Euro 2024

[jimmy jazz]

I'm just glad we're not in this. Can you imagine the embarrassment? "And Slovenia, a tiny nation of two million, in their first ever Euro tournament, have beaten Republic of Ireland by 5-0!" Not even kidding. Our new chant is "We're shit, and we know we are, we're shit, and we know we are"...

You need more English players imo.

Louie Barry hasn't declared for anyone yet and is eligible for Ireland. Omari Kellyman is too, the lad Chelsea are trying to get for £20m off us.

Worth a try?

 

[Trollheart]

We could have Ronaldo and Messi and we'd still fuck it up. We have players who don't seem to know what they're doing, a new manager who looks unequal to the job and a previous manager who was (and here I'm using a technical term so only football fans will know it) shite, with no real hope for the future and the glory days of Jack Charlton and Mick McCarthy and Martin O'Neill are long gone, disappearing in the rearview mirror. I have no idea what is needed, but what we got ain't it.

[jimmy jazz]

England vs Slovakia on Sunday.

Win and then it's Italy or Switzerland in the quarters.

Then Romania, The Netherlands, Austria or Turkey in the semi.

[Trollheart]

TODAY'S MATCHES AND RESULTS


GROUP E

Ukraine 0 - 0 Belgium
Romania 1 - Slovakia 1

Group F

Czechia 1  -   Turkey 2
Portugal 0  -   Georgia 2 (No you read that right!)


For the first time ever in the history of the Euros, one of the groups, this one, had every team in it exactly on the same points, three, with only goal difference separating them. And after the matches were done, still the same, though this time everyone had four points. Belgium and Romania are already through, while Slovakia could make it if they drew with Romania. The Belgium game, despite having so many stars in it, failed to impress and both teams played out a pretty boring nil-all draw, this emphasised at the end when Kevin de Bruyne made sure to keep the ball in the corner down the opposition half in the dying seconds of extra time, making sure that Ukraine had no chance to get the goal they needed to progress. In the Romania/Slovakia game, the Slovaks scored first, with Romania awarded a penalty, a goal they didn't need but which shows they were at least playing, something you really couldn't say about Belgium. About the only interesting thing about that match was when some idiot started shining one of those laser lights in DeBruyne's eyes - dangerous and illegal.

The last two matches in the last group didn't promise a lot. It was pretty obvious Portugal would grind Georgia into the dust and that Turkey were likely to brush Czechia aside, and that's what happened. Not. In a pretty amazing game, Georgia went ahead in the first two minutes, adding another one in the second half, when they were given a penalty. Portugal had few chances, including a missed free by That Man, furious it was saved, as if it was his god-given right to score. Well, as it happened, an admittedly much-changed Portugal side could not score at all. They were of course through anyway, but teams like that always want to turn on the style, and they pointedly failed to do so. An increasingly angry and frustrated Ronaldo was substituted late on; his manager may have been concerned his tirades against the ref and his general behaviour would earn him a second yellow card to add to the one he had already picked up for simulation (diving) and rule him out of the next match. Portugal's footballing legend did not look happy about it, but though he played his part, to be fair, he didn't offer much, nor did any of his teammates. Huge congratulations to Georgia, who put in a battling, defiant performance to hang on for the win and go through for the first time ever to the next round.

Czechia, as last in the group, looked to be heading home when they had a man sent off after ten minutes, giving themselves a mountain to climb. That mountain got steeper when Turkey scored a wonder goal just after the second half began, but the Czechs managed to equalise, and right up to the end looked like they had done enough to secure their own passage into the next round. However in the dying moments (how many games have had winning or must-equalise-equalising goals scored in the last few minutes/seconds of the game in this tournament? Find out tomorrow perhaps if I feel like it) Turkey netted again, and were in total command, handing Czechia their ticket home. Just in with a slim chance up to now, the wait is over for Hungary, who may see the Czechia team at the airport. Croatia, of course, also clinging on by the slimmest margin, find that lifeline snapped and they're homeward bound too.

So now the surviving teams who go through and the corresponding fixtures are:

Spain v Georgia
Germany v Denmark
Portugal v Slovenia
France v Belgium

On the other side of the draw (and therefore to play the winner of each of those matches) are

Romania v The Netherlands
Austria v Turkey
England v Slovakia
Switzerland v Italy

So, as JJ will tell you, England's path to the finals, if they make it through, will be to play either Portugal or Slovenia, and for Marie, if The Netherlands beat Romania they will face either Spain or Georgia.

No more matches now till Saturday, when the "Round of Sixteen" begins with the first two matches as Italy takes on Switzerland and Germany face Denmark for a place in the quarter-finals.

So....

Well, me being me, I won't be taking a break. Tomorrow I'm going to do a look back at the Group stages and chart how each team progressed, or did not, to the next round. I'll note any interesting points in any of the matches, and maybe throw in a bit of humour and observation too. No, sorry, that injunction runs out at midnight: should have applied for a continuance, too late now.

[Trollheart]

England vs Slovakia on Sunday.

Win and then it's Italy or Switzerland in the quarters.

Then Romania, The Netherlands, Austria or Turkey in the semi.

England/France final? The spirit of Agincourt?

[jimmy jazz]

England/France final? The spirit of Agincourt?

Germany and a reversal of 1996 would be good for me 👍

The tournament gets juicy now.

[Trollheart]

France by a nose.
Sorry Kylian.   

[Trollheart]

For those few of us who have the slightest interest, over the next few days I'll be posting, as I intimated (intimidated? Never!) yesterday, a detailed review of what's happened in the tournament up to now. As I'll be doing this on a country-by-country basis, and making each entry, I hope, as interesting and entertaining and informative as I can, I'll be posting each as separate entries. Were I to put it all up as one, knowing my propensity for diarhhea of the pen, I'd well go outside the maximum character limit, so instead we'll have, not bite-sized but at least more manageable chunks of data going up one after the other.

And no, you can't stop me. Better men and women than you have tried. All have failed, and their bleached bones now decorate the sands of ... well, it's not really important where their bleached bones decorate now, is it? I mean, not really. At least, certainly not in a legal sense.

Must dash: back later.
Ole Ole Ole, or something.

