"It's Coming Home" off to a Great Start (6/13)

D1-England came out strong and were finally rewarded in the 2nd half to win their first Euro opening match ever (was 0-3-5), 1-0, over D2-Croatia, the team they lost to in the semifinals in WC18.  "It's Coming Home" is back again, just maybe not in pubs.  Both teams now get to play their remaining two games against teams ranked in the 40s so both are still in good shape.

Lowly C4-North Macedonia played C3-Austria tight - opportunistically tying the match midway through the first half, but two late scores by two subs gave AUT the 3-1 win.  Although MKD is ranked #62, they did beat Germany in a World Cup qualifier in Duisburg and have scored in 15 of their last 16 international matches.  AUT's Stefan Lainer had a golazo in the 18' leaping high on a long cross to hit it into the far post. 

After yet another scoreless first half (5th of 7 matches), home team C1-Netherlands exploded for two goals in 7 minutes but then C2-Ukraine answered back with 2 goals in 4 minutes to tie it at 2.  But six minutes later in the 85', NED retook the lead and held on for a thrilling 3-2 victory.

In the pool, 34 picked ENG, 40 AUT, and 42 barely got NED.  23 went 3-0 while 5 went 1-2.  This left just three at the top of the standings (Club Med, Futbol Fabone Twelf, and Poolraider) with 6 points.  Isayoldchap is still last with 2 points.