Group D to me was the best group. Austria played well and was unlucky to lose to Turkey. Poland also a very good 4th team in the group. But yea... rooting for Spain to win this Euro. Their youngsters are so fun to watch. I hope we get Nico at Barca.
Historically, sure. But Austria is a lot better than they have been, while Croatia is worse. I suspect we will continue to see Austria perform better than Croatia moving forward, as they already have been since the last World Cup. Italy lately seem to have one really good tournament and then 3 or 4 bad ones in-a-row. They've repeated that pattern for a while, suggesting that it was Euro 2020 that was the fluke while WC 2022 & Euro 2024 are more indicative where their level is at. The Dutch are the opposite. They'll have one stinker followed by 3 good tournaments.
I can agree with both of you that Austria seem to be on an upswing, while Croatia are getting old. I can't think of a single player on the Netherlands that I would want, apart from Van Dijk, if he were 3-4 years younger, TBH. Barca tried Memphis, but it didn't work. Maybe Simmons?
I would take Gakpo. I know we have Gavi in that position, but Gakpo plays a totally different style that would give us a different look when plan A isn't working. But ultimately what you say doesn't address the point, which is that Holland proved to be better than Italy in this tournament. A good argument could be made that Italy were the weakest team in the weak half of the bracket at these Euros, but I guess that makes sense as they barely qualified.
I'd agree that there needs to be some pace in this roster, which is why I'd favor Nico as LW. I'd argue that the netherlands [and England] only persisted in this tournament, because they were in a weaker group, and then were on the weaker side of the knockout bracket. I don't think that either would have been able to go through Spain's buzzsaw, both in the group, but also in the knockouts.
I'd agree. But then again, Italy was in the same weak half of the bracket and went out with a whimper. And Croatia achieved that impressive World Cup 2018 run that you highlighted above while they were also in a weak half of the bracket. Can't have it both ways.
Talking about the knockout phase. Italy were in the weak half of the bracket with England, Holland, etc.
I feel you're correct, in hindsight. After the draw was made and leading up to the tournament many labeled Group B as the so-called 'Group of Death'. Croatia had quite a few good chances in the opener against Spain but lacked that finishing touch. That may or may not have affected their mindset against Albania.
Oh, it's just a 20-year-old Messi bathing an infant for a photo shoot in 2007 for a calendar as part of an annual charity drive. That baby's name: Lamine Yamal. “We made the calendar with the help of UNICEF,” [photographer Joan] Monfort, 56, told the AP. “So UNICEF did a raffle in the neighborhood of Roca Fonda in Mataró where Lamine’s family lived. They signed up for the raffle to have their picture taken at the Camp Nou with a Barca player. And they won the raffle.” Full story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/07/10/yamal-messi-photo-soccer/ Bonus pic: Time is a circle, folks. edit: something's off with the embedded image feature. I can't see the pics after I finish editing the post. In any case, click the WaPo link to see the pics and story.
Beat Croatia, Italy, Germany, France, England. Score most goals in a single Euro tournament. Yeah, possibly best run in Euro history.
Congrats! Beat ties with Germany aswell, 4 times champions Prevented the planet from noise polution aswell.
Very happy for Lamine and co. Hope this gives him a big confidence boost for the upcoming season. He’s only 17 but he’s already one of the best wingers in world football. Now let’s get Nico and a pull Alvarez out of the rabbit hat (let me dream) and get back our league title from the scum.
Finalissima of Spain v Argentina at Camp Nou? It would be a perfect farewell for Messi. But Camp Nou hasn't hosted a Spain international since the early-90s because Catalunya is not too supportive of the national team. So if any team was to have home advantage as far as crowd support goes it would likely be Messi and Argentina. It's an interesting prospect.
Yep, good neutral venue, given it would definitely sell out. People from all over Spain are free to travel to BCN if they want. Finding an open date in the calendar could be a challenge. March 2026 is the only open date I see before the WC, and that is contingent on Italy not being involved in the qualifying playoffs. Not sure Messi is still playing for Argentina in 2026 though.
If he managed to gets properly healed & doesnt rushed himself for weekly game, then its not impossible. At least as super sub. Di Maria used to gets injured all the time by similar hamstring problem, yet he's now playing almost 120 minutes of Copa final at 36. Di Maria also finished Copa final in 2021 with swollen ankle. Gets subbed off early in second half.
No point playing Messi as a sub in 2026. Either he can play full minutes to make a good imapct or don't use him in the squad. It's kind of weird to see a GOAT of the game playing a few minutes here and there.