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Baphomet wrote:The referee had a mare. The free kick for Damsgaard's goal was soft (great hit though), and when Kane was brought down in the box in the second half after his penetrating dribble, that was far more of a penalty than the one they actually gave on Sterling.

On the balance of play, England deserved to win despite a courageous first half from the Danes. They had very few serious attempts to speak of, where it felt like England were knocking on the door for a while in the second half. It was actually an enjoyable game, I think, only really threatened by the standard puzzling refereeing decisions.

I think England have been exceptional this tournament and have genuinely surprised me, borefest against Scotland aside, and people who have posted here for a while know how rarely I actually praise England. They're the team whose consistent and Groundhog Day-like failures caused me to lose interest in international football in general. Despite the footballing quality of the tournament being far greater than the turgid Euro 2016, I would argue that all the key teams besides Italy, England and Denmark have been below average to disappointing. There haven't been any other standouts, so belittling England's quality of opposition feels like missing the forest for the trees.

It feels special to have bypassed two of England's greatest hoodoos: Germany and semi-finals. The final is one heck of a task though. I don't even think the Italians are particularly special on an individual level, despite their unbeaten run. Better than England, perhaps, but this isn't the team of Del Piero, Totti, Nesta, Pirlo, Buffon, Cannavaro, etc. What worries me is their incredible tactical discipline and mental strength under Mancini. England have been defensively resolute in this tournament, but they're going to need to be far more clinical going forward to beat Italy. Spain huffed and puffed but despite making chances they couldn't manage it.

Just wanted to give a shout out to Sterling. Man has been possessed in this tournament.

HIF wrote:

AK47MVP wrote:Denmark look tired. That trip to Baku and playing in 30 C weather did it

It's nothing to do with travelling. England are younger and have better stamina. It was always going to be England getting stronger and stronger as the game progressed.

Pharmcat wrote:

HIF wrote:

Pharmcat wrote:
Look at the 45 to 48 sec mark, the defender clips his knee/shin and gets no ball. It’s weak call but that’s a foul

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Regardless England is going to get destroyed by Italy

We'll see. Persoanlly I think it'll be close. Italy will take the lead and England will be the stronger team in the second half. If only Southgate doesn't get all Kane-homer and again isn't willing to sub him for flair and speed players I think that England will win. England has more talent.

HIF: did you think it was a penalty?

El Turco wrote:

HIF wrote:

AK47MVP wrote:Denmark look tired. That trip to Baku and playing in 30 C weather did it

It's nothing to do with travelling. England are younger and have better stamina. It was always going to be England getting stronger and stronger as the game progressed.

no, travel is a big factor. who knows if result would have been different but when you are playing in such a condensed schedule and players coming off a condensed season, there is a huge difference between coming from another continent and playing at home.

really between playing at home to lack of competition to benefitting from poor ref calls, england had every advantage to win it all. they need to get it done this year, dont think they will come this close again.

HIF wrote:

El Turco wrote:

HIF wrote:
It's nothing to do with travelling. England are younger and have better stamina. It was always going to be England getting stronger and stronger as the game progressed.

no, travel is a big factor. who knows if result would have been different but when you are playing in such a condensed schedule and players coming off a condensed season, there is a huge difference between coming from another continent and playing at home.

really between playing at home to lack of competition to benefitting from poor ref calls, england had every advantage to win it all. they need to get it done this year, dont think they will come this close again.

Love the bitchin. Normally the Euros are only in one country. Just pretend that it was in England this year and cry me a river of tears if we win.

El Turco wrote:

HIF wrote:

El Turco wrote:
no, travel is a big factor. who knows if result would have been different but when you are playing in such a condensed schedule and players coming off a condensed season, there is a huge difference between coming from another continent and playing at home.

really between playing at home to lack of competition to benefitting from poor ref calls, england had every advantage to win it all. they need to get it done this year, dont think they will come this close again.

Love the bitchin. Normally the Euros are only in one country. Just pretend that it was in England this year and cry me a river of tears if we win.

teams camp in one country, they dont travel couple of time zones from azerbaijan to play. and when you get run off the field by the italians at home, it is back to being the laughing stock of europe.

El Turco wrote:

HIF wrote:

El Turco wrote:
no, travel is a big factor. who knows if result would have been different but when you are playing in such a condensed schedule and players coming off a condensed season, there is a huge difference between coming from another continent and playing at home.

really between playing at home to lack of competition to benefitting from poor ref calls, england had every advantage to win it all. they need to get it done this year, dont think they will come this close again.

Love the bitchin. Normally the Euros are only in one country. Just pretend that it was in England this year and cry me a river of tears if we win.

teams camp in one country, they dont travel couple of time zones from azerbaijan to play. and when you get run off the field by the italians at home, it is back to being the laughing stock of europe.

HIF wrote:At the time , no but I've watched replays that show it was a foul. Often not called but still a foul.

People seem to have forgotten that it's just a game of football.