Zeek's PES Euro Cup I

[ZeekLTK]

Qualification

*Top 2 qualify, bottom 3 eliminated.

Group A
Norway - 16 pts +5 GD 17 GF 12 GA
Lithuania - 12 pts +2 GD 15 GF 13 GA
Poland - 11 pts -2 GD 11 GF 13 GA
Finland - 10 pts -5 GD 8 GF 13 GA
Croatia - 8 pts +0 GD 9 GF 9 GA

Group B
England - 15 pts +8 GD 18 GF 10 GA
Spain - 15 pts +6 GD 17 GF 11 GA
Hungary - 15 pts -4 GD 10 GF 14 GA
Iceland - 9 pts -5 GD 10 GF 15 GA
Montenegro - 6 pts -5 GD 7 GF 12 GA

Group C
Italy - 18 pts +7 GD 20 GF 13 GA
Sweden - 11 pts +3 GD 12 GF 9 GA
Austria - 11 pts -1 GD 11 GF 12 GA
Latvia - 11 pts -2 GD 12 GF 14 GA
Scotland - 6 pts -6 GD 10 GF 16 GA

Group D
Turkey - 17 pts +5 GD 15 GF 10 GA
Germany - 14 pts +4 GD 15 GF 11 GA
Albania - 14 pts +1 GD 17 GF 16 GA
Bosnia-Herzegovina - 7 pts -5 GD 10 GF 15 GA
Slovenia - 4 pts -5 GD 7 GF 12 GA

Group E
France - 21 pts +11 GD 21 GF 10 GA
Bulgaria - 15 pts +5 GD 17 GF 12 GA
Northern Ireland - 10 pts -5 GD 7 GF 12 GA
Russia - 8 pts -3 GD 11 GF 14 GA
Belgium - 4 pts -8 GD 10 GF 18 GA

Group F
Georgia - 15 pts +8 GD 17 GF 9 GA
Ireland - 12 pts -2 GD 11 GF 13 GA
Serbia - 10 pts +1 GD 10 GF 9 GA
Czech Republic - 9 pts +1 GD 17 GF 16 GA
Ukraine - 8 pts -8 GD 8 GF 16 GA

Group G
Netherlands - 24 pts +17 GD 27 GF 10 GA
Wales - 10 pts -3 GD 10 GF 13 GA
Belarus - 9 pts -7 GD 11 GF 18 GA
Switzerland - 9 pts -7 GD 11 GF 18 GA
Greece - 7 pts +0 GD 12 GF 12 GA

Group H
Portugal - 14 pts +6 GD 15 GF 9 GA
Romania - 14 pts +1 GD 14 GF 13 GA
Slovakia - 13 pts -1 GD 8 GF 9 GA
Estonia - 8 pts -3 GD 11 GF 14 GA
Denmark - 6 pts -2 GD 11 GF 13 GA


Great, as Expected
Netherlands - only team to win all 8 matches
France - won seven straight games after losing opening match to Bulgaria
Norway - did enough to clinch qualification with a few games to spare
Italy - took care of business and cruised to top of the group
Romania - had clinched qualification with two games to spare

Exceeded Expectations
Wales - managed to qualify out of a challenging group
Georgia - were a dominant team in Winning Eleven, but not so much anymore. But they managed to win their group!
Hungary - Went toe-to-toe with both Spain and England the entire way. Only missed out due to goal difference.
Bulgaria - qualified out of a tough group and were the only team to beat France
Lithuania - beat out both Poland and Croatia to qualify
Northern Ireland - were competitive the entire way, but needed to beat France on the last matchday and were not able to (also needed Russia to beat Bulgaria, which did not happen either)

Questionable Performances
Spain & England - at the half way mark, Iceland and Hungary were the top two teams in their group. These two eventually turned it around and qualified, but it was a lot closer than it should have been. One (more) slip up and Hungary would have qualified instead.
Germany - needed to win on the last matchday or Albania would have qualified instead (beat Slovenia 2-0)
Sweden - picked as group favorites, but struggled through group. Needed Italy to beat Austria on last matchday or they would not have qualified (Italy won 2-0)
Portugal - needed to win against already-qualified Romania on last matchday and were trailing 1-0 at half time, but managed to win 5-1 somehow - this after needing a win against Slovakia the previous game to stay alive and barely pulling out a 2-1 victory

Huge disappointments
Denmark - just one win (and 3 draws), were in last place the whole way
Czech Republic - lost their first four games, then won 3 of their last 4; if they hadn't started so poorly they would have qualified
Montenegro - like Czechs, lost their first four games, but only managed to win 2 overall
Slovenia - had just 1 point with 2 games to go, finally beat Bosnia-Herzegovina as their only win
Croatia - expected to contend for first place in their group, ended up in last place

 

[Yankee151]

Very poor showing from Jovetic and Montenegro. Nicely done by Turkey though.

 

[ZeekLTK]

The Draw

*Seeding based soley on final standings of qualification stage (ie. Netherlands #1 overall seed with 24 pts, France #2 with 21 pts, etc. down to Wales #16 with 10 pts)

Pot A: Netherlands, France, Italy, Turkey
Pot B: Norway, England, Georgia, Portugal
Pot C: Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, Romania
Pot D: Lithuania, Ireland, Sweden, Wales


Group A
Netherlands
Portugal
Germany
Sweden


Group B
France
Georgia
Romania
Ireland


Group C
Turkey
England
Spain
Lithuania


Group D
Italy
Norway
Bulgaria
Wales



Predictions
Group of Death (A): Netherlands and Germany
Group B: France and Georgia
Group C: Spain and England
Group D: Italy and Norway


Rooting For
Group of Death (A): Netherlands and Sweden
Group B: France and Georgia
Group C: Turkey and Lithuania
Group D: Norway and Bulgaria

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group A: Portugal vs Germany

Prior to the tournament, all teams tweaked their rosters from qualifying, calling up new players as (hopefully) improvements over others. Only Wales and Lithuania did not make any roster changes. One of Portugal's big changes was calling up Miguel Veloso, and he was selected as a starter for this match.

1' - Portugal kicks off
14' - Ballack dribbles past Portuguese defense, Miguel Veloso brings him down from behind - straight red card!
14' - Ballack takes the set piece, Maniche charges off the wall to block it but Ballack curves it through the hole, beating Quim for the opening goal. [0-1] (Ballack)
23' - Diving header from Podolski hits the post and is cleared away
31' - Deco picks out Nuno Gomes with a nice pass, Gomes knocks C. Metzelder down and then dribbles around Schweinsteiger to fire a shot on goal, Quim blocks it
31' - Maniche anticipates the block and charges the net, he is first to reach the rebound and pokes it in for the equalizer. [1-1] (Maniche)
38' - Nuno Gomes receives a great throughball, just barely beating the offsides trap by Germany's defense. He goes one on one with the keeper but the shot is saved. Nuno Gomes gets the rebound with an open net in front of him... but the shot goes HIGH, over the bar!
45'+ - Schweinsteiger intercepts a pass and goes on a one-man counter attack from inside his own half all the way to Portugal's penalty box. Deco chases him, but is not able to catch him. As Schweinsteiger enters the box, the Portuguese central defender is forced to commit to him and at that moment Schweinsteiger plays a perfect pass across the box to a wide open Klose, who drives his shot into the net. [1-2] (Klose)

46' - Germany kicks off
63' - A nice cross into the box finds Simao, but his diving header hits the post and is cleared away
68' - Jansen goes into a tackle awkwardly and comes away hurt, has to be stretchered off the field, but returns shortly after
74' - Maniche breaks into the box and Jansen tries to tackle the ball away, but (perhaps due to his injury) is a step too late and instead takes down the dribbler, the referee awards Portugal a penalty kick!
75' - Simao takes a perfect shot from the spot to equalize the match once again. [2-2] (Simao)
90'+ - Final whistle

Portugal 2 - 2 Germany
Maniche, Simao -- Ballack, Klose

Game Stats
Portugal lead possession with 52%
Portugal outshot Germany 11-9 (5-4 on target)
Germany had more free kicks, 7-4
Portugal had more corner kicks, 5-0

MOTM: 8.0 Ballack (Germany)

 

[Yankee151]

Veloso red card? Sound about right.

 

[ZeekLTK]

Veloso red card? Sound about right.

lol, yup. Best part is that I just added him to their roster, so he was literally only on the team for a total of 14 minutes before getting suspended.

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group A: Netherlands vs Sweden

Netherlands or Sweden now had a chance to go top of the Group of Death with a victory, due to the draw in the Portugal-Germany match. The game got off to a fast start but neither team was able to gain an advantage by the final whistle. Sweden seemed to be most dominant, but an early mistake cost them dearly.

1' - Netherlands kicks off
4' - Robben takes a long shot, deflected off Mellberg
4' - Hansson collects loose ball. Pressured by Van Der Vaart and Huntelaar, he tries to pass back to the keeper, but Isaksson misses the ball and it rolls into the net for an OWN GOAL [1-0] (Hansson OG)
7' - Ljungberg breaks through the Dutch defense, but his shot goes wide
22' - Larsson dribbles past two defenders in the box but his shot is saved
28' - Ibrahimovic was played onside by Boulahrouz, he received the ball, dribbled in, and then fired his shot past the keeper [1-1] (Ibrahimovic)
35' - S. Larsson takes down Robben with a hard tackle, no card shown but Robben has to be carried off the field
36' - Van Der Wiel retaliates on Larsson, is shown a yellow card
37' - Robben subs out, makes way for Emanuelson
38' - Ibrahimovic shoots from the free kick and forces a hard save, Larsson gets the rebound and scores - but is ruled offside, no goal
45' - Ibrahimovic breaks through the defense and chips the keeper, but the ball hits the top of the post and falls into the keeper's arms

46' - Sweden kicks off
57' - Van Bommel picks up a yellow card for a hard tackle
90'+ - Final whistle

Netherlands 1 - 1 Sweden
Hansson OG -- Ibrahimovic

Game Stats
Each team had 50% possession
Sweden outshot Netherlands 14-8 (10-2 on target)
Sweden had more free kicks, 9-7
Both teams had 1 corner kick

2 Yellow Cards to Netherlands: Van Der Wiel (36'), Van Bommel (57')

MOTM: 7.0 A. Svensson (Sweden)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group B: Georgia vs Romania

Stoppage time goals in each half turned this into one of the more exciting games of the opening round as Georgia and Romania battled for the opening match of Group B.

1' - Georgia kicks off
11' - A pass into the box intended for Arveladze was disrupted when he was pushed out of the way, but Iashvili reacted quickly to swoop in and hit the ball into the net [1-0] (Iashvili)
27' - Arveladze nearly doubled the lead but his open header went just wide
38' - Iashvili went on a breakaway but his shot went wide
45'+ - Romania put some late pressure on, and earned a pair of corner kicks
45'+ - The first corner was headed out to the top of the box where Ghioane fired it back in to earn a second corner
45'+ - The second corner was headed out to nearly the same area where Ghioane once again collected it, but this time instead of shooting, he passed to Marica who was able to turn and score [1-1] (Marica)

46' - Romania kicks off
54' - Kobiashvili nearly curled in a free kick, but the shot was saved
82' - Ghioane once again found a way to create a chance, but his shot was saved and then cleared
85' - Akhalkatsi subs in for Mujiri
88' - McHedlidze has a great opportunity to score but the shot is saved
90+' - Akhalkatsi found an opening in the defense for Merebashvili to play a perfect ball to. After just two touches, Akhalkatsi fired in his shot to beat Romania [2-1] (Akhalkatsi)
90'+ - Final whistle

Georgia 2 - 1 Romania
Iashvili, Akhalkatsi -- Marica

Game Stats
Romania lead possession with 53%
Georgia outshot Romania 12-7 (6-4 on target)
Romania had more free kicks, 8-6
Georgia had more corner kicks, 3-2

MOTM: 6.5 Kobiashvili (Georgia)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group B: France vs Ireland

Group favorites France found life to be difficult against a stubborn Irish side. Ireland focused on defense and quickly closed down every time France may have had an opportunity to score, taking away the chance. France ended up with very few good looks and never managed to score a goal. Ireland even managed to get the best chance of the game, a header from a corner kick, but were unable to capitalize and settled for the draw.

1' - France kicks off
22' - Ribery picks up a yellow card by injurying John O'Shea
38' - Stephen Ireland receives a yellow card for a hard tackle

46' - Ireland kicks off
48' - Robbie Keane almost scores on a corner kick (shot saved)
90'+ - Final whistle

France 0 - 0 Ireland

Game Stats
Ireland lead possession with 53%
France outshot Ireland 14-11 (6-4 on target)
Ireland had more free kicks, 5-3
Both teams had 4 corner kicks

1 Yellow Card to France: Ribery (22')
1 Yellow Card to Ireland: Ireland (38')

Post-game: Kilbane (Ireland) discovered to have injury, will miss next match vs Georgia

MOTM: 7.0 Hunt (Ireland)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group C: England vs Spain

Two heavyweights battled it out for their group opener in a match that went back and forth, down to the wire. England defeated Spain twice during qualifying, would they be able to win for a third time?

