Group D - Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey, Croatia

[Pothas]

Sam Matterface really is the worst.

 

[duffer]

And the hair only gets worse.

Vida being the new leader of the competition.

Croatia impressive in the second half though, deserved win.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah seems like it might be coming together for Croatia, with good passers in the middle, good crossers out wide and a big man up front. Modric was so so good second half, playing for a team I hate had made me forget how much fun he is to watch.

 

[Pothas]

He is just great, might be my favourite footballer.

 

[duffer]

Nolito starting, itstl.

 

[duffer]

Save!

Well in Petr.

 

[sledger]

Sam Matterface really is the worst.

Haha I love how the only time he is ever mentioned is during an international tournament, and that these mentions are never ever positive.

 

[duffer]

Bugger

 

[grecian]

For the last 10 minutes I've been watching this on ITV+1, so I couldn't understand why there seemed to be a goal reported.

 

[vogue]

Has to be said haircuts pretty lacklustre in this match..

 

[vcs]

Typical Spain really.. how does del Bosque manage to take players like Iniesta, Silva, Thiago, Busquets, Pique etc. and make them play utterly uninspiring, Van Gaal-type football? And somehow grind out a result in the end..

 

[sledger]

Well, that was more or less what I anticipated it being. Pretty much a textbook Spain vs inferior but not terrible opposition game.

 

[sledger]

Typical Spain really.. how does del Bosque manage to take players like Iniesta, Silva, Thiago, Busquets, Pique etc. and make them play utterly uninspiring, Van Gaal-type football? And somehow grind out a result in the end..

Bit harsh.

Edit: Harsh on Spain anyway. One assumes you're not paying Van Gaal/Man Utd a compliment here.

 

[vcs]

Definitely not.. Man Utd. played some of the worst football I've ever seen last year.. Spain have been similarly boring for a while but they've always had a very talented midfield.

 

[sledger]

Indeed. But given they were playing against a team which had most of their men behind the ball for most of the match I thought they played perfectly ok though. Not reminiscent of Man Utd plodding in the slightest in my view.

 

[harsh.ag]

Yeah, kinda how Spain win most of their games against good opponents because, unlike Barca or Real, they don't have have Messi, Ronaldo, Suarez like figures up front.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Considering Spain spent the game camped in the Czech Republic half Cech had very few actual saves to make. Deserved result in the end though.

 

[sledger]

Considering Spain spent the game camped in the Czech Republic half Cech had very few actual saves to make. Deserved result in the end though.

A lot of that was probably down to good defending/Spain trying to walk it in/Morata being pretty unconvincing tbf. Cech not making many saves can't really be interpreted as Spain not playing especially well on the whole imo.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

A lot of that was probably down to good defending/Spain trying to walk it in/Morata being pretty unconvincing tbf. Cech not making many saves can't really be interpreted as Spain not playing especially well on the whole imo.

I mean the fact they hardly had a shot. Worrying going forward if they aren't actually creating anything despite so much possession. The defending was well organised but you would expect a few more shots on target given they had all the play.

 

[Furball]

It's pretty hard to create shooting opportunities against opponents who camp in their own box.