Official Soccer Thread

Vertonghen has to do everything by himself now? Are you joking? Alderweireld played really, really good for Tottenham this season, and made the PFA team of the year. Belgium have top class central defenders in Vertonghen and Alderweireld, especially considering they play and train together daily. You have mediocre choices for the full-back positions though. 

have u watched any of the Belgian games recently? Alderweireld isn't playing for Tottenham right now is he? he's playing for the Belgian team, he hasn't been the best defender there. I mean, Hazard, one of the best flankers in the world, his teamplaying was shit both recent matches, Mertens had to take his place cuz Vertonghen was about to go kick his ass. We'll have to wait and see till tomorrow.
 

I saw the Belgium - Norway match. Alderweireld looked just as good as Vertonghen, if not better. And Vertonghen struggled with Joshua King in several situations. If one would say that Alderweireld did poor on the first goal, the same thing could be said of Vertonghen on the second goal. But that would be harsh in my opinion, as their was chaos and poor pressure all over. Has Alderweireld been used as a full-back or central defender in the other recent games? If he's been playing full-back I can imagine it has been some shaky performances for him, as the safe and strong central defence in Kompany and Lombaerts are out with injury. Playing Alderweireld and Vertonghen as central defenders should be a no-brainer for Wilmots in my opinion, considering their strong relational link. 

Hazard has been shit all year for Chelsea, with the exception of a couple of games during the end of the season. And it seems he has a mentality/motivational problem, so no wonder he's been playing poor for Belgium recently as well. 

What a fucking goal from Modric holy shit. Also, Ukraine extremely unlucky not to at least draw that game vs Germany. Conceded an offside goal and then lots of missed chances along with that amazing goal line clearance from Boateng. Really fun game.
Anybody watching Copa? Dunno how Peru walked away with a W last night against Brazil. I didn't watch it but the highlights showed a bullshit goal. I did catch Ecuador and Haiti. 

Yeah I am. Not every game but catching anything I can. The refereeing in that game was absolutely fucking atrocious. Still, Brazil's team has been disappointing recently.

EDIT: I made Pique captain in fantasy on a whim and he gets a goal + clean sheet lol. 24 points from a defender yay.

fair enough, I guess I have been a little to harsh on my own team, I've been a bit influenced other's around me on the fact that Belgium is playing so far below their potential. We'll find out in an hour & 30 min

Hoping to see a fantastic performance from De Bruyne.

my absolute favorite player in the world atm, fantastic at wolfsburg, fantastic at man city & fantastic for Belgium.
Nainggolan just hit a nice volley, also a great deal of tallent 

and there it is
dear Belgium, pls make it through the first round
omfg lukakuuuuuuu
Origi and Lukaku both wasted perfect chances created by De Bruyne. So fucking disappointed right now...
Italy played as expected and got away with the win. The Juventus defensive line is one hard nut to crack. Sadly Lukaku and Origi wasted their chances. Want to see Dembele against Ireland if they struggle offensively. 
Anyone else rooting for Iceland tomorrow? 
Yes. Fuck Ronaldo lol.
Off tomorrow so I get to watch footy all day. And same here, hoping Iceland does an upset and blows out Portugal
Haha, it's first and foremost Pepe that I don't want to see succeed. 

Pepe's actually been okay over the past few years. He used to be a complete fucking cunt though so I see where you're coming from. 

Also, Corona scored a pretty amazing goal vs Venezuela. Thought I'd share it here. https://streamable.com/ciwq

His theatrics in the CL final was of good ol' Pepe caliber. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VX39edAFKHQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvy93AFRnQo

 

LOL PEPE COSTS PORTUGAL THE GAME. Loved it. Great defensive display from Iceland and, honestly, pretty pathetic from Portugal. It's sad how often they choke at international tournaments with their squad.

hahahaha yeah^

what was it? 25 attempts vs 4? something close to that
corners, free kicks... with such players I really expected a tiny bit more

Especially from Ronaldo. He had two clear-cut chances and completely whiffed one and sent the other right to the keeper. If you're going to claim you're the best in the world, which he isn't anyways, you shouldn't be missing easy chances like those lol.
And Hungary with, in my opinion, a surprising win against Austria. Leaves the group wide open. 
I don't think it was incredibly surprising though. Austria looked dire in friendlies and after that game, I think it's safe to say they're one of the worst three teams in the euros with Sweden and Northern Ireland.
Hamsik with the goal of the tournament so far as well as a fantastic assist earlier. Russia look toothless in attack and their right flank is weak in defense. I don't see any chance for them to come back or even advance from groups at this point.

Austria with their convincing group win in the qualifying tournament, and Hungary's mediocre performances in the  two playoff matches against Norway, led me to believe that Austria would have little problem getting the win or at least a draw. 

Hamsik is top class! Would love to see him in the Premier League. 

Swiss are pushing this Romania defense in. Mehmedi has been on top of it well this second half. Surprised I haven't seen more in the net from Switzerland. 
I cannot believe the Swiss drew that game lol. 
I'm gonna miss the Germany v Poland tomorrow, very sad. Wanted to sit comfy in my Bayern jersey watching them btfo of Poland. Recording it though and will try to avoid seeing the score so I can watch it later. England v Wales should be a good game though. 
0-0 well well
no
lol proty with the spoiler. dw tho sky, you didn't miss much
oh my bad, this is a discussion thread tho no?haha, but yeah Ohem's right. 
Yeah, I don't get why you would come here if you haven't watched the game lol. It is a discussion thread.

I wasn't even thinking, it's just muscle memory. Glad I did anyways, saves me from watching a nil game. 

That last 10min of the USA Ecuador game holy shit. I gotta say that Euro is pretty lame this year. Copa is a nail biter every game.