ON TODAY’S MENU
Unfortunately for viewers, since last Sunday we have had to decide between which game to watch as opposed to the three separate kick-off times we were previously spoilt with at Euro 2016.
Tuesday’s choices are between Northern Ireland v Germany and Ukraine v Poland in the 5pm fixtures. A draw or a marginal defeat should be enough for the North to progress, while Ukraine will be seeking their first points of the competition in order to earn an unlikely third-place qualification.
At 8pm, it’s Group D’s turn, the Czech Republic take on Turkey, with a win for the Czechs all but seeing them progress to the last-16, while Croatia and already qualified Spain face-off to see who will top the pool.
TALKING POINT
A burst ball, four ripped Switzerland tops and a pitch that would put most ice rinks to shame.
A bizarre string of occurrences, but as necessary to the entertainment in this game as any goal so far at this year’s competition, as France v Switzerland was, to put it politely, slightly dull.
NUMBERS GAME
- Albania join Northern Ireland this summer in earning their first ever win at a European Championship and it was richly deserved. A 1-0 win over Romania, who themselves were aiming for qualification, has set the Albanians up with a slight chance of progressing. Payet’s second goal for France in injury-time against the tournament debutants looks likely to cost them though.
TALKING (NON)SENSE
“I bluffed. Yes, I bluffed. The players were aware of this. They were well aware. We waited for the right time. We spoke about this privately.” - Under-fire Belgium manager Marc Wilmots explaining his masterplan in leading the press to believe that Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku would be dropped after poor performances when, of course, this was just a bluff.
Sources close to the squad revealed this wasn’t altogether true.
PLACE YOUR BET
Spain have already qualified and only need a point to top Group D, while Croatia only need a point to secure their place in the last-16.
The Croats will obviously hope to try and top the group themselves with a win, but the Spanish are bang in form and will take some stopping. A draw at 21/10 with BET365 would be a grand bet.
WELL THAT WAS UNEXPECTED
Going back to last Saturday night’s one-sided fixture between Portugal and Austria, where Cristiano Ronaldo squandered chance after chance including a penalty miss and a goal disallowed for offside, the moody Madrid man would normally throw a tantrum when things don’t go his way.
So when a fan broke past security guards to capture a photo with Portugal’s all-time top goal scorer, it was a bit of a shock to see him pose for it. Well, on reflection, maybe not given his self-adulation and love for a still image of himself.
CHAUD OR FROID
Having six points already on the board and scoring four goals without reply along the way, the Spaniards have went from one of the fancied front-runners to outright tournament favourites after their 3-0 victory over Turkey.
Ahead of their fixture with Croatia, Spain will fancy their chances of maintaining their 100 per cent record, especially after striker Alvaro Morata netted twice in their previous outing.
On the other hand, sitting at the bottom of Group C and all but eliminated are Ukraine. Having not even registered a goal or a point ahead of their almost meaningless fixture with unbeaten Poland and with a goal difference of -4, the Ukranians don’t have much of a chance of catching third-placed Northern Ireland, who are sitting pretty as best third-placed side, with a goal difference of +1 heading into their final fixture with world champions Germany.
