Post by The Quito Diet on Jun 3, 2016 12:29:28 GMT
Fixtures
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14th June - Austria vs Hungary - 15:00 - ITV
14th June - Portugal vs Iceland - 20:00 - BBC
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18th June - Iceland vs Hungary - 15:00 - BBC
18th June - Portugal vs Austria - 20:00 - BBC
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22nd June - Iceland vs Austria - 15:00 - BBC
22nd June - Hungary vs Portugal - 15:00 - BBC
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14th June - Austria vs Hungary - 15:00 - ITV
14th June - Portugal vs Iceland - 20:00 - BBC
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18th June - Iceland vs Hungary - 15:00 - BBC
18th June - Portugal vs Austria - 20:00 - BBC
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22nd June - Iceland vs Austria - 15:00 - BBC
22nd June - Hungary vs Portugal - 15:00 - BBC
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Pointless trivia; This group contains no former winners, and wikipedia doesn't have anything interesting to say about this group other than it being Iceland's first appearance which means the plan to cryogenically freeze Eidur Gudjohsnen in anticipation of a future World Cup appearance have been put on hold.
To see what ChappyHova thinks Austria will do this summer, have a look here;
Here's what Olivier reckons about Hungary's chances;
At first look Hungary are a team going into the tournament at odds of 350/1, whose most capped player is Gábor Király and most recognisable players in the squad are Zoltan Gera and Tamas Priskin.
A second look at the current squad doesn't give any more hope. It wasn't always like that though. Twice World Cup runners up, Hungary can name Ferenc Puskás as their greatest ever player - perhaps better known to football fans these days due to the FIFA Goal of the Year award named in his honour.
More famous non-footballing Hungarians include Ernő Rubik (inventor of the toy cube), Thomas Erdelyi (better known as Tommy Ramone) and Ehrich Weisz (more recognisable as Harry Houdini).
Hungary somehow managed to qualify for the play-offs despite scoring only 11 goals in 10 games - 3 of which came in a defeat - and posting victories against only 2 teams - Finland and the Faroe Islands. Those 4 victories added to two draws with Romania and one draw each with Greece and Northern Ireland was enough to secure a play off tie against Norway which completed a successful, if a bit uninspiring, qualification.
But with 7 strikers named in the squad Hungary are heading to France with the intention of entertaining and once again having their nation recognised with excitement across European football. However a 0-0 tie with Ivory Coast in their only Euro 2016 warm up game so far provides little hope. Krisztián Németh and Daniel Bode, top scorers in qualification with two each, will be looking to add to their totals in the group matches against Austria, Iceland and Portugal. But facing players like David Alaba, Kari Arnason and Cristiano Ronaldo will surely prove to be a step or three too far for this side and unless they find their opponents sedated or pull off a magical escape they are likely to be on the way home playing with their Rubik’s cubes before long.
To see what ChappyHova thinks Austria will do this summer, have a look here;
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Here's what Olivier reckons about Hungary's chances;
Hungary
At first look Hungary are a team going into the tournament at odds of 350/1, whose most capped player is Gábor Király and most recognisable players in the squad are Zoltan Gera and Tamas Priskin.
A second look at the current squad doesn't give any more hope. It wasn't always like that though. Twice World Cup runners up, Hungary can name Ferenc Puskás as their greatest ever player - perhaps better known to football fans these days due to the FIFA Goal of the Year award named in his honour.
More famous non-footballing Hungarians include Ernő Rubik (inventor of the toy cube), Thomas Erdelyi (better known as Tommy Ramone) and Ehrich Weisz (more recognisable as Harry Houdini).
Hungary somehow managed to qualify for the play-offs despite scoring only 11 goals in 10 games - 3 of which came in a defeat - and posting victories against only 2 teams - Finland and the Faroe Islands. Those 4 victories added to two draws with Romania and one draw each with Greece and Northern Ireland was enough to secure a play off tie against Norway which completed a successful, if a bit uninspiring, qualification.
