UEFA Euro 2020

[Irons]

I don't agree that the opening goal was 'lucky' at all. It was a great piece of skill from Luke Shaw and a brilliant cross from Trippier. What was lucky about that? Italy were deserving winners but their goal was indeed a lucky one as the ball could have bounced anywhere. As I said earlier, Sterling and Grealish should have taken penalties.

I can't speak for Stirling but Grealish volunteered and Southgate declined.

From last November:

"The government has changed its mind again on providing free school meals to children in England during the Christmas holidays.
It comes after the ongoing campaign by Manchester United's Marcus Rashford.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson phoned the England striker on 7 November to tell him there would be £396 million of support to provide free school meals this Christmas, next Easter and summer holidays.
Rashford, who set up a petition for the cause which more than a million people signed, said it would improve the lives of nearly 1.7 million children.
Support had already been announced for children in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/54862230

It was a wonderful thing Rashford did, just a pity he made himself look a complete dick trying to be clever with that stupid penalty. As he was hop, skipping and jumping towards the ball my heart sank. The best penalty taker I have seen is Julian Dicks at West Ham, who after a long run-up blasted the ball. He never missed one and when asked his technique replied "I hit the ball as hard as I can and as I had no idea where the ball was heading between the sticks how can the keeper?"   

[vandermolen]

I can't speak for Stirling but Grealish volunteered and Southgate declined.

It was a wonderful thing Rashford did, just a pity he made himself look a complete dick trying to be clever with that stupid penalty. As he was hop, skipping and jumping towards the ball my heart sank. The best penalty taker I have seen is Julian Dicks at West Ham, who after a long run-up blasted the ball. He never missed one and when asked his technique replied "I hit the ball as hard as I can and as I had no idea where the ball was heading between the sticks how can the keeper?"   

Thanks Lol - well, in that case, Southgate ('Saint Gareth') is to blame - although he's done a great job with the England team. The worst penalty I saw was taken by John Hollins of Chelsea, who blasted the ball so far over the goal that it almost flew out of the stadium. A witty Chelsea fan sitting behind me commented: 'Did you see that - Hollins didn't even look upset - well, I suppose at least he'd worked himself into a good shooting position!'

[Florestan]

Some posters have expressed disagreement  with kicks --- but I wonder whether there is any other fairer method. What do you folks think?

[Brahmsian]

Some posters have expressed disagreement  with kicks --- but I wonder whether there is any other fairer method. What do you folks think?

I say after 30 minutes of extra time, shorten the field to half length, bring it down to six players aside and eliminate the offside rule for the extra time. Yes, it is a variation but the outcome is more determined in a team like aspect, at least more so than a penalty kick. Just an idea that I'm sure could be tweaked.

[Brahmsian]

Allow a greater number of substitutions so that the players are not completely out of gas in the extra time, pretty much ensuring no one scores in extra time.

[Brahmsian]

Honestly, I find all that much too complicated and complicating., showing  you're not an European football fan.

Maybe the rule of golden goal is simpler --- whoever scores first during extra time wins.

Golden goal is good if they play continue on after the extra 30 minutes. How about just allowing more substitutions? They can't run forever.

[Brahmsian]

I'm sure they have thought of a lot of things already because I doubt anyone involved in the game likes having things end in a penalty shoot out, particularly for the knockout stages and especially in a final.

[Brahmsian]

I'm pretty sure France vs Italy final in 2000 was golden goal. What made them modify this method of determining outcome to two 15 minutes of extra time?

[Irons]

I'm pretty sure France vs Italy final in 2000 was golden goal. What made them modify this method of determining outcome to two 15 minutes of extra time?

I think the sudden death aspect of it is just too much. Of course it could go on and on.......

[DaveF]

I think even in the days of the Golden Goal, if the scores were still level after extra time then it went to penalties.  And at least penalties are fairer than tossing a coin, which was used on occasions in the past.

Enjoyed the reminiscence of Julian Dicks btw, Irons - blast it anywhere and hope for the best.  Pretty well encapsulates the great man's attitude to the beautiful game in general!

[T. D.]

I'm pretty sure France vs Italy final in 2000 was golden goal. What made them modify this method of determining outcome to two 15 minutes of extra time?

