Official 2016 European Cup Thread (FORZA AZZURRI)!!!

I actually think Italy will play better vs Spain then Croatia...

If we manage too sneak by Spain we are going to be in the finals, calling it here.

 

Nice!

We get Spain, with teams like Albania, Hungary, Turkey, Wales, Slovakia, Poland, Austria, Switzerland, probably going to be in the Round of 16.

You have to beat the best to be the best.

 

the format never made sense

winning your group respective to the other group winners should not have you play runner up

if you are a top group team higher than other top group teams you should have first crack at the weaker squads in the round of 16

this format made no sense from the start

 

Croatia is out bogey team, so I can't say that I'm that upset to not face them. They seem to get so damn fired up to play us.

Spain will have a lot of possession against us, but can they break us down without being hit hard on the counter? I don't think this matchup is as bad as people make it out to be. I find it ridiculous that we have to go through Spain and probably Germany, but so be it. Gotta face them at some point anyway.

 

We can beat Spain. We tied them in a friendly in March and the goal they scored was offside. Bring those chokers on.

 

Road to final...Spain, Germany, France

We play better when we are underdogs.

 

Spain in the R16, Germany in the QF, France in the Semis, Belgium in the Final.

Ok then....let's go.

 

Whether it was Croatia or now Spain, Italy was always going to have the toughest road given this very stupid format.

Belgium will get rewarded by finishing 2nd. Poland earlier was rewarded for finishing 2nd as well. Teams with 3 points will have a better shot at winning than Italy/Spain. Teams that lose 2 of 3 matches shouldn't be allowed to play in the next round period.

Wales gets to play a crap 3rd place team, Switzerland didn't win their group and get to play a worse 2nd place side, and Italy face Spain.

One team will be in the finals mainly based on their very easy route.

 

one thing is for certain

is that if gli azzurri make the final they will have certainly earned it

if they win...even greater!...and there can be no doubt... but let's not get ahead

if they manage to win this tournament I would say it would be up there with the 1982 WC win in terms of the difficulty of opponents

let's first see how we fair against Spain though

 

Remember this...none of those teams are going to bunker on us....and that is where we would struggle the most. Tomorrow's game against Ireland is BIG. Why? Because if Insigne, Bernardeschi, or SES can shine, then we have some valid counterattacking tools we can use against the big boys. Spain's D is not fleet footed...neither is Germany's. If our speed can get behind them on the counter, we can do some real damage.

All is not lost. This team isn't going anywhere without a fight. It will make the Battle of the Bastards look like a picnic.

 

Spain is bollocks on defending crosses into the box too. Pelle should do well there.

 

Don't forget the retarded yellow card rules. BBC or De Rossi cannot get a 2nd yellow vs Spain or Germany. I believe Germany hasn't received a single yellow so far. They are going to get a 3rd place team next.

 

i thought yellows wiped out after group stages (?)

 

I think they get wiped after Spain.


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The one player we have to match Iniesta for talent and impact isn't on the roster because he had surgery - we all know who that player is and its a crying shame he can't play in this tournament because he's easily Italy's most valuable player.

I'm not expecting anything honestly. If Italy go down a goal against Spain and have to chase then it could get ugly - on the flipside if Italy score first I could see Spain really straining to protect their flanks from counters.

Ultimately I think it will go down to penalties whereupon Italy will have the experience going for them but its a crap shoot.

 

Yellow cards expire after the completion of the quarter-finals -- meaning after the Germany game.

 

Don't think Spain will recover from this and I fancy Italy to beat them.

But basically playing 4 finals in a row is a Herculean task.

Cant say I am not absolutely thrilled with the Peričić goal but as a number of you have mentioned it does severely punish most of the best performing teams.

Good Luck.

 

What a mess

 

if your boy had played the last 180 mins there's a good chance we wouldn't be making out of the group stages

 

If we go down a goal at all from here on out, count us out of this tourney.

 

its good to see you smiling again

 

yes they can a 2nd yellow...getting a second yellow in the quarters means nothing as they all expire right after the quarters should we progress...getting a second yellow against Spain would matter more if we move on to the quarters

correct... if a player receives their 2nd yellow in the quarterfinal they will not miss the semi...all are cleared including yellows or 2nd yellows received in the quarter final itself

if a player received their 2nd yellow in the round of 16 they will miss the following match ( quarter final ) should they win

anyone receives a 2nd yellow against ireland they are also out of the spain match