The Football Thread - 17/18 Season

[Scisca]

Barozi said:

RolStoppable said:

I already voiced the same thing about the qualifying group.

And yes, I just said that 1:1 or 1:2 didn't matter.

It's as if you are trying to beat down enthusiastic fans of Austria in this thread, but there never were any.

Just because I mentioned the obvious?
Iceland winning against Austria is considered a surprise, so obviously I'm mentioning that with half a sentence. You were disputing my comment so I had to elaborate what I meant with a bit more content.

Are you kidding? You must be kidding. Let me remind you what Iceland did in the qualifiers. They won the group with Netherlands, Czech Rep and Turkey. Theyare a very good team. Them defeating Austria is the expected score, they were my favourites to win this group, but then Hungary happened (can't complain! ). To me, they have very realistic chances to eliminate England and I'm happy to see other people seeing this as well. Also, today Austria actually showed that they know how to play football, but waking up in the last game proved to be too late even on this tournament.

Hungary really impressed me, they play with great passion. If they keep this up, Belgium is in trouble, since they play such uninspired football, that it's a pain to watch. I'm also very happy that both Irish teams advanced

Fun facts nobody cares about - no team finished with perfect 9 points. France, Croatia, Poland and Germany finished with 7. Poland and Germany remained as the only teams with a flawless defence. But it all doesn't matter, since...

Now the tournament really starts!

One side of the bracket is much easier, the other is a nightmare.

Poland - Switzerland - this will be hard and I am worried (not gonna lie!), but I got a boost of confidence, since even Rol has us as the favourites The clock on our strikers ticks lauder and lauder. Start scoring, damn it! The team works great though, we create numerous scoring opportunities, play solid defence, have our style, great team spirit and players that can win a game on their own (like Błaszczykowski did against Ukraine) - we should muscle our way through, but I'm not underestimating the Swiss, they are a solid bunch and will play to win.

Croatia - Portugal - dis gon be gut! The favourite is clear, since Portugal advanced by the skin of their teeth, while Croatia took down Spain, but I hope for another huge game from Ronaldo. He singlehandedly pulled Portugal out of the group stage (kudos) and I hope he still has something left in the tank Croatia is scary, but totally unpredictable. They can play worldclass football, but just as well play average. It's a lottery with them, but since should Poland advance, we'd play the winner of this game, I'd rather play Portugal than play the Croatian lottery Damn it, I was hoping to see the predictable Spain here

Wales - Northern Ireland - this and England - Iceland are two games for supremacy in the Isles I go with Wales, since N. Ireland showed nothing particular in the group stage, while Wales have Bale and Ramsey, which should be enough. This won't be a spectacular game, by the way

Hungary - Belgium - Hungary is the surprice of the tournament, while Belgium is underperforming, especially for a team that until recently was No. 1 in the FIFA rank and now is second only to Argentina. This one is hard to predict, since Belgium has the better players, but Hungary is a team and is on fire. I'm gonna support our brothers obviously. Go Hungary!!

I think that Poland and Croatia are the two clear favourites on this side of the bracket and one of them should make it all the way to the final. Pity we're set to play already in the quarterfinal.

 

Germany - Slovakia - Germany.

Italy - Spain - oh yeah! This together with Croatia and Portugal will be the top game of the 1/8th. Spain is more well-rounded, but Italy has the D and it can carry them through anything. This one is so hard to call.

France - Ireland - France isn't playing to its full potential, but I expect them to put the pieces together at one point. I see France in the semis already.

England - Iceland - An even game, but I think that players from Iceland are better than the English players at what England loves to do - play high passes into the penalty box. I think Iceland has taller and stronger players who will negate this part of the English offence. England will try to be the side dominating the ball, but Iceland loves that and will be ready with their deadly counters. I give a slight edge to Iceland, but not a big one.

If I was to choose a single favourite to win this side of the bracket, it probably would be Germany (or France ). Spain and Italy have such a difficult way ahead that it would be legendary if one of them got to the finals.