1' - England kicks off
30' - Rooney creates first big chance of the game, shot is barely saved by Casillas
44' - A string of nice passes by Spain ends up with Fernando Torres controlling the ball inside the box, he turns around Ferdinand and fires in the opening goal [0-1] (Torres)

46' - Spain kicks off
47' - England pressure Spain high up the field, Puyol loses possession to Crouch who quickly passes across the middle to Defoe for an open look at goal [1-1] (Defoe)
53' - Villa heads in a corner kick to lift Spain back in front [1-2] (Villa)
71' - Lampard finds an opening in the center midfield and gets just enough time to line up a long shot which he buries in the back of the net [2-2] (Lampard)
90'+ - Walcott creates two chances in stoppage time, just misses an open net wide left on the first try and then misses wide right on the very last chance of the game
90'+ - Final whistle

England 2 - 2 Spain
Defoe, Lampard -- Torres, Villa

Game Stats
Spain lead possession with 52%
England outshot Spain 20-10 (8-7 on target)
Both teams had 4 free kicks
Both teams had 3 corner kicks

MOTM: 8.5 Lampard (England)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group C: Turkey vs Lithuania

Lithuania were the clear underdogs in this group, but they got a few lucky breaks to give themselves a real chance at advancing in the tournament.

1' - Turkey kicks off
21' - D. Cesnauskis heads in a cross for a surprising goal, this would be Lithuania's only shot in the first half [0-1] (D. Cesnauskis)
24' - Turkey's free kick finds Emre at the back post but his header goes over the bar, and really should have been a goal
31' - Kijanskas slides in to block one of Turkey's 8 first half shots and comes up injured, but returned to the game soon after with no serious issues

46' - Lithuania kicks off
47' - A quick attack sees a header from Danilevicius go nonthreatening towards goal but Rustu mis-judges it and catches it falling backwards. Realizing that he is going to fall over the line with the ball, he tries to get rid of it, but Sernas is there and the ball deflects off his hip and into the net for another surprise goal [0-2] (Sernas)
71' - Turkey start to ramp up the pressure to get back into the game, Hamit Altintop's shot goes just wide
76' - Semih Senturk has two great chances but is unable to score either time
79' - A Turkey free kick comes curling in but is narrowly saved by Arlauskis
82' - Semih's open header flies wide of the goal
90'+ - Final whistle

Turkey 0 - 2 Lithuania
D. Cesnauskis, Sernas

Game Stats
Turkey lead possession with 52%
Turkey outshot Lithuania 19-4 (9-3 on target)
Lithuania had more free kicks, 14-7
Turkey had more corner kicks, 4-0

MOTM: 6.5 D. Cesnauskis (Lithuania)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group D: Norway vs Bulgaria

A tale of two halves saw this Group D opener swing both ways as Norway and Bulgaria faced off.

1' - Norway kicks off
6' - Helstad drops back to defend early pressure from Bulgaria but mistimes his tackle and earns a yellow card for his effort
7' - The ensuing free kick finds Domovchiyski open in the box. He heads in the first goal of the match. [0-1] (Domovchiyski)
22' - A counter attack catches Norway off guard, Domovchiyski times his run to stay onside and then scores on the breakaway [0-2] (Domovchiyski)
44' - After Bulgaria had dominated the first half, M. G. Pedersen nearly pulls one back for Norway, but he heads the corner kick wide

46' - Bulgaria kicks off
70' - Norway started to take over the match in the second half and were rewarded when Carew headed in a quick cross from a throw in [1-2] (Carew)
72' - Helstad's header beats the keeper but bangs off the post and is cleared for a corner kick
72' - Carew tries to head in the inswinger but the ball goes over the bar
86' - Riise's free kick just misses the top corner of the net
88' - Desperate to stop the onslaught of Norwegian attacks, Stoyanov mistakenly brings down Carew inside the box, a penalty kick is awarded
88' - Carew hammers in his shot from the spot [2-2] (Carew)
90'+ - Final whistle

Norway 2 - 2 Bulgaria
Carew x2 -- Domovchiyski x2

Game Stats
Bulgaria lead possession with 51%
Norway outshot Bulgaria 9-6 (5-5 on target)
Bulgaria had more free kicks, 8-4
Norway had more corner kicks, 3-0

1 Yellow Card to Norway: Helstad (6')

MOTM: 7.0 Skjelbred (Norway)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group D: Italy vs Wales

With a draw in the other game, the winner of this match would be able to take an early lead in Group D.

1' - Italy kicks off
24' - Quagliarella heads a corner kick into the post defender but Di Natale reacts to knock the rebound into the net [1-0] (Di Natale)
45'+ - Pirlo picks up a yellow card for a harsh tackle on Bellamy
45'+ - Bellamy is determined to have picked up an injury from that tackle and is subbed out, replaced by Ledley

46' - Wales kicks off
51' - Berzagli goes into the book with a yellow card due to a mistimed tackle
67' - Wales' best chance of the game comes when Earnshaw heads a cross past Buffon but it finds the top of the bar and deflects away harmlessly
81' - Another yellow card for Italy, Aquilani receives it
90'+ - Quagliarella scores after a nice series of passes but the flag went up, he was narrowly offside
90'+ - Final whistle

Italy 1 - 0 Wales
Di Natale

Game Stats
Italy lead possession with 51%
Italy outshot Wales 18-9 (12-3 on target)
Wales had more free kicks, 11-6
Italy had more corner kicks, 7-3

3 Yellow Cards to Italy: Pirlo (45'+), Berzagli (51'), Aquilani (81')

MOTM: 7.0 Grosso (Italy)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Matchday 1 Recap

Group A
Portugal - 1 pts +0 GD 2 GF 2 GA
Germany - 1 pts +0 GD 2 GF 2 GA
Netherlands - 1 pts +0 GD 1 GF 1 GA
Sweden - 1 pts +0 GD 1 GF 1 GA

Portugal 2 - 2 Germany [Maniche, Simao; Ballack, Klose]
Netherlands 1 - 1 Sweden [Hansson OG; Ibrahimovic]


Group B
Georgia - 3 pts +1 GD 2 GF 1 GA
France - 1 pts +0 GD 0 GF 0 GA
Ireland - 1 pts +0 GD 0 GF 0 GA
Romania - 0 pts -1 GD 1 GF 2 GA

Georgia 2 - 1 Romania [Iashvili, Akhalkatsi; Marica]
France 0 - 0 Ireland


Group C
Lithuania - 3 pts +2 GD 2 GF 0 GA
England - 1 pts +0 GD 2 GF 2 GA
Spain - 1 pts +0 GD 2 GF 2 GA
Turkey - 0 pts -2 GD 0 GF 2 GA

England 2 - 2 Spain [Defoe, Lampard; Torres, Villa]
Turkey 0 - 2 Lithuania [D. Cesnauskis, Serna]


Group D
Italy - 3 pts +1 GD 1 GF 0 GA
Norway - 1 pts +0 GD 2 GF 2 GA
Bulgaria - 1 pts +0 GD 2 GF 2 GA
Wales - 0 pts -1 GD 0 GF 1 GA

Norway 2 - 2 Bulgaria [Carew x2; Domovchiyski x2]
Italy 1 - 0 Wales [Di Natale]



Notes
-5 draws, 2 teams won "as expected" (based on seeding: Georgia and Italy), 1 upset (Lithuania over Turkey)
-Half of the teams, 8, scored 2 goals (but no teams scored more than 2)
-Only two players scored more than once (Carew of Norway, Domovchiyski of Bulgaria - against each other)
-3 goals were scored in stoppage time (2 in first half [Klose of Germany, Marica of Romania], 1 in second half [Akhalkatsi of Georgia])
-There was 1 own goal (Hansson of Sweden vs Netherlands)
-4 teams did not score (France, Ireland, Turkey, Wales)
-Only 1 player received a red card (Miguel Veloso of Portugal)
-8 players received a yellow card (3 from Italy)
-3 players are injured and will miss the next match (Robben for Netherlands, Kilbane for Ireland, Bellamy for Wales)
-Lampard of England was the highest rated player (8.5)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group A: Sweden vs Portugal

With all draws on opening day, Group A was wide open for the taking. Could someone finally earn a victory to go top of the table?

1' - Germany kicks off
19' - Larsson heads in a cross from Wilhelmsson to open the scoring [1-0] (Larsson)
24' - Liedson Muniz receives a pass and then fakes out two defenders (Hansson and Adam Johansson) to go around them and shoots past the keeper [1-1] (Liedson Muniz)
36' - Adam Johansson fouls C. Ronaldo, after a bit of flailing on the ground, C. Ronaldo is carried off injured
36' - Liedson Muniz nearly gives Portugal the lead as he tries to head in free kick, but his shot is saved
36' - Portugal keeps piling on the pressure as Simao's diving header from a corner kick goes off the post
45'+ - Nani subs in for the injured C. Ronaldo right before a throw in. None of the Swedish defenders notice him come into the box and he then heads in a cross from the ensuing free throw [1-2] (Nani)

46' - Sweden kicks off
55' - A few nice passes from Portugal eventually find Liedson Muniz in the box, he swivels and smashes ball into goal to increase the lead [1-3] (Liedson Muniz)
59' - There is an immediate response from Sweden, Larsson heads in a cross from Kallstrom [2-3] (Larsson)
72' - Ibrahimovic creates a handful of chances in a short span of time, but can't manage to beat the keeper
79' - Another great chance for the star striker: an open header for Ibrahimovic, but once again saved by the keeper
86' - Ibrahimovic wins the ball near midfield, gets fouled by Paulo Ferreira but plays the advantage, dribbles a few steps and then launches a long shot that finally gets past the keeper [3-3] (Ibrahimovic)
89' - Adam Johansson gets a yellow card for his tackle on Nani
90'+ - Final whistle

Sweden 3 - 3 Portugal
Larsson x2, Ibrahimovic -- Liedson Muniz x2, Nani

Game Stats
Portugal lead possession with 52%
Sweden outshot Portugal 11-8 (6-6 on target)
Both teams had 7 free kicks
Portugal had more corner kicks, 1-0

1 Yellow on Sweden: Adam Johansson (89')

*C. Ronaldo expected to miss next match (vs Netherlands) due to injury sustained today

MOTM: 7.0 Larsson (Sweden)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group A: Germany vs Netherlands

If there was going to be any separation in this group of death draws, surely it would come from the bitter rivalry between the Germans and the Dutch, right?

1' - Portugal kicks off
11' - Ballack shoots from a free kick but the ball hits the posts and deflects away
12' - A Dutch cross into box hits C. Metzelder but unexpectedly deflects past the keeper and into the net for an own goal [0-1] (C. Metzelder OG)
24' - Boulahrouz stops a German attack and dispossesses Odonkor, but then Podolski steals the ball from him and scores with a quick strike [1-1] (Podolski)

46' - Germany kicks off
46' - Germans cough up possession immediately and Huntelaar somehow manages to stay onside right in the middle of the field, gets a nice through ball and scores [1-2] (Huntelaar)
59' - Huntelaar nearly chips keeper, but the shot goes over the bar
63' - Podolski finds another chance to equalize, but his header flies over the post
68' - Schweinsteiger breaks free from the flank and cuts into the box, unfortunately his shot just misses wide
90'+ - Final whistle

Germany 1 - 2 Netherlands
Podolski -- C. Metzelder OG, Huntelaar

Game Stats
Netherlands lead possession with 53%
Netherlands outshot Germany 10-8 (3-4 on target)
Netherlands had more free kicks, 9-8
Both teams had 1 corner kick

MOTM: 7.0 Van Der Vaart (Netherlands)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group B: Ireland vs Georgia

Ireland had played a perfect defensive match to hold France scoreless, but Georgia had found their form in the second half to beat Romania, so who could keep their momentum going in this vital Group B encounter? These two had come from the same qualification group where Ireland won once (2-1) and drew the second game (2-2).

1' - Ireland kicks off
38' - Reid booked (yellow card) late for a bad challenge on Iashvili that was played advantage a few minutes earlier
45'+ - Ireland's defense smothered Georgia, not allowing anything to bother their keeper. Both teams combined for just 1 shot on goal in the first half!

46' - Georgia kicks off
52' - A good spell of possession around box for Ireland ends when McGeady eventually finds Keogh to head in a goal [1-0] (Keogh)
61' - Keogh almost doubles up for the Irish, but hits the post with his shot
65' - Duff receives a yellow card for a tackle from behind on Kobiashvili
74' - McGeady dribbles down the wing, Reid makes a run from the back and then McGeady plays it square for him to take an open shot inside the box [2-0] (Reid)
90'+ - Final whistle

Ireland 2 - 0 Georgia
Keogh, Reid

Game Stats
Georgia lead possession with 51%
Ireland outshot Georgia 13-9 (6-5 on target)
Georgia had more free kicks, 9-4
Ireland had more corner kicks, 3-1

2 Yellows for Ireland: Reid (38'), Duff (65')

MOTM: 8.5 Reid (Ireland)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group B: Romania vs France

Possibly the most desperate game of Matchday 2 in any group, Romania entered having lost in heart breaking fashion while France were stunned at their inability to crack Ireland's defense. France were so upset about their previous performance that they changed their entire roster, not a single starter from the 0-0 draw kept their position. Romania must have felt better about their stoppage time defeat, or perhaps decided they just didn't have enough depth, as most starters remained in the lineup.

