Group A
France 2 – Romania 1
On the opening day, France won a thrilling match against Romania 2-1 after a Dmitri Payet wonderstrike with his weak(er) foot in the 89th minute. The first half saw Romania charge forward and create a huge chance, then retreat to their expected shell while France threw everything they had at keeper Tatarusanu. Olivier Giroud finally broke through in the 57th minute, only to have Patrice Evra give away a PK just 8 minutes later. The match looked to end in a disappointing draw, but Payet had other ideas. His 25 yard blast provided the hosts with the win they wanted.
Switzerland 1 – Albania 0
On Saturday, Albania and Switzerland clashed in Albania’s first ever major tournament, and the result was what many expected, though perhaps not in the way predicted. Switzerland got off to a flyer, with a goal from Hoffenheim defender Fabian Schar. Matters went form bad to worse for the Albanians when their captain Lorik Cana committed a late challenge and a deliberate handball to be given an early shower on a double yellow dismissal. The Swiss were unable to capitalize, but it didn’t matter; the 1-0 scoreline saw out the match, with Albania only finding the target with two shots.
At current, France and Switzerland are tied on points and goal differential, with France having more goals scored, but Switzerland having kept a clean sheet; it’s a tight race between the two and their match against each other will likely be the deciding factor as to who wins the group and the easier path forward. –Chris RB
Group B
Wales 2 – Slovakia 1
Making their first major tournament since before the Kennedy Administration in the United States, Wales could not wait to make an impact in the Euros. Indeed, their dreams were as bright as Aaron Ramsey’s bleached hair, and while everybody in the world knows their gameplan (give the ball to Gareth Bale), they looked every bit a contender on Saturday.
In the first half, momentum went back and forth. Ben Davies made an unconscious goal-line clearance to deny Slovakia the opener. A free kick was given to Wales outside the box in the 10th minute, and… Wait… Is that Gareth Bale’s music playing?
Making the second best free kick of the day (more on that later), Bale gave Wales an early 1-0 lead over the Slovaks. Ondrej Duda scored the equalizer in the 61st, and it appeared the opening fixture of Group B would end in a draw. However, an Aaron Ramsey ball found substitute Hal Robson-Kanu, and while it wasn’t pretty by any stretch, HRK’s ball was able to find the back of the net, giving Wales a crucial victory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQOeWxduqZU
England 1 – Russia 1
Riots, I tell ya.
Talking about this match in footballing terms almost seems senseless given what happened before and after the whistle blew. There was a disgusting display shown by Russian (and, to a lesser extent, English) fans over a 1-1 draw. Given that the World Cup is going to be in Russia in 2018, it’s probably wise to read ahead before committing to a flight to St. Petersburg.
As far as what happened on the pitch: England was absolutely in control of this match for the first 80 minutes. In reality, there may not have been a moment that the Brits weren’t in control of the match, often holding possession and limiting Russia’s but failing to make a true attack at most points. Jamaican-born Raheem Sterling used his pace to wear down the right side of Russia’s defense but lacked the incisive cuts and first touch needed to finish them off.
Wayne Rooney, meanwhile, made some very smart passes working from central midfield. However, he seemed to take his newly-appointed midfield role too closely to heart and was gun-shy when it came to shooting in key moments. Harry Kane was the main kick-taker, and whether you think that target forwards should take corners and free-kicks or not, it certainly didn’t seem to work for the Three Lions.
When central midfielder Eric Dier did take a free kick, though…
Incredible stuff, especially from a guy who doesn’t take set-pieces for either Tottenham or England. (For what it’s worth, I imagine that’ll change soon). England failed to run the clock out, and substitute James Milner was caught napping on defense and allowed a cross to find its target in Russian centerback and captain Vasili Berezutski. The whistle blew a minute later, and England now finds itself tied for second–and, shockingly, looking up at Wales. — Jeff Reuter
Group C
Poland 1- Northern Ireland 0
In the run up to the cup, Robert Lewandowski has been a dominant scoring force: darting through, capitalizing on mistakes, and generally just making life miserable for opponents. He’s every bit the primary option for Poland as Northern Ireland’s legendary George Best.
