Monday, July 15, 2024
[ Dailies: Jul 11 ]
The 2024 European Champion  | ||||||
     
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ESP - Kingdom of Spain - Real Federación Española de Fútbol (RFEF)   | #8 | 1B | Winner | 7-0-0 4th Title ('64,'08, '12) B1: Beat Croatia 3-0 B4: Beat Italy 1-0 B5: Beat Albania 1-0 R16: Beat 3F-Georgia 4-1 QF: Beat 1A-Germany 2-1 (aet) SF: Beat 2D-France 2-1 FIN: Beat 1C-England 2-1 | |||||
JBueno Wins Title; 7 had Spain as their champion
CERRITOS, CA (smt) - 1C-England had their five minutes of brilliance and turned a goalkeeper outlet into a game-tying goal in the 73' by Cole Palmer. But that was it as ENG bunkered down and 1B-Spain sub Mikel Oyarzabal scored on a great give-and-go in the 86' to give ESP a 2-1 victory and their fourth European championship. Co-golden boot awardee (there were six who shared this) Dani Olmo headed a ball off the line in the 90' to preserve the lead. ESP becomes the first European team to win all 7 games in regulation or extra time (Brazil did it in the World Cup 2002) and the young team only has room to grow. ENG has now lost back-to-back Euro finals.
Somehow, ESP went away from a death of a 1000 passes and this was just the second time they had at least 63% possession. And won. ENG's Gareth Southgate has been criticized by fans for his tactics but he has only made 2 finals and 1 semifinals in the past four international tournaments.
So, my kids earlier this year have been bombarding me with Taylor Swift songs and facts and her deep heartfelt writing techniques. My kids, who deny they are Swifties, knew more about the Super Bowl pregame than I did. I do not recognize most of these Swift song titles but I'm sure I will recognize most of them if I hear them. So here is the Swiftie theme of the Euro tournament [Other themes: Les Misérables (2006 WC) | The Greatest Showman (2018 WC) | Star Wars (2019 WWC) | Avenger's Infinity Stones (2020 Euro)]:
"Fifteen" (2008) - This is our 15th soccer pool, something I never thought we'd accomplish so soon considering the World Cup is every 4 years. But with addition of the highly competitive (and on TV) Euro Pool in 2012 and capitalizing on the women's popularity with the Women's World Cup in 2015, we will now annually have a pool (assuming the Club World Cup is successful - Real Madrid execs already said they'd drop out but had to put a statement saying that was not true).
"Cruel Summer" (2019) - Once again, Belgium underperformed and despite being ranked #3, finished 2nd in group play and got eliminated by France in the Round of 16. This golden generation has aged out and every summer is a reminder how this group has won nothing with great talent.
"I Knew You Were Trouble" (2012) - Or "in trouble". #2 France did not score a goal in open play for five matches and it finally caught up with them in the semifinals vs Spain.
"We are Never Ever Getting Back Together" (2012) - Ok, a Copa mention. Thanks to Tim Weah's red card, it showed Gregg Berhalter did not know how to coach with ten men or how to protect a 1-0 lead against a poor CONCACAF team at home. And it resulted in the firing (a year too late) of Berhalter and a waste of a year and a Copa America.
"Wildest Dreams" (2014) - Despite the relatively chalk knockout round, we got to see #48 Slovakia stun Belgium 1-0, tiny #75 Georgia beat Portugal with Ronaldo 2-0, Türkiye play exciting soccer with large supporters in making the quarters, war-torn Ukraine rally to beat Slovakia (though ultimately, despite 4 points, failed to qualify because they finished 4th in the group), and England needing a game-tying bicycle kick goal in the 90'+5 to extend their tournament run.
"Shake it Off" (2014) - Nine teams allowed the first goal and came back to win in regulation or extra time. Including England's penalty shootout win, that is ten teams who scored first and lost.
"So Long, London" (2024) - Back-to-back losses in the Euro Final extends ENG's men's championship drought to 58 years. ENG only shows about 5 minutes of brilliance each match and they sometimes score 1 or 2 goals in that span. Outside of that? Bleh.
"Blank Space" (2014) - With the change to allow the Golden Boot to be shared (no tiebreakers), six players will share the award and won't be able to put six names on the blank space on the trophy. Do they cut up the trophy in six pieces?
Seven had ESP as their champion but only 1 (our pool champion) was able to sneak into the top 4, mainly because picking ESP meant you probably left other favorites to be eliminated early. Jesus B (JBueno) jumps into first pushing Jim M (Merman) to second and Eric F (BigRedMessi 3) to third. With three goals in the final, the total goals tiebreaker was 9, which meant Michael W (Big Blue) won the 4th place tiebreaker (off by 1.5 vs 2 goals) over Tom J (Kds911-3) and Rob C (Luis Enrique's Armada), both who had ESP as their champion.
