Euro 2020 and Copa America Football Tournaments.

There's still time for the Norsemen to get back in this though if they don't give up.

 

Denmark is trying hard. All they need is a tiny bit of luck.
They've had many chances since Belgium went ahead.

 

I was hoping Denmark would tie things up towards the end.

From my perspective, the game turned when De Bruyne entered the game. An assist and a goal in his first 24 minutes - very impressive.

Speaking of impressive, Memphis Depay puts the Dutch up 1-0...

 

Yes, you'd need a heart of stone to have no sympathy for Denmark.
They should never have been made to continue their match with Finland so soon after watching Eriksen nearly die in front of them.
Lets hope they can get a good win against Russia and progress as one of the best of the losers. I'll be rooting for them.

 

I'll be rooting for the Danes to win and win BIG. They'll need to pour it on the Russkies to advance but they've got a good shot:

Standings
https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/standings/

 

LOL - No sooner do I compliment Depay he botches a sure goal.

 

Actually, if we assume that Belgium is going to beat Finland then a single goal win against Russia could be enough. Depends how many goals Finland concede.
Of course if Belgium decide to put their reserve team up and Finland scrape a win or a draw then Denmark might need a convincing win to go through in 3rd place.
Monday night could be fun with both matches being played simultaneously.

 

Wow, I've just watched 5 soccer matches on my DVR in one evening! That's got to be a record! Where is the Guinness?

So, what did we have today?

Ukraine 2-1 North Macedonia. The small European nation almost pulled off the upset. I was rooting for them. Somewhat entertaining but I fast-forwarded most of it.ty

Denmark 1-2 Belgium. What a pity. The whole world, everybody who is not Belgian, was rooting for the Danes today. They had a phenomenal start. The pity is that they had so many scoring opportunities in the first 15 minutes but only bagged one! They could have killed the game then and there, with, say, a 3-0 lead. Then, little by little the Belgians imposed their superiority, and came back from behind to win the game. De Bruyne showed the difference he can make, and the Danes were history, not before threatening to tie. Very good game, and like the other posters here (and I'm sure, this is shared by the entire soccer world if you are not Russian), I very much want the Danes to beat the Russians and still qualify. They really deserve it. They are actually a very good team. They lost to Finland by accident, being shocked with what happened to Christian. Then they faced the #1 ranked team in the world and almost beat (or tied) them. But after two games, this very good team is threatened with elimination. I hope the Soccer Gods intervene and send them through.

Netherlands 2-0 Austria, a decent game. Austria showed some poor finishing, and the Dutch were able to dispatch them relatively easily.

Colombia 0-0 Venezuela - oh my, what an incredible onslaught. Colombia created opportunity after opportunity, dozens of them, and miraculously couldn't score. Venezuela's goalie was possessed. Some soccer-playing devil incarnated into that guy today, and the ball just wouldn't go in.

Last but not least, the treat of today's fare: Brazil 4-0 Peru. Wow. Brazil is back. Definitely. World, beware. The World Cup 2022 may very well be Brazil's vengeance for that terrible semifinal loss at home to Germany 1-7, followed by some irrelevance during rebuilding. But here they are again, in great form, and again practicing "Jogo Bonito." Brazil completed their 10th consecutive win and 8th consecutive clean sheet. The ability shown today was uncanny, especially from Neymar who did it all, and was all over the field, even defending at times, organizing the midfield and passes, attacking from all sides, passing and assisting his companions phenomenally, and he did score his goal. The one disgraceful note was his dive, trying to earn a penalty kick. Fortunately the VAR thwarted him. Anyway, Neymar is showing some of his best exhibitions with his national team, unlike previous showings when he was often selfish and a prima-donna, as well as a non-stop diver. It seems like the punkish kid is now an adult, more mature, and playing his best soccer ever.

Given that Messi has been just as good for Argentina, of course the prediction is that Copa America 2021 will have the result that the whole soccer-loving world wants to see: a final between Brazil and Argentina, and the way things are going, it's very likely that this is exactly what will happen. I don't see anybody who can stop Brazil from winning this tournament, except Argentina, so the final will be fascinating, featuring Neymar vs. Messi.

