Euro 2016 Group A Wrapup

 

Matchday 1

France 2, Romania 1
Goals: Olivier Giroud (FRA) 57′, Bogdan Stancu (ROM) 65′ (PK), Dimitri Payet (FRA) 89′

General thoughts:

• It is always fun to hear the French fans sing La Marsellaise (the French national anthem) before a soccer match, but to hear them sing it in the Stade de France always gives me chills.
• Romania played pretty well.  They’re a better team than some pundits have been saying.  They will probably be a tough out.
• France is clearly the more talented side of the two, but it took them a while to get going.  Was it first-match jitters from the host, or did Romania play them well?  It was probably a combination of both.
• Viktor Kassai did a GREAT job refereeing this match.  The penalty that he awarded was spot on, and his other calls were very good.  He whistled what needed to be whistled, and he called “play on” when necessary.
• This was an exciting game because there were several great scoring chances.  Remember — in soccer and hockey, it isn’t scoringthat makes for an exciting game, but scoring chances.
• Both French goals were things of beauty.
• Romania could very easy give Switzerland problems.  We shall see in a few days…

June 10, 2016, 2:14 pm MST[1] [2]

Switzerland 1, Albania 0
Goals: Fabian Schär (SUI) 5′

General thoughts:

• This was Albania’s first game EVER in a major tournament.  The Albanian Football Association brought in over 100 former Albanian national team members to come watch the game.
• How great was it to see the Albanian fans and players before the game?  Their sheer excitement…the passion with which they sang their anthem…safe to say that this game meant A LOT to them.
• About the lone goal of the game: I don’t want to take anything away from Fabian Schär for a well-placed header, but Albanian goalie Etrit Berisha made a huge mistake.  While the ball was in the air, he came forward to punch it, but couldn’t get there, so he tried to get back to his line, but it was too late.  Schär had a very wide net in which to head the ball.  Lesson to all goalies out there: don’t come forward to punch a corner unless it is 100% certain that you will reach the ball.
• The two yellow cards on Albanian captain Lorik Cana were fully deserved.  His decision to play the ball with his hand while on the ground near the penalty area was an absolutely silly decision, and the referee had no choice but to book him.  As a result, his team had to play down a man for the final 54′ of the game, and he has to sit out the next game against France.  I bet that he was really looking forward to playing an elite team like France in a major tournament on French soil.
• The fact that Switzerland had so much trouble with Albania is concerning.  The perceived talent difference is so great that Switzerland should have beaten them 3-0, given that Albania was shorthanded for more than half of the game.
• To add to the previous thought, either Albania is far better than we thought or Switzerland isn’t as good as we thought.

June 11, 2016, 7:50 am MST

Matchday 2

Romania 1, Switzerland 1
Goals: Bogdan Stancu (ROU) 18′ (pen), Admir Mehmedi (SUI) 57′

General thoughts:

• Switzerland was definitely the better side on paper, and they had more scoring chances, but Romania somehow managed to get a tie. It’s looking more and more like Romania is underrated.
• Romania seemed to be playing the strategy of sitting back on defense and waiting for the opportunity to counterattack. When they did actually attack, they looked like a clear force to be reckoned with.  They very easily could have won this match.
• I cannot argue with the referee’s decision to award a penalty kick. It was a clear foul.
• Mehmedi’s half-volley goal was fun to watch.
• This was a fun back-and-forth game. Both sides have reason to be pleased, but they also have reasons to be disappointed.
  • Romania can be happy that they earned a point against a talented Swiss side, but disappointed that they didn’t win, given how potent their attacks were – when they chose to attack, that is.
  • Switzerland can be happy that they didn’t lose, give how many scares the Romanian attack gave them, but disappointed that their multitude of chances either missed the target, were poorly placed, or were not kicked hard enough to beat the defense.
• Switzerland has a very tough game against the hosts – France – before finding out whether they advance to the knockout phase. Romania’s dim hopes of advancing hinge on their final game against the spunky Albanians.