[Trollheart]

And so it's time for Trollheart's roundup of the Group Stages of Euro 2024. I'm going to do this on a country-by-country basis, and in alphabetical order. Which means we start with


Albania: For those who don't know (I didn't) Albania is an ex-Communist country, bordered by Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Greece. Though never likely to be able to call themselves a footballing power, Albania's ranking has improved slightly over the decades, beginning in 1992 when they were ranked at 86th, dropping to their worst ranking in 1996 when they were 116th, but showing reasonable progress over the next twenty years, where, with a few blips along the way, they rose to their highest-ever ranking in 2015, attaining the giddy heights of 38th. This didn't last though and they slipped steadily over the next almost ten years, to end up as 66th, as of 2022, the most recent rankings.

This is only their second time to qualify for the Euros, the previous effort having been 2015, when they finished 18th in the Group stages, so this was their first hope of ever getting out of their group and facing the bigger teams in the Round of 16. So far as I can make out (JJ can correct me if I'm wrong) the rules at that time only allowed the top two teams to qualify, which in Albania's case was unfortunate as they came third in their group, and under today's rules would have made it through. They played Switzerland in their first match, beaten 1-0, and had the misfortune to face world champions France in their second, where they were beaten 2-0. This can't have filled them with confidence they would progress, and they did not, despite winning their last game against Romania 1-0, and thus were eliminated with a total of 3 points compared to Switzerland's 5 and winner of the group France's 7, though they may have taken some solace from the fact that they were not bottom of the group, that position being occupied by their last opponents, and the only team against which they were victorious, Romania, who ended up with one lousy stinking point. This year they (Romania) topped their group. What a difference a decade makes, huh?

Anyway, that's sort of their potted history of participation, such as it is, in the Euros to date. This then being their second shot, they ended up in Group A, which was not good news for them, with both Spain and Italy to play, and they were, to be fair, not expected to advance far. Their first match saw them take on the feared Italy, and as predicted they fell to the Azzurri 2-1. However... Italy shot themselves in the foot as a terrible mistake by their keeper gifted Albania a goal in the first 30 seconds of the match, allowing the Albanians the rather unprecedented and somewhat surreal honour not only of leading Italy for ten minutes in a game they were categorically expected to lose - and did - but also of making history by scoring the fastest-ever goal in the Euros ever! Once the Italians got back on their feet, so to speak, normal service was of course resumed and they came out comfortable winners, handing Albania the first of what were expected to be four defeats.

Albania 1 - Italy 2
Points: 0
Position in Group: 4

Buoyed up surely by a better performance than they had been expected to put in, Albania headed off to their second match to see how they might fare against Croatia. This one, too, bucked the trend and showed the world (or Europe at least) that Albania were not a team to be written off lightly. I'll be going into Croatia's fine pedigree in the tournament when I do their article, but let's just say this was far from their first rodeo, and Albania really rose to the challenge. They actually scored first, which surprised everyone (especially the Croatians!) and led for some time before Croatia equalised and then scored again to take the score to 2-1. As the match passed into extra time it looked like Croatia had done enough to hand Albania their second defeat, but a last-gasp equaliser gave them the point, and showed everyone this team were still very much in the fight. Still, one point earned kept them at the bottom of the group, and their next match was going to be a killer.

Albania 2 - Croatia 2
Points: 1
Position in Group: 4

One way or the other, they were going to have to face Spain, who had, at this point, won all their matches and sat (and would remain) comfortably at the top of the table. Perhaps having earned new respect after their heroics against Croatia, it's not as if anyone gave them a chance but this was not anticipated to be anything like a 5-0 thrashing or the like. And it wasn't. But the Spanish still came out triumphant, if with only the one goal to show for their efforts, proof that Albania were not going to go down easy, and wanted to show they were not just there to make up the numbers.  However, coming up against one of the princes of European football, they really didn't have a chance, nor did they score. Their second defeat marked their exit from the tournament, but they had certainly left their mark on it, and we look forward to their hopeful qualification for 2026.

Albania 0 - Spain 1
Points: 0
Position in Group: 4
Result: Eliminated from the tournament

So, a quick recap then:
Beaten by Italy 2-1, held Croatia to a thrilling 2-2 draw and then beaten 1-0 by Spain.
Total points: 1
Goals for: 2
Goals against: 3
Drew 1, Lost 2

[Trollheart]

Austria: I'm just going to assume everyone knows where Austria is, right? No, you can't go surfing on Bondi Beach there! That's Australia, mate - over that way, few thousand miles. You know, there was someone famous born there, but can't for the life of me think of his name. Adolf something. Neumann, was it? Something like that anyway. But as far as their participation in the Euros goes, well now that I can tell you, as you may not know. It may seem odd, and it certainly surprised me, but Austria have only qualified for the Euros three times before, and have only got out of the group stages once. Even odder, their involvement in the tournament only goes back a mere sixteen years, with their first qualification having been in 2008, where they found themselves in Group B. Their first match saw them lose 1-0 to Croatia, where a penalty scored in the fourth minute by legend Luka Modric was the only goal, so either the match must have been very boring or very tenacious and hard-fought. At any rate, Austria lost their first match and they again trailed in extra time when they faced Poland, only getting a penalty in the third minute of extra time, which allowed them to draw the match 1-1. Facing the mighty Germany in their final match though proved too much for them and they went down 1-0, ending, like Albania in 2016, third in the table with a single point to their name.

They next tried in 2016, the same year as Albania's only previous effort (and, incidentally, one of the few times we qualified) and this time ended up in Group F, alongside the scary Portugal. Their first match saw them face the country of whose empire they used to be a part, as they went down 2-0 to Hungary, then perhaps surprisingly held Portugal to a 0-0 draw, before almost doing the same to Iceland, who ended their hopes with an extra time penalty to take the game 2-1 and send them home. Their final attempt prior to this one saw them do a lot better. In 2020, though due to the Covid-19 pandemic this actually took place in 2021. Here they were in Group C, with their only major threat being the Netherlands, so they must have fancied their chances. And they did well, putting North Macedonia to the sword 3-1 in their first match, though the bloom on the rose wore off quickly as they were given a masterclass in football by the Dutch, falling 2-1 to the Netherlands and then beating Ukraine 1-0 to end up second in the group with six points. There must have been some celebrations on the streets of Vienna that night!

Into, then, for the first time ever, the Round of 16 they went, where a hard-fought match against Italy, in which NO GOALS WERE SCORED UNTIL EXTRA TIME AND THREE SCORED AFTER, with two goals scored by Italy and one by Austria, this last coming in minute 114 (!) but not enough to gain them a point as they fell 2-1 to Italy. The Azzurri would eventually go on to win the tournament, after a thrilling 1-1 draw with England and a penalty shoot-out, but this was the end for Austria, the furthest they had progressed up to then. This year, then, marked their fourth attempt to get beyond the Round of 16 and their third attempt to get out of the Group stages.

