For me it was Espana 82,
Anyway I was still collecting stickers from Argentina 78, things were slower back then
1 Like
Then I surely watched it, but the semi final was 4 hours later and in the middle of the week.
Yes, on weekdays games were played very late at night, thatâs why I only saw a limited number of games live. But the weekend games were played much earlier.
For this reason Mexico '70 seems a more distant and fragmented memory than England '66. I must have watched most games of that tournament. I remember for instance the legendary game Hungary - Brasil (3-1) very well. One of the things that had slipped my mind, was that Beckenbauer already was part of the German team. I remember especially Haller and Seeler, plus the goal keeper, Tilkowski or something.
I donât know about that. I think it was the drifting ice in the seas north of the island which caused the name.
i actually was translating to Portuguese the meaning of:
Island - ilha
Ice land - Terra do gelo
But youâre probably right
Easy to say this now, but Iceland looked like the better team in our group (apart from us), both Hungary and Austria were lucky against Portugal.
Letâs face it they left Holland at home, and football is in present times a defensive game
Yup, Naranjito led the way for me too. Ten years old, I had my little Brasil kit and my little España kit. No England kit, although a couple of years ago I picked up a retro 82 England home shirt and last week I picked up a red away 82 shirt too, which for me represents literally the only decent thing to have come from Englandâs participation in these Euro finals.
But he made his name in that tournament. The strong German midfield (Haller, Overath, Beckenbauer) was the main reason that they played so well in England, better than their potential allowed. And this midfield made a lot of goals, 10 or 11 from Beckenbauer and Haller.
I know, but I had forgotten about all that. I was very young at the time and you experience a tournament differently as a kid (and itâs of course 50 years ago!). Personally I identify Beckenbauer more with 1970 (the game against England, his shoulder injury against Italy) and of course 1974. I saw a few highlight of the Germany - Switzerland game on TV a while ago and said to myself: Oh my God, thatâs Beckenbauer!
Yeah, Beckenbauer obviously a bit of a surprise there âŠ
Talking of red shirts and 1974 FIFA World Cup⊠Today this colour combination (moreover, Bulgaria wears its away kit) would be unthinkable!
Bulgaria was probably forced to play in the away kit because Cruyff, as captain of the Dutch team (âhome teamâ in this game) preferred to play in black shorts during the afternoon and white shorts during the evening. Normally Holland wouldâve played in orange and white and the Bulgarians in white and green, but Cruyff alwas had his own very particular ideas and theories.
Everybody is talking about bad England, but I donât think enough credit is given to Island. I think the way they defended was equally impressive as the way Italy plays on this tournament. They were well organized throughout the game, in great condition, always behind the ball and yet we saw them outnumber England more than few times in counter strikes. They created more serious attempts than England and managed to overcome 0:1 deficit. I think they were more impressive than Portugal against Croatia which defended well, but created no chances (and Croatiaâs defense line is really nothing spectacular). Island was nothing like Greece 2004 which won all the knockout games with 1:0 scoring from the sole chance they got, while the opponents used to have 20 attempts at the goal.
I think Island has the chance against the France, although France was very solid at the tournament and is definitely more creative team than England (they have tournamentâs best playmaker in Payet).
1 Like
Absolutely. England were awful, but Iceland have been one of the stories of the tournament.
Fuck, I wonât get alive to see the semis
Congratulations @El Topo
I thought it was well-deserved. Not that Portugal had that many opportunities, but Poland was clearly speculating on the penalty shootout (they had scored 5 out of 5 against the Swiss) or a lucky counter and wasnât really doing anything to win in the second half or in extra time
But Portugal will have to improve if they want to win the tournament
Obrigado amigo
Well Poland did wrong Patricio is very good defending penaltys thatâs how he started in Sporting first team defending a penalty.
A normal Ronaldo would had save us from the extra time, but ok hâe saving the goals for the semis and if possible the final.
Our coach been changing the tactic from game to game, so weâre not playing an attractive football, but hey we reach the semis, and the team is mentally very strong coming out of negative results more than once.
Belgium was ready to go all the way to the final, but the Red Devils werenât âŠ
Terrible desillusion for a nation that has been called a âfailed stateâ repeatedly in recent times. The Red Devils were supposed to save the nation, but ⊠well, youâve watched the game as well, I guess.
In the meantime experts (pro or contra Wilmots, pro or contra this or that player) are shouting at each other on television. Goal keeper Courtois has already said in interview that the Belgian game was a tactical mess (while the Welsh players were very well instructed): We all knew he wasnât a fan of trainer Wilmots, but this sounded like an official motion of no confidence.
Goodby Wilmots, goodbye Belgium
Looking forward to Portugal - Wales
Another difficult game for us in perspective, and to be honest I would had prefer to face Belgium, that defence âŠwell letâs just say that they arenât as good as the midfield or the attack.
Belgium is a very unbalanced team, with some overrated players like Hazzard, if ou wanât to be as good as Messi or Ronaldo, you need to be consistent.
As for Wales they are in the semis and anything can happen
Belgium. All the talent on Godâs green Earth, they should be to international football as @Scherpschutter is to the SWDB, but their performances are frequently more @last.caress-standard. 
All the talent on Godâs green Earth, yet they turn into rabbits caught in the headlights of global scrutiny. Theyâre almost wilfully contrary, like a child who refuses to do his/her little dance whenever their dad wants to show them off. I honestly reckon that if you took the exact same squad/staff, and had them ranked #20 with FIFA instead of #1, theyâd stroll away with this tournament, Leicester City-style. As it is, they flub it like a limp bag of salad, Leyton Orient-style. 
All credit to Wales, though. I bet Ryan Giggs is wishing heâd bothered to put a shift or two in back in his day. Maybe we should try to nab Chris Coleman for England.
Not a great game, especially when you know these two teams, Germany and Italy both are four times world champions, but @stanton will be happy that Germany finally managed to eliminate the Italians in a great tournament. The game wasnât great, but at the same time it was a typical Germany-Italy game, with both teams using their specific strengths. In the end Germany was a deserved winner, although they seem far removed from their world champion form. They had more of the game and also had the better chances
Bizarre penalty shootout, by the way.