⚽UEFA EURO 2020 Discussion Thread | Winner: ITALY!

[yoseph]

Thoughts on group E? Can Croatia keep 1st place in the last match?

Croatia will be facing against Slovakia and I don't know about you but I think they aren't even on the same level of competition. The first time the met in the group Croatia defeated them by four goals to none and that is pretty impressive since they have a draw against Wales. Just remember that Croatia reached the Finals in the world cup and they have defeated teams like England, Argentina, and Russia along the process so I'm very confident to say that they will finish the round on top of the table.

Croatia will be missing both first choice central defenders in that match due to suspension. Slovakia will be very fired up in order to try and get revenge for big 4:0 defeat. I will decide what to bet closer to the match when I have more information about possible injuries and more importantly on the state of Croatian players heads. We usually play better against strong opposition and not so good against weaker opposition. Slovakia is somewhere between and I hope our players will decide to treat them as top opponent. In that case we are winning, no problem.

We shall see, but betting wise, I believe both to score will be a safer option for that match.

@Trofo even without their regular defenders Croatia is a very strong team, and they’ll easily beat Slovakia as they have already defeated them 4 - 0 before. @Harlot you’re correct as Croatia has the mentality to defeat big or small teams and that winning mentality was the primary reason they reached the World Cup finals. Also they have almost sealed the top spot as Hungary who’s second in the group e are two points behind them, and they have a bad goal difference in comparison to Croatia.

I think that Croatia had much more chance to win against a team who is attacking them. We don't play well against a team who's only concern is to defend their goal (as we've seen in the games against Azerbaijan and Wales). Also, Daniel91 said one more problem with our coach - he doesn't have the guts to put younger players in the game. For example, in the last two games Perišić was so bad and I wouldn't be surprised if he starts again against Slovakia.

It's not really being fair to Wales when you claim that their only concern was defending their goal because when you look at the games in perspective and the statistics you will see that Wales had the same shot as Croatia with them even one more shot on target than Croatia. Wales seems to have a slim chance of qualifying because they are bound to win against Azerbaijan which will take them one point behind Hungary who they have to win against if they want to qualify.

[Naida_BR]

My prediction Slovakia will get 4 points in the next 2 matches, draw against Croatia and win against Azerbaijan
then they will see the results of the Hungary match because here the determination whether they qualify or not

My prediction is 3 points against Azerbaijan and 0 points vs Croatia. A draw isn't impossible but it will be very hard to achieve. I expect two goals difference at least for Croatia.

Croatia's qualification is pretty much done, they only need a win against Georgia which I think it is possible.
So a draw against Slovakia could be an option. However, I think that Croatia will try their best in the game against Slovakia in order to end the qualification scenarios earlier.

[Coyster]

They are allowed a few bad performances, nobody plays well every day.

Isn't that enough reason why the coach should try out other options, I think national teams that succeed the most are those who play more often than not their most in form player, who plays week in, week out in their club.

Throwing sentiments out of the window, we both know Rakitic hasn't been his usual self for some months now, and he is currently struggling to start games for Barcelona, for me that's enough reason not to play him, it could even serve as extra motivation for him to improve.

[Prime Gold]

My prediction Slovakia will get 4 points in the next 2 matches, draw against Croatia and win against Azerbaijan
then they will see the results of the Hungary match because here the determination whether they qualify or not

My prediction is 3 points against Azerbaijan and 0 points vs Croatia. A draw isn't impossible but it will be very hard to achieve. I expect two goals difference at least for Croatia.

Yes Croatia is too strong for Slovakia, earlier in the fifth match Croatia beat Slovakia 4-0 at home and next croatia playing at home of course their performance has increased

[cryptofrka]

Isn't that enough reason why the coach should try out other options, I think national teams that succeed the most are those who play more often than not their most in form player, who plays week in, week out in their club.

Throwing sentiments out of the window, we both know Rakitic hasn't been his usual self for some months now, and he is currently struggling to start games for Barcelona, for me that's enough reason not to play him, it could even serve as extra motivation for him to improve.

