Croatia v Spain & France v Switzerland (R)

Very true, but I think it's more of an anomaly. Eight of those goals came to Hungary in their group stage match. West Germany deliberately threw the game by playing an understrength side. They treated that game as a chance to properly scout Hungary without an intention of winning the game. When West Germany replayed Hungary in the final, they only conceded two goals. In total 10 of the goals West Germany conceded were to one team: Hungary.

 

So we have West Germany who conceded 14 in '54, then Brazil conceded 7 in '70 and France the same in as many games in '00.

Are they the only winners to concede more goals than games played at a major international finals?

 

Yup, additionally losing probably gave them an easier path to the final. The bizarre tournament format paired group winners with other group winners on one side of the bracket and the runners-up with other runners-up on the other side.

While Hungary had to get through a grueling path featuring Brazil and Uruguay, Germany played Yugoslavia and Austria, who were respectable teams but not at the level of Hungary’s opponents.

 

Today was not a good day for Italy in my view.

First De Bruyne and Hazard aren't out for the tournament. According to Martinez they will see how it goes with both day by day.
Whether they play it's 50:50.
Some mind games there. My feeling says both will play. Meaning Italy's task at hand will be more difficult.

Second Spain's revelation must be worrying. Spain announced themselves back into the tournament. I would have liked Italy's chances much more against a France who never seemed to have settled into the tournament. Spain play a very similair brand of football to Italy. High pressing and possessive football. So there is a chance Italy could get beaten by their weapons. For some reason I believe Spain would be a very bad matchup for Italy.

 

Keep in mind that tactics were a LOT more offense minded. The record for most goals in a World Cup is 13 by Just Fontaine socred in something like five games! We live in a far more defensive era

 

I have no doubt he will. I suspect this is why he resigned ant Real, at least partially

 

I didn't watch France's game but from what I heard, it was clear going into penalties that the French were exhausted and the Swiss were pumped up.

@SF19 had a very excellent insight in the thread concerning expansion of the tournament to 32 players. It was regarding the Euro 2000 final and an odd dynamic I too had previously considered but hadn't fully fleshed out as well as he did. That France vs. Italy final was largely decided by substitutes, not starting players. Essentially, even back in 2000, the number of games players were being asked to play in was having very real effects on the actual outcome of tournaments. We're seeing that effect magnified even further now in this tournament, specifically in the Group of Death, where silly (for lack of a better word) grouping criteria pit the last 3 tournament victors against one another, and furthermore seen in the clear advantage disparity between host nations and non-host nations.

We're yet to see the outcome of Germany vs. England, but it's conceivable that each Group of Death 'survivor' will be out before the quarter-finals. Each time the heavyweight national teams face off against one another, it's extremely taxing on the players relative to playing 'lesser' opponents. Physically obviously but especially mentally because it requires a mindset that is arguably unsustainable depending on how many of these games players are required to compete in. These elite matches require players to be at the top of their game and focused on not making any mistakes, because any mistake against a heavyweight will likely be punished. There isn't that feeling of levity that comes with playing a 'lesser' team. And in an international tournament, the games are scheduled so closely together that, depending on the luck of the draw, players may need to maintain that level of focus for month-long span. For Portugal to win the tournament, they'd have played essentially only favorites. The only non-favorite they would have played took points from 2 of the tournament favorites. That's just flat out ridiculous, specifically when one remembers that Portugal has won the last two UEFA tournaments. How is it conceivable that a team with the most recent achievements in the confederation, the title holders in fact, are then privy to what is essentially, and very arguably, one of the most difficult journeys to the title in the tournament's history? Doesn't make sense.

Would Portugal and France have gone out if they had the luxury of playing in their home countries like the Germans, English, Spanish, and the Italians? These 6 nationalities, along with the Belgians, are comprised of players that play extremely long seasons, with many games on their legs. More than any other nationalities. And more today than was the case in 2000. And because more games = more $, this dynamic will likely continue to worsen.

Looking at Portugal, Bruno Fernandes has played more games since the COVID restart than any other player and it showed in this tournament. Portugal's 'EPL stars' were arguably the worst on the team and it's no coincidence given the amount of games they play in a season. Ruben Dias was voted the best EPL player last season but it was Pepe who was still Portugal's best defender for the 4th Euro in a row. Bernardo Silva literally had to come off against Germany at half-time because of how exhausted he was, in one of the most odd substitutions I've ever seen. A professional at his level should not be that tired at half-time. But he was starting for a club team that won the EPL and played a Champions League final that occurred literally days before the Euro started.

Anyway, Belgium looked exhausted against Portugal and I wouldn't be surprised if the winner of the tournament comes from one of the countries listed above that had the extreme benefit of playing at home, particularly given their depth relative to other countries. If there's any fortunate aspect of the Qatar World Cup it's that it'll be contested during the club season, early enough where fatigue shouldn't be a major factor, as it has been in recent tournaments .

 

A lot of the French exhaustion had to with the fact that Switzerland had 3 days more rest than France. The Swiss last played on Sunday a week ago, while the French played last Wednesday. Two days extra rest for one team v. the other is really too much, but three days is just crazy. That imbalance in the amount of rest time should never happen. I was rooting for the Swiss, but it was very unfair that they were provided so much more rest time. They were essentially rewarded for finishing 3rd in their group, while France was penalized for winning their group.

 

Yeah, great point, and you're right, France was essentially penalized for winning one of the most difficult groups in the tournament's history. Ridiculous.

 

I think you got the France prediction wrong

 

I had doubts on France but I went with them as I didn't trust the Swiss to pull it off. After they went 1-0 up I thought they could do it.
Anyway I would have picked France to lose sooner than later. They were not between my top three favourites after the groups stage. I would probably picked them to lose to Spain in the quarterfinals.

 

On the other hand, Eden Hazard has done nothing in 2 years with club and country so not sure why his injury status is a major factor.

KDB is another story, of course...

 

Most if not all of the underdogs have played well while the power teams have shown vulnerabilities, one of which is getting lax when they've got a lead. We saw both Spain and France give up two goals each in the last 10 minutes of the match. Italy could have easily lost to Austria had that go-head header by the Austrian striker been on-side.

There's no doubt that many of the top players for top club teams play too much soccer. There are far too many matches. I couldn't understand why Wijnaldum, for the Netherlands, was so inconsequential against the Czechs after playing so well in the group stage. I suspect mental and physical fatigue--after ridiculously long club seasons--is most definitely a factor.

 

H

He really was at the heart of the attack.