It didn't start off too auspiciously, with a loss to France which could have been a lot worse. France's only goal ended up being an Austrian own goal, so not good, however two goals were ruled out for the French, one offside and one, in a major VAR controversy, for handball, so the score ended 1-0 to France.

Austria 0 - France 1
Points: 0
Points total: 0
Position in group: 3

The next match though was like chalk and something that is nothing at all like chalk, as Austria turned on the style, determined to get out of the group and make this their year. Coming up against Poland, they stormed to a 3-1 victory, equalling their biggest score so far in any of the Euros in which they have taken part, and in fact managed to ensure that Poland were eliminated from the tournament, while they themselves rose to second in the group and looked certain to qualify, especially after France and the Netherlands played out a boring nil-all draw.

Austria 3 - Poland 1
Points: 3
Points total: 3
Position in group: 2

The final game was to prove Austria were here to stay this time, as they played the Netherlands, favoured to have been the other team to go through, after France were expected to top the group. It did not start well for Austria, giving away an own goal in the first six minutes of the game, but they fought back gamely, end-to-end action as the game swung one way then t'other, until Austria finally settled it in the last ten minutes, putting them top of the group and sealing their intention to qualify for the next round.

Austria 3 - Netherlands 2
Points: 3
Points total: 6
Position in group: 1

So for only the second time in their relatively short history taking part in the Euros, Austria qualify for the Round of 16, and not only qualify, but at the top of their group. This leaves them facing Turkey, and assuming they win, either Slovenia or Portugal. They wouldn't be favourites to win the title, though they should on paper beat the Turks, but getting past even a pretty misfiring Portugal (assuming Ronaldo and Co. beat Slovenia) may be a hurdle too much for them. Still, they're in with a chance, and who knows?

Recap then:
Beaten by France 1-0, beat Poland 3-1 and beat Netherlands 3-2
Total points: 6
Goals for: 6
Goals against: 4
Won 2,  Lost 1
Next opponent: Turkey

[Trollheart]

Belgium: Whether they would be considered one of the "big four" of European football is, to me, in doubt - for me, that's made up of Spain, Italy, France and Germany - but Belgium certainly have a fine record in the Euros, are a powerful European team and boast, and have boasted down the years, some top players. Unfortunately, this can often be a two-edged sword, as the expectation is that you will do well, and if you don't, questions are asked. Questions are already being asked about this Belgian team, but before we get into that, let's look into their history in the competition. One of the oldest to take part, in fact, Belgium's first involvement was way back in 1972, and they in fact came third. 1972 was the fourth year of the tournament, and from what I can see the groups at this time were numbered, not identified by letter, so Belgium ended up in Group 5, with Portugal, Scotland and Denmark.

It seems (check the Oracle aka JJ to be sure) that back then the tournament took a lot longer, and I mean a lot, since the group stages appear to have been played through 1970! At any rate, Belgium's first match was against Denmark, which they won 2-0, then against Scotland which they also won, this time 3-0, and finally another 3-0 against Portugal, A rematch against Denmark in 1971 saw them march on with this time a 2-1 victory. They then handed another 1-0 defeat to the Scots, but drew with Portugal 1-1, the first time they had failed to win but with a points tally which put them top of the group anyway. Why so many matches? Search me. In the semi-finals they faced Germany (then West Germany) and lost 2-1, then went on to win the third place play-off against Hungary 2-1.

1980 then saw them in Group 2, the so-called "Group of Death", where they faced Spain, Italy and England. Playing out a 1-1 draw against England they next took on Spain, and beat them 2-1, then drew nil-all with Italy. This put them again at the top of their group and assured qualification to the next round, where they faced (West) Germany in the final, beaten 2-1. This remains their best ever performance (well, other than winning it, which they have never done, it would have to, wouldn't it?). Four years later they were back, this time in Group 1 with France, Denmark and Yugoslavia. They took on Yugoslavia and won 2-0 but France absolutely hammered them, Belgium going down 5-0, their heaviest defeat up to that point (and possibly to date, we'll see) then perhaps still reeling from such a thrashing they fell 3-2 to Denmark, ending third in the group and going home, their worst performance to that point.

It was literally the twenty-first century before they managed to qualify again, and in 2000 they were in Group B, and were also the host nation, so may not have had to qualify., Let me check that. Yeah I was right: both they and the Netherlands, who were co-hosts, automatically qualified. How did they do? Let's see. In their group this time were Italy, Turkey and Sweden, and they faced Sweden first, getting off to a good start and beating them 2-1, then their old nemesis Italy beat them 2-0 and the wheels came off as Turkey made it a three-strikes of two goals against them, beating them 2-0 also. Belgium ended up third in the group again, and again heading to the airport early. Another sixteen years passed before they were in the tournament again, and in 2016 they were in Group E, with again Italy and Sweden, and this time a nervous Ireland. The old curse held and Italy beat them 2-0 again in their first match, but they beat us 3-0 and Sweden 1-0 to take second place and go through to the knockout stages for the first time in thirty-six years.

They beat Hungary, again, this time registering their highest ever winning score as they thumped the Hungarians 4-0 but were stopped by the Welsh, who took them for 3-1 and sent them home. They were back for the next one though, and in 2020 in Group B they thrashed Russia 3-0, took Denmark for 2-1 and completed an impressive group performance by knocking Finland down 2-0, to top their group and this time repeat the result of the previous tournament, making it through to the next stage, where they beat Portugal 1-0 to stake their place in the quarter-finals. There they faced the Azzurri, who once again proved their undoing, the brick wall built of blue blocks they could not, and never have been able to pass. 2-1 to Italy and Belgium were travelling a by-now familiar route back to Brussels.

Which brings us to this year, where Belgium, now fancied as a real prospect, started slowly. Again in Group E, with Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine, on the face of it an easy group they should have been expected to top, they went down to a surprise early goal from Slovakia in their first match and never recovered, losing 1-0 to the Slovaks. Romelu Lukaku had two goals ruled offside in the game, and people were already beginning to mutter about Belgium being tired and out of ideas, and already talking about them going home, being at that stage bottom of the group.

Belgium 0 - Slovakia 1
Points: 0
Points total: 0
Position in Group: 4

They put those rumours to bed when they met Romania and beat them 2-0, even if one of their goals did result from a bad Romanian backpass and so turned into an own goal. The match could not in fairness be said to have been a classic, but it did inject fresh life and belief into both the Belgian team and their fans, and made it far more likely they would perform as expected, and at least get out of the group, if not actually top it. Oh, and poor old Lukaku had another goal ruled offside! Damned VAR!