1' - Romania kicks off
7' - Henry heads in a free kick from Gourcuff despite tight marking [0-1] (Henry)
12' - Mutu goes down injured after challenge from Sagna; he returns, but eventually decides he cannot go on
34' - Ghioane comes in for Mutu
40' - French keeper just barely tips Marica's header, the ball rolls along the line but not into the goal, and is finally cleared away
45'+ - Gourcuff nearly scores on breakaway, shot is saved by keeper

46' - France kicks off
52' - Marica's header from a cross hits the post and deflects away
75' - Gallas sees a yellow card for preventing a Romania breakaway near midfield
78' - Rat gets a yellow card for a speculative tackle after losing ball deep in French territory
90'+ - Final whistle

Romania 0 - 1 France
Henry

Game Stats
France lead possession with 55%
France outshot Georgia 11-9 (5-4 on target)
France had more free kicks, 6-5
France had more corner kicks, 3-1

1 Yellow to Romania: Rat (78')
1 Yellow to France: Gallas (75')

*Mutu expected to miss next match (vs Ireland)

MOTM: 6.5 Nasri (France)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group C: Lithuania vs England

England had earned a hard fought draw against Spain and felt like they were on their way, just needing to beat "lowly" Turkey and Lithuania to advance. The Lithuanians had stunned Turkey thanks to what some may have called "fluke" goals, but they now had an opportunity to fight for their spot in the quarterfinals as well, setting up a much more interesting Group C match than expected. And they made the most of it!

1' - Lithuania kicks off
45'+ - England are completely stumped by Lithuania's odd formation, and only managed one shot the entire half. Lithuania had 3 shots and 55% possession!

46' - England kicks off
60' - Lithuania stretching field, creating lots of space and spreading the ball around - England doesn't appear to have an answer, can't get anything going and are mostly chasing Lithuania
63' - An unmarked Jankauskas heads in the cross after a throw in [1-0] (Jankauskas)
90'+ - Rooney gets a half chance in box, England's best chance of the day, and he curls it around Arlauskis but wide of the net
90'+ - Final whistle

Lithuania 1 - 0 England
Jankauskas

Game Stats
Lithuania lead possession with 52%
Lithuania outshot England 7-3 (3-1 on target)
Lithuania had more free kicks, 9-3
Both teams had 0 corner kicks

MOTM: 6.5 Semberas (Lithuania)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group C: Spain vs Turkey

A big opportunity awaited the winner of this match, with Lithuania now having clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, there was only one remaining from this group. A result in this game would put the victor in the driver's seat for that spot.

1' - Spain kicks off
3' - An early free kick for Turkey finds Arda Turan for a header, but Casillas saves the shot.
3' - Tuncay Sanli pounces on the rebound to give the Turks an early lead [0-1] (Tuncay Sanli)
15' - Cesc Fabregas appears to go down injured after being tackled, but comes back shortly after and does not leave game
45'+ - Neither team able to create any more notable chances in first half

46' - Turkey kicks off
55' - Cesc creates a chance but shoots over the bar
65' - Torres fires in a shot from the top of box, Rustu gets a piece of it but can't keep it out [1-1] (Torres)
73' - Tuncay Sanli tries a bicycle kick inside the box, sails over the goal
86' - Puyol fouls Emre just outside the penalty area, Nihat bends the free kick over the wall and past Casillas [1-2] (Nihat)
90'+ - Cesc finds room for an open header from a cross, but misses the net
90'+ - Final whistle

Spain 1 - 2 Turkey
Torres -- Tuncay Sanli, Nihat

Game Stats
Turkey lead possession with 51%
Spain outshot Turkey 17-11 (8-5 on target)
Spain had more free kicks, 9-6
Spain had more corner kicks, 7-1

MOTM: 6.5 Mehmet Aurelio (Turkey)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group D: Wales vs Norway

Neither side had gotten off to a good start in the tournament, but their opening games hadn't been complete disasters either. This would be a great chance to try to make a run at the knockout round, by picking up a victory here.

1' - Wales kicks off
12' - Great ball movement from Wales opens up the Norwegian defense. Earnshaw breaks down the field and then plays a great pass across to Simon Davies who drills in the opening goal [1-0] (Simon Davies)
23' - Cotterill goes down injured during play, but the referee fails to stop the match and play continues around him until he eventually gets up on his own a minute later. He remains on the pitch for the rest of the match, so it must not have been anything serious.
35' - Iversen creates space in the box for a shot on goal, but it hits the keeper from point-blank range
41' - Winsnes dribbles straight down the middle, strikers spread out to stretch the defense and he just runs right up and fires in a low shot from outside the box that beats the keeper [1-1] (Winsnes)

46' - Norway kicks off
50' - Ramsey hits a nice shot that beats the keeper and appeared to be heading into the net, but just narrowly veered wide at the last moment
57' - A yellow card is shown to Grindheim for stopping Wales' break after a quick free kick
59' - Carew picks up a yellow card for taking down Simon Davies from behind
62' - M. G. Pedersen has to leave the field briefly due to a hard tackle, but rejoins the action shortly after
66' - Iversen earns another yellow card for Norway after completely missing the ball with his slide tackle and instead only taking out the dribbler
70' - Iversen then sees a near point-blank shot saved by the keeper
82' - Simon Davies attempts a long shot and just misses the target
85' - Cotterill has a chance in the box but his close range shot is also saved, pushed away for a corner
85' - Earnshaw heads in the ensuing corner kick to put Wales back in front [2-1] (Earnshaw)
90'+ - Final whistle

Wales 2 - 1 Norway
Simon Davies, Earnshaw -- Winsnes

Game Stats
Norway lead possession with 54%
Wales outshot Norway 13-9 (8-3 on target)
Norway had more free kicks, 11-8
Wales had more corner kicks, 2-0

3 Yellow Cards to Norway: Grindheim (57'), Carew (59'), Iversen (66')

MOTM: 7.0 Simon Davies (Wales)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group D: Bulgaria vs Italy

Despite Bulgaria's best efforts, Italy joined Lithuania as the only teams to clinch a spot in the knockout round after only two games.

1' - Bulgaria kicks off
1' - S. Petrov nearly scores one of the fastest goals in history, had an open look inside the box but his shot sailed way off target
7' - Perrotta found himself with a clean look at goal, but also missed the net
23' - Deja vu for Perrotta, another good chance from the same area, but similar result - the shot goes wide
42' - Pirlo almost breaks the deadlock with a free kick that curls over the wall but can't beat the keeper

46' - Italy kicks off
51' - The breakthrough comes on a short cross to Toni, who heads in the opener [0-1] (Toni)
60' - Perrotta finally gets his goal, throws himself at a loose ball in the box and manages to get a touch before the keeper can, poking it into the goal [0-2] (Perrotta)
87' - Telkiski gets a yellow card despite only going shoulder to shoulder and trying to win the ball
90'+ - Final whistle

Bulgaria 0 - 2 Italy
Toni, Perrotta

Game Stats
Italy lead possession with 52%
Italy outshot Bulgaria 11-4 (8-1 on target)
Bulgaria had more free kicks, 10-5
Both teams had 1 corner kick

MOTM: 7.0 Camoranesi (Italy)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Matchday 2 Recap

Group A
Netherlands - 4 pts +1 GD 3 GF 2 GA
Portugal - 2 pts +0 GD 5 GF 5 GA
Sweden - 2 pts +0 GD 4 GF 4 GA
Germany - 1 pts -1 GD 3 GF 4 GA

Portugal 2 - 2 Germany [Maniche, Simao; Ballack, Klose]
Netherlands 1 - 1 Sweden [Hansson OG; Ibrahimovic]

Sweden 3 - 3 Portugal [Larsson x2, Ibrahimovic; Liedson Muniz x2, Nani]
Germany 1 - 2 Netherlands [Podolski; C. Metzelder OG, Huntelaar]



Group B
Ireland - 4 pts +2 GD 2 GF 0 GA
France - 4 pts +1 GD 1 GF 0 GA
Georgia - 3 pts -1 GD 2 GF 3 GA
Romania - 0 pts -2 GD 1 GF 3 GA

Georgia 2 - 1 Romania [Iashvili, Akhalkatsi; Marica]
France 0 - 0 Ireland

Ireland 2 - 0 Georgia [Keogh, Reid]
Romania 0 - 1 France [Henry]



Group C
Lithuania - 6 pts +3 GD 3 GF 0 GA
Turkey - 3 pts -1 GD 2 GF 3 GA
Spain - 1 pts -1 GD 3 GF 4 GA
England - 1 pts -1 GD 2 GF 3 GA

England 2 - 2 Spain [Defoe, Lampard; Torres, Villa]
Turkey 0 - 2 Lithuania [D. Cesnauskis, Serna]

Lithuania 1 - 0 England [Jankauskas]
Spain 1 - 2 Turkey [Torres; Tuncay Sanli, Nihat]



Group D
Italy - 6 pts +3 GD 3 GF 0 GA
Wales - 3 pts +0 GD 2 GF 2 GA
Norway - 1 pts -1 GD 3 GF 4 GA
Bulgaria - 1 pts -2 GD 2 GF 4 GA

Norway 2 - 2 Bulgaria [Carew x2; Domovchiyski x2]
Italy 1 - 0 Wales [Di Natale]

Wales 2 - 1 Norway [Simon Davies, Earnshaw; Winsnes]
Bulgaria 0 - 2 Italy [Toni, Perrotta]



Notes
-Only 1 draw in this phase of matches (compared to 5 in the opening round).
-Five games decided by a single goal, two games finished 2-0
-Again, there were only two players this round who scored more than once, and both were in the same game again. This time it was Larsson of Sweden and Liedson Muniz of Portugal.
-1 goal was scored in stoppage time (first half [Nani of Portugal])
-There was 1 own goal (C. Metzelder of Germany vs Netherlands [second own goal in favor of Netherlands])
-2 players scored for the second game in a row (Ibrahimovic of Sweden, Torres of Spain)
-9 players received a yellow card (3 from Norway)
-No red cards in this round
-2 players were injured and will miss the next match (C. Ronaldo for Portugal, Mutu for Romania)
-Robben of Netherlands is still injured from Matchday 1
-Reid of Ireland was the highest rated player (8.5) - only Lampard of England from Matchday 1 has been rated that high
-Two teams have clinched a spot in the knockout round (Lithuania and Italy), one team will be eliminated no matter what (Romania)





Look Ahead

Group A
-Netherlands is in the driver's seat, needs only a draw against Portugal to advance, but could advance even with a loss depending on other result. Robben still injured, likely to miss match.
-Portugal will likely need to beat Netherlands without C. Ronaldo, who is out injured
-Winner of Germany-Sweden will likely advance
-This group has been the highest scoring group and also the most competitive (3 draws, 1 victory by a single goal)

Group B
-Romania is going to be eliminated no matter what their result, and they have to play without Mutu, who is injured
-Ireland will be fortunate to get already-eliminated Romania, needing just a draw to advance
-France-Georgia is a rematch of the World Cup II Championship as well as other classic encounters between these two historic heavyweights, and this is essentially an elimination game as the loser is unlikely to advance

Group C
-Lithuania has surprisingly clinched a spot in the next round thanks to their two shocking wins over Turkey and England. They can win the group with a draw or better against Spain.
-All of Spain/England/Turkey need to win in order to have a chance at advancing, but draws favor Turkey.
-There are no injuries or suspensions in this group.

Group D
-Similar scenarios as Group C: Italy has clinched, draws favor Wales, anyone who wins has a good chance of advancing.
-No injuries or suspensions for these matches either.

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group A: Germany vs Sweden & Portugal vs Netherlands

Matchday 3 reports will be done simultaneously with updates as to who is "leading", to mimic how real tournaments are run. Netherlands enter the match leading the group with 4 points, while Sweden and Portugal each have 2, and Germany just has 1. This means the group is wide open and it's possible for any team to advance, or be eliminated!