Unfortunately, for Northern Ireland, George Best has been retired for forty years and dead for over a decade. However, even now, he might be the Green and White Army’s best attacking option.
Given that, it was clear that Northern Ireland’s match strategy would be to attack only after they had overwhelmed and suffocated Poland’s attack. It seemed apparent when their initial 4-5-1 formation turned into a 6-3-1, with three players angled around Lewandowski at all times. The strategy seemed to work well for the first half hour or so, and even after a few goal line defenses more scrambled than your typical Denny’s Brunch menu, the teams entered their locker rooms at the half scoreless.
But when the second half got under way, it seemed that Polish coach Adam Nawalka had found a viable solution: faster touches→ greater defensive disorientation→ goals. That crisp and clearly targeted passing helped “The White Eagles” create Arkadiusz Milik’s decisive goal.
Falling behind did seem to wake up Northern Ireland, and push them to advance into Poland’s end. But neither the Northern Irish runs into the box, nor the Polish counters could do much more than cement the inevitable, and leave fans wondering who would win a Lewandowski/Best shootout. (I vote Best, because he’d probably punch Lewandowski after round three.)
Germany 2 – Ukraine 0
Stop us if you’ve heard this before: fans of the two teams got into a fight before the match started. Though not nearly as riotous or fraught with danger as other matches, there was still a palpably tense atmosphere before the game began.
Which is why it was probably a good thing that Germany got off the mark rather quickly, putting Ukraine under consistent pressure before a definitive cross from Toni Kroos found Shkodran Mustafi for the early lead.
It was a solid twenty minutes before the fans realized that Ukraine was not about to simply capitulate to the Germans. A steady push into the German area forced Manuel Neuer to remain wall-like on the line and yielded corner after corner after corner. Even with peak Neuer-being-Neuer it took an athletic last ditch clearance from Jerome Boateng to keep the “Yellow-Blue” off the board. It began to feel like Ukraine could have some special secret sauce tucked away, and a little drizzle at half-time could help them to spring the shocker.
But feelings aren’t facts, there was no special sauce, and Die Mannschaft set about steadily and methodically killing off the game for the entire second half. They didn’t make daring runs, or deliver dangerous balls, but they kept Ukraine from applying the special brand of pressure they used at the end of the first half, and suddenly the sedated crowd realized “oh, yeah, Germany’s going to win this one.”
One final push from the stubborn Ukranians could have yielded an equalizer, but instead sprung a late German counter-attack with another solid cross (this one from Mesut Ozil) to another finishing run (this time from Bastien Schweinsteiger) to put the cherry on the Black Forest Cake and send the fans out happy…at least half of them. — Ben MacKenzie
Group D
Croatia 1 – Turkey 0
With just one game on the docket for Group D, the Croatians finish the day atop the standings.
Croatia used a first-half volley from Luka Modric to dispatch Turkey in the Group D opener, 1-0.
A clearance in the 41st minute from the Turks inside their own penalty area traveled all of 10 yards outside the penalty area before Modric got under it. The Real Madrid midfielder hit a wonder-strike out of the air, bouncing his shot past Volkan Babacan for the game’s only goal.
Coming into the Euros, Croatian manager Ante Cacic pieced together an unbeaten run of seven games in his first seven games in charge. The 62-year-old Yugoslavian was appointed to lead the team after Niko Kovac tanked the final few of games in Euro qualifying, including a 0-0 draw to Azerbaijan and a 2-0 defeat to Norway.
Monday, the Spaniards and the Czechs face off in their respective Euro openers. Spain was on a streak of 11 unbeaten but fell in the Euro prelude to Georgia, 1-0 on June 7. The Czech Republic also lost in its final tune-up game before the Euros, taking defeat to South Korea, 2-1. Game time for Monday’s contest will be 8 a.m. CST.
On matchday two, Croatia will take on the Czechs, and Spain and Turkey will duke it out on Friday. –Matthew DeWitt
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