Those 2 Spanish wingers are something special, this is the difference between Spain & England, these players are encouraged to take on players, they are encouraged to take chances. Football fans like us are all the better for it.

In the usa i knew coaches who told kids to "cut out the fancy @#£%" and keep the game simple

In the uk ive heard players labelled as luxury players if they have some flair. 

You have to be patient and encourage flair or you snuff it out

Yep. Makes me wonder if Messi would have become as great as he is if he played in epl instead of la liga

Indeed they are very special, it gives Spain a different edge from their tiki taka style too.

Germany vs Spain could be a classic.

England got out jail but it doesn't hide from their struggles, Slovakia played very well but they stoped playing too early in the second half which in the end cost them.

Like with Switzerland vs Italy, you need that second goal otherwise with a 1-0 score the other team will always have a chance in the end to get a result.

Jude Bellingham's strike was special but mostly was ineffective in this game, they need their main players to step up such as Kane, Foden and Saka if they want to have a chance to win the whole thing.

Switzerland vs England will be intriguing, England have the genuine quality to hurt anyone but the Swiss have been playing well as a team so it could go either way to be honest.

Spain were awesome, the difference this time is with their accustomed style they got the x-factor in the final third to hurt almost any team in the competition whilst in previous times they lacked that cutting edge, but this time Yamal and Williams can do it who are special talents in the process.
Huge respect to Georgia as well they have had an amazing tournament in their first attempt so they should feel proud of themselves.

Looking forward to France vs Belgium tonight.

That's a good point. I reckon Ferran Torres is another one that, he's gotten better at Barca compared to when he was at city too. Wants to take the shot/take on his man more.

I think this is the reason Foden is struggling so badly atm. He plays a very specific role in that city team as one of the 10s, people think he has freedom but Pep expects him to do exactly as Pep wants... then when playing for England he just seems lost, like he's been given too much freedom and doesn't know what to do with it.

I wish we had some aussies in La Liga to really gauge this. 

Very very fortunate robbos and that’s football at pens.

Yes mate very, very lucky. An extremely poor performance by Portugal. They are not playing well. But we are thru, but we have France, not looking forward to Mbappe in match race with Pepe.
Forca Portugal.

yep like the Poms, play ordinary getting through is a positive so they say.
Yer Pepe nearly blew it late in the game, facing not just Mbappe Griezman and their mids will have him on his heels, Kante movement and distribution, he'll be on watch every single second.
Then again Port might just play the game of their lives and everything comes off.

Pretty average performance from Porto but eh, sometimes you have to have some luck (and a decent keeper) to get through these matches... I think you'll be fine against France to be honest Robbo, Thuram and Giroud arent the solution les Blue where hoping for with this 4-3-3 . Yes LFC is right Kante is sublime with distribution but they still want to "whip it into the box" and I think Portugal's defence can be compact enough to handle it... 2-0 Portugal is my prediction, both from the counter , One each Jota and Ronaldo.... 

gutted for Belguim, even though they knew not having alot of ball they have been their own worst enemies, not finishing chances created or presented for they have a well rounded team on the park.
Lakaku hasn't scored whole tournament (ok he got ripped earlier by those odd rulings)
Why own enemy see below I read :
Belgium have now failed to score in five of their last six games at major international tournaments (EURO/World Cup), despite having a combined 59 attempts on goal and posting an xG of 6.85 across those five goalless matches.

Its looking promising for France even not in fluent form :
France have lost only one of their last 15 EURO matches (W8 D6).

Few juicy Qtrs to lookk forward at this stage.

I thought exactly the same thing the other morning... Foden, with ball at his feet outside the box, looked up to take a crack and its almsot like he had a second hesitation as if to say "should I or shouldnt I"..

I read a really interesting piece a few weeks back about why national team football seems to bring more "spectacular" goals and more end to end football compared to big 5 league club football... Ill see if I can find it again but basic premise was that national squad managers dont have the time or luxury to implement defensive and offensive "systems" into their game plan and trust the players to perform their roles around a more broad game plan... fascinating stuff. 

I watched Kante play against the Aussies in Russia in WC18, it was the most amazing display I have ever see, he was everywhere, every 2nd ball he was there cleaning up everything. So much respect for Kante as a player, a real baller.

If Kante was playing in the World Cup final I think France wins it he's that underrated as a midfield player he there heartbeat of their team that they missed in the last world cup.

Both Portugal and France looked unconvincing but they both go through, don't know what to expect in that matchup given both of their struggles in this tournament.