1' - Germany kicks off & Portugal kicks off
1' - Netherlands and Portugal would advance with current results
5' - Klose heads in a cross to put Germany in front against Sweden [1-0] (Klose)
5' - R. Carvalho receives a yellow card for his tackle inside the box, a Dutch penalty kick is awarded
5' - Van Der Vaart converts the penalty kick to put the Dutch ahead of Portugal [0-1] (Van Der Vaart)
5' - Netherlands and Germany would advance with current results
8' - Ibrahimovic finds an opening for a shot, but misses wide
10' - Ibrahimovic creates another chance, shot is saved, Larsson lunges for rebound but German keeper gets it first to end the threat
16' - Sneijder catches Portugal on a counter attack, dribbles down flank unopposed and then scores on the breakaway [0-2] (Sneijder)
17' - Larsson finds himself with an open shot after trapping a nice cross, but sails the shot high
17' - Braffheid picks up a yellow card after uprooting Quaresma
17' - A quick free kick springs Nani, he beats the defense, shoots past the keeper... but hits the post!
20' - Portugal pressure with a couple of good corner kick chances, but Netherlands deal with it and clear the danger
25' - Van Der Vaart nearly extends the Dutch lead, but his shot is saved
29' - Nuno Gomes heads in a free kick to pull Portugal back into the game [1-2] (Nuno Gomes)
29' - Netherlands and Germany would still advance with current results
44' - In the center of the midfield, with Germans all around him, Ljungberg gains possession, dribbles out of traffic and into the box, then fires his shot past the keeper [1-1] (Ljungberg)
44' - Netherlands and Sweden would advance with current results


46' - Sweden kicks off & Netherlands kicks off
61' - Klose makes a nice run to get through defense, but shoots over the goal
72' - Larsson goes down injured after being pushed off ball, has to leave match
76' - C. Ronaldo subs in, clearly still in some pain from his injury that kept him out of the starting line up
82' - Simao subs in to give Portugal more fire power up front
84' - Wilhelmsson is booked (yellow card) for a tackle from behind
90'+ - Last chance for Sweden to clinch their spot, Rosenberg (Larsson's sub) heads a cross over the bar
90'+ - The two substitutes combine for Portugal, C. Ronaldo breaks down field with possession, then plays the ball across to Simao, who joins him in the box. Simao hammers in his shot to give Portugal the goal they needed to go back into second place! [2-2] (Simao)
90'+ - Final whistle: Netherlands and Portugal advance!

Germany 1 - 1 Sweden
Klose -- Ljungberg

Portugal 2 - 2 Netherlands
Nuno Gomes, Simao -- Van Der Vaart, Sneijder


Game Stats
Germany and Portugal both lead possession with 51%
Germany outshot Sweden 9-6 (3-2 on target)
Portugal outshot Netherlands 15-10 (8-6 on target)
Germany had more free kicks than Sweden, 8-4
Portugal and Netherlands both had 6 free kicks
Germany had more corner kicks than Sweden, 1-0
Portugal had more corner kicks than Netherlands 4-0

1 Yellow Card to Sweden: Wilhelmsson (84')
1 Yellow Card to Portugal: R. Carvalho (5')
1 Yellow Card to Netherlands: Braafheid (17')

*Larsson injured, would have missed next match if Sweden advanced


MOTM: 7.5 Simao (Portugal)
MOTM: 7.0 Tasci (Germany)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group B: Romania vs Ireland & Georgia vs France

Romania was officially eliminated after losing their first two games, but all other teams were within a point of each other, so qualification to the last eight was up for grabs between Ireland (4), France (4), and Georgia (3).

1' - Romania kicks off & Georgia kicks off
1' - Ireland and France would advance with current results
5' - Pantskhava finds an early opening for a breakaway past the French defense, but is unable to finish, shooting wide
7' - Steven Reid takes a nice touch to round a Romania defender and then hits a nice shot to beat the keeper, off the post and into the net [0-1] (Reid)
13' - Another good chance from Pantskhava sees the shot spilled by the keeper, Mchedlidze taps in the rebound [1-0] (Mchedlidze)
13' - Ireland and Georgia would advance with current results
14' - Kaladze picks up a yellow card after bringing down Malouda
21' - Couldn't get worse for Romania, captain Chivu goes down injured
24' - Merebashvili slides in but misses the ball, taking down Gourcuff, and earning a yellow card for his efforts
28' - A great square pass from the wing finds Gourcuff at the top of the area, he fires in a shot that beats Lomaia [1-1] (Gourcuff)
28' - Ireland and France would advance with current results
29' - Romania determine Chivu cannot continue, Ghioane subs in. Chivu would have missed the rest of the tournament had Romania advanced
41' - Reid finds open space in the middle of the field, receives a nice pass, takes a few touches, and then launches in a great shot that beats the keeper [0-2] (Reid)
45'+ - Georgia protests as Kobiashvili is shown a yellow card after merely using his shoulder to push a French player off the ball


46' - Ireland kicks off & France kicks off
52' - Kvirkvelia makes a nice move to get past Clichy, and the French defender picks up a yellow card for trying to prevent the breakaway
58' - Georgia has been pressing high up the field since half time, it pays off when the French keeper mistakenly has his pass intercepted by Mchedlidze, who quickly shoots it past him for his second goal of the match [2-1] (Mchedlidze)
58' - Ireland and Georgia would advance with current results
60' - Pantskhava is brought down by Mexes on a breakaway, but no card is shown
60' - Kobiashvili scores on the free kick, bending the shot over the wall and into the goal [3-1] (Kobiashvili)
67' - Keogh heads in a corner kick to pile it on Romania [0-3] (Keogh)
68' - Mchedlidze runs down a long ball into the box, beats the keeper to gain possession, but with the keeper out of the box, he is unable to round him and can't get a shot off
75' - Kvirkvelia plays a great ball all the way across the field to the opposite wing, Iashvili collects it and shoots but the shot is saved, Mchedlidze pounces on the rebound but again his shot is saved! The ball is still loose in the box though, and Iashvili sticks with the play to get the next rebound and this time he buries it in the back of the net to secure Georgia's victory [4-1] (Iashvili)
76' - Reid is taking advantage of the open space left by the absence of Chivu and has a nice crack at goal, the shot is saved but he gets his own rebound and plays a great square pass to Robbie Keane, who hammers in the dagger [0-4] (Robbie Keane)
76' - Ghioane is getting dominated by Reid, Romania sends in injured Mutu hoping for a C. Ronaldo-esque miracle apparently
79' - Stephen Kelly takes down Mutu and injures him again, earning a yellow card for the tackle
83' - Kobiashvili brings down Malouda from behind, earns a second yellow card, which means a red card and he is sent off and will miss the quarterfinal match against Netherlands!
90'+ - Final whistle: Ireland and Georgia advance!

Romania 0 - 4 Ireland
Reid x2, Keogh, Robbie Keane

Georgia 4 - 1 France
Mchedlidze x2, Kobiashvili, Iashvili -- Gourcuff


Game Stats
France lead possession with 52%
Ireland and Romania split possession with 50%
Ireland outshot Romania 18-7 (9-2 on target)
Georgia outshot France 19-8 (10-4 on target)
France had more free kicks than Georgia, 11-4
Ireland and Romania both had 9 free kicks
Ireland had more corner kicks than Romania, 3-0
France had more corner kicks than Georgia, 5-1

1 Yellow Card to Ireland: Stephen Kelly (79')
4 Yellow Cards to Georgia: Kaladze (14'), Merebashvili (24'), Kobiashvili (45', 83')
1 Yellow Card to France: Clichy (52')

*Kobiashvili suspended for quarterfinal vs Netherlands
*Mutu and Chivu injured for Romania, Mutu would have missed next 2 matches, Chivu would have missed next 4 matches!


MOTM: 8.5 Reid (Ireland)
MOTM: 7.5 Mchedlidze (Georgia)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group C: Spain vs Lithuania & England vs Turkey

Yes, Lithuania of all teams had secured qualification heading into the last matchday, but there was still one spot available with three teams in contention for it. Turkey held the advantage if everything ended up all square, but that didn't seem likely, so everyone probably had to win if they wanted to advance.

1' - Spain kicks off & England kicks off
1' - Lithuania and Turkey would advance with current results
2' - Wayne Rooney scores the fastest goal of the tournament, although he appeared to have been offside, the flag stayed down and the goal stood [1-0] (Rooney)
2' - Lithuania and England would advance with current results
9' - Barry scores another quick goal for England, but this time the flag does come up and it is disallowed - offside
13' - Fatih Tekke nearly pulls Turkey back into the match, but his header off the free kick is narrowly tipped away by the outstretched keeper
16' - Gerrard tries an audacious chip from distance, nearly catches Rustu out but the keeper recovers to just barely punch the ball out
19' - First notable play from Spain-Lithuania, a series of great passes by the Spanish find Silva on the wing. He hits in a nice cross that Santi Cazorla heads into the net. [1-0] (S. Cazorla)
19' - Lithuania and Spain would advance with current results -- Spain leads England by virtue of "goals scored" (4-3)
22' - Rooney nearly pushes England back into the qualification zone, but his shot rattles off the post
41' - Mikoliunas' free kick hits the crossbar, denying Lithuania an equalizer
42' - S. Cazorla make a nice run with his dribble but shoots wide of the goal
45'+ - A Lithuanian free kick finds Danilevicius open in the box, but his header misses the target


46' - Lithuania kicks off & Turkey kicks off
46' - A quick tackle by Spain, trying to steal possession, sees Mikoliunas go down injured. He eventually leaves the game and will miss the quarterfinals.
53' - Xabi Alonso hits a great one timer shot from distance, catching the keeper off guard. Arlauskis gets a hand on the shot but only manages to push the ball into the post, where it then deflects into the net [2-0] (Xabi Alonso)
54' - Barry tries a similar shot that Xabi Alonso just scored on in the other game, his shot is not as successful and misses the target
71' - Basturk makes a long run down the middle of the field with the ball, shrugs off Lampard, and then fires in a shot from distance that finds the back of the net [1-1] (Basturk)
71' - Lithuania and Spain would still advance with current results -- Spain leads Turkey on goal difference (+1 to -1)
87' - Lithuania create a long spell of possession, passing the ball around the edge of the box to pull on the Spanish defense, that finally ends when Galkevicius finds an opening, collects the ball, and scores [2-1] (Galkevicius)
89' - England win a free kick just outside the box, Frank Lampard scores from the set piece [2-1] (Lampard)
89' - Lithuania and Spain would still advance with current results -- Spain leads England by virtue of "goals scored" (5-4)
90'+ - One more England goal would eliminate Spain, but instead it's David Villa who chases down a spilled save after Xabi Alonso's shot. Villa scores to confirm Spain's advancement. [3-1] (Villa)
90'+ - Final whistle: Lithuania and Spain advance!

Spain 3 - 1 Lithuania
S. Cazorla, Xabi Alonso, Villa -- Galkevicius

England 2 - 1 Turkey
Rooney, Lampard -- Basturk


Game Stats
Spain and England both lead possession with 52%
Spain outshot Lithuania 16-8 (9-1 on target)
England outshot Turkey 14-7 (7-6 on target)
England had more free kicks than Turkey, 7-6
Lithuania had more free kicks than Spain, 8-5
England had more corner kicks than Turkey, 3-2
Both Spain and Lithuania had 2 corner kicks

*Mikoliunas is injured and will likely miss Lithuania's quarterfinal match


MOTM: 8.5 Xabi Alonso (Spain)
MOTM: 7.0 Lampard (England)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Group D: Bulgaria vs Wales & Norway vs Italy

Italy has already clinched a berth, but just like Group C - the last spot is up for grabs for anyone who is able to claim it. There would be some fireworks to close out the group stage as Bulgaria/Wales was a match between two underdogs who both had a very real chance of advancing, while Norway/Italy put bitter rivals and former champions against each other.

1' - Bulgaria kicks off & Norway kicks off
1' - Italy and Wales would advance with current results
6' - M. G. Pedersen plays a nice 1-2 ball to get Andresen past his defender, the midfielder dribbles into the box and fires in the opening goal for Norway [1-0] (Andresen)
6' - Italy and Norway would advance with current results -- Norway leads Wales on "goals scored" (4-2)
18' - Montolivo appears to foul Nevland in order to gain possession, but the referee does not call a foul. Instead, Montolivo continues with the play, dribbling forward on a breakaway and then scoring despite E. Johnsen getting a hand on the shot. [1-1] (Montolivo)
18' - Italy and Wales would advance with current results
30' - Andresen is trying to take control of the match for Norway, he creates a few chances but is unable to score
39' - Italy scores against the run of play, Camoranesi heads in a corner kick [1-2] (Camoranesi)
42' - Bonera is shown a yellow card for a tackle on Braaten
43' - Norway strikes back, a cross into the box hits the ground after no one gets a clean touch on it. Andresen reacts fastest, running in to smash an equalizer into the goal [2-2] (Andresen)
45'+ - Bulgaria has been dominating play against Wales, but has not been able to create any meaningful chances. They have held 56% possession and outshot Wales 9-4, have had 6 free kicks, and 3 corner kicks, but somehow no good attempts.


46' - Wales kicks off & Italy kicks off
50' - Tettey nearly puts Norway back in front after a great run through a few defenders but the shot is saved
51' - Bulgaria starting to get frustrated with their lack of production, Yordan Todorov earns a yellow card
54' - Nevland finds an opening in the box but heads the incoming free kick over the bar
61' - Bojinov goes down injured, but does not leave the game
66' - Norway fails to clear a corner kick, Grosso grabs possession and becomes the first defender to score in the tournament [2-3] (Grosso)
67' - Chad Evans creates the best chance of the game so far, but his shot sails over the bar
71' - Andresen gets his hattrick, the first player of the tournament to do so, as he collects a cleared corner kick at the top of the box off his chest and fires in the shot before the ball hits the ground - a spectacular goal! [3-3] (Andresen)
71' - Bellamy receives the ball inside the box with Yordan Todorov to his back, Todorov has to be careful since he is already on a yellow card, and Bellamy takes advantage of this, turning around him and firing a shot into the net for a surprise opening goal [0-1] (Bellamy)
72' - Domovchiyski subs in to try and spark a comeback for Bulgaria
74' - Domovchiyski makes an immediate impact, heading in a cross after a decent spell of pressure by Bulgaria [1-1] (Domovchiyski)
75' - Wales with an immediate response, Koumas scores before Bulgaria can even touch the ball again [1-2] (Koumas)
79' - Di Natale appears to have fouled Riise, but again no call against the Italians. He dribbles closer and then scores [3-4] (Di Natale)
81' - Danny Collins picks up a yellow card for Wales
90'+ - Carew does well to keep possession on the right wing, sends in a looping cross over Buffon's head that finds Braaten at the back post [4-4] (Braaten)
90'+ - Norway almost nab the winning goal as Buffon nearly loses the ball but Braaten and Nevland are too eager and run into each other while going for the loose ball, allowing Italy to clear the danger, but even a winning goal would not be enough since Wales is still winning their match
90'+ - Final whistle: Italy and Wales advance!