But with 7 strikers named in the squad Hungary are heading to France with the intention of entertaining and once again having their nation recognised with excitement across European football. However a 0-0 tie with Ivory Coast in their only Euro 2016 warm up game so far provides little hope. Krisztián Németh and Daniel Bode, top scorers in qualification with two each, will be looking to add to their totals in the group matches against Austria, Iceland and Portugal. But facing players like David Alaba, Kari Arnason and Cristiano Ronaldo will surely prove to be a step or three too far for this side and unless they find their opponents sedated or pull off a magical escape they are likely to be on the way home playing with their Rubik’s cubes before long.
She's also Hungarian, probably.
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In what will probably end up just being a picture of Cristiano Ronaldo in his underpants, it's Stu 's opinion on Portugal;
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And last and definitely not least it's ange postecoslamp with what will be a Peter Andre/Kerry Katona free review of Iceland's hopes;
Iceland
UEFA’s outstanding and definitely not financially motivated decision to extend the Euros to 24 participants mean that a lot of the uncivilised footballing rabble who couldn’t tell their 4-2-3-1s from their attacking 4-3-3s are allowed in, with all their lucrative TV rights and vaguely euro-hot fans. One such country, most likely with more of the latter than the former, is Iceland.
Ah, Iceland. Home of Bjork, the mountain from Game of Thrones, the mountain from that one time your cousin’s flight to Lanzarote got cancelled and early 90s strongman Magnus Magnusson. Note that none of these things pertain to football, probably for good reason.
In my extensive 10-minute googling of Iceland to provide the sort of well sourced facts that many have come to expect from my write-up efforts, I discovered precisely 2 interesting things. Firstly, that Iceland is almost definitely the only country at the Euros who won’t turn up in the top 3 results when you google their name, losing out not once, but three times, to a company who think that Kerry Katona makes for a desirable spokesperson; and secondly, via the excellently named Olafur Ingi Skuláson, that there is an actual real club in Turkey called Gençlerbirliği and it isn’t just a bizarrely named kebab shop on the Tottenham High Road that acts as my go-to name for pretend Europa League sides.
Real life photo of Olafur Ingi Skuláson's place of employ
“Ok,” I hear you say, “but have I actually heard of any of this lot?”
Well yes, yes you have. While the star talent in the side is undoubtedly Swansea (by way of Tottenham, by way of Swansea) free-kick merchant and fishery magnate Gylfi Sigurdsson, and those of us that pretend to watch Dutch football may recognise former Ajax striker Kolbein Sigthorsson’s name, the real big name is former gambling addict and occasional transfer-to-Barcelona demander Eidur Gudjohnsen. The most successful Icelandic footballer of all time has been wheeled out of cold storage to have a go at a major tournament despite being literally as old as time itself.
“I’m unconvinced.” You continue, raising a quizzical eyebrow at the fact that any self-respecting footballing country could name Gylfi Sigurdsson as their unchallenged star player. “This lot aren’t exactly going to win it, are they?”
Iceland don’t exactly have a lot going for them. Their party quiches are acceptable at best and none of their defenders are even worth mentioning, so here instead is a picture of former Miss World Ingibjorg Egilsdottir.
“Right, except that’s not really an answer to my question, is it?” You continue to press, unfazed by my shameless distraction tactic, “What about their group then, can they at least qualify?”
Well, surprisingly, yes. Hungary literally haven’t done anything of note since the 1950s when Ferenc Puskas was good - unless you count Balazs Dszudszak’s contribution towards the world record score in Scrabble back in 2014. Austria aren’t much to write home about, and even group favourites Portugal have questions to ask themselves - most recently that of whether Bruno Alves can be trusted with studded boots. And in a highly intuitively formatted tournament where 3rd might be enough but then again maybe not, qualification is a distinct possibility.
Best Case Scenario: "The Mountain" Hafthor Bjornsson named to the squad, squeezes Cristiano Ronaldo’s eyes out, before a round of 16 exit to France.
Worst Case Scenario: Eidur Gudjohsen crumbles to dust singing national anthem, Iceland bring 0 vaguely euro-hot fans.