Swedes 2 – Turnips – 3
I bet that headline turns up on one tabloid in the morning.
They could have played a bit better, but this was only Roy Hodgson’s fourth match in charge.
That Was A Strange Half
England are winning, but it was one of the strangest halves of football I’ve ever seen. it was so slow! Even the goal was good and slow!
Are The Frogs Floundering?
Let’s face it the French haven’t the best record as fighters when it gets wet; Trafalgar, Copenhagen, Quiberon Bay. And they don’t seem to be doing too well on a rain-effected pitch in Donetsk.
Could Hodsgon’s luck be thinking about turning as France need to beat the Ukraine.
How Many Points Do England Need To Qualify For The Next Stage?
In England’s Group in Euro-2012, the points totals are these.
England 1, France 1, Sweden 0, Ukraine 3
England and France still have to play both Sweden and Ukraine.
There are nine possible combinations of the French results.
1. France beats both Ukraine and Sweden which gives England 1, France 7, Sweden 0, Ukraine 3
2. France beats Ukraine and draws with Sweden which gives England 1, France 5, Sweden 1, Ukraine 3
3. France beats Ukraine and loses to Sweden which gives England 1, France 4, Sweden 3, Ukraine 3
4. France beats Sweden and draws with Ukraine which gives England 1, France 5, Sweden 3, Ukraine 4
5. France beats Sweden and loses to with Ukraine which gives England 1, France 4, Sweden 0, Ukraine 6
6. France loses to both Ukraine and Sweden which gives England 1, France 1, Sweden 3, Ukraine 6
7. France loses to Ukraine and draws with Sweden which gives England 1, France 2, Sweden 1, Ukraine 6
8. France loses to Sweden and draws with Ukraine which gives England 1, France 2, Sweden 4, Ukraine 4
9. France draws with both Ukraine and Sweden which gives England 1, France 3, Sweden 1, Ukraine 4
I think it is safe to say that England need four points from the last two games. They might do it with three, but I’d say they need a win and a draw to be safe.
Just Like 1966
I was 18 in 1966 and can remember watching England’s first match in the World Cup, where they playing a boring goalless draw with Uruguay.
I think it is true to say, that we weren’t too hopeful of winning in 1966 and if my memory serves me right, I think we did.
So last night and this morning, all of those on the phones-in, who thought England were rubbish, should shut up until at least the last match of the group stages of Euro-2012.
There weren’t phones-in in 1966, and I suspect after the first match, England supporters would have been totally despondent. Much worse than today.
Everybody now thinks of Sir Alf now, as the Messiah, but before the 1966 World Cup, all he’d done was the equivalent of take a Third Division side to the Premier League title in a space of five years. Try doing that these days with a team, without any stars. I suppose to be fair, England were in as bad a state at the start of the 1960s as Ipswich were when he took over as manager. A lot of people thought he was the wrong choice and probably hoped he’d fail.
In fact he had one great advantage in 1966 over Roy Hodgson today. He had at least had time to plan what he did. And plan he did! He even made sure that England had the lightest possible kit, so they would have more energy.
Ramsey incidentally had three years, whereas Hodgson had three weeks.
Giovanni Trapattoni claims “I am not Jesus Christ”
Giovanni Trapattoni, the Ireland manager has supposedly said this according to the BBC’s text commentary.
He claims “I am not Jesus Christ”. It is a healthy realisation to come to. “I don’t do miracles,” he continues. “Only the players can do miracles.”
He may be Italian, but he certainly has learned how to speak like an Irishman.
Orient Fans Defy Racism
On Double Take this morning on BBC Radio 5, they interviewed three hardy Leyton Orient fans, who’d gone all the way to support England in Donetsk. One was white, but the others were all or part-Bangladeshi. They were having a great time and had been made very welcome by the locals.
Let’s hope it all stays as peaceful.
Luckily for England, it seems most of the trouble so far is down to old problems with Russia, like these when they played the Czech Republic last night. Hopefully UEFA have got it in hand.
When I went to Belarus, there were no problems, but a Russian lawyer, I met who supports England, talked of the problems between Russia and its former satellite states.
Germany versus Portugal
I’ve watched most of this match now and there has been a lot of tackling, that would get yellow cards in matches in the UK, but not too many seem to have been issued.
I’d not heard of the German striker who scored, Mario Gomez before, but he seems to have sensible views on gay footballers and urges them to come out. After reading something in The Times last week, I would suggest that Ukraine is not the place. He talked about his views in the Guardian here. I hope it doesn’t have any consequences in this tournament.
Do Either Poland or Greece Want To Win?
This has not been the greatest game of football and I would suspect, if Russia or the Czech republic get their act together, they’ll get some points from this pair.
After all, all we’ve had here is two sendings off, a missed penalty, another which should have been given , one goal each and very little else.
There’s just four minutes left, so on current form, I suspect it’ll be one goal each at the end.
A Dutch View on the Racism in Krakow
I found this on the Radio Nederland web site.
There were loud protests by disappointed Krakow football fans at the start of Holland’s training session on Wednesday afternoon. They voiced their frustration at the fact that Krakow was passed up by UEFA three years ago when it chose four Polish cities to host the 2012 European Championship.
The fans had put up a large banner with a no-entry sign painted on the tournament emblem. After about 15 minutes, security staff intervened, putting a stop to the whistles and chanting. The slogans reportedly included racist abuse, prompting the Dutch to continue their training to the other side of the pitch.
It was the only Holland training session at the Wisla Krakow stadium open to the public. Tickets were free and the stands were filled in no time. Hard-core fans flocked to the stadium’s west end and immediately made their presence felt.
Frustration
There’s still deep resentment in Krakow over the fact that the city failed to be chosen as one of the four Polish cities to host the prestigious Euro 2012 matches. Many can’t understand why Poland’s former capital and the county’s most popular tourist destination was ignored by UEFA.
Most suspect political reasons. They point to the traditional rivalry between the current capital Warsaw and the countries “most beautiful” city. Or they blame Krakow politicians for a weak bid and a strong “anti-football” lobby, supported by a large section of the population who are fed up with football-related violence and fear the worst when large numbers of foreign fans descend on the city.
Poland promotion
Krakow is known for its violent confrontations between the firms of Cracovia and Wisla Krakow, who’re locked in a long-running brutal war. National and local authorities are doing all they can to suppress hooliganism and racism during the Euros. They see the event as a great opportunity to promote their country. They are proud that as many as 13 out of the 16 Euro 2012 finalists are putting up their base camps in Poland, and not in co-host Ukraine. Three of these squads – Holland, England and Italy – have opted for Krakow as their home base.
I think it shows that UEFA didn’t really organise the competition properly. Just imagine if we organised a big football tournament and didn’t play a match in Birmingham, Liverpool or Manchester.
The Anonymous Widower 