Crazy to think France hasn't scored a open goal all of this tournament so far, they really lack a striker given Giroud's struggles and they couldn't put Belgium away.

Portugal almost lost against a stingy Slovenia side, CR7 is only human after all or has father time arrived after he missed the penalty against Oblak earlier?
Benjamin Sesko had an fantastic chance towards the end but the Portuguese keeper made an outstanding 1v1 save and the whole penalty shootout he was brilliant also.

Given Germany vs Spain is the other quarterfinal, they will need to lift their game to make the final over them.

Of all the 5 big teams left, (Portugal, France, England, Germany & Spain), it's Spain who looks the best & they are playing youth.

Maybe a lot of the big teams have players who are finding it tough after a big season for their clubs, but Spain are using the youth players & they are killing it.

Yes I would agree.
Watching that France v Socceroos in WC18, with all the French stars on show, I thought it would be a fairer game, out of all their stars, I thought remove Kante & the Socceroos would have  a better chance.

Spain v Germany will decide the champion for me.... 

TBH Spain have the blend of youth and experience and most entering the prime ages. (you'd near on think looking at the England squad has similar outlook but it just doesn't click like the spanish have)
https://www.uefa.com/euro2024/teams/122--spain/squad/
Defense all pretty much in their prime mid/late 20's which is perfect timing for the Euro.
Mids, look at Pedri, he's been a Snr pick now for some 4odd yrs @ just 21, same as Williams, Baena 22 the rest 25 up, again great balance.
Front end, well that Yamal 16 - doing like Pedri did same age, just fits in like a glove, barring Lopez @ 21 the rest are in prime age, Morata the main go to.

It will be interesting to see Spain vs Germany for checking the stat comparos of the 2 games played to date is so damn close its not funny
https://www.uefa.com/euro2024/teams/comparison/122/47/
This is going to be the game of how many players in your team stands up for the occasion and count mentally.

https://www.espn.com.au/football/story/_/id/40461789/transfer-talk-psg-eye-250m-world-record-bid-yamal

250 million Euros for a 16 year old kid!!!!!! Holy Moses....  What a player we are watching develop, seriously 15 years old and getting first team minutes at Barca and now putting on a show at the Euros... 

I disagree that we played badly. Just don't think we've been good enough in front of goal which is surprising given the talent. Ronaldo can't complain about the lack of service today. I think the football has been good for the first 3/4 of the pitch.

I thought Silva, Fernandes & Leao were very average, Ronaldo not having his best day either, Vitinha was the only midfielder creating & Cancelo was trying to make things happen.

I cant stand the bloke but this is just garbage. BBC and the Poms can get farked!!!!

https://www.news.com.au/sport/football/genuinely-disgusting-outrage-over-cristiano-ronaldo-tv-label/news-story/23b98167d9f48d3592d5cf75ea380ba6

250,000,000 EUR
is equal to
403,790,483.96 AUD

Yep mind boggling !

Hahaha. Come on that's pretty funny.

3 saves from 3 in a penalty shootout though. Don't think I've ever seen that before at this level. 

Amazing.

as we have seen in top flight Club football - even the best of teams struggle against the solid low block barriers in front of them......
Badly probably wasn't what robbos means literally but having players who normally can unblock or create openings let alone score themselves such as Fernandez/Silva and Cancelo its staggering viewing the stats.
20 goal attampts, 11 corners - your right in front of goal has been lacking and thats stifled under pressure from desperate defense, lack of composure under the pump, kudos to the unsuspecting and developing Slovakians, game and tournament of the lives and country imo.

In general I've found the games between the 'second tier' teams far more entertaining.

The France Belgium game this morning was pretty average.

An early goal would probably spice a few of these games up.

Germany have looked good too, but I agree Spain have looked the most convincing so far out of the big teams the rest are getting the job done based on their talent alone.
It helps that Spain have a distinctive style which they know very well and often gets them out of tough situations.

It will be interesting when they play each other and who plays well on the day to go through, that bracket looks strong with England and the dutch on the other side of the draw.

not uncommon Muz, the usual suspects even in top flight Club football cancel each other out so many times and you know.
Its beaten up in the media pre game like always and ends up a fizzer, the 2nd tier games have been epic actually imo, the first second weeks were brilliant viewing.

Well done to plucky Romania this morning.... 3 nil loss was harsh considering they started the game on the front foot... Loved their fans celebrating the team's achievement at the final whistle.....