Euro 2016 Group A, France v Albania, 8PM TV3 & ITV

martyos121

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

All these extra places in Euros making for some poor early games.

Very little attacking quality on display so far this tournament, it's like watching reserve football at times. Of course the nerves and not wanting to lose ground in the groups is playing a massive part.

WinnyThePoo

I've really enjoyed that first half . Credit to Albania. France can't seem to get anything going.

Grandeeod

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

All these extra places in Euros making for some poor early games.

More exciting in my opinion. Never know what will happen.

jacool

ShamoBuc wrote: »

Martial could very easily be dragged at ht

Definitely - he's chronic. Three times he's let the ball out over the sideline. He over hits a pass for Evra, then under hits one for Giroud, and when France had a huge overlap on the left wing, he never looked up and just toe-poked the ball over the sideline on the right.

Ol' Donie

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

All these extra places in Euros making for some poor early games.

It'd be nice if the superstar teams turned up every now and then.

Grandeeod

A half time story. Didn't Albania arrive in Dublin in 1992 with no gear/strip for a 1994 WC qualifier? Look at them now! Toe to toe with the hosts in 2016. I love football!

Harry Palmr

The going is soft isn't it? State of the art stadium terrible pitch. Kante and Payet are the only ones giving a decent account but Albania have been terrific as measured against the expected standard.

Irish_rat

RobertKK wrote: »

France will need to improve a lot if they are to win the Euros.

I rarely see a team lift that trophy with some bang average players in the side. Some posters here like to big up. Luckily they got a nicely rigged draw by UEFA.

Mec27

Harry Palmr wrote: »

The going is soft isn't it? State of the art stadium terrible pitch. Kante and Payet are the only ones giving a decent account but Albania have been terrific as measured against the expected standard.

Payet has done nothing, nobody on France has done anything. What difference has there been between Kante and Matuidi?

The Talking Bread

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

All these extra places in Euros making for some poor early games.

I think most are of the opinion its been the most exciting Euros since 1996!

Mec27

24 teams is class, but the perfect number, any more would be overkill.

The Talking Bread

Irish_rat wrote: »

I rarely see a team lift that trophy with some bang average players in the side. Some posters here like to big up. Luckily they got a nicely rigged draw by UEFA.

yeah, sure Ted! How the hell could they have rigged the draw you mad thing!! It was live!

Unearthly

The Talking Bread wrote: »

I think most are of the opinion its been the most exciting Euros since 1996!

Nonsense

Euro 2000 ftw

paulie21

Pogba on for Martial

namloc1980

TV3 must have 15 mins of ads during the HT break in their games. Chronic.

Sparko

namloc1980 wrote: »

TV3 must have 15 mins of ads during the HT break in their games. Chronic.

And late back, missed a few seconds there!

Irish_rat

The Talking Bread wrote: »

yeah, sure Ted! How the hell could they have rigged the draw you mad thing!! It was live!

Did you read the hot/cold ball theory? It's very easy to do. How many bloody times do France end up in the same group as the Swiss. Same with other sides.

martyos121

The Talking Bread wrote: »

I think most are of the opinion its been the most exciting Euros since 1996!

There's two ways of looking at it I suppose. All these surprise results make for an exciting competition, but at the same times the games themselves are pretty poor so far, with a few exceptions.

Mec27

Unearthly wrote: »

Nonsense

Euro 2000 ftw

There does seem to be a lack of top quality like there was back then.

The Talking Bread

Unearthly wrote: »

Nonsense

Euro 2000 ftw

Fair point! Wasnt really thinking there, Quarter finals were pretty poor in that tourny though. But group stage was fascinating

Ol' Donie

The Talking Bread wrote: »

I think most are of the opinion its been the most exciting Euros since 1996!

I seem to remember all of them being pretty brilliant.

Mr.Nice Guy

The underdogs have given a great account of themselves for the most part. Hopefully we can continue that against Belgium.

namloc1980

Irish_rat wrote: »

Did you read the hot/cold ball theory? It's very easy to do.

They're hollow plastic balls with a piece of paper inside, that are sitting on stage for a long time before the actual draw starts. Tinfoil hat time.

That_Guy

Jesus, how close was that??

Mr.Nice Guy

Ha loved Kevin Kilbane's 'oooooooooh!' there on commentary.

derm0j073

France were blessed there, they'd wanna wake up.

Rayne Wooney

Insane cross there

Mec27

Albania giving a far better performance in terms of intent than Ireland could ever hope to muster.

