⚽ UEFA Nations League ⚽ - Discussion Thread

[Ummeettaa]

Lewandowski continues his goalscoring spree even at his age. Poland will sure miss him when he retires from the national team. Poland result was what I expected in the match of France against Italy. The early red card that Romania had was what killed their gameplay but even if they were without a red card Poland could have still won but probably not with this huge win because Romania also have a squad that can resist attacks.

Lewandowski should be considered one of the rated and best Stricker in the world, he has once again proven that with his goal scoring ability even at this age.

He keeps showing up for his team and players every time he is needed, and is always ready to give it all when ever needed. That is a very good sign of a legend.

The Polish team will eventually miss him alot when he gets to retire, which possibly might happen this season. Nevertheless, he should be given his flowers for his dedication and hard work always, well done star player.

Although many are saying Poland won because of the red card that Romania had in the early minutes of the game, but I think that shouldn't be an excuse as there are so many teams that even do better when given red card than when they are complete.

[Majestic-milf]

Donnarumma saved Italy from losing the game because he stopped a lot of balls and he deserves to be the MVP of the game. I didn't expect that Italy will be able to draw this game because I thought France will not find it difficult to the back of the net but Donnarumma proved me wrong.

If not for that free kick from Olise, I don't think that France would have been able to score any goal. Donnarumma didn't see that free kick because they was perfectly taken. Italy is alive again.

If I'm being honest, France didn't play much in the game else they should have won the game without even conceding. It was even the errors they were making that gave Italy the belief that they could fight back and it was rewarded.
 France still lead the table with 7 points and Belgium come second with 6 points. I wonder what Turkey came to do in this tournament since they didn't win any game.

[Lillominato89]

Donnarumma saved Italy from losing the game because he stopped a lot of balls and he deserves to be the MVP of the game. I didn't expect that Italy will be able to draw this game because I thought France will not find it difficult to the back of the net but Donnarumma proved me wrong.

If not for that free kick from Olise, I don't think that France would have been able to score any goal. Donnarumma didn't see that free kick because they was perfectly taken. Italy is alive again.

The draw between France and Italy really left me speechless.
After such a long time, Italy are back in the fight – and against a top side like France, no less.
Donnarumma pulled off some extraordinary saves and enabled his team to give it a go.
Italy now have 4 points in total, with only Belgium and France ahead of them on 7 and 6 points respectively.
In November, we’ll find out whether Italy will remain in League A or be relegated to League B.

[Judith87403]

Donnarumma saved Italy from losing the game because he stopped a lot of balls and he deserves to be the MVP of the game. I didn't expect that Italy will be able to draw this game because I thought France will not find it difficult to the back of the net but Donnarumma proved me wrong.

If not for that free kick from Olise, I don't think that France would have been able to score any goal. Donnarumma didn't see that free kick because they was perfectly taken. Italy is alive again.

I was impressed by Donnarumma saves, indeed he is the hero of Italy in tonight's match. What is happening to France? Since the Nations league games started they haven't scored past 1 goal, it's always just 1 goal which is unlike them that scores many goals against their opponents. Olise was perfect in that scene, the fee kick was excellent. If Italy had stood strong and contend against bigger countries they won't have faced a lot of problems. They should come back to live again because I used to enjoy their pattern of playing football in the past.

[Mayor of ogba]

I love Ronaldo but I think its time we come to terms that the Portugal team is better without Ronaldo. He has lived an unforgettable legacy with his countryside and does not deserve the treatment he is getting now, but it's clear that Portugal are confused on the ball when Ronaldo is on the pitch.

Jorge Jesus in a recent interview cleared the air on this issue. [Source: https://x.com/ELLIOTTTTFC/status/2105576250739675194]

The last trophy Portugal lifted Cristiano Ronaldo helped Portugal immensely to win matches and lift the trophy, so how's Portugal team better off without Cristiano Ronaldo? I believe some players in the Portugal team want to kick Cristiano Ronaldo out of Portugal team by making him appear as the person who's making Portugal perform poorly, those set of players won't play at their full strength anytime Cristiano Ronaldo fixture for Portugal in a match just for them to achieve their aim. Just see the way Bruno performed against Denmark after Cristiano Ronaldo left Portugal camp, can you remember the last time Bruno pulled off some amazing performances for Portugal? I just finished reading Jorge Jesus' comment through the link you attached to your comment. Like I said early, Jorge Jesus shouldn't have called Cristiano Ronaldo to keep him on the bench if he believe he have players who can offer more intensity and balance to the Portugal team than Cristiano Ronaldo.