June 15, 2016, 10:03 am MST

France 2, Albania 0
Goals: Antoine Griezmann (FRA) 90′, Dimitri Payet (FRA) 90+6’

General thoughts:

• Albania decided to park the bus in this match even more than other teams have done. It almost worked, as France had to score two last-minute goals to avoid the embarrassment of a goalless draw at home to an overwhelming underdog.
• France had players slipping and falling quite a bit as they tried to make runs. French manager Didier Deschamps feels that it is due to last month’s AC/DC concert.
• France failed to get any shots on target in the first half.
• In fact, neither team managed to get a shot on target until the 90th minute, when Griezmann scored on a great header.
• France’s only two shots on target – out of their ten shot attempts – ended up in the back of the net. Albania’s only shots on target – oh, wait, they didn’t have any.  They only had four shot attempts, and none of them hit the target.
• With France’s victory, they have become the first team from this tournament to clinch a spot in the knockout round.

June 15, 2016, 2:11 pm MST

Matchday 3

Note: I did not watch any games from Matchday 3 until June 24th.  I was able to avoid all knowledge of the results until then.

France 0, Switzerland 0
Goals: None

General thoughts:

• These two teams met in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, with France winning, 5-2. France was ahead 5-0 until the Swiss scored twice in the final ten minutes.
• Going into the game, L’Équipe – the French national daily sports newspaper – asked when France was going to take its hand off the brake. It’s a valid question, given how punchless France’s offense has looked in the first two games.[3]
• How was Adil Rami only given a yellow card in the 25th minute? His head-level attempt at a volley toward goal ended up kicking Admir Mehmedi right in the head.
• I’ve never seen a ball go completely flat during a game before it happened here in the 55th minute.
• Dimitri Payet’s free kick in the 88th minute was pretty lousy. He hit his teammate.
• Switzerland was rightfully angry with the referee at the very end of the game. French right back Bacary Sagna hauled Swiss attacker Blerim Džemaili down by his jersey right in front of the French goal.  That should have been a penalty.
• In fact, I’d have to say that this is the first game of the tournament where the referee hasn’t performed superbly, but he still did very well overall.[4]
• This game was exciting and full of action on both ends. Both goalies played remarkably well, otherwise this would have been a high-scoring affair.
• This game took place in (metropolitan) Lille, located in northern France. The French national squad has not given up a goal in Lille in 102 years.[5]

June 24, 2016, 9:30 am MST

Albania 1,  Romania 0
Goals: Armando Sadiku (ALB) 43’

General thoughts:

• Albanian left wing Ermir Lenjani took a buckshot if I’ve ever seen one. This occurred in the 24th minute.  He was six yards out…had a wide open net in front of him…got a perfect pass to his (favorite) left foot…and booted the ball high over the bar into the 5th row.  He would have been a legend…scoring his country’s first ever goal in a major tournament.  I think he may have been TOO open, and he was thinking too much about the upcoming glory instead of just shooting the ball.
• A BEAUTIFUL long-range cross into the box from Albanian midfielder Ledian Memushaj from the right side was headed home by Center Forward Armando Sadiku in the 43rd minute for Albania’s first-ever goal at a major tournament! Granted, the Romanian defending on the play was hideous, but still…that was a great job by Albania to capitalize.
• Albania was lucky that Romania was incorrectly ruled offside in the 72nd minute. It took away a one-on-one chance that was very close to the keeper.

June 24, 2016, 2:11 pm MST

[1] Yes, I really do mean Mountain Standard Time.  I’m in Arizona, and we do not observe Daylight Savings Time.  This is one thing that irritates me – the number of people (and businesses…grrrrrr) who say “standard time” when they really mean “daylight time.”  I called this business one time who said their hours were “blah blah Eastern Standard Time” and so I called it during a time when they’d be open…but they meant Eastern Time, with adjustments for Daylight Savings Time.  Okay, enough chasing that rabbit.

[2] And another thing…Daylight Savings Time is a stupid waste of energy and brainpower.  Okay, now I’m done talking about it for real.

[3] Remember…they didn’t score against Albania until the very last minute of the game.

[4] In case you’re wondering, the referee for this game was Damir Skomina of Slovenia.

[5] Take this with a grain of salt – the French national team plays almost all of their games in Saint-Denis (a suburb of Paris) now, and between 1972 and 1998 they played in Parc des Princes in Paris.