Bulgaria 1 - 2 Wales
Domovchiyski -- Bellamy, Koumas

Norway 4 - 4 Italy
Andresen x3, Braaten -- Montolivo, Camoranesi, Grosso, Di Natale


Game Stats
Italy and Bulgaria both lead possession with 52%
Bulgaria outshot Wales 12-11 (4-6 on target)
Italy outshot Norway 19-14 (14-10 on target)
Bulgaria had more free kicks than Wales, 11-8
Norway had more free kicks than Italy, 5-3
Bulgaria had more corner kicks than Wales, 3-1
Norway had more corner kicks than Italy, 4-3

1 Yellow Card to Italy: Bonera (42')
1 Yellow Card to Bulgaria: Yordan Todorov (51')
1 Yellow Card to Wales: Danny Collins (81')

*Bojinov injured, would have missed next match if Bulgaria had advanced


MOTM: 8.5 Andresen (Norway)
MOTM: 7.5 Ledley (Wales)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Matchday 3 Recap

Group A
Netherlands - 5 pts +1 GD 5 GF 4 GA
Portugal - 3 pts +0 GD 7 GF 7 GA
Sweden - 3 pts +0 GD 5 GF 5 GA
Germany - 2 pts -1 GD 4 GF 5 GA

Portugal 2 - 2 Germany [Maniche, Simao; Ballack, Klose]
Netherlands 1 - 1 Sweden [Hansson OG; Ibrahimovic]

Sweden 3 - 3 Portugal [Larsson x2, Ibrahimovic; Liedson Muniz x2, Nani]
Germany 1 - 2 Netherlands [Podolski; C. Metzelder OG, Huntelaar]

Germany 1 - 1 Sweden [Klose; Ljungberg]
Portugal 2 - 2 Netherlands [Nuno Gomes, Simao; Van Der Vaart, Sneijder]



Group B
Ireland - 7 pts +6 GD 6 GF 0 GA
Georgia - 6 pts +2 GD 6 GF 4 GA
France - 4 pts -2 GD 2 GF 4 GA
Romania - 0 pts -6 GD 1 GF 7 GA

Georgia 2 - 1 Romania [Iashvili, Akhalkatsi; Marica]
France 0 - 0 Ireland

Ireland 2 - 0 Georgia [Keogh, Reid]
Romania 0 - 1 France [Henry]

Romania 0 - 4 Ireland [Reid x2, Keogh, Robbie Keane]
Georgia 4 - 1 France [Mchedlidze x2, Kobiashvili, Iashvili; Gourcuff]



Group C
Lithuania - 6 pts +1 GD 4 GF 3 GA
Spain - 4 pts +1 GD 6 GF 5 GA
England - 4 pts +0 GD 4 GF 4 GA
Turkey - 3 pts -2 GD 3 GF 5 GA

England 2 - 2 Spain [Defoe, Lampard; Torres, Villa]
Turkey 0 - 2 Lithuania [D. Cesnauskis, Serna]

Lithuania 1 - 0 England [Jankauskas]
Spain 1 - 2 Turkey [Torres; Tuncay Sanli, Nihat]

Spain 3 - 1 Lithuania [S. Cazorla, Xabi Alonso, Villa; Galkevicius]
England 2 - 1 Turkey [Rooney, Lampard; Basturk]



Group D
Italy - 7 pts +3 GD 7 GF 4 GA
Wales - 6 pts +1 GD 4 GF 3 GA
Norway - 2 pts -1 GD 7 GF 8 GA
Bulgaria - 1 pts -3 GD 3 GF 6 GA

Norway 2 - 2 Bulgaria [Carew x2; Domovchiyski x2]
Italy 1 - 0 Wales [Di Natale]

Wales 2 - 1 Norway [Simon Davies, Earnshaw; Winsnes]
Bulgaria 0 - 2 Italy [Toni, Perrotta]

Bulgaria 1 - 2 Wales [Domovchiyski; Bellamy, Koumas]
Norway 4 - 4 Italy [Andresen x3, Braaten; Montolivo, Camoranesi, Grosso, Di Natale]



Notes
-The highest scoring round of the group stage, four teams scored 4 goals and Romania was the only team who did not score
-Despite the flurry of goals, only three players are currently eligible for the "golden ball" (award for top scorer, requirement 3 goals or more): Andresen of Norway, Reid of Ireland, and Domovchiyski of Bulgaria, all of which have exactly three goals.
-Andresen of Norway became the first player of the tournament to score a hattrick
-Mchedlidze of Georgia and Reid of Ireland each scored a brace (2 goals)
-Grosso of Italy became the first defender to score a goal in the tournament
-3 stoppage time goals were scored, all in second half stoppage time by Simao of Portugal, Villa of Spain, and Braaten of Norway. Two of the goals prevented losses (Portugal and Norway), and Simao's goal also put Portugal through to the quarterfinals.
-No own goals were scored in this round
-No players managed to score in all three games (Ibrahimovic and Torres were the only players who could have done so, they scored in the first two games)
-Kobiashvili of Georgia was the only player to be sent off this round
-14 players received yellow cards (4 from Georgia)
-5 players were injured, 4 did not advance though (Mutu and Chivu of Romania, Larsson of Sweden, and Bojinov of Bulgaria). Mikoliunas of Lithuania is the only player who will miss the quarterfinals due to injury.
-Reid of Ireland, Xabi Alonso of Spain, and Andresen of Norway all received an 8.5 rating - it was the second game in a row that Reid received this rating, and only Lampard of England has also received such a high rating
-4 teams who won their qualifying groups advanced to the knockout round (Netherlands, Portugal, Georgia, Italy)
-4 teams who were runners up in qualifying also advanced to the knockout round (Ireland, Lithuania, Spain, Wales)
-Qualifying Group F and Group G had both of its teams advance to the knockout round (Georgia and Ireland from Group F, Netherlands and Wales from Group G)
-Qualifying Group D was the only group that did not have a team advance (Turkey and Germany)
-Portugal advanced without winning a game (3 draws)





Look Ahead

Netherlands vs Georgia
-Teams have only met once before in WEFA competitions - Group Stage of World Cup II where Netherlands won 2-0 (although Georgia went on to win that World Cup)
-Netherlands have not lost a single game in this tournament, they went 8-0 in qualifying and then 1-0-2 in the group stage for a total of 9-0-2
-Georgia's record in the competition is 6-2-3 (both losses were against Ireland)
-Netherlands' biggest victory was a 5-1 victory over Belarus in qualifying, and they have not been defeated
-Georgia's biggest win was a 4-0 victory over Ukraine in qualifying, their biggest defeat was the 2-0 loss to Ireland in the group stage
-Kobiashvili and Mchedlidze have been named MOTM for Georgia, while Van Der Vaart is the only Dutch player to have been named MOTM
-Kobiashvili will miss the match due to suspension
-Robben should be back in the lineup after being injured most of the group stage


Lithuania vs Wales
-Lithuania and Wales have never met in a competitive match, mostly because this is Lithuania's first ever competition (they did not have a team in any of the 8 World Cups previously)
-Wales has never won a competitive knockout match, they advanced to the Round of Sixteen in World Cup II but were then eliminated by Georgia.
-Lithuania's record in the whole tournament (including qualifying) is 6-5
-Wales' record is 5-5-1
-Lithuania's biggest win was a 4-0 victory over Finland in qualifying, and their worst loss was a 4-0 defeat to Poland in qualifying
-Wales' biggest win was a 3-0 victory over Belarus in qualifying, and their worst loss was a 4-1 defeat to Netherlands in qualifying
-D. Cesnauskis and Semberas have been named MOTM for Lithuania, Simon Davies and Ledley have been named MOTM for Wales
-Mikoliunas will miss the match due to injury


Ireland vs Portugal
-Ireland and Portugal have met twice before, both times during World Cup VIII qualifying. Ireland won the initial meeting 2-0 at home and then drew 1-1 in Portugal, and qualified to the World Cup ahead of Portugal by virtue of goal difference.
-Like Wales, Ireland has never won a competitive knockout round match before (lost to Australia in World Cup VII Round of Sixteen)
-Ireland's tournament record is 5-2-4
-Portugal's tournament record is 4-2-5
-Ireland's biggest victory was the 4-0 win over Romania in the group stage, their worst defeat was a 5-1 loss to Czech Republic in qualifying
-Portugal's biggest victory was a 5-1 win over Romania in qualifying, their worst defeat was a 2-0 loss to Romania in qualifying
-Ireland is the only team to have a player earn MOTM in all three games: Hunt once and Reid twice. Simao is the only Portuguese player to be named MOTM


Italy vs Spain
-Surprisingly, Italy and Spain have never met in a WEFA competition before
-Spain has been knocked out in the Round of Sixteen in every WEFA World Cup they have played in so far (5 tournaments), so this is their first quarterfinal
-Italy's tournament record is 8-2-1
-Spain's tournament record is 6-4-1
-Italy's biggest win was a 5-1 victory over Latvia in qualifying, and their worst defeat was 4-1 loss to Scotland in qualifying
-Spain's biggest win was a 5-0 victory over Hungary in qualifying, and their worst defeat was a 2-0 loss to England in qualifying
-Grosso and Camoranesi have won MOTM for Italy, while Xabi Alonso is the only Spanish player to have been named MOTM so far

 

[ZeekLTK]

Knockout Bracket

Netherlands

Georgia

Lithuania

Wales

Ireland

Portugal

Italy

Spain

 

[ZeekLTK]

Quarterfinals: Netherlands vs Georgia

With an unexpected pairing against Lithuania/Wales, the winner of this match seemed to have the easiest track to the championship. But they would have to win this game first, of course.

1' - Netherlands kicks off
19' - Afellay creates the first chance of the match, attempting a header off a corner kick, but puts his shot wide
25' - Pantskhava catches the Dutch defense out and receives a nice lifted through ball to spring him on a breakaway, but the shot is saved
33' - Arveladze dribbles around the last defender to get a clean look at goal, but his shot is saved as well
37' - Robben sends a long speculative cross from near midfield into the box, Lomaia comes out for it but quickly realizes he won't get there in time so he retreats back to the net, Babel gets to the ball and tries to dribble around Tskitishvili but the midfielder wins possession back for Georgia and attempts to clear
37' - That clearance deflects off of Babel and into the box, Robben had made a run after playing the initial ball and he was there to collect the rebound and fire a shot on goal, but it was saved by Lomaia!
37' - The save was spilled though, and Babel didn't give up on the play, he pounced on the rebound and this time Lomaia was not able to prevent the shot from crossing the line, the Dutch had the lead! [1-0] (Babel)
42' - A Dutch corner kick is cleared away by the Georgian defense, but Van Bronckhorst was able to collect the clearance, dribble back into the box, and lay a nice pass off for Robben to take a shot, beating the keeper but hitting the post!
42' - Van Persie swoops in to get the rebound off the post and hammers his shot in to double the lead [2-0] (Van Persie)
45'+ - Merebashvili has a chance to pull Georgia back with an open header, but the shot sails wide

46' - Georgia kicks off
46' - A quick attack by Georgia, Arveladze just misses the lower corner of the goal
57' - A great spell of possession from the Dutch eventually unlocks the Georgian defense, Robben passes across to Van Bronckhorst who takes a few touches and then blasts a shot into the goal [3-0] (Van Bronckhorst)
68' - Iashvili steals a pass coming out of the Dutch backfield and quickly plays a pass across to Akhalkatsi for a shot that is saved but Arveladze is there to poke in the rebound and get Georgia on the board [3-1] (Arveladze)
75' - Sneijder nearly extends the lead on a breakaway but fails to find the target with his shot
77' - Robben is brought down inside the box by Gvinianidze, Van Bommel scores on the penalty kick [4-1] (Van Bommel)
88' - Robben takes a hit and starts to limp shortly after, is quickly subbed out and replaced by Landzaat
89' - Mujiri heads in a cross for Georgia, but the goal is disallowed, he was offsides before the ball was sent in
90'+ - Van Bronckhorst mistimes a tackle and picks up a very late yellow card
90'+ - Final whistle

Netherlands 4 - 1 Georgia
Babel, Van Persie, Van Bronckhorst, Van Bommel -- Arveladze

Game Stats
Netherlands lead possession with 52%
Netherlands outshot Georgia 23-9 (16-4 on target)
Georgia had more free kicks, 7-6
Netherlands had more corner kicks, 6-3

1 Yellow Card to Netherlands: Van Bronckhorst (90')

*Robben injured, will miss semifinals

MOTM: 7.5 Robben (Netherlands)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Quarterfinals: Lithuania vs Wales

Who could have expected either of these teams to make it this far, let alone both of them? A shot at the semifinals of the European championship was on the line, who would step up to claim their spot? Lithuania, who has the smallest roster in the tournament, was even further reduced in capacity by the absence of Mikoliunas, who had to miss the game due to injury.