[Curious T]

Cristiano Ronaldo is a player who doesn't like staying on the bench if he's fully fit to play alongside his teammates, so since Jorge Jesus had the intention of not playing Cristiano Ronaldo to see how Portugal will perform without him, he shouldn't have called him up for Portugal Nations League matches, l blame Jorge Jesus for Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Portugal camp after their match with Norway.

How can you blame a coach for benching a player in just one game? Are you new to football? So if the coach doesn't play in one game, it means he should leave the team? That is childish. It is the coaches team, he called Ronaldo and every other player, so he has the right to use the players the best way he can to make the team perform well. Ronaldo started the first game and was benched for the second. They still had two more games before the end of the international break. The least he could have done was stay till the end of the break. The coach is not at fault at all in this. Ronaldo had his ego bruised, and he couldn't take it. That is childish behavior. Or do you think the coach would have benched him if he was a player that was so good on the field and makes the team play better?

[Balmain]

Everyone expected the Turkish national team to finish with zero points, and that is exactly what happened. They were defeated 3–0 today as well. Kevin De Bruyne scored two goals, while Fenerbahçe's new signing, Lukaku, scored one. There is serious incompetence within the Turkish national team. Aside from the coaching staff, just look at the players, not a single goal was scored from eight shots on target. Apart from Arda Güler, the rest of the team is truly useless.

[Oluwa-btc]

Donnarumma saved Italy from losing the game because he stopped a lot of balls and he deserves to be the MVP of the game. I didn't expect that Italy will be able to draw this game because I thought France will not find it difficult to the back of the net but Donnarumma proved me wrong.

If not for that free kick from Olise, I don't think that France would have been able to score any goal. Donnarumma didn't see that free kick because they was perfectly taken. Italy is alive again.

Italian national team are always blessed by their gods! I mean if you look at their past goalkeepers, they have been nothing but world class and Donnarumma showed exactly the meaning of what I'm saying. I'd say he gave tye point, if that was someone else in goal, French side should have seen two to three goals scored after the equalizer.

Who else noticed Caliafori keeping Olise under control tonight? Anyone?! Having some bit of pace and aggression made that possible. Loved it.
And also Rabbiott should be the blame for the equalizer, he made the wrong pass forgetting that guy was being pressed hard. The pass should have been for the left fullback. Good results for Italian national team, but for France? Hell No!

The lack of goal scoring is what you get when you don't have your hit man (Kylian Mbappe )  in goal.

[KTChampions]

An interesting situation in Group A2  
Incidentally, there is a nuance: unlike the first three editions of this tournament, two teams now advance from the group stage instead of just one (as was the case before), so theoretically, even Serbia has a chance. Of course, I’d like Klopp to be successful, but there are only two spots available, and the Netherlands and Greece are looking pretty good too. On October 4th, it’s Greece - Germany, and it seems to me that Germany can’t afford drop even 2 points (draw).

It seems no one really expected Greece to temporarily top Group B. But that’s just how soccer goes. I was even surprised when Germany was defeated by Greece right in front of its own fans.

And to be honest, if Greece manages to beat Germany on German soil, it feels like Greece will have a better chance in the next match since they’ll be the home team. But if Germany wins, it’ll be a pretty sweet revenge.
But I wouldn’t dare bet on that match, especially on Germany. I’m starting to have my doubts about this team, even though I think they have better players than Greece.

It is clear that Serbia’s chances are purely theoretical regardless of how they play, but mathematically, 9 points would still secure them second place. Bookmakers currently rate Germany's chances in the match against Greece as follows:

3.95 - 3.85 - 1.84

I haven't seen Greece play, but even without knowing how good they are, the chances seem too optimistic for Germany, unfortunately, only the brand remains of them, I don't want to bet here. Perhaps BTTS makes sense - at odds of 1.60.

[pawel7777]

France lost points for the first time in this competition, drawing 1-1 with Italy. I am not amazed by France performance under Zidane so far, but, to be fair, it was not a bad game by France. They dominated, they scored first, but Italy is always a tough opponent, and they managed to equalise and earn a point.

A big and probably unexpected win for Poland. They were the favourite, but hardly anyone expected they could score 6 goals. Lewandowski added another 3 goals to his record. Romania's early red card helped a lot too.

[JoyceBTC]

France have had a lot of difficulty scoring goals in the nations league. One would have expected that they would have it easier but, it seems without Mbappe the team is f’cked. They’ve being winning their games by share luck despite being dominant in their game. Their fixture with Italy at the moment isn’t looking any easier too although, Italy isn’t the only exactly an easy team. Italy already has a disallowed goal due to offside else, France would have being fighting for an equalizer. Are we going to see a win in this game or they would settle for a draw, it’s looking very likely.