That makes sense when you are France and replace Varane with Umtiti or something like that. When you are Croatia, the choice is between Rakitić and Badelj. So, if you ask me, Rakitić can come drunk wearing a blindfold and have his feet stuck in concrete shoes and he'd still be my preferred choice. Same goes for some other positions in our team, including Lovren for example - a player I do not value at all. He will play if he does not get a game for Liverpool for an entire season and it will still be the best thing for Croatia.

Croatia is a good team with some great players. However, that team does not have depth like many other top teams do.

[wxxyrqa]

Of course, I understand that each person has his own preferences regarding national football teams, as well as his own views on their results.  But at the current European Football Championship, I really regret that I did not believe in the strength of my national team of Ukraine.  I was really struck by the result of the match Ukraine-Portugal, where Ukraine chose the victory against the champion with a score of 2:1.  Maybe I'll take a chance and bet on Victory in the next round.

[Rozita]

Croatia's qualification is pretty much done, they only need a win against Georgia which I think it is possible.
So a draw against Slovakia could be an option. However, I think that Croatia will try their best in the game against Slovakia in order to end the qualification scenarios earlier.

Croatia can easily win Georgia. But first we need move Georgia from group D to group E.
There is only one game left for Croatia which will be against Slovakia.


Four games are to be played.
The result of two matches is almost clear. Azerbaijan vs Wales and Slovakia vs Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan will lose both games.
So, Croatia: 14 pts, Slovakia: 13 pts, Hungary: 12 pts Wales: 11 pts.

Two other games:
November 16: Croatia vs Slovakia
November 19: Wales vs Hungary

I think Croatia will win Slovakia and wales will win Hungary.
So, Croatia and Wales will qualify for Euro 2020.

[TopT3ns]

My prediction Slovakia will get 4 points in the next 2 matches, draw against Croatia and win against Azerbaijan
then they will see the results of the Hungary match because here the determination whether they qualify or not

My prediction is 3 points against Azerbaijan and 0 points vs Croatia. A draw isn't impossible but it will be very hard to achieve. I expect two goals difference at least for Croatia.

I don't deny your prediction because Croatia is better based on match statistics but Slovakia will be motivated in this important match so they can do anything unexpected
Yes, however we have to wait for this match next month

[bestcoins1]

My prediction Slovakia will get 4 points in the next 2 matches, draw against Croatia and win against Azerbaijan
then they will see the results of the Hungary match because here the determination whether they qualify or not

My prediction is 3 points against Azerbaijan and 0 points vs Croatia. A draw isn't impossible but it will be very hard to achieve. I expect two goals difference at least for Croatia.

I don't deny your prediction because Croatia is better based on match statistics but Slovakia will be motivated in this important match so they can do anything unexpected
Yes, however we have to wait for this match next month

have a good statistics and playing in their own home is an advantage for Croatia. but anything can happen, especially now that their players have returned to their clubs. it could be injured when playing with their club and could not play for their country when they return to the Euro 2020 qualifiers next month

[Barracuda]

Finally, Switzerland moved closer again to be able to qualify for the next round. With the win against Ireland, Switzerland brought the points that opened the opportunity for Switzerland to continue for the next phase
Switzerland, Denmark, Gibraltar still have 1 match left.

[TopT3ns]

My prediction Slovakia will get 4 points in the next 2 matches, draw against Croatia and win against Azerbaijan
then they will see the results of the Hungary match because here the determination whether they qualify or not

My prediction is 3 points against Azerbaijan and 0 points vs Croatia. A draw isn't impossible but it will be very hard to achieve. I expect two goals difference at least for Croatia.