1' - Lithuania kicks off
3' - Gareth Bale trips Novikovas while going for the ball, Novikovas is carried off injured
4' - With only ten men on the field, Lithuania attacks quickly as Galkevicius picks out Jankauskas with a great cross, and the center forward heads it in for the opening goal [1-0] (Jankauskas)
17' - Jankauskas nearly doubles the lead with a header that rattles off the crossbar
25' - Novikovas has shaken off his early injury by now and takes a crack at goal, the shot nearly goes in but Hennessy is able to fall on it before it rolls over the line
36' - Finally some offense from Wales, C. Fletcher breaks through the backline and almost scores, the shot is saved
45'+ - Lithuania controls possession for the last ten minutes or so of the half, but just can't quite break through to score. They end the half with 59% possession!

46' - Wales kicks off
52' - Wales comes out looking much stronger, a series off passes from C. Fletcher to Collison, then to Earnshaw, and finally to Bellamy stretch the Lithuanian defense so far that they can't collapse on Bellamy quick enough and he fires in an equalizer [1-1] (Bellamy)
75' - Novikovas is shown a yellow card after a Lithuanian shot goes over the bar. It is unclear what exactly the card was for.
80' - Wales has turned the game on its head since the equalizer, it was all Lithuania previously, but it looks like Wales has been in control the whole second half
82' - Lithuania finally get a spark, Novikovas dribbles past Nyatanga and finds Galkevicius who beats Simon Davies with a great touch, two Welsh defenders collapse on him inside the box, so he quickly lays the ball off for Danilevicius who takes a one-time shot and beats the keeper! [2-1] (Danilevicius)
89' - Wales have been pushing up, looking for an equalizer, and get caught by Lithuania. Jankauskas just narrowly stays onside to receive the ball on a breakaway, his initial shot against the keeper 1v1 is saved, but it deflects across the box. In a foot race to get the ball, Jankauskas narrowly gets there first, and heads in the bouncing ball with the keeper draped on his back. The ball finds the back of the net to secure Lithuania's victory! [3-1] (Jankauskas)
90'+ - Salt in the wound; Jankauskas heads in a free kick to become the second player in the tournament to score a hattrick. [4-1] (Jankauskas)
90'+ - Final whistle

Lithuania 4 - 1 Wales
Jankauskas x3, Danilevicius -- Bellamy

Game Stats
Lithuania lead possession with 57%
Lithuania outshot Wales 18-7 (11-4 on target)
Lithuania had more free kicks, 5-3
Lithuania had more corner kicks, 4-1

1 Yellow Card to Lithuania: Novikovas (75')

MOTM: 7.5 Jankauskas (Lithuania)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Quarterfinals: Ireland vs Portugal

Ireland are the only team who did not concede a goal in the group stage of the tournament, while Portugal didn't win a single game in the group stage. Would the Irish be able to continue their hot streak or would Portugal keep finding ways to advance?

1' - Ireland kicks off
18' - It seems the Irish were intent on maintaining their strong defense, so it was probably fitting that the first notable action of the game was a yellow card handed out to Liam Miller
28' - Kevin Doyle creates the first good chance of the game, nearly a half hour in, as he chest traps a free kick directed towards him and turns to fire it at the corner of the goal, but the Portuguese keeper made a spectacular save to keep it out
31' - Doyle's efforts were not denied on the next go-around, heading in a cross from a corner kick to open the scoring. [1-0] (Kevin Doyle)

46' - Portugal kicks off
61' - O'Shea catches Portugal with a counter-attack, intercepting a pass and then playing it forward to Doyle, who plays a nice through ball to spring Robbie Keane and he easily beats the keeper 1v1 [2-0] (Robbie Keane)
70' - Portugal have been applying a ton of pressure since the Keane goal, and continue to do so
72' - Nuno Gomes finds space in the box, but heads the ball over the bar
74' - Simao passes to Nuno Gomes who finds C. Ronaldo making a run down the middle, he is ruled onside and only touches the ball once, firing it past Given or the first goal that Ireland has conceded in the tournament [2-1] (C. Ronaldo)
83' - Ireland's new found star, Reid, comes into the game as a late sub for S. Ireland
85' - Stephen Kelly comes on to replace a very tired O'Shea
88' - Fresh Stephen Kelly breaks down the flank, beating his defender and plays the ball towards Doyle/Kilbane who were cluttered into the same area. The ball never reached them, instead it popped up into the air and as the defenders collapsed in on the loose ball, Kilbane got a touch to knock it over to a wide open Reid who smashed his shot into the net as the hero once again! [3-1] (Reid)
90'+ - Final whistle

Ireland 3 - 1 Portugal
Kevin Doyle, Robbie Keane, Reid -- C. Ronaldo

Game Stats
Both teams split possession at 50%
Portugal outshot Ireland 11-9 (6-4 on target)
Portugal had more free kicks, 11-4
Both teams had 2 corner kicks

1 Yellow Card to Ireland: Liam Miller (18')

MOTM: 6.5 Reid (Ireland)

*Reid played just 7 minutes, but was still named MOTM; has now been named MOTM 3 games in a row for Ireland

 

[ZeekLTK]

Quarterfinals: Italy vs Spain

Probably the most anticipated game of the round, heavyweights Italy and Spain took each other on, wondering how they had managed to meet each other rather than Lithuania and Wales instead. The winner would earn the last spot in the semifinals.

1' - Italy kicks off
9' - Italian pressure forces Puyol to cough up possession on his end of the field, but Quagliarella is unable to capitalize, shooting wide
21' - The game has been very open, with both sides taking shots, including both sides having a chance on goal within a minute of each other
38' - Finally, a break through. A great individual effort by Tamudo to dive and head a corner kick into the net with an Italian defender pulling on his jersey. [0-1] (Tamudo)

46' - Spain kicks off
51' - The match starts to get chippy, and Villa is shown a yellow card for a tackle around midfield
56' - Toni is booked (yellow card) for a tackle out of frustration after losing possession
58' - Aquilani takes down Luis Enrique, sending the Spaniard out of the game injured, but does not receive a caution for his tackle.
62' - As the game has essentially devolved into a street brawl, Spain take advantage as Silva heads in a second goal [0-2] (Silva)
73' - Tamudo seems to put the final nail in Italy's coffin with a third Spanish goal, his second of the match [0-3] (Tamudo)
80' - Barzagli picks up a yellow card for a rough tackle
88' - Toni finally gets Italy on the board, heading in a cross after he initially played the ball out to the wing [1-3] (Toni)
90'+ - Toni is frustrated after another good chance goes begging, is shown a second yellow card shortly after, and is therefore sent off
90'+ - Final whistle

Italy 1 - 3 Spain
Toni -- Tamudo x2, Silva

Game Stats
Spain lead possession with 51%
Spain outshot Italy 14-7 (7-2 on target)
Spain had more free kicks, 10-4
Spain had more corner kicks, 4-0

3 Yellow Cards to Italy: Toni (56', 90'), Barzagli (80')
1 Yellow Card to Spain: Villa (51')

*Luis Enrique injured, will miss semifinals

MOTM: 7.5 Xabi Alonso (Spain)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Quarterfinals Recap

Netherlands 4 - 1 Georgia [Babel, Van Persie, Van Bronckhorst, Van Bommel; Arveladze]

Lithuania 4 - 1 Wales [Jankauskas x3, Danilevicius; Bellamy]

Ireland 3 - 1 Portugal [Kevin Doyle, Robbie Keane, Reid; C. Ronaldo]

Italy 1 - 3 Spain [Toni; Tamudo x2, Silva]



Notes
-Jankauskas of Lithuania became the second player in the tournament to score a hattrick
-Tamudo of Spain was the only other player to score more than 1 goal in this round (he had a brace)
-Jankauskas of Lithuania and Reid of Ireland now lead the tournament in scoring, with 4 goals each
-Jankauskas also had the only stoppage time goal of the round (90'+)
-There were 7 yellow cards shown this round (3 to Italy)
-Toni of Italy was the only player to be sent off this round
-Ireland conceded their first goal of the tournament, they have now scored 9 goals and allowed 1 through 4 games against formidable competition: France, Georgia, Romania, and Portugal
-Aside from Ireland, who are on a 3-game winning streak, Spain is the only other team that is on a winning streak heading into the semifinals, as they have won 2-straight (both Lithuania and Netherlands failed to win their final group match; NED drew, LTU lost)
-Netherlands are the only team remaining who have reached the semifinals in a WEFA World Cup (2nd place at World Cup I, 4th place at World Cup VIII)
-Netherlands has qualified to more WEFA World Cups (8) than all three remaining teams combined (Spain 5, Ireland 2, Lithuania 0).
-Robben of Netherlands and Luis Enrique of Spain are injured and will miss the semifinals
-Netherlands are the only team remaining who won their qualifying group




Look Ahead

Netherlands vs Lithuania
-These teams have never met before in WEFA competitions
-Netherlands' tournament record is now 10-0-2
-Lithuania's tournament record is now 7-5
-Robben has missed most of the tournament due to injury, and is expected to miss this match as well
-Robben joins Van Der Vaart as Dutch players who have been MOTM in this tournament. Meanwhile, Lithuania has seen Jankauskas, D. Cesnauskis, and Semberas win MOTM.
-Jankauskas is currently in contention for the golden boot, tied with Reid (Ireland) for top scorer with 4 goals
-Both Netherlands and Lithuania have handed Wales their worst loss in the tournament, as both won 4-1 over Wales (Netherlands in qualifying, Lithuania in the quarterfinals)



Ireland vs Spain
-Ireland and Spain have met 6 times previously, with Spain having won 4 and Ireland having won 2. Spain has won the last 3 encounters, dating back to World Cup VI qualifying, and Spain has twice won by 3 goals, the largest margin of victory in the series. Ireland's best win was 2-0 over Spain in World Cup V qualifying. Spain has scored twice as many goals (14) as they have conceded against Ireland (7).

Previous meetings:
Spain 4 - 2 Ireland (World Cup V Qualifying)
Ireland 2 - 0 Spain (World Cup V Qualifying)
Spain 1 - 2 Ireland (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Ireland 0 - 3 Spain (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Ireland 1 - 4 Spain (World Cup VIII Qualifying)
Spain 2 - 0 Ireland (World Cup VIII Qualifying)

-This is the furthest that either side has made it in a WEFA tournament (World Cup Round of Sixteen was previous best for both)
-Ireland's tournament record is now 6-2-4
-Spain's tournament record is now 7-4-1
-These are the only two teams to have one player named MOTM more than once in this tournament; Reid has been MOTM 3 games in a row for Ireland while Xabi Alonso has been MOTM twice in a row for Spain. Hunt has also previously been MOTM for Ireland, against France in the opening game.
-Reid is in contention for the golden boot, and is currently tied with Jankauskas (Lithuania) for top scorer, with 4 goals each.

 

[ZeekLTK]

Semifinals: Netherlands vs Lithuania

The tournament favorites met the tournament's Cinderella in the first semifinal match that turned out to be one for the ages.

1' - Netherlands kicks off
2' - A Lithuanian corner kick is somewhat cleared, but only as far as E. Cesnauskis, who manages to put some power into his long header from outside the box and actually beats the Dutch keeper, but Braafheid was still on the post and saved the goal
4' - Van Bommel dribbles through the Lithuanian defense and takes a crack at goal, but the shot is saved
15' - Van Der Vaart fires in a hard shot from the top of the box but once again it is saved
45'+ - The rest of the first half passes without incident, Dutch enter halftime holding 53% possession and having outshot Lithuania just 5-3.