Belgium 2 - Romania 0
Points: 3
Points total: 3
Position in Group: 2

Belgium's final match saw them take on Ukraine, who held them to a nil-all draw, though it was not enough to save them from going home. A quirk of Group E was that, for the first time ever in the Euros, every team had exactly the same number of points - four - and every team had won 1, lost 1 and drawn 1, so the only thing separating them was goal difference, and Romania's 3-0 demolition of Ukraine turned out to be the deciding factor, allowing them to top the group while Belgium go through as second, reaching the knockout stages for now the third time in a row.

Belgium 0 - Ukraine 0
Points: 1
Points total: 4
Position in Group: 2

Belgium now face France, and if they can somehow get past them and Switzerland lose, they'll end up facing their "auld enemy", the Italian wall, in the final. Could be a day of destiny for DeBruyne and Co. Or not.

Recap then:
Beaten by Slovakia 1-0, beat Romania 2-0 and held to a draw by Ukraine for 0-0.
Total points: 4
Goals for: 2
Goals against: 1
Position in Group: 2
Next opponent: France

[Trollheart]

Croatia: Probably just me, but I always tend to mix them up with the Czech Republic (previously known as Czechoslovakia, now known as Czechia), whom we will of course also be covering next. Anyhoo, another of the great footballing nations, Croatia's links to the tournament go back to technically 1960, when they were part of what was then called Yugoslavia, but just as I would not suggest the likes of Georgia or Armenia should be covered as part of the Soviet Union's participation, I think it's only fair to judge Croatia's performance based on the point from which they became an independent nation, and that's after 1992. Therefore, with one blip, it can be seen that Croatia have in fact qualified for the tournament each time it was on, right up to this year. The year they missed out was 2000, but other than that they have an unbroken line of qualification stretching right up to this year's tournament, very impressive.

The country, as I say, is a relatively young one, having been formed after the Croatian War of Independence allowed it freedom from the Federal State of Yugoslavia in 1996, Yugoslavia itself splintering into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia and Macedonia, a troubled birth which saw some major atrocities in the wars which raged right into the twenty-first century. Croatia, therefore, has only been in existence for less than thirty years, but as a footballing nation it is respected and has acquitted itself very well in the Euros, as well as the World Cup. 1996 then was Croatia's first qualification for the Euros as an independent nation, and they found themselves in Group D, with Portugal, Denmark and Turkey. The new kids on the block, they immediately set about putting their stamp on the competition, beating Turkey 1-0 and Denmark 3-0, but fell foul of Portugal, who beat them 3-0. This was still enough to allow them to finish second in the group and advance, where in the quarter-finals they fell to Germany 2-1 and went home, surely with their heads high for their first appearance at the tournament. They would not be back the next year, but it would be the only time they were not present at the Euros.

2004 then saw them in a difficult group, Group B, with France, England and Switzerland, where they drew with the Swiss 0-0, had a respectable 2-2 draw with France but were hammered 4-2 by England, finishing third in the group and heading home. They would be back in four years, and would have their best tournament to date. 2008 saw them in Group B again, this time with Germany, Austria and Poland. They surprised everyone as a young Luka Modrich burst upon the scene, scoring a penalty in the first four minutes to beat Austria 1-0, and then go on to beat Germany 2-1, completing an all-but-perfect showing by taking Poland 1-0 and topping the group, surely an upset as Germany must have been expected to take top spot, though they of course qualified in second place. Heartbreak awaited them though as they met Turkey in the quarter-finals, and after a hard-fought 1-1 draw and extra time, the new penalty shoot-out rule meant that Croatia went down 3-1 to Turkey and were sent home. It's perhaps worth noting that the only Croatian player to score his penalty was that man, Modric.

2012 found them in Group C with Spain, Italy and ourselves, so other than the lowly Ireland they must have known they were in for a fight, and though they breezed past us at 3-1 Italy held them to a 1-1 draw, and then it was time to face the mighty Spain. They had already kicked us out with a 4-0 drubbing, and though they went easier on Croatia, the result was the same: both of us commiserating at the airport over how we wuz robbed, though we weren't: we were just shite. 1-0 to Spain and Croatia's latest Euro attempt was over. Back they came in 2016, where they again faced Spain in Group D this time, as well as Turkey and, for the first time, the Czech Republic, as it was known then. Again they beat Turkey 1-0, drew 2-2 with the Czechs and, revenge no doubt on their minds, pushed past Spain to beat them 2-1 and advance to the next round. They came up against Portugal (possibly, though not necessarily, ready to avenge their Iberian cousins!) and though the game was scoreless after normal time, in the 117th minute Portugal scored to break Croatian hearts and send them home, 1-0 to Ronaldo's lads.

And so 2020 rolled around, they again qualified, and this time their group was Group D, where it was almost an all-British affair, with England and Scotland (joint hosts) and again the Czech Republic to play. They got off to a bad start, beaten 1-0 by England, but managed again to hold the Czech Republic to a 1-1 draw, before beating Scotland 3-1 to progress to the next round. Here they again came up against Spain, this time fighting furiously (their cause not helped by an own goal), losing 3-2 at the end of the ninety and just barely forcing the game into extra time at 3-3, but the Spaniards took the day, the game ending at 5-3 and Croatia again homeward bound.

An impressive overall performance, I think you'll agree, and so much was expected of them this year, though it was noted that their talisman, Luka Modric, was getting on in years (in football terms - anyone in their thirties is usually expected to be heading for retirement, and he's 38 now) and they might struggle. And they did. Sharing Group B with their mortal enemy Spain, as well as Italy and newcomers Albania they fell foul of a superb Spanish side who have showed no sign of slowing down or ageing (or those who are doing so are being supplemented by younger players every bit as good as, and in some cases possible better than them) and were soundly beaten 3-0, those three goals (without reply this time) surely bringing back nasty memories of their exit from the previous tournament. Croatia got a very suspect penalty award, but Modric missed it, then scored but it was ruled out for encroachment in the box, and Croatia had nothing. But if they had scored the penalty and it been allowed it would have been a crime. To everyone except Croatians of course.

Croatia 0 - Spain 3
Points: 0
Points total: 0
Position in Group: 4

They next faced Albania, which was surely expected to be an easy victory, but to everyone's surprise the Albanians scored first. Croatia then equalised and went ahead, and looked to be heading indeed for a win before a last minute equaliser from Albania put paid to those hopes, and at 2-2 it started looking bleak for Modric and Co.