| Name | Nickname | Pts | Prize | Wins | # Euro (# Entries) [Total Won] |
| Jesus B (1) | JBueno | 122 | 1st Place | $290 | 3 (3) |
| Jim M (1) | Merman | 118 | 2nd Place | $145 | 1 (1) |
| Eric F (3) | BigRedMessi 3 | 116 | 3rd Place | $90 | 4 (10) [$165 (2nd '16)] |
| Michael W (1) | Big Blue | 115 | 4th Place | $55 | 4 (4) [$105 (3rd '16)] |
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Ins & Outs - [50 Matches/17 Ties] -
Goals: 117 (2.29/match)
Own: 10 (1-GER>SCO 87', 8-AUT>FRA 38' {gw}, 12-CZE>POR 69', 15-ALB>CRO 76', 16-ITA>ESP 55' {gw}, 23-TUR>POR{2} 28', 31-NED>AUT 6' | 39-ESP>GEO 18', 42-BEL>FRA{2} 85' {gw}, 48-TUR{2}>NED 76' {gw})
Subs: 23 (1-GER 68', 1-GER{2} 90'+3, 2-SUI 90'+3, 7-NED 83', 11-TUR 90'+7, 12-POR 90'+2 {gw}, 15-ALB 76' {og}, 15-ALB{2} 90'+5 {gd}, 18-SVN 90'+5 {gd}, 21-UKR 80' {gw}, 23-GER{3} 90'+2 {gd}, 24-HUN 90'+10 {gw}, 28-ITA 90'+8 {gw}, 36-TUR{2} 90'+4 {gw} | 39-ESP 83', 43-NED{2} 80', 43-NED{3} 90'+3, 44-AUT 66', 45-GER{4} 89', 45-ESP{2} 119' {gw}, 50-ENG 90'+1 {gw}, 51-ENG{2} 73', 51-ESP{3} 86' {gw})
90'+/120'+: 11 (1-GER +3, 2-SUI +3, 11-TUR +7, 12-POR +2 {gw}, 15-ALB +5 {gd}, 18-SVN +5 {gd}, 23-GER{2} +2 {gd}, 24-HUN +10 {gw}, 28-ITA +8 {gw}, 36-TUR +4 {gw} | 40-ENG +5 {gd}, 43-NED +3)
Extra Time: 2 (40-ENG 91' {gw}, 45-ESP 119' {gw})
Scoring First: 25-9-11 [6 Nil-Nil ties (20-NEDvFRA, 29-ENGvSVN, 30-DENvSRB, 34-UKRvBEL | 42-PORvSVN{2}, 45-POR{2}vFRA{2}); (4-ITA>ALB, 7-NED>POL, 12-POR>CZE, 21-UKR>SVK | 40-ENG>SVK{2}, 39-ESP>GEO, 48-NED{2}>TUR), 49-ESP{2}>FRA, 50-ENG{2}>NED]
Leading at Half: 18-3-4 [26 ties (16 scoreless); (21-UKR>SVK | 40-ENG>SVK{2}, 48-NED>TUR)]
Shutout: 28 [3-CRO, 5-SRB, 10-UKR, 9-BEL, 8-AUT, 14-HUN, 16-ITA, 20-NED, 20-FRA, 23-TUR, 22-ROU, 24-SCO, 27-ALB, 29-ENG, 29-SVN, 30-DEN, 30-SRB{2}, 34-UKR{2}, 34-BEL{2}, 35-POR | 38-ITA{2}, 37-DEN{2}, 42-BEL{2}, 41-POR{2}, 41-SVN{2}, 43-ROU{2}, 45-POR{3}, 45-FRA{2}]
PK: 9/12 [1-GER 45'+1, 3-cro (s) 80', 19-AUT 78', 24-GEO 45'+4, 28-cro{0/2} (s) 54', 32-FRA 56', 32-POL 79' {retake}, 33-ROU 37', 35-GEO{2/2} 57' | 37-GER 53', 41-por 105', 50-ENG 18']
Extra Time: 5 [40-ENGvSVK 2:1(1:1), 41-PORvSVN 0:0(0:0), 45-ESPvGER 2:1(1:1), 46-POR{2}vFRA 0:0(0:0), 47-ENGvSUI 1:1(1:1)]
PSO: 3 (19/24) [41-SVNvPOR 3.0 (0:3 {sss:GGG}), 46-FRAvPOR 4.5 (5:3 {GGGGG:GGlG}), 48-ENGvSUI 4. (5:3 {GGGGG:GsGG})]
Red Card (GF/GA): 6 [1-SCO 44' {R} (1{og}/3), 36-CZE 20' {2Y} (1/2), 36-CZE{2} 90'+8(Post) {R} (-/-), 41-SVN 105'+1(Coach) [R] (n/a), 45-ESP 120'+4 [2Y] (0/0), 48-TUR 90'+6(Bench) {R} (n/a)]
Multiple Goals:: 2 [- | Malen 2 (43-NED), Demiral 2 (44-TUR)]
Goal Line Tech: 2 [34-UKR (xG) 83' | 50-ENG (xG) 23']
VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call):: 43 [1-SCO FoulBox-{PK-} 25', 1-SCO xFoul+{RC+PK+GER} 42', 1-GER xOff+{g-} 76', 1-SCO xOff={og=} 87', 2-SUI Off-{g+} 12', 3-CRO xEncroach+{g-} 82', 4-ITA xOff={g=} 16', 7-NED YC~(14<23) 15', 6-DEN xFoulxPK= 53', 10-ROU xOff={g=} 57', 9-SVK xOff={g=} 7', 9-BEL xOff+{g-} 56', 9-BEL xHB+{g-} 86', 11-TUR xOff+{g-} 27', 12-POR xOff+{g-} 87', 14-GER xOff={g=} 22', 14-HUN xOff+{g-} 45'+2, 13-SUI xOff+{g-} 33', 13-SUI xOff+{g-} 82', 20-NED Off={ng=} 69', 24-CZE xHB+{g-} 23', 