Mbappe is the goal getter for France, it you have been following their games when he was active and since he got injured you could see how France is finding it so hard to score goals. Olise is trying to cover up the space of Mbappe in terms of goals but that positioning in front of goal is one thing he is not doing well coming from his wing. France against Italy today was a very strong match, both teams gave their best because they have equal strength France found the back of the net first from the fantastic play from Micheal Olise but Italy made sure they equalized and at the end they settled for a 1:1 draw.

[Rgram]

France lost points for the first time in this competition, drawing 1-1 with Italy. I am not amazed by France performance under Zidane so far, but, to be fair, it was not a bad game by France. They dominated, they scored first, but Italy is always a tough opponent, and they managed to equalise and earn a point.

A big and probably unexpected win for Poland. They were the favourite, but hardly anyone expected they could score 6 goals. Lewandowski added another 3 goals to his record. Romania's early red card helped a lot too.

It’s okay to say that, this French team under an elite coach like Zidane are not meeting up with expectations. The team is packed with elite players and one would expect nothing short of a goal feast in their games but, they continue to score just 1 goals.

Their fixture Italian defense today was almost impeccable I must say, they didn’t give France any chance to break in through the middle or be at the end of crosses. I think that was their greatest strength in this.

Poland were on a joyride obviously, that red card cleared the part for them and there was absolutely nothing Romania could do to contain them afterwards.

[Jessie2121]

France lost points for the first time in this competition, drawing 1-1 with Italy. I am not amazed by France performance under Zidane so far, but, to be fair, it was not a bad game by France. They dominated, they scored first, but Italy is always a tough opponent, and they managed to equalise and earn a point.

Is not about dominating the game and end up sharing point or even losing the game, it has been coming right from when they struggled against Belgium with that 1nil win and nobody should say is because of the absence of Mbappe that caused their lack of goals in their game tonight too. How can a very good squad play from the beginning to the end and could not create more chances and convert half of their big chances? Nothing bad is happening in the France national team but it doesn't make sense for them to play like the players are not there or they don't have the quality of players that can transform the game to be in their favor. Italy wasn't that bad, they made France to feel the heat just as they do to other national team they play against.

[Oluwa-btc]

France lost points for the first time in this competition, drawing 1-1 with Italy. I am not amazed by France performance under Zidane so far, but, to be fair, it was not a bad game by France. They dominated, they scored first, but Italy is always a tough opponent, and they managed to equalise and earn a point.

A big and probably unexpected win for Poland. They were the favourite, but hardly anyone expected they could score 6 goals. Lewandowski added another 3 goals to his record. Romania's early red card helped a lot too.

The attacking players did not do enough, and the, and the only player who showed up effective was Olise who was also man marked by Calafori. They dominated but they seem weak in attacking Italy. It wasn't even that Italy defended too much or too good. France did just not do enough. Zidane should do better tactically, did you see shit today?!

I don't know about Poland but Ukraine?! They're one of the overrated and overhyped side who doesn't know how to play football. Look st the odds for Northern Ireland to beat them with lesser odd and they came out victorious.

[nelson4lov]

Everyone expected the Turkish national team to finish with zero points, and that is exactly what happened. They were defeated 3–0 today as well. Kevin De Bruyne scored two goals, while Fenerbahçe's new signing, Lukaku, scored one. There is serious incompetence within the Turkish national team. Aside from the coaching staff, just look at the players, not a single goal was scored from eight shots on target. Apart from Arda Güler, the rest of the team is truly useless.

Should we be surprised? I mean it's the same Turkey team that was eliminated in group stage during the world cup. A lot of smaller teams made it past group stage and Turkey couldn't despite being placed in a not-so-difficult group. Until they figure out the reason for their shitty performance and output, they won't make any decent progress as a team. Even Arda Guler needs the veterans in the team to step up at this point.

[Sammye3]

I was impressed by Donnarumma saves, indeed he is the hero of Italy in tonight's match. What is happening to France? Since the Nations league games started they haven't scored past 1 goal, it's always just 1 goal which is unlike them that scores many goals against their opponents. Olise was perfect in that scene, the fee kick was excellent. If Italy had stood strong and contend against bigger countries they won't have faced a lot of problems. They should come back to live again because I used to enjoy their pattern of playing football in the past.

France' attack was a bit dull today in the absence of Mbappe, though Dembele created an impact in today's game but it wasn't enough to secure a goal. Donnarumma sure outdid himself in today's game and he has shown the world once again his worth, still wondering why PSG sold him off?

Italy had a solid defense in today's game and it was almost impossible for the France magicians to penetrate, and that secured them a draw after full time.