Croatia 2 - Albania 2
Points: 1
Points total: 1
Position in Group: 3

For their final match in the group Croatia came up against what has been a relatively uninspired Italy, and indeed they went ahead early on when Modric had a penalty saved but then scored a few moments later (not on the rebound; nothing to do with the penalty, it was a fresh attack) and as the game wound on into an incredible eight minutes of extra time Croatia were holding on, dreaming of progressing, when in the literal dying seconds Italy scored a breakaway  goal to equalise, break Croatian hearts and once again send them home. There was a slim chance, one of those mathematical possibilities that relied on a lot of unlikely scores going their way, which would allow Croatia to get into the knockout stages, but fairly soon on it was clear this was not going to happen.

Croatia 1 - Italy 1
Points: 1
Points total: 2
Position in Group: 3

So that is probably the last we'll see of Luka Modric in a Croatia shirt. The next Euros won't be till 2028, and he'll be 42 by then. Few footballers have stayed in the game at that age, and it's very unlikely he will. The next World Cup is in 2026, but again he'll be celebrating his 40th birthday, so it seems the legend will live on, but the man will hang up his boots for good. No doubt Croatia as a team will be back: it doesn't seem possible to keep them down for long.

Recap
Beaten by Spain 3-0, held to a draw by Albania 2-2 and drew with Italy 1-1
Total points: 2
Goals for: 3
Goals against: 6
Lost 1, Drew 2
Position in Group: 3
Result: Eliminated from tournament

[Trollheart]

Czech Republic/Czechia: Never realised till I started trying to type it how hard it is to get the word CZECH right. Letters on the keyboard are all kind of bunched together and you end up going forward, back, forward... yeah, yeah, our hearts bleed for you Trollheart, I know! Anyway it seems I was wrong earlier when I said the Czech Republic had changed its name to Czechia - that apparently only refers to their football team. As Robbie Williams once wrote, how peculiar. But before even they were the Czech Republic they were of course Czechoslovakia (another hard one to write and spell properly!), and while Croatia were part of Yugoslavia and so we dealt with their Euro appearances only as an independent nation, it was different with Czechoslovakia, so I'll include their entries, should there be any. But first, what's the deal with the change of name?

Actually, it turns out it's not even the original name, as the country was called Bohemia up until the First World War, after which, being no longer part of the Austrian Empire,  it became the First Czechoslovak Republic, and after World War II Czechoslovakia. In 1992 after the fall of communism Czechoslovakia was "peacefully dissolved" (by which I assume Wiki means it was not subject to a nation-destroying war the likes of which attended the years-long breakup of Yugoslavia) into Slovakia and, you guessed it, the Czech Republic. Yeah, Czech's in the mail. Sorry. Anyway that's basically the exceptionally short and concise history of the country, but what about their participation in the Euros? Well...

When I said Belgium have a long history in the competition, they're mere babes in arms compared to (at the time) Czechoslovakia, who were literally in there at the beginning, when the first tournament was held, way back in 1960, three years before the world was graced with my birth. Now this is interesting. No, it is, really. The first Euros featured only 17 teams, and some countries who would go on to become giants of the tournament were absent, not because they didn't qualify, but because they had voted against the creation of the thing in the first place! Why? Hmm. Let's see: Germany (then West Germany, as I've mentioned before), The Netherlands (then Holland), Italy and England kicked up because they believed setting up the Euros would interfere with the Home Internationals, whatever they were (advise you ask the soccer oracle, JJ) and apparently they had done the same thing (well, the English had) in opposition to the setting up of... the World Cup! Wow. Now didn't I say it was interesting?

Anyway, due to this group sulk, which is all it can be called really, Italy, West Germany, Holland and England said no thanks and were not present. Spain also gave the Euros the finger, but to be fair they had a more valid reason, being under the brutal oppression of the Franco government and not therefore all that keen about travelling to a communist country (the first Euros were held in ... France? Huh? Maybe because France sounds too close to Franco? No, I think - guessing here, as it doesn't make it too clear - that some of the matches were held on the home ground of the participating teams, one of which was the Soviet Union (Russia) and so Spain wouldn't go there and were disqualified. I think - guessing again - that this refers more to the qualifying rounds, as there appear to have been - yes, still guessing - no group stages in this first tournament, something that probably only got sorted later on.

So it seems the Czechs lost their first match to the Soviet Union 3-0 but came back to beat France 2-0 and take third place. They missed the next three tournaments but made their mark in history with the 1976 competition, where they beat the Netherlands (who had obviously gotten over their snit and joined) 3-1 and then went on to meet West Germany (ditto obviously) in the final, the match ending 2-2 after extra time, decided on penalties which the Czechs took 5-3, becoming European champions for the first and only time. 1980 was the last time they played as Czechoslovakia, and by now the group stages had been instigated, and the Czechs found themselves in Group 1 with West Germany, Netherlands and Greece. West Germany beat them 1-0 in their first match, but they beat Greece 3-1 and drew 1-1 with the Netherlands to take second spot in the group and make it through. A hard-fought 1-1 draw led to penalties against Italy, and it must have been a stormer as Czechoslovakia ran out winners 9-8! This then allowed them to take third place, while the previously sulky West Germany must have had to admit this wasn't such a bad idea after all as they carried home the cup, beating Belgium in the final.

That was it for Czechoslovakia, but as the Czech Republic they were back almost as soon as the ink on the new treaty declaring them a separate country was dry, or something. Basically, 1996 saw the newly-minted Czech Republic storm back into the Euros, which they had missed for three tournaments, and they were ready to rock! In Group C with Italy, Germany (no longer West Germany due to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of East and West) and Russia (also changed due to the fall of communism, no longer the Soviet Union) they first faced the new, united Germany who kicked them 2-0 and then they beat Italy 2-1 before almost falling to Russia 3-2, a last-gasp equaliser earning them second place in the group. In the knockout stages they took Portugal for 1-0 and after another dogged display against France, holding them to a 2-2 draw after extra time, the match decided on penalties again, which they won by 6-5.  This set them up for the final, where they met Germany again, the match ending in a 1-1 draw and going into extra time. Back then, something called "the golden goal rule" was in force. What this meant was that, if a match ended all square after full time, and went into extra time, the next goal scored could win it. Obviously, if nobody scored it went to penalties, but if this "golden goal" was scored within the extra time, that was it. End of. And it was. Germany scored the precious golden goal to take the match and win the final again. Hmm. Given that the golden goal was scored in the 95th minute, there must have been little or no extra time added to the original 90 (maybe they didn't do that back then?).