24-CZE xHB+{pk+GEO} 45'+1, 24-GEO xFoulxPK= 60', 23-GER xFoul+{g-} 17', 23-SUI xFoulxPK= 70', 24-SCO xFoulxPK= 68', 28-ITA xHB+{pk+CRO} 52', 31-NED HB-{g+} 75', 31-AUT xOff+{g-} 83', 32-FRA xFoul+{pk+POL} 74', 32-FRA xGKOffLine+{retakePK+POL} 77', 29-ENG xOff+{g-} 20', 33-SVK xFoulBox+{pk+ROU} 34', 35-POR xF+{pk+GEO} 53', 36-CZE xOffxFoul={g=} 66' | 37-DEN xOff+{g-} 48', 37-DEN xHB+{pk+GER} 51', 37-GER xOff+{g-} 90'+1, 40-ENG xOff+{g-} 50', 43-NED xOff+{g-} 63', 50-NED xFoul+{pk+ENG} 14', 51-ESP xOff={g=} 86']
63%+ Poss: 13 [1-GERvSCO (68) W, 4-ITAvALB (65) W, 7-NEDvPOL (65) W, 10-UKRvROU (66) L, 12-PORvCZE (69) W, 14-GER{2}vHUN (63) W, 29-ENGvSVN (72) D, 35-POR{2}vGEO (68) L |40-ENG{2}vSVK (63) W, 39-ESPvGEO (72) W, 41-POR{3}vSVN{2} (68) D/W, 46-POR{4}vFRA (63) D/L, 51-ESP{2} (63) W]
Zero SOG (Shots): 3 [1-SCO (0), 26-SCO{2} (4) | 39-GEO (4)]
20+ Shots (S/SOG/G):: 13 [7-NED (20/4/2) W, 11-TUR (22/8/3) W, 15-CRO (20/5/1 {og}) D, 16-ESP (20/8/0 {og}) W, 24-CZE (26/11/1) D, 35-POR (23/5/0) L | 39-ESP{2} (36/13/4) W, 42-FRA (20/2/0{og}) W, 41-POR (20/5/0) D/W, 43-NED (24/6/3) W, 44-AUT (21/5/1) L, 45-GER (23/5/1) L, 46-FRA{2} (20/5/0) D/W]
Breaks (>30 min): 1 [- | 37-GERvDEN (Lightning 30m)]
Match Order of Play: RR: 1 | 2-3-4 | 7-6-5 | 10-9-8 | 11-121 | 15-14-13 | 18-17-16 | 21-19-20 | 24-23-222 | 25-26A | 27-28B | 31-32D-29-30C | 33-34E-35-36F | R16: 38-37 | 40-39 | 42-41 | 43-44 | QF: 45-46 | 47-48 | SF: 49 | 50 | FIN: 51 (LU | Half | Player | Team | Pass )
Tids & Bits - ESP's 15 goals top the 14 scored by FRA in '84... there was 2 just VAR delays in the last 7 matches (44 total VAR delays (though ESPN is only tracking 25 major incidents)... ESP became the first team to win all 7 matches in Euros (no PSO wins) (BRA did so in World Cup 2002)... only 2 players have scored more than one goal in a match (last year it happened 14 times)... Soccer Guru is the only entry to go 0-for-the-Final-Four... entries are averaging 96.3 points so far with 22 entries hitting 100... Copa: Never let CONMEBOL run things in the USA again, the debacle of security and fans in Miami for the Argentina-Colombia final brought flashbacks to the fans storming the Euro 2021 final in Wembley, and luckily in both instances, no was was killed... with estimates of 7,000 fans without tickets in the stadium, police only ejected 55 of them (0.8%)... and or course, because it's CONMEBOL, they blamed the stadium which CONMEBOL did want to pay for all the measures and security that was recommended (because, Miami has hosted big soccer games and Super Bowls, they would know what to do)... the game was delayed 82 minutes and with extra time, the match ended at 12:09 am local EDT time... oh, Argentina won 1-0 and has won 3 straight major tournaments ('21 Copa, '22 WC, '24 Copa)... ESP and ARG will play, likely in 2025, the Finalissima which pits the Euro and Copa winners (last time ARG beat ITA)...
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I thought it was a good Euro, with TUR and AUT providing some good games and GEO and SVK with big upsets, and the best team winning...
Scott
HWCI circa 1990
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