I think that some time in the '90s, FIFA changed from 2 15-min extra time periods to "Golden Goal", hoping it would lead to more exciting play. Apparently that didn't happen (teams preferred to stall and go to the shootout), and there were controversies, e.g. about offside golden goals. FIFA switched back to 2x15min e. t. in 2002 and concluded that "G G" was a failed experiment.

[vandermolen]

I don't like the penalties (especially as England nearly always lose them) and I think that it's very unfair on the players who miss them, but I'm not sure that I can think of a better way other than extra-time followed by penalties. In the past there would have been a re-play if the scores had been level after extra time (as in the 1970 Cup Final) which is probably the fairer system, but this would be impractical in a competition like the Euros or World Cup.

[Irons]

Enjoyed the reminiscence of Julian Dicks btw, Irons - blast it anywhere and hope for the best.  Pretty well encapsulates the great man's attitude to the beautiful game in general!

Oh, if only Southgate sat the pen takers down and showed them this clip!

https://youtu.be/qtgwpmM5GCI

[Jo498]

Golden goal was used in 1996-2000? 1996 Euro final was also a golden goal by Bierhoff. It was overall not popular, I think, and as has been said, penalties were still an option.
I am relying on memory and have not looked at stats but I think that in the 80/90s it was not that frequent and there were also more overtimes without penalties (and still they tried golden goal!). One possible reason is that fitness and athleticism of soccer players have markedly increased in the last decades so in former times it was more often the case that one team was dead on their legs in overtime and lost.
What I am a bit puzzled about is that we had almost twice the substitutes as usual (and this will remain an exception and change again) teams were so rarely able to impact the game in the overtime by bringing 2-3 fresh offensive players. It seems almost everyone  was more afraid of losing than wanting to win.
I am not one who finds soccer boring because there are so few scorings (to the contrary, this is the main reason why there is almost no other team sport where the underdogs have better chances beating favorites) but I admit that I often find matches going to 120 min with zero to two goals overall often tedious.

[vandermolen]

Oh, if only Southgate sat the pen takers down and showed them this clip!

https://youtu.be/qtgwpmM5GCI

Yes, that's the way to take a penalty!

[vandermolen]

Amidst all the discussion of racism, hooliganism etc here is a more heart-warming story from the Euros.
https://talksport.com/football/911444/england-aston-villa-jack-grealish-boots-euro-2020-final/

[MusicTurner]

(...)

Due to family commitments I missed the Denmark game. Hope and pray Christian Eriksen makes a full recovery although his playing career is surely over.

A surprise I guess, to all of us:

following Eriksen's collapse during the game, where he was in fact lifeless for about a minute, and his later heart operation, he is now negotiating with a Premier League upcomer that already has a strong Danish presence, Brentford FC. Reports are, that the contract is very close to being signed, but an extra medical examination is needed.
The Italian league, where he played, does not allow players with a ~pacemaker.

Eriksen has stated, that he hopes to play on the Danish National team again later. If all this goes well, it's surely a remarkable recovery, against the odds.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

A surprise I guess, to all of us:

following Eriksen's collapse during the game, where he was in fact lifeless for about a minute, and his later heart operation, he is already negotiating with a Premier League upcomer that already has a strong Danish presence, Brentford FC. Reports are, that the contract is very close to being signed, but an extra medical examination is needed.
The Italian league, where he played, does not allow players with a ~pacemaker.

Eriksen has stated, that he hopes to play on the Danish National team again later. If all this goes well, it's surely a remarkable recovery, against the odds.

He had a heart attack on the pitch?!      

PD

[MusicTurner]

He had a heart attack on the pitch?!      

PD

Yes. Following the collapse, other examples of players either giving up their career or continuing it came to light, but if he succeeds, he'll be among the most lucky ones.

[Pohjolas Daughter]

Yes. Following the collapse, other examples of players either giving up their career or continuing it came to light, but if he succeeds, he'll be among the most lucky ones.

Do you know what the reasoning is behind the countries who would not hire someone due to a pacemaker?  Are they afraid of liability?  I don't know what the risks are for a player in his condition and what could happen between all of the training and matches (and any other stresses in life)?  Would coaching, if possible, be a better option for him?

PD