Undaunted, the Czech Republic have been in every Euro tournament since, and so in 2000 they were back, this time in Group D, with The Netherlands, France and Denmark. Their first match pitted them against the Netherlands, the game looking to be a draw until Holland gained a penalty in the dying moments and took the match 1-0. Next up was France, and though the Czechs this time got a penalty of their own, they still went down 2-1 to the French, leaving them playing Denmark, whom they beat 2-0, but not enough to secure progression as third in the group. They did much better in 2004, again in Group D and again facing the Netherlands and Germany, as well as Latvia. Not too surprisingly, they beat Latvia 2-1 in their first match, then went on to beat the Netherlands with a last-gasp winner, giving them a score of 3-2 over the Dutch, and took revenge on Germany for two failed attempts to win the final as they beat them 2-1 and qualified at the top of their group. They again beat Denmark, this time 3-0, but were frustrated by Greece, who held them to a 0-0 draw and then played the golden goal card, winning the match and sending the Czechs home. Greece would in fact go on to win the tournament, beating Portugal in the final.

2008 saw them in Group A, with Portugal, Turkey and Switzerland. They beat the Swiss 1-0 but were well beaten by Portugal 3-1, while their final march saw them face Turkey, which they were winning until the last few minutes when Turkey scored two goals within three minutes to take the match 3-2 and end the Czech Republic's hopes of progressing. In Group A again four years later, they faced former champions Greece, as well as Russia and Poland. Russia decimated them 4-1 in their first game, but they fought back to take down Greece 2-1 (both their goals scored in the first ten minutes, so they must have been really hanging on!) and Poland 1-0 to take top spot in the group. Portugal did for them in the quarter-finals though, taking revenge and sending them home on the back of a 1-0 defeat, the goal that kicked them out scored by that man, Cristiano Ronaldo. 2016 then found them in Group D with Croatia, Spain and Turkey. They held Spain almost to the death in their first match, but went down 1-0 with three minutes to go, then had some luck of their own as a last-minute penalty allowed them to draw 2-2 with Croatia, but Turkey beat them 2-0 and again it was time to pick up some duty free on the way home. Which left one tournament, and in 2020 they were in Group D again, again with Croatia and this time also England and Scotland. They took the Scots for 2-0 in their first game, drew with Croatia 1-1 and were beaten by England 1-0. That left them third in the group, but due to new rules they were able to progress to the knockout stages, where they met the Netherlands, beating them 2-0, but were stopped in the quarter-finals when Denmark beat them 2-1.

And so to this year's tournament, where they found themselves in Group F with Portugal, Turkey and Georgia. Their first match was against the Iberian masters, but it did not go as would have been expected, with the Czechs scoring first and then Portugal scoring a spectacular own goal, to make it look as if Portugal were going to be beaten. However in the dying minutes (again) Portugal scored again and the match ended 2-1 to the Portuguese.

Czechia 1 - Portugal 2
Points: 0
Points total: 0
Position in Group: 4

Czechia now faced Georgia, who, on paper, should have been a walkover. It did not prove so, with Georgia, a nation making their debut appearance at the Euros, scoring from the spot just on half time, and Czechia barely managing to draw, leaving them still looking nervously over their shoulder at an early exit.

Czechia 1 - Georgia 1
Points: 1
Points total: 1
Position in Group: 4

Their final match in the group looked to be also heading for a draw, which really wouldn't have helped them anyway. In the end, Turkey scored a superb goal right at the death to take the match 2-1 and send Czechia looking for the number of a taxi to take them to the airport.

Czechia 1 - Turkey 2
Points: 0
Points total: 1
Position in Group: 4


Whatever else you can say about them, for a small nation who have really only been properly born from 1996, the Czech Republic have done themselves proud, attending almost every Euro, doing well in some, punching well above their weight, and no doubt we'll see them back again for the next one.

Recap:

Lost to Portugal 2-1, drew with Georgia 1-1 and beaten by Turkey 2-1
Points total: 1
Goals for: 3
Goals against: 5
Drew 1, lost 2
Position in Group: 4
Result: Eliminated from tournament

[Trollheart]

Denmark: Another nation with a fine footballing pedigree, Denmark have acquitted themselves well down the years, both at the Euros and at the World Cup. Almost as long in it as the Czechs, their first attempt was during the second tournament, in 1964, when they were soundly beaten, first 3-0 by the Soviet Union and then 3-1 by Hungary. It would be 20 years before they would return, and in 1984 they were in Group 1 with France, Belgium and the not-yet-broken-up Yugoslavia. France beat them 1-0 in their first game but they went on to annihilate Yugoslavia (sorry) 5-0 and took Belgium for 3-2, advancing at their expense into the next stage. Here they met Spain but the two could not be separated, 1-1 after extra time, and it went to penalties, the Spanish coming out winners 5-4. In 1988 they ended up in the "Group of Death", Group 1, with Spain, Italy and West Germany. Revenge against Spain in their first match for the defeat in the semi-finals four years ago did not go to plan, and they went down 3-2. Things got steadily worse for them when West Germany beat them 2-0 and another 2-0 defeat to Italy completed an embarrassing early exit for the Danes. The next time though, it would be different.

Again in Group 1 (though this time not the Group of Death) they faced their Scandinavian neighbours Sweden, as well as France and England. They played out a nil-all draw with the English, fell 1-0 to Sweden but beat France 2-1 to go through second in the group, behind hosts and fellow ex-Vikings Sweden. Another tense penalty shoot-out after a 2-2 draw saw them beat the Netherlands 5-4 and advance to meet Germany in the final, where they finally (sorry) had their revenge, beating the previous winners 2-0 to become European champions. In 1996 then they were in Group D as defending champions, with Portugal, Croatia and Turkey in their group. Lightning would of course not strike twice and they were held to a 1-1 draw against Portugal in their first match, beaten by Croatia 3-0 and though they reversed that against Turkey in their final match and beat them 3-0, it was not enough to advance and their elimination this time must have been even more humiliating, given the weight of the expectation they must have been carrying as the previous winners. Didn't stop them coming back as the millennium turned though.

