Post by The Quito Diet on Jun 3, 2016 12:28:29 GMT
Fixtures
-------------------------------------------------------
12th June - Turkey vs Croatia - 14:00 - ITV
13th June - Spain vs Czech Republic - 14:00 - ITV
-------------------------------------------------------
17th June - Czech Republic vs Croatia - 15:00 - BBC
17th June - Spain vs Turkey - 20:00 - ITV
-------------------------------------------------------
21st June - Czech Republic vs Turkey - 20:00 - ITV
21st June - Croatia vs Spain - 20:00 - ITV
-------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------
12th June - Turkey vs Croatia - 14:00 - ITV
13th June - Spain vs Czech Republic - 14:00 - ITV
-------------------------------------------------------
17th June - Czech Republic vs Croatia - 15:00 - BBC
17th June - Spain vs Turkey - 20:00 - ITV
-------------------------------------------------------
21st June - Czech Republic vs Turkey - 20:00 - ITV
21st June - Croatia vs Spain - 20:00 - ITV
-------------------------------------------------------
Pointless trivia; This is the only group which features two former champions; Spain having won it three times and the Czech Republic once.
To see what MrAndyJay thinks of Turkey's chances, have a look below;
Much like Australia playing in the AFC Asia Cup and the USA having a go at the Copa America, Turkey playing in the Euros is a bit weird. But we wont get bogged down in that.
The squad isnt exactly full of household names, or at least quite recognizable ones. As I was looking up the squad I expected to see Gokhan Tore and Emre Can..... the former not in the squad, the latter, a German. I only recognised Arda Turan, Nuri Sahin and Burak Yilmaz to be perfectly honest, but hey, pardon my ignorance if one of the other players is one of your secret weapons on FM and you wax lyrical about that pass he made in the league cup final.... again, on FM. Yilmaz is apparently playing in China now, how the mighty have filled their pockets.
An interesting discovery, however, was the inclusion of Turkey's equivalent of Marcus Rashford in 18-year-old, Denmark born, FC Nordsjaelland winger, Emre Mor. But considering his career seemingly consists of one game for club and country at senior level, he's more of a Walcott in '06.
So, Turkey, an interesting footballing history. A World Cup appearance in 1954 followed by a whole lot of nothing until Euro 96 where they showed up and lost every game, scoring no goals in the process. Four years later they returned and impressively enough, got out of their group only to lose their Quarter Final game against Portugal. After that Turkey qualified for the World Cup in Japan & Korea and in a truly memorable tournament, which saw defending champions France get knocked out in the groups without getting a goal and Oliver Kahn only conceding goals from Ronaldo and Robbie Keane (nicely jammed in there), the Turks made their way to the Semi-Finals where they lost to the eventual champions Brazil with a solitary goal from the aforementioned R9. They went on to beat the other surprise package South Korea in a cracking game with that man Hakan Sukur breaking the record for the fastest goal in World Cup history. Then he went to play for Blackburn. Who knows why. Another short trip to the wilderness followed before another Semi Final appearance at Euro 2008, the tournament which produced that wonderful moment of Tuncay going in goal for a minute or two. And then there was nothing......... until now. Having qualified as the best third placed team overall ahead of the big orange losers, the Netherlands, Turkey return to tournament football.
The bookies are slightly on the "no chance" side of the fence with odds of 80/1, but in what is probably the most competitive group, I wouldnt write them off so easily. Dead Last or the 50th goal though, bang bang.
And as the other have done, here's some Turkish eye candy.
For Gobble Gobble 's view on the perennial 'dark horses' Croatia, have a gander here;
In a piece that could be just as long discussing how good a not-going-11 would be, it's cl7 with Spain;
Spain
Since @djed kindly gave me a way to start this shit, here’s a Not Selected Spanish XI that I absolutely didn’t steal from Twitter;
Whoever came up with that I’m very stupid actually, because Bellerin is actually going so replace with him with Carvajal or Arbeloa. After being cut from the provisional squad add Saul Niguez and Isco to the list.
So, it’s fair to say the holders produce some alright players. Here’s the actual squad for the holders;
Despite the talent in that squad, Spain are far from the side they were during their utter dominance of international football from 2008-2012, where they won 3 tournaments straight. The footballing ideology of tiki-taka, the backbone of Spanish dominance past, has grown increasingly backdated. As illustrated by Spain’s poor showing at the last World Cup and particularly the 5-1 demolition they suffered at the hands of Louis Van Gaal’sRed Oranje Army.
So what has changed? What are the chances of the above squad retaining he trophy for Spain? In order for them to do so newcomers Morata and/or Nolito will have to offer far more than previous striking options Diego Costa and Fabregas in the false 9 role. Lucas Vasquez, Aduriz, Marc Bartra,Hector Bellerin, Thiago Alcantara, Mikel San Jose, Bruno Soriano and Sergio Rico also make a tournament squad for the first time. Defensively, the pairing of Ramos and Pique looks like it could self-destruct at any given moment and if Jordi Alba can be pinned back he’s been unconvincing in the past. Xavi and Xabi Alonso have retired from international football, as such Spains midfield will look very different. Iniesta will of course be first choice along with a presumably Busquets in the holding role and Fabregas is probably a slight favourite ahead of Koke for the 3rd slot. This change in the midfield 3 could be absolutely essential to any Spanish resurgence. Holland and Chile showed the Spanish up as a result of an abundant lack in athleticism in midfield, and there was a predictability to their patient possession style. Koke in particular is the perfect remedy for both of these issues.
