highlights, and a tie is not a loss for France, but still surprising.

    Germany v Morocco: Don’t mess with Germany. Germany made a loud statement with their 6-0 win that they came to win this Cup.

    Brazil v Panama: And Brazil also made their statement with their 4-0 win, too.

    Columbia v South Korea: Looking forward to this one. I know that these two are not high ranked teams, but South Korea has always been a scrappy team in my eye – fun to watch. Maybe them or Columbia could be the Dark House of the Tournament.

  • World Cup Dispatch: The Final

    Was it the greatest World Cup Final, ever?

    I would say so. Mind you, I have only been paying attention since 2002, which means I only have six Finals under my belt, but nothing in my memory compares to what happened on Sunday.

    Argentina controlling the match for 80 minutes, then France came roaring back to life. Then Extra Time drama; Goals and Fouls! All of it ending with Penalties – terrible, unfair, gut-wrenching Penalty Kicks. It was a show, and Messi and Mbappe didn’t disappoint. Those two guys played like the superstars that they are. And in the end, either outcome would have been impressive. France winning back to back Cups would have been amazing, and something to truly celebrate. But Messi winning it, that was the ending everyone was hoping for; what a cap to end a career on? (Though rumors are already flying that Messi has changed his mind.) At the end of that match, no one could say that both teams didn’t give it their all.

    And because of that, I was left feeling that FIFA and Qatar didn’t deserve that Final, let alone this tournament. Let’s not forget the bribery, the intolerable working conditions for the migrant workers building these stadiums, the authoritarian government, the lack of civil liberties, the inability of players and fans to wear a rainbow. I was left feeling that the bad guys got away with it. Like FIFA was saying to me, “You were entertained, so it wasn’t that bad to get here, right?”

    And I was entertained. Morocco was fun to watch, and made you think that anything was possible, like Brazil losing when they looked unstoppable. Don’t forget about Japan never giving up, and fighting for every ball. The drama of Team USA having to beat Iran to get into the Round of 16. I mean, I could go on and on…

    What I am left with is loving the show, and hating the producers.

    I’m still not happy about that.

    Yet, Tottenham picks up play again on the 26th of December, and there still is the Champions League. And, don’t forget that July 2023 is the Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand.

    Lots of football left to play.