Of course, South America has other quality teams; Uruguay hasn't even debuted yet, so we haven't seen the other great player, Luis Suárez, throwing his name in the hat. Chile and Colombia are no pushovers. But logic would indicate that Brazil vs. Argentina will be the title match. I hope so.

Brazil at this time reminds me a lot of my Italy.

Italy, 10 consecutive victories, 10 clean sheets. Last two games, 6 goals for, none against.
Brazil, 10 consecutive victories, 9 clean sheets. Last two games, 7 goals for, none against.

Both teams have great goalkeeping, solid defenses, they can keep possession, have dominant midfields, can counter fast, are creative in offense, and finish well, scoring from both inside the box and from mid-distance.

Clearly Italy so far is the class of the Euro 2020, and Brazil the class of the Copa America 2021.

One can dream of a final in Qatar, Brazil vs. Italy... But I'm getting ahead of the game, literally. For now, let's think of the objectives at hand. I'm hoping that Italy will win the Euro, and Brazil will win the Copa America.

Of course, both tournaments have other good teams, and in the knockout phase it's sufficient to have a bad day and some bad luck and you can be eliminated, so regardless of current form, there is no guarantee that Italy and Brazil will reach their respective finals. But so far, there is no doubt that these two have been the most entertaining sides.

Of course I'm biased (I'm passionate about Italy and I like Brazil too - I lived and worked in Brazil in a visiting professorship, I have visited many times for continuous professional collaboration, I keep good friends there, and I speak fluent Portuguese so I kind of adopted Brazil as a country I'm very interested in and feel very favorable about).

So far this summer of soccer couldn't be better for me; the two teams I favor are both creating great expectations. Good stuff!!!

Tomorrow, I look forward to Croatia vs. Czech Republic - I hope Croatia recovers from their anemic first game (I have some very good Croatian friends - in fact my best friend is Croatian, so I like to see them doing well too, which they did in 2018 but are definitely not doing now) - and of course Argentina vs. Uruguay should be spectacular.

 

Bull, we know better. There is no Croatia. It was made up just so the Herzegovinians wouldn't think they were the most obscure country in the world.

 

Uh, what?

 

Damn, I AM going to keep my day job.

 

Saved it...

 

I know what you mean.
I've been watching 3 live matches a day and then often following up with a hockey game that finishes at 5am my time.
I'm a rugby and cricket fan really...
Wait till the Olympics start, I get really obsessed with that.

I think it may be time to go back to work.

 

One thing's for sure, we can't talk about England verses Scotland without mentioning this goal from the last time they met in the Euros.

 

Once more with a slow motion replay this time.

Poor old Hendry.

 

...and before you say it, I'm English, re-living past glories is all we've got.

I'm still basking in the glory of Agincourt.

 

I know that @The Scotsman isn't going to get upset.
He doesn't know what soccer is and is probably still drunk from the last time our teams with odd shaped balls met on the field of battle.

 

That was pretty.
But I must counter with this:

 

Some good ones there.
My favourite was Maicon's keepy uppy goal.

 

Hi Mate, I've been told by the Missus that I have support England.....apparently the Jocks have lost a game already and the English have won one so I have to support England....the logic escapes me but I'll obey orders...

hmmmm....won one....that sounds weird...won one

One One was a racehorse
Two Two was one too
One One won one race
Two Two won one too.....

 

WOW. I've never seen that goal before.

 

Well, happy wife happy life but culture is destiny and all that.
Wouldn't want to have to change your name to The Plastic Scotsman...

 

Poor old Hendry. Fell flat on his arse trying to change direction as Gazza literally ran a circle around him.

 

LOL

I'm sure you all are hoping tonight's match which will be just as lopsided.

Is the game getting a lot of hype in Britain?

 

Put it this way, they just spent most of halftime in the Sweden game talking about it instead of the first half.
It's been eagerly anticipated since the groups were announced, particularly by the Scots.
England is the great enemy of Scotland as Germany is to England.
When Scotland beat us at Wembley in 1977 they celebrated by taking the goalposts and half the pitch home with them as souvenirs.


They'd rather beat us than win the championships.