I don't deny your prediction because Croatia is better based on match statistics but Slovakia will be motivated in this important match so they can do anything unexpected
Yes, however we have to wait for this match next month

have a good statistics and playing in their own home is an advantage for Croatia. but anything can happen, especially now that their players have returned to their clubs. it could be injured when playing with their club and could not play for their country when they return to the Euro 2020 qualifiers next month

Yes, that's one reason there might still be some problems later on in the match, red cards, ban on playing, injuries and more.
Slovakia once defeated Hungary when playing away, this might happen again 

[leea-1334]

That makes sense when you are France and replace Varane with Umtiti or something like that. When you are Croatia, the choice is between Rakitić and Badelj. So, if you ask me, Rakitić can come drunk wearing a blindfold and have his feet stuck in concrete shoes and he'd still be my preferred choice. Same goes for some other positions in our team, including Lovren for example - a player I do not value at all. He will play if he does not get a game for Liverpool for an entire season and it will still be the best thing for Croatia.

Croatia is a good team with some great players. However, that team does not have depth like many other top teams do.

To be fair to every team in the group stage, they are there because they are the best in Europe. Croatia has a great team,,, but like you said, depth is their problem and the problem of almost any national team with small population. But for me as long as they constantly play together,,, they can overcome this issue, but the problem is to have 23 people always play together and that is only possible for countries like Iceland where the players do not all play for other clubs;)

[Daniel91]

My prediction Slovakia will get 4 points in the next 2 matches, draw against Croatia and win against Azerbaijan
then they will see the results of the Hungary match because here the determination whether they qualify or not

My prediction is 3 points against Azerbaijan and 0 points vs Croatia. A draw isn't impossible but it will be very hard to achieve. I expect two goals difference at least for Croatia.

I don't deny your prediction because Croatia is better based on match statistics but Slovakia will be motivated in this important match so they can do anything unexpected
Yes, however we have to wait for this match next month

have a good statistics and playing in their own home is an advantage for Croatia. but anything can happen, especially now that their players have returned to their clubs. it could be injured when playing with their club and could not play for their country when they return to the Euro 2020 qualifiers next month

Yes, that's one reason there might still be some problems later on in the match, red cards, ban on playing, injuries and more.
Slovakia once defeated Hungary when playing away, this might happen again  

Croatia played very well in the World cup in Russia last year and this final we will never forget.
But, in qualifying phase Croatia always had a lot problems, (since the beginning in 1996)  I can't understand why.
Is problem with motivation or new players need time to get to know others in the team or some other reasons?  
Also,  we don't have enough stability, many times we started match well,  like with Hungary or Wales but lost on the end.
This match with Slovakia can be very difficult for Croatia since almost half defense players missing  (Lovren and Vida ), other players don't play in their clubs like Lovren or Rakitic and others don't play like in the world cup last year.
Atmosphere before match is already very tense because of some internal strugles in Croatian football assosiation so I 'm not 100 % confident that Croatia will win easily this match.
It will be very difficult and much harder match  than in Slovakia.

[bestcoins1]

Croatia played very well in the World cup in Russia last year and this final we will never forget.
But, in qualifying phase Croatia always had a lot problems, (since the beginning in 1996)  I can't understand why.
Is problem with motivation or new players need time to get to know others in the team or some other reasons?  
Also,  we don't have enough stability, many times we started match well,  like with Hungary or Wales but lost on the end.
This match with Slovakia can be very difficult for Croatia since almost half defense players missing  (Lovren and Vida ), other players don't play in their clubs like Lovren or Rakitic and others don't play like in the world cup last year.
Atmosphere before match is already very tense because of some internal strugles in Croatian football assosiation so I 'm not 100 % confident that Croatia will win easily this match.
It will be very difficult and much harder match  than in Slovakia.

because that's football. anything can happen. but keep in mind Croatia has never lost this Euro 2020 qualifier. and it looks like Slovakia also can't play their defender because in the last match he received a red card.