Mr.Nice Guy

namloc1980 wrote: »

They're hollow plastic balls with a piece of paper inside, that are sitting on stage for a long time before the actual draw starts. Tinfoil hat time.

Is it tinfoil hat time when the former FIFA President alleges it?

“Of course it’s possible that they can be signalled, by heating or cooling them. It doesn’t happen in Fifa, but I’ve witnessed draws at European level where it has happened, but never in Fifa.

“Of course it can be done, but it never happened under my watch, never.”

Blatter explained how a ‘blind’ draw could be fixed, saying, “Balls are put in the freezer before the draw, at the slightest touch you can tell if the balls are hot or cold.

“By touching them you know exactly what you have.”

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/14/sepp-blatter-european-competition-draw-was-rigged-by-cooling-balls

Clear Hearts

The Talking Bread wrote: »

I think most are of the opinion its been the most exciting Euros since 1996!

I thought he was being sarcastic

martyos121

namloc1980 wrote: »

They're hollow plastic balls with a piece of paper inside, that are sitting on stage for a long time before the actual draw starts. Tinfoil hat time.

It was Sepp Blatter who said that stuff about the hot and cold balls. As a master of corruption, I think he knows what he's on about.

Qiaonasen

This France team will be hammered after the group stages.

Irish_rat

Euro 2004 was really good too.

That Czech team was something else.

It was a pity Greece ruined that potential final between them and Portugal

namloc1980

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Is it tinfoil hat time when the former FIFA President alleges it?

Especially when Mr Blatter alleges it!!

Mec27

Irish_rat wrote: »

Euro 2004 was really good too.

That Czech team was something else.

It was a pity Greece ruined that potential final between them and Portugal

Czech vs Netherlands in that group, Cech made a wondersave from Heitinga, I remember it so well.

GreNoLi

Come on Albania.

Irish_rat

Mec27 wrote: »

Czech vs Netherlands in that group, Cech made a wondersave from Heitinga, I remember it so well.

One of my favorite games ever. The Czech's were 2-0 down I remember telling my mates they'll win 3-2 :-P

Not as good as Juve-Real in 2003. I was a bit of a Nedved fan

The Talking Bread

Ol' Donie wrote: »

I seem to remember all of them being pretty brilliant.

of course , but those 2 were the pick of the bunch, just saying this tourny is really intriguing. I guess the 3rd place chance of qualifying is ensuring teams are really giving there all and confidence is high.

The expansion was always going to be really bad idea or conversely a great idea, and its proved to be the latter thankfully.

Also over the last decade, international football has became increasingly more competitive and although there will always be a couple of teams who stand out, it is starting to develop a trend where there are more and more teams challenging up at the top.

Albania will tire eventually after a first game with 10 men, great effort by them so far

Mec27

Irish_rat wrote: »

One of my favorite games ever. The Czech's were 2-0 I remember telling my mates they'll win 3-2 :-P

Not as good as Juve-Real in 2003. I was a bit of a Nedved fan

That Czech team must have been one of the most harmonious teams of all time. Chemistry level 100.

Mr.Nice Guy

namloc1980 wrote: »

Especially when Mr Blatter alleges it!!

Pretty shocking claim though you have to say. I thought it would be the most shocking ball-touching story I'd learn about this week until Joachim Löw proved me wrong.

Still can't believe Albania have held out this long. It would be mad if they nicked a goal.

Mec27

If people looked at the results around Europe during qualification, this is generally how these games go. Very rarely do you see hammerings between sides from pots 1 to 4. Ireland has this thing where we believe we step up to the big teams but generally every small country puts it up to the bigger nations.

jacool

I can see a goal before the 70th minute.
Be exciting if its Albania but Payet seems to be on the ball more now.

Den_M

Most entertaining game of the tourney so far, this. Albania giving it a right go against the les miserables crowd

JustTheOne

So we want an Albania loss to help us get through on best 3rd place?

Toobz

jacool wrote: »

I can see a goal before the 70th minute.
Be exciting if its Albania but Payet seems to be on the ball more now.

A shot on target before 70 mins is ambitious

trashcan

Albania doing well here. The "minnows" have been competing very well so far. Doesn't look like anyone is going to get a hiding. Norn Iron have probably been the worst team on show so far, and even they only lost 1-0.

That_Guy

That is pathetic from Giroud. Free bloody header.

SlickRic

Taking Coman off?

Good Christ.

jacool

Toobz wrote: »

A shot on target before 70 mins is ambitious

does the post count?