Again in Group D in 2000, they had the Netherlands (host nation), France and the Czech Republic to get past, their campaign not opening well with a 3-0 defeat to France, another 3-0 loss to the Netherlands and a final 2-0 rout by the Czechs, leaving them at the bottom of the group and again heading home, the euphoria of '96 surely long worn off by now, hard reality established. 2004 was better though. In Group C with Sweden, Italy and Bulgaria they drew nil-all with Italy, beat Bulgaria 2-0 and drew 2-2 with Sweden, to go through second in the group. Unfortunately for them there was to be no reliving of the glories of 1996 and they fell 3-0 to the Czechs.

They didn't qualify for the 2008 tournament but were back in 2012, in Group B with Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands.They beat the Dutch 1-0 but were defeated 3-2 by Portugal and again fell foul of the Germans, losing 2-1. Again the next tournament passed without their presence but in 2020 they were the host nation, along with Russia, so qualified automatically, ending in Group B with their co-host nation, Finland and Belgium. It didn't start out well, with Finland beating them 1-0, then Belgium beating them 2-1, but they pulled it out of the bag to beat Russia 4-1 and go through second in the group, where they met Wales and thrashed them 4-0, going on to beat the Czech Republic 2-1 before losing to England in the semi-finals  after extra time, 2-1.

That of course brings us to this year, and Denmark were in Group C with England, Slovenia and Serbia. On the face of it, that didn't look too tough a group, though they were probably surprised to have Slovenia come back from 1-0 to take them to a draw for their first game. The equalising goal came close to the end too, so they must have been expecting a first victory. Didn't turn out that way though.

Denmark 1 - Slovenia 1
Points: 1
Points total: 1
Position in Group: 2

Their next game saw them take on England, and this ended up being another draw. A mistake by Harry Kane let Denmark in to score, while they returned the favour later on in the match, losing the lead and having to settle for a draw in the end.

Denmark 1 - England 1
Points: 1
Points total: 2
Position in Group: 2

Completing a trio of draws then, their final game in the group was a nil-all effort against Serbia, despite Denmark's scoring twice, both goals ruled offside by VAR. The draw was enough though to send them through second in the group.

Denmark 0 - Serbia 0
Points: 1
Points total: 3
Position in Group: 2

Denmark now advance to the next round, where they are due to meet their old nemesis Germany, and if they can beat them, it will be either Austria or Turkey in the semis. Can this Scandinavian nation, with a long and proud tradition in the competition and one title already under their belt, do it again? Find out in the coming weeks.

Recap
Drew 1-1 with Slovenia, drew 1-1 with England, drew 0-0 with Serbia
Points total: 3
Goals for: 2
Goals against: 2
Position in Group: 2
Drew 3
Result: go through to the next round
Next opponent: Germany

[Trollheart]

England: Always the bridesmaid, never the bride could certainly describe England's adventures in the Euros, ever since they first took part (despite, as related in the article on the Czech Republic, initially opposing the creation of the tournament). They've reached the finals once, but never managed to win, and the spectre of missed penalties haunts them like, well, a spectre of missed penalties. England, despite having usually a very strong team, have consistently underplayed in the competition, and each successive failure seems to both harden their resolve to do better next time, and depress and deflate them, as they begin to believe they will never hoist that cup. Perhaps they will this year, perhaps they won't. But what's their history at the tournament?

Well as we've seen, the first two tournaments they didn't even want it to be there, but it was, so they weren't, so to speak, their first entry being in 1968, when they probably grumpily folded their newspaper, turned off the World at One, and sneered "All right then: let's see what this bally thing is all about!" Given that the original qualifying rounds took place over two years, and I'm not going through all that again, the 1968 tournament ended up with just four teams: Italy as the host, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and England, leaning against a lamp post possibly smoking and narrowing its eyes, wondering what it was doing amongst all these foreigners? But their first match, as it turned out, they were beaten by one of those "foreigners", Yugoslavia, 1-0, but due to a poor nil-all between Italy and the Soviet Union, they went on to take third place when they defeated the Russkies 2-0, so that's all right then. England's World Cup winning heroes of '66, Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Geoff Hurst both scored, showing these damn Europeans what it's all about, don'tcha know?

It was a while before they qualified again though, and in 1980 things had changed radically, with proper group stages (numbered not lettered at this point) and a total of eight teams in the competition. England were in Group 2, with Italy, Spain and Belgium, and had a poor time of it, held to a 1-1 draw by Belgium, beaten by Italy 1-0 and finally beating Spain 2-1, but not enough to qualify and they were sent home. Eight years passed before they were back, in Group 2 again,along with us (surely this must have been the first time we qualified?), the Netherlands and the Soviet Union. Not exactly the Group of Death, then. Even so, they couldn't even beat us, as they fell 1-0 to Ireland (yay!)  then 3-1 to the Netherlands and finally 3-1 to the Soviet Union, ending at the bottom of the group, beneath even us! Yay! Sorry. Another early exit for England, and 1992 wouldn't be any better for them, in Group 1 this time with Denmark, France and Sweden. Two nil-nil draws, one against Denmark and one against France was made worse with a 2-1 defeat to Sweden, and England were heading back to dear old Blighty again.

1996 would change all that though. As host nation, England qualified automatically, but this time they would show the world (Europe) that they weren't just there because the games were being played in their own backyard, and they had a much shorter distance to travel home. In their group were Scotland, the Netherlands and Switzerland. They didn't get off to the brightest of starts, drawing 1-1 with Switzerland, but then put their fellow Brits to the sword, taking Scotland 2-0 and going on to avenge themselves on the Dutch, beating the Netherlands 4-1 to go through at the top of their group. England must have awaited, and expected every man to do something I've forgotten, but important. Anyway, on they went to show the Spanish who were in charge, holding the European football royalty to a scoreless draw which ended in a penalty shootout which they won 4-2, some fella called Shearer, another Gascoigne? Never heard of them meself now. The first of many penalty shoot-outs to haunt England though, and against of all teams the "auld enemy", Germany 0 England 0 after extra time ended with victory for Germany after the fifth English penalty taker, Gareth Southgate (now manager of the England team) missed, and Germany took the semi-final 6-5 on penalties. They'd take a long time to get over that one.