[Daniel91]

Croatia played very well in the World cup in Russia last year and this final we will never forget.
But, in qualifying phase Croatia always had a lot problems, (since the beginning in 1996)  I can't understand why.
Is problem with motivation or new players need time to get to know others in the team or some other reasons?  
Also,  we don't have enough stability, many times we started match well,  like with Hungary or Wales but lost on the end.
This match with Slovakia can be very difficult for Croatia since almost half defense players missing  (Lovren and Vida ), other players don't play in their clubs like Lovren or Rakitic and others don't play like in the world cup last year.
Atmosphere before match is already very tense because of some internal strugles in Croatian football assosiation so I 'm not 100 % confident that Croatia will win easily this match.
It will be very difficult and much harder match  than in Slovakia.

because that's football. anything can happen. but keep in mind Croatia has never lost this Euro 2020 qualifier. and it looks like Slovakia also can't play their defender because in the last match he received a red card.

I have to correct you;  Croatia lost 1 match, from Hungary 2:1.
Also, Croatia lost 2 defense players for this last match with Slovakia,  Vida and Lovren and don't have good replacement for them.

[slackovic]

I think that Croatia had much more chance to win against a team who is attacking them. We don't play well against a team who's only concern is to defend their goal (as we've seen in the games against Azerbaijan and Wales). Also, Daniel91 said one more problem with our coach - he doesn't have the guts to put younger players in the game. For example, in the last two games Perišić was so bad and I wouldn't be surprised if he starts again against Slovakia.

It's not really being fair to Wales when you claim that their only concern was defending their goal because when you look at the games in perspective and the statistics you will see that Wales had the same shot as Croatia with them even one more shot on target than Croatia. Wales seems to have a slim chance of qualifying because they are bound to win against Azerbaijan which will take them one point behind Hungary who they have to win against if they want to qualify.

Well... Maybe it's true that Wales had the same shots as Croatia, but you can't say that Wales was attacking when Croatia had 80% ball possession. Maybe I'm biased (I'm from Croatia), but I think Croatia was attacking and Wales was getting their chances on counter attack. Don't get me wrong. I don't think that Croatia deserved to win. I think that a draw was fair outcome of that game.

[tomahawk9]

Alright, time to leave this discussion thread for a while, see you all in November.

Well, it's November, so why don't we bump this bad boy and start discussing the last two Matchdays of the Euro Qualifiers?

Matchday 9 starts next Thursday with these games:


(Source)

Turkey vs Iceland and Czech Republic vs Kosovo are the most interesting games. If Czech Republic wins, they qualify to the next Euro, and Turkey only needs a draw to qualify.

[coinlocket$]

Here we go again with shitty National games. 2 weeks without our loved League and Champion's League.
Anyway this is the last time and we have some good odds for some teams.
The team already qualified could use new and younger players to test them so keep an eye on already qualificated teams.

[Rozita]

Turkey vs Iceland and Czech Republic vs Kosovo are the most interesting games. If Czech Republic wins, they qualify to the next Euro, and Turkey only needs a draw to qualify.

If Turkey wins or draw the game against Iceland, not only they will qualify for UEFA Euro 2020, but France will also qualify regardless of the result of their game against Moldova.  
If Turkey lose to Iceland, France should win Moldova if they want to qualify for final tournament this Thursday.  

In group A, England needs a draw against Montenegro to qualify. Even if they lose the game, they will qualify for final tournament if Czech Republic vs Kosovo game doesn't end in a draw.

In group B, Ukraine has already qualified and Portugal and Serbia will try to qualify for UEFA Euro 2020 as the runners-up. Portugal has a bigger chance. Because they have one point more than Serbia. Also, Portugal will face against Lithuania and Luxembourg while Serbia will face against Luxembourg and Ukraine. The second team will be likely determined on November 17.

[Juggy777]

Here we go again with shitty National games. 2 weeks without our loved League and Champion's League.
Anyway this is the last time and we have some good odds for some teams.

@coinlocket$ i can feel your emotions but there’s nothing we can do, except wait patiently for Champions League games to resume. What do you’ll think of Southgates decision to leave Sterling out of Thursday’s game, considering he’s their best player I felt he should have been in the playing 11.

Source: https://www.goal.com/en-in/news/gomez-and-i-are-good-sterling-says-emotions-got-the-better/ug7ft5pc07d61sg0b5iy1tw3r