In all honesty I’m not sure what to expect from Spain. They should alright in the group and all that’s really needed is small adjustments, but under Del Bosque they don’t appear to be coming anytime soon. Combine that with the fact that they lost to bloody Georgia this past week and it doesn't look very likely they will do much damage in the knockout stages. I mean even Scotland beat Georgia twice. Wait… no we never, that’s why we’re the only cunts not going lmao.
And rounding off Group D by adding the vocals to Rosicky's guitar and Cech's drums, it's sween with Czech Republic;
To see what MrAndyJay thinks of Turkey's chances, have a look below;
Much like Australia playing in the AFC Asia Cup and the USA having a go at the Copa America, Turkey playing in the Euros is a bit weird. But we wont get bogged down in that.
The squad isnt exactly full of household names, or at least quite recognizable ones. As I was looking up the squad I expected to see Gokhan Tore and Emre Can..... the former not in the squad, the latter, a German. I only recognised Arda Turan, Nuri Sahin and Burak Yilmaz to be perfectly honest, but hey, pardon my ignorance if one of the other players is one of your secret weapons on FM and you wax lyrical about that pass he made in the league cup final.... again, on FM. Yilmaz is apparently playing in China now, how the mighty have filled their pockets.
An interesting discovery, however, was the inclusion of Turkey's equivalent of Marcus Rashford in 18-year-old, Denmark born, FC Nordsjaelland winger, Emre Mor. But considering his career seemingly consists of one game for club and country at senior level, he's more of a Walcott in '06.
So, Turkey, an interesting footballing history. A World Cup appearance in 1954 followed by a whole lot of nothing until Euro 96 where they showed up and lost every game, scoring no goals in the process. Four years later they returned and impressively enough, got out of their group only to lose their Quarter Final game against Portugal. After that Turkey qualified for the World Cup in Japan & Korea and in a truly memorable tournament, which saw defending champions France get knocked out in the groups without getting a goal and Oliver Kahn only conceding goals from Ronaldo and Robbie Keane (nicely jammed in there), the Turks made their way to the Semi-Finals where they lost to the eventual champions Brazil with a solitary goal from the aforementioned R9. They went on to beat the other surprise package South Korea in a cracking game with that man Hakan Sukur breaking the record for the fastest goal in World Cup history. Then he went to play for Blackburn. Who knows why. Another short trip to the wilderness followed before another Semi Final appearance at Euro 2008, the tournament which produced that wonderful moment of Tuncay going in goal for a minute or two. And then there was nothing......... until now. Having qualified as the best third placed team overall ahead of the big orange losers, the Netherlands, Turkey return to tournament football.
The bookies are slightly on the "no chance" side of the fence with odds of 80/1, but in what is probably the most competitive group, I wouldnt write them off so easily. Dead Last or the 50th goal though, bang bang.
And as the other have done, here's some Turkish eye candy.
-------------------------------------------------------
For Gobble Gobble 's view on the perennial 'dark horses' Croatia, have a gander here;
In a piece that could be just as long discussing how good a not-going-11 would be, it's cl7 with Spain;
Spain
Since @djed kindly gave me a way to start this shit, here’s a Not Selected Spanish XI that I absolutely didn’t steal from Twitter;
So, it’s fair to say the holders produce some alright players. Here’s the actual squad for the holders;
Despite the talent in that squad, Spain are far from the side they were during their utter dominance of international football from 2008-2012, where they won 3 tournaments straight. The footballing ideology of tiki-taka, the backbone of Spanish dominance past, has grown increasingly backdated. As illustrated by Spain’s poor showing at the last World Cup and particularly the 5-1 demolition they suffered at the hands of Louis Van Gaal’s
So what has changed? What are the chances of the above squad retaining he trophy for Spain? In order for them to do so newcomers Morata and/or Nolito will have to offer far more than previous striking options Diego Costa and Fabregas in the false 9 role. Lucas Vasquez, Aduriz, Marc Bartra,Hector Bellerin, Thiago Alcantara, Mikel San Jose, Bruno Soriano and Sergio Rico also make a tournament squad for the first time. Defensively, the pairing of Ramos and Pique looks like it could self-destruct at any given moment and if Jordi Alba can be pinned back he’s been unconvincing in the past. Xavi and Xabi Alonso have retired from international football, as such Spains midfield will look very different. Iniesta will of course be first choice along with a presumably Busquets in the holding role and Fabregas is probably a slight favourite ahead of Koke for the 3rd slot. This change in the midfield 3 could be absolutely essential to any Spanish resurgence. Holland and Chile showed the Spanish up as a result of an abundant lack in athleticism in midfield, and there was a predictability to their patient possession style. Koke in particular is the perfect remedy for both of these issues.
In all honesty I’m not sure what to expect from Spain. They should alright in the group and all that’s really needed is small adjustments, but under Del Bosque they don’t appear to be coming anytime soon. Combine that with the fact that they lost to bloody Georgia this past week and it doesn't look very likely they will do much damage in the knockout stages. I mean even Scotland beat Georgia twice. Wait… no we never, that’s why we’re the only cunts not going lmao.
-------------------------------------------------------
And rounding off Group D by adding the vocals to Rosicky's guitar and Cech's drums, it's sween with Czech Republic;