46' - Lithuania kicks off
58' - Sernas finds himself open for a header but the ball flies way off target
70' - Zvirgzdauskus commits a foul on the edge of the area, giving the Dutch a great opportunity with a free kick
70' - Van Der Vaart bends the free kick over the wall with a very powerful shot, but it rattles off the post! Kuyt is there to attempt a diving header off the rebound but his shot hits the post as well before finally being cleared away by Zvirgzdauskus
90'+ - The Dutch took control of the match following that free kick, spending the last 20 minutes of the game inside Lithuania's half, creating numerous chances but somehow failing to score the winner, the game would have to be settled in overtime!
90'+ - End of regulation
90'+ - Netherlands outshot Lithuania 9-1 in the second half

91' - Netherlands kicks off
97' - Landzaat creates a great chance, sending a nice cross into the box which Huntelaar manages to outjump Stankevicius to redirect into the net and finally put the Dutch on the board! [1-0] (Huntelaar)

106' - Lithuania kicks off
107' - Lithuania have finally started to take the game to the Dutch, needing a goal to stay alive in the Euro Cup
108' - Sernas tries a spectacular half-bicycle kick but the ball soars over the goal
112' - Mikoliunas receives a pass from Galkevicius, drawing in Sneijder to defend him. He lays off the ball to Kalonas, prompting Kuty and Bouma to collapse on him. Bouma's effort creates a hole in the Dutch defense which Galkevicius continues his run through, receiving a great pass from Kalonas to create a scoring opportunity. With Sernas lurking in the center, Heitinga is forced to defend against the pass, giving Galkevicius a good look at goal. The midfielder picks his spot, beating the keeper and tying the match! [1-1] (Galkevicius)
114' - Sneijder goes down injured
119' - Danilevicius is trying to create a turnover and possibly win the game for Lithuania, but he fouls Ooijer, injuring the defender on the play.
120'+ - Final whistle

Penalty Shootout
Van Persie (NED): O
Danilevicius (LTU): O
Tied: 1-1

De Jong (NED): X
D. Cesnauskis (LTU): O
Lithuania leads 2-1

Kuyt (NED): O
Mikoliunas (LTU): O
Lithuania leads 3-2

Landzaat (NED): O
Sernas (LTU): O
Lithuania leads 4-3

Van Bronckhorst (NED): O
*Lithuania can win with a score:
Kalonas (LTU): X
Tied 4-4

Sneijder (NED): O
*Sneijder took the kick injured
Galkevicius (LTU): O
Tied 5-5

Bouma (NED): O
Semberas (LTU): X
Netherlands wins 6-5!


Netherlands 1 - 1 Lithuania (6-5 PKs)
Huntelaar (OT) -- Galkevicius (OT)

Game Stats
Both teams split possession with 50% each
Netherlands outshot Lithuania 15-7 (5-3 on target)
Netherlands had more free kicks, 9-6
Netherlands had more corner kicks, 4-1

*Ooijer and Sneijder will both miss the championship match due to injury

MOTM: 6.5 Van Bronckhorst (Netherlands)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Semifinals: Ireland vs Spain

Defying the odds, Ireland actually entered the semifinals as favorites over Spain, having looked extremely impressive in their first four matches, dispatching all of France, Georgia, Romania, and Portugal while scoring 9 goals and conceding just one! Meanwhile, Spain had limped through to the knockout round, but perhaps started to find their form with a decisive victory over Italy. Both teams were clearly heading in the right direction, who would keep that momentum going and reach the championship?

1' - Ireland kicks off
4' - Tamudo breaks through the Irish defense and scores, but Ireland are saved by the offside flag
40' - Ireland overcame their early nerves that nearly cost them a goal and spent much of the first half dug in, repelling all Spanish attacks
42' - Spain finally create the first real chance of the match, but a glancing header hits the post and then is cleared away
45'+ - Xavi is shown a yellow card after a mistimed tackle on Keogh
45'+ - The Spanish enter halftime holding 55% possession and having outshot Ireland just 4-1

46' - Spain kicks off
47' - Ireland get caught cold at the start of a half once again, Torres heads in a cross from Cesc Fabregas and this time the flag stays down - it's a goal before Ireland even touch the ball in the second half! [0-1] (Torres)
79' - Ireland has not been able to get anything going offensively, but they finally earn a corner kick which Casillas initially spills, though he pounces on it before anyone wearing green can tap it into the goal
85' - Ireland have been desperately searching for a goal, but the Spanish defense is too tight!
90'+ - Last chance saloon for Ireland, a cross into the box but Robbie Keane is unable to get a touch on it, Casillas grabs the loose ball
90'+ - Ireland end the match without a single shot on goal!
90'+ - Final whistle

Ireland 0 - 1 Spain
Torres

Game Stats
Spain lead possession with 54%
Spain outshot Ireland 9-2 (6-0 on target)
Both teams had 8 free kicks
Spain had more corner kicks, 2-1

1 Yellow Card to Spain: Xavi (45')

MOTM: 7.0 Torres (Spain)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Semifinals Recap

Netherlands 1 - 1 Lithuania [Huntelaar (OT); Galkevicius (OT)] (6-5 PKs)

Ireland 0 - 1 Spain [Torres]



Notes
-Torres of Spain scored his third goal of the tournament, keeping him in contention for the scoring title (has 3 goals, leaders Jankauskas and Reid have 4).
-Xavi of Spain was the only player to receive a yellow card, it will not affect the final
-2 Dutch players were injured in the last five minutes of overtime and will miss the final (Ooijer and Sneijder)
-After a very high scoring quarterfinal in which all winning teams averaged 3.5 goals per game, there were just 3 goals total in the semifinals, and no team scored more than once.
-Spain recorded a shutout for the first time in the tournament
-It was the second time that Ireland has been shutout (also 0-0 vs France)
-This was the first match of the tournament that Lithuania has drawn
-This was the third match of the tournament that Netherlands have drawn
-This was the first WEFA penalty shootout that the Dutch have won, they previously lost the championship of World Cup I on PKs to France (3-2)





Look Ahead

Championship: Netherlands vs Spain
-Netherlands and Spain have met 7 times previously, and have split the series evenly, with 3 draws and each team having won 2 matches apiece. Netherlands are currently on a 2-game winning streak against Spain heading into this game, having defeated the Spanish 3-0 in World Cup VI Qualifying (the largest win of the series) and then 5-3 in the World Cup VII Round of Sixteen, their only knockout round meeting previously. Prior to that, Spain had won a pair of matches 3-1 during two different qualifying campaigns. The sides also met during the World Cup III Group Stage, which ended in a 1-1 draw and saw both teams advance to the knockout round.

Previous Meetings:
Spain 0 - 0 Netherlands (World Cup I Qualifying)
Spain 1 - 1 Netherlands (World Cup III Group Stage)
Spain 1 - 1 Netherlands (World Cup V Qualifying)
Netherlands 1 - 3 Spain (World Cup V Qualifying)
Netherlands 1 - 3 Spain (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Spain 0 - 3 Netherlands (World Cup VI Qualifying)
Spain 3 - 5 Netherlands (World Cup VII Round of Sixteen)

-Netherlands' tournament record is now 10-0-3
-Spain's tournament record is now 8-4-1
-Torres is the only player on either team that is in contention for the Golden Boot, with 3 goals from the first 5 games.
-No other player in this match has scored 3 goals in the tournament yet.
-Xabi Alonso has been named MOTM twice for Spain, while Torres has also picked up the distinction. For Netherlands, Van Bronckhorst joins Robben and Van Der Vaart as players to be named MOTM.
-Netherlands have had lots of injury issues in the tournament, and will miss both Ooijer and Sneijder due to injury.
-Spain are on a 3 game winning streak heading into the final, having beat Lithuania, Italy, Ireland.
-Netherlands have not been able to put together a winning streak in this tournament, having drawn every game after a victory, and in fact have only won 2 of their 5 games (group stage vs Germany and quarterfinals vs Georgia).



Third Place: Lithuania vs Ireland
-Lithuania and Ireland have never met before in a WEFA competition.
-Ireland's tournament record is now 6-3-4
-Lithuania's tournament record is now 7-6
-This match will feature the two top goal scorers in the tournament, as Jankauskas of Lithuania and Reid of Ireland both have 4 goals. Given that only Torres of Spain is the only active player with 3 goals, it is very likely that one of these two will win the Golden Boot if they can score in the third place match.
-Lithuania have a chance to join France, Netherlands, Japan (all World Cup I), Georgia (World Cup II), Bahrain (Asian Cup I), and Panama (Gold Cup I) as teams who won a medal in the first WEFA competition they participated in. Japan is the only team on the list who won bronze.
-Reid had been MOTM 3 games in a row while Hunt had also previously been MOTM for Ireland while Lithuania has seen Jankauskas, D. Cesnauskis, and Semberas win MOTM.

 

[ZeekLTK]

Third Place: Lithuania vs Ireland

The two underdogs put up great fights, but ultimately fell in the semifinals. However, one of them would get to walk away with a medal from this tournament - would Ireland be able to recover from their devastating defeat or would Lithuania carry the momentum of a near-upset into this match? Whoever wins, it will be their first ever medal in a WEFA competition.

1' - Lithuania kicks off
1' - Yet another slow start for Ireland - scoring leader Jankauskas nearly heads in the opening goal in the opening minute, but Given makes the save
10' - Danilevicius' shot deflects off Dunne and changes directions, Given doesn't see it in time and the ball crosses the line for a goal! The shot seemed to be going wide before the deflection, but it was not credited as an own goal. [1-0] (Danilevicius)
12' - Ireland look completely out of sorts, they lose possession in their own box and it takes a brilliant save from Given to prevent another goal
16' - D. Cesnauskis is knocked down but gets back up just in time to receive a pass. He quickly helps E. Cesnauskis create a chance but Given makes another great save
24' - Finally an attack from Ireland, but Robbie Keane heads a corner kick over he bar
33' - Finnan earns a yellow card for bringing down D. Cesnauskis after getting beat with the dribble
33' - Jankauskas heads in the ensuing free kick to double Lithuania's lead and put himself at the top of the scoring list with 5 goals in the tournament! [2-0] (Jankauskas)
34' - Danilevicius gets a yellow card for a mistimed tackle just after the restart
44' - Danilevicius stays in line with the defense to remain onside while waiting for a pass from E. Cesnauskis. The pass eventually arrives and Danilevicius scores on the breakaway [3-0] (Danilevicius)
45'+ - Lithuania are clearly more excited to be here than Ireland, they have 52% possession and have outshot Ireland 10-5 (6-1 on target) at half time.

46' - Ireland kicks off
80' - Lithuania have taken their foot off the gas in the second half and are cruising to victory, the only notable chance that they take happens when Danilevicius stays onside yet again to receive a great ball played over the top of the Irish defense, but his shot misses the target
90'+ - Final whistle, Lithuania wins Third Place!

Lithuania 3 - 0 Ireland
Danilevicius x2, Jankauskas

Game Stats
Lithuania lead possession with 51%
Lithuania outshot Ireland 18-9 (12-3 on target)
Ireland had more free kicks, 12-3
Lithuania had more corner kicks, 2-1

1 Yellow Card to Ireland: Finnan (33')
1 Yellow Card to Lithuania: Danilevicius (34')

*Jankauskas now leads the tournament with 5 goals, and will win the Golden Boot unless Torres scores at least 2 goals in the championship or some other player manages to bring their tournament total up to 5 goals.

MOTM: 7.5 Danilevicius (Lithuania)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Championship: Netherlands vs Spain

Despite many upsets along the way, two of the best teams ended up reaching the championship match. Would the Dutch be able to take the cup without losing a single game, or would the red hot Spanish stay in form to win instead?

1' - Netherlands kicks off
2' - Nigel De Jong attempts an outstretched tackle from an angle and just misses the ball, taking down the man instead. He is shown a straight red card! Netherlands will have to play the entire championship down a man!
6' - Despite the disadvantage, Robben created the first chance of the game, taking a hard shot that Casillas spills, but the danger is cleared before Heitinga can tap in the rebound.
11' - Spain takes advantage of the open space and lobs a nice ball over the top to Torres. Flag stays down, but his shot is saved by the keeper.
11' - However, David Villa is there to scoop up the rebound and knock in the opening goal! [0-1] (Villa)
20' - Kuyt is shown a yellow card for his tackle on Xavi
30' - Torres dribbles through the defense and takes a shot, but it is saved
40' - Babel gets through on a breakaway, has a 1v1 chance against Casillas, but the shot is saved!
45'+ - At half time Spain leads possession with 52% and surprisingly are tied for amount of shots, 6 each (4 on target each).

46' - Spain kicks off
51' - It's going from bad to worse for the Dutch, Robben goes off injured yet again
53' - The end of the tournament for Robben, he makes way for Van Persie to sub in
55' - Torres gets through on a breakaway and scores, but the flag saves Netherlands - he is ruled offside
57' - Villa receives a nice pass from Cesc Fabregas at the top of the box and manages to shoot through a lot of traffic. Dutch keeper can't see it until it's too late, and it goes in to double Spain's lead! [0-2] (Villa)
62' - Villa nearly gets his hattrick but the shot clangs off the post
67' - Silva picks up a yellow card after bringing Kuyt down
88' - Netherlands are pushing forward, trying to get back in the game, and are caught on a counter attack. Fernando Torres catches the keeper out and heads in a cross to seal the championship! [0-3] (Torres)
90'+ - Last chance for Netherlands, Afellay hits the post!
90'+ - Final whistle, Spain are European Champions!