2000 found them paired with Germany again, a chance to avenge the defeat in the last semi-finals? Group A also had them up against Portugal and Romania, perhaps another Group of Death, and they went down 3-2 to Portugal but did have their revenge as they beat Germany 1-0, sending them to the bottom of the group and home, though they progressed no further themselves, beaten by Romania 3-2. Still, there must have been an element of schadenfreude there I'm sure. If we go, we take you with us. In 2004 they were in Group B, with France, Croatia and Switzerland, and did much better this time, though beaten by France 2-1 (both penalties scored by Zidane) they took Switzerland down 3-0 and Croatia 4-2 to go through second in the group. Would it, though, be heartbreak for England again? So close and yet so far? Well yes, sadly for them, it would. After holding Portugal to a 1-0 almost to the end of the match, they were level after 90 minutes, then Portugal scored in extra time and looked likely to win, before England managed a last-gasp goal of their own to force the game into the dreaded penalties. This time it was England's young star, David Beckham, who fluffed his lines, and Portugal ran out winners of the shoot-out 6-5. England must have been beginning to believe they were cursed.

Perhaps dispirited due to another penalty shoot-out exit, England did not qualify for 2008 but by 2012 they were ready to go again, this time in Group D with France, Ukraine and Sweden. In case it been seen that I'm laughing at England (I'm not, honest. Well, not that much) let it be known that this was the same year when my country finished at the bottom of their group, not a single goal scored and 8 against us! Sweden, Italy and Croatia showed us that we should have stayed at home, digging turf or chasing leprechauns, or whatever we Irish do. But back to England. They did much better, and though held to a 1-1 draw by France they beat Sweden 3-2 and Ukraine 1-0 to top the group. In the knockout stages they faced Italy, where, if you can believe it, once again that shadowy spectre hung around like a bad smell. After extra time the teams could not be separated, neither able to score, and so fingernails began to get bitten down back in London, and Middlesborough, and Liverpool and Manchester, and all over England, as the dreaded penalty shoot-out loomed. At least this time they didn't go down to a single penalty, but were beaten 4-2 when the two Ashleys - Cole and Young - missed, and that so-familiar sinking feeling blanketed England again.

In 2016 they were grouped alongside their British counterparts, Wales, in Group B along with Slovakia and Russia. This was not too bad a group, and they should have done well. And they did, leading Russia for the entire game and looking to be successful at 1-0, only for the damned stinking commie reds (sorry) to grab one at the death, forcing a draw. They took out their frustrations on Wales, in fact all but emulating Russia and scoring their second goal in the 92nd minute, making the score 2-1, and then playing out a nil-all draw with Slovakia which sent both them and Wales through, England in second place. Deep breath. It surely couldn't happen again, could it? Wasn't God English? Didn't he love football? Could he not give them a break? Remember Saint George, God! Hell (sorry) we even gave one of ours for a pope once! Come on: Enger-land! Enger-land! No? Well, no. Though there was no tense, ear-twisting, teeth-grinding, watching-from-behind-the-hands penalty shoot-out (England actually scored a penalty in normal time) they went down to the not-at-all-fancied Iceland, and that, I think, in some ways, was even worse for England: beaten by a bunch of fucking Vikings! Maybe they had bet on the wrong god?

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. Or something. 2020 saw England give it the old Oxford try, possibly, and in Group D they were casting sideways glances probably at Croatia and the Czech Republic, as well as their co-hosts Scotland, who could expect no mercy, and when had a Scot ever thought he could expect such from an Englishman? Freeeeeddommm! Or something. Anyway, England set about righting wrongs as they took Croatia for 1-0, drew 0-0 with Scotland and slipped one past a goalless Czech Republic for good measure, to top the group and warn anyone who even mentioned the "p" word that they were asking for a good kicking. But the curse seemed to have been broken as they breezed past Germany 2-0, Ukraine 4-0 and took down Denmark 2-1 to once again stake their place in the final, where they needed to beat Italy.

Would you Adam and Eve it? Another 0-0 after extra time and it was, as they say in footballing circles, squeaky bum time. Each keeper eyed the other as they made their way back to their respective goals, pints were held in shaky hands in pubs all across England, and Scots and Irish prepared to raise a mighty cheer as the bloody English again proved they couldn't do it when it came to a shoot-out. So close... And so it proved, though this time, whether nerves got to them, or the curse was real, or the pressure told, no less than three English players missed, allow Italy to repeat their defeat of England in 2012 and take it 4-2. How they cried! How we laughed! How the papers the next morning gleefully roared that they had told us so, and how England wished UEFA had never instigated the bloody penalty shoot-out! Hell, tossing a coin (I kid you not) would have been a better option! At least then you had a 50-50 chance!

And so, the curse remains as we reach this year's tournament, but at least we can say England, though never in the least inspiring or looking like they deserved to go through, ground out the results and have done just that. Here's how it happened. First up were Serbia, whom England were, let's be honest, expected to breeze past. They didn't quite, though there was a wonderful goal from their new hopeful, Jude Bellingham, but they basically held on for the 1-0. Job done.

England 1 - Serbia 0
Points: 3
Points total: 3
Position in Group: 1

Next up was Denmark, and we've already discussed this match in the article on the opposing team, so let me just add that Southgate made a very controversial triple substitution late in the game, taking off his star players Kane, Saka and Foden, but his gamble didn't work, and the only goals scored (one by each team) were down to individual mistakes. Nevertheless, a draw did not hurt England's chances of going through, keeping them at the top of the group.

England 1 - Denmark 1
Points: 1
Points total: 4
Position in Group: 1

And so to their final group match, where they came up against Slovenia. After much hostile press and a lot of talk about how poorly England were playing and how Southgate hadn't a clue what he was doing, how tired Kane was and why someone called Tony had never even seen the green never mind played, England were out to prove something. And they emphatically failed, just about managing to hold Slovenia to a nil-all draw. Still, as the man says, they all count and it meant that they go through at the top of their group, and in some ways, isn't that what it's all about? What? It's not? Well, it is for them.

England 0 - Slovenia 0
Ppints: 1
Points total: 5
Position in Group: 1

England now face Slovakia and, assuming they beat them and Slovenia also go down to Portugal, it will be a replay of the 2004 quarter-finals. 20 years of hurt? They'll be hoping, praying for no penalty shoot-out! All joking aside though, this could be the year for England. If they can get past Portugal (and that's a big if - and also assuming (grin) that Slovenia don't beat Ronaldo's boys) then they could be in with a real chance, a possibility even of facing France in the final. Everyone now: "It's coming home, it's coming home, it's coming football's coming home..." Well, that remains to be seen.

Recap
Beat Serbia 1-0, drew 1-1 with Denmark, drew 0-0 with Slovenia
Points total: 5
Goals for: 2
Goals against: 1
Position in Group: 1
Won 1, Drew 2
Result: Through to next round
Next opponent: Slovakia