Netherlands 0 - 3 Spain
Villa x2, Torres

Game Stats
Spain lead possession with 52%
Both teams had 13 shots (Spain had more on target, 8-7)
Netherlands had more free kicks, 10-7
Both teams had 1 corner kick

1 Red Card to Netherlands: De Jong (2')

1 Yellow Card to Netherlands: Kuyt (20')
1 Yellow Card to Spain: Silva (67')

MOTM: 6.5 Villa (Spain)

 

[ZeekLTK]

Championship Recap

Spain

Netherlands

Lithuania

Jankauskas (5 goals)
4 goals

Reid

Torres

Villa
3 goals

Andresen

Danilevicius

Domovchiyski



Notes
-Spain win their first WEFA championship, and become the first Euro champions!
-Netherlands have now lost both the first ever WEFA World Cup (to France) and the first ever WEFA Euro Cup (to Spain)
-This was the Netherlands first loss of the compeititon
-Lithuania join just France, Netherlands, Japan, Georgia, Panama, and Bahrain as nations to win a medal in their first major competition
-Torres and Villa both reached the 4 goal mark in the championship match, but Jankauskas scored in the third place game to take the scoring title (golden boot) with 5 goals
-Netherlands were rocked with hardship, 2 players missed the final due to injury, De Jong was sent off within the first 2 minutes of the match, and then Robben was injured later in the match!
-Robben was the most injured player of the tournament, and got injured again in the championship
-This was Spain's second consecutive shutout and fourth consecutive win
-Ireland was shut out for the third time of the tournament (6 games)
-De Jong received the only red card of the round, and it was the 4th of the tournament (Miguel Veloso of Portugal, Kobiashvili of Georgia, Toni of Italy were also sent off)



Look Ahead

Spain will join Brazil (Copa America champions), Jamaica (Gold Cup champions), Morocco (African Cup champions), and Bahrain (Asian Cup champions) in the Confederations Cup.

Other participants will be: France (World Cup I champions), Georgia (World Cup II and IV champions), Cote d'Ivoire (World Cup III champions), Norway (World Cup V and VI champions), England (World Cup VII champions), Argentina (World Cup VIII champions), and the upcoming World Cup IX champions, making it a 12-team tournament.

Spoiler

Italy won World Cup IX -- kinda screwy timeline: Euro Cup I started before World Cup IX... but World Cup IX finished before Euro Cup I did.

 

[ZeekLTK]

As I'm trying to catch up with my Challenge League updates (I've played ahead much further than I've posted), I decided to play through another Euro Cup but this time I only played as Norway. Figured I'd follow up on this thread with the results.

My qualifying group seemed tough at first glance, but things went surprisingly well early on and we rode that momentum all the way into the tournament, recording 7 wins and 1 draw in qualifying.

Group C
Norway - 22 pts +14 GD 18 GF 4 GA
Germany - 17 pts +8 GD 13 GF 5 GA
Finland - 9 pts -7 GD 6 GF 13 GA
Bosnia-Herzegovina - 6 pts -5 GD 6 GF 11 GA
Northern Ireland - 4 pts -10 GD 5 GF 15 GA

Norway 4 - 0 Northern Ireland [Maik Taylor OG, Iversen, Skjelbred x2]
Bosnia-Herzegovina 0 - 2 Norway [Nevland, Carew]
Norway 4 - 1 Finland [Iversen x2, Skjelbred x2; Vayrynen]
Germany 1 - 2 Norway [Klose; Nevland, Carew]
Norway 2 - 0 Bosnia-Herzegovina [Carew, M. G. Pedersen]
Northern Ireland 1 - 2 Norway [McGinn; Carew x2]
Finland 0 - 1 Norway [Nevland]
Norway 1 - 1 Germany [Braaten; Podolski]


Other qualifying results (top 2 in each group qualified):

Group A
Romania - 16 pts +5 GD 15 GF 10 GA
Turkey - 16 pts +5 GD 14 GF 9 GA
Poland - 11 pts +0 GD 11 GF 11 GA
Austria - 10 pts -1 GD 10 GF 11 GA
Montenegro - 1 pts -9 GD 6 GF 15 GA

Group B
Italy - 22 pts +13 GD 20 GF 7 GA
Netherlands - 16 pts +6 GD 15 GF 9 GA
Scotland - 9 pts -5 GD 10 GF 15 GA
Greece - 8 pts -1 GD 12 GF 13 GA
Estonia - 1 pts -13 GD 2 GF 15 GA

Group D
Portugal - 22 pts +16 GD 24 GF 8 GA
Croatia - 17 pts +8 GD 16 GF 8 GA
Ireland - 11 pts -1 GD 12 GF 13 GA
Slovakia - 4 pts -12 GD 9 GF 21 GA
Belarus - 2 pts -11 GD 9 GF 20 GA

Group E
Spain - 24 pts +20 GD 25 GF 5 GA
Belgium - 15 pts +8 GD 15 GF 7 GA
Russia - 15 pts +2 GD 14 GF 12 GA
Latvia - 4 pts -14 GD 4 GF 18 GA
Iceland - 1 pts -16 GD 5 GF 21 GA

Group F
England - 22 pts +19 GD 22 GF 3 GA
Sweden - 19 pts +6 GD 16 GF 10 GA
Switzerland - 7 pts -4 GD 9 GF 13 GA
Hungary - 7 pts -8 GD 6 GF 14 GA
Albania - 3 pts -13 GD 6 GF 19 GA

Group G
Czech Republic - 17 pts +10 GD 14 GF 4 GA
Denmark - 17 pts +3 GD 9 GF 6 GA
Ukraine - 13 pts +2 GD 12 GF 10 GA
Macedonia - 8 pts -4 GD 8 GF 12 GA
Lithuania - 1 pts -11 GD 4 GF 15 GA

Group H
France - 20 pts +11 GD 17 GF 6 GA
Bulgaria - 10 pts -1 GD 12 GF 13 GA
Wales - 9 pts -4 GD 9 GF 13 GA
Serbia - 8 pts -5 GD 10 GF 15 GA
Slovenia - 7 pts -1 GD 11 GF 12 GA



Group stage started out horribly, but then turned around when I pulled off a big win against Turkey and then got to play a Swedish side without Ibrahimovic (suspended).

Group A
Italy - 9 pts +5 GD 8 GF 3 GA
Norway - 6 pts +3 GD 9 GF 6 GA
Sweden - 3 pts -4 GD 5 GF 9 GA
Turkey - 0 pts -4 GD 6 GF 10 GA

Turkey 2 - 4 Sweden [Nihat, Hakan Balta; Ibrahimovic, Larsson x2, Wilhelmsson]
Norway 1 - 3 Italy [B. H. Riise; Gilardino, Di Natale, E. Johnsen OG]

Turkey 3 - 4 Norway [Sabri Sarioglu, Nihat x2; J. King, Winsnes x2, Skjelbred]
Sweden 1 - 3 Italy [Ibrahimovic; Di Natale, Gattuso, Camoranesi]

Italy 2 - 1 Turkey [De Rossi, Toni; Semih]
Norway 4 - 0 Sweden [Nevland x2, Carew, Braaten]


Group B
England - 9 pts +11 GD 12 GF 1 GA
Germany - 6 pts +4 GD 7 GF 3 GA
Romania - 3 pts -4 GD 5 GF 9 GA
Bulgaria - 0 pts -11 GD 1 GF 12 GA

England 2 - 1 Germany [Owen, Barry; Hitzlsperger]
Bulgaria 1 - 4 Romania [M. Petrov; Mutu, Codrea, Chivu, Marica]

England 4 - 0 Bulgaria [Lampard, Owen x2, Rooney]
Germany 2 - 1 Romania [Podolski, Klose; Mutu]

Romania 0 - 6 England [Rooney x3, Lampard x2, Owen]
Bulgaria 0 - 4 Germany [Klose, Podolski x2, Borowski]


Group C
Netherlands - 7 pts +4 GD 6 GF 2 GA
Spain - 7 pts +3 GD 5 GF 2 GA
Czech Republic - 3 pts -2 GD 2 GF 4 GA
Croatia - 0 pts -5 GD 3 GF 8 GA

Spain 1 - 1 Netherlands [Sergio Ramos; Huntelaar]
Croatia 1 - 2 Czech Republic [Olic; Fenin x2]

Spain 2 - 1 Croatia [Villa, Xavi; Eduardo]
Netherlands 1 - 0 Czech Republic [De Jong]

Czech Republic 0 - 2 Spain [Villa, Iniesta]
Croatia 1 - 4 Netherlands [Modric; Robben x2, Van Bommel, Van Persie]


Group D
Portugal - 9 pts +3 GD 4 GF 1 GA
France - 4 pts +1 GD 6 GF 5 GA
Belgium - 4 pts +1 GD 4 GF 3 GA
Denmark - 0 pts -5 GD 1 GF 6 GA

Portugal 1 - 0 Denmark [H. Almeida]
Belgium 2 - 2 France [Swerts, Fellaini; Gourcuff, Lassana Diarra]

Portugal 1 - 0 Belgium [H. Almeida]
Denmark 1 - 3 France [Larsen; Abidal, Benzema, Gallas]

France 1 - 2 Portugal [Lassana Diarra; Pepe, R. Meireles]
Belgium 2 - 0 Denmark [Lukaku x2]



Knockout round was insane, I don't think you could make it any tougher if you tried. We were up against England who had beaten Bulgaria 4-0 and Romania 6-0 during the group stage! But our scoring form continued and a few lucky breaks saw us pick up a resounding victory to advance:

Quarterfinals
Italy 2 - 1 Germany [Toni x2; Podolski]
Netherlands 2 - 1 France [Huntelaar, Van Bommel; Gourcuff]
England 0 - 4 Norway [Skjelbred, Nevland, Carew, J. King]
Portugal 0 - 3 Spain [Silva, Sergio Ramos, Marcos Senna]


Difficulty kept increasing, up next were the defending champions Spain. It was a very intense game, and we pulled out all the stops on defense to do whatever it took to shut them down. Somehow it worked, and we managed to get a few goals to pull off the upset!

Semifinals
Italy 2 - 1 Netherlands [Toni, De Rossi; Van Bronckhorst]
Norway 2 - 0 Spain [Carew, Skjelbred]


And now the final was a rematch against Italy, who had thumped us in the opening game of the group stage.

Both teams entered with depleted rosters, Norway were missing Iversen and Bertlesen who had both been injured in the semifinal victory over Spain. Italy were without their free kick star Pirlo, as he had picked up a red card in Italy's semifinal win over Netherlands. Both teams were also suffering fatigue. Norway dealt with this by leaving stars Carew and Skjelbred on the bench after they had worked so hard to help win the previous games. Andresen was also fatigued, but was ultimately chosen to start ahead of Grindheim to ensure that the starting lineup was not too depleted. On the other hand, Hoiland had sat out the semifinals, so he was fully rested to play central defense with Hangeland.

The match started off very tense, with both teams focusing on defense to prevent giving up any easy goals. Most of the first half was played in the midfield, with several fouls and few good chances. Italy actually had the better chances in the half, as potential top scorer Toni created a few nice shots, and even hit the post once, but he was not able to score. Norway's best chance came from a cross in which Nevland headed the ball off the post. Just as the match was about to head into half time, Italy were caught in possession. #23 took too long to clear the ball out of his own box and lost possession to Nevland, who quickly fired in a shot before Buffon had a chance to react, giving Norway a shocking 1-0 lead at the break.

In the second half Norway mostly tried to cling to their lead, but did go forward a little more. The team contained Italy well for the first 20 minutes of the half, but started to get nervous when Italy switched to a 3-3-4 formation. Norway countered by adding Carew and Skjelbred into the match, but it turned out to be a mistake from Skjelbred that allowed Italy to equalize, as he lost possession to Gilardino and then Quagliarella scored on the counter attack. To be fair, Norway were confused after Hangeland had taken out an Italian striker inside his own box just moments before and had somehow not been called for a penalty kick. In the 89th minute, J. King played a nice ball forward to spring Nevland on a breakaway for a chance to win the game. Nevland was 1v1 with the keeper, just as he had been when he scored against England in the quarterfinals, but unfortunately his shot was saved and then match went into overtime.

Neither team had any subs left for the extra period, and Italy suffered a blow when midfielder Aquilani went down injured. He was forced to stay on the field, but was not able to contribute much due to the injury. Norway played much better on defense than they had in the final 20 minutes of the game and prevented Italy from getting any good shots on goal. Then, a quick attack down the flank allowed Andresen to whip in a cross, which Nevland was able to get on the end of and head in to give Norway another stoppage time goal right before a half time. This goal also put him ahead on the overall top scorer list. With the 2-1 lead, Norway bunkered down for the last half of overtime and managed to hold on to win the Euro Cup!

Possession: NOR 47 - 53 ITA
Shots: NOR 11 - 16 ITA
On Target: NOR 4 - 7 ITA
Free Kicks: NOR 12 - 12 ITA
Corner Kicks: NOR 0 - 1 ITA
Offsides: NOR 0 - 2 ITA
Yellow Cards: NOR 3 - 0 ITA



Third place looked pretty intense too. A rematch of the Euro I championship, Spain once again defeated the Netherlands, although this time they needed a penalty shootout in order to do so after the match ended 4-4 (2-2 after regular time).

Third Place
Netherlands 4 - 4 Spain [Van Persie x2, Robben OT, Heitinga OT; Villa, Silva x2 1OT, Marcos Senna OT] (3-4 PKs)

Championship
Italy 1 - 2 Norway [Quagliarella; Nevland x2 1OT]


Top Scorers

Nevland - 5

Owen - 4

Podolski - 4

Rooney - 4

Toni - 4

Carew - 3

Lampard - 3

Nihat - 3

Robben - 3

Silva - 3

Skjelbred - 3

Van Persie - 3

Villa - 3


Euro Cup II Final Standings
1.

Norway
2.

Italy
3.

Spain
4.

Netherlands