Round of 16 - England vs. Iceland!!
posted by The Blue Devil @ 2:25 PM
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Monday, June 27, 2016
Lakenheath Old Boys
We are all former students at Lakenheath High School and other public schools in East Anglia. We were in school in the 70s and 80s and drank deeply from the well of British culture of those decades - the pints, the telly, and of course the footie!
Contributors
Previous Posts
- Round of 16 - Spain v. Italy
- Round of 16 Belgium vs Hungary
- Round of 16 - Germany v. Slovakia
- Round of 16 - France v. Republic of Ireland
- France 2016 Predictions Game - Group Stage Update #3
- Day 13 - Group E Wraps Up!
- Day 13 - Group F Wraps Up!
- Day 12 - Group D Wraps Up
- Day 12: Group C Wraps Up
- Day 11 - Group B Wraps Up!
95 Comments:
Very interesting decisions by Hodgson - Sturridge comes in from the start to pair Harry Kane up front. Sterling starts out wide left. I like it!
It's Ian Darke and Macca in Nice tonight. They seem to have been enjoying the Riviera sunshine. I hope that they're not so negative.
The team news out of Nice today:
England: Hart, Walker, Cahill, Smalling, Rose, Alli, Dier, Rooney, Sturridge, Kane, Sterling.
Subs: Forster, Milner, Lallana, Vardy, Clyne, Henderson, Stones, Wilshere, Barkley, Bertrand, Rashford, Heaton.
Iceland: Halldorsson, Saevarsson, Arnason, Ragnar Sigurdsson, Skulason, Gudmundsson, Gylfi Sigurdsson, Gunnarsson, Birkir Bjarnason, Sigthorsson, Bodvarsson.
Subs: Kristinsson, Hauksson, Hermannsson, Ingason, Finnbogason, Sigurjonsson, Theodor Elmar Bjarnason, Magnusson, Hallfredsson, Traustason, Gudjohnsen, Jonsson.
Referee: Damir Skomina (Slovenia)
"Three Lions" now blasting here at the Cottage (Kate shaking her head at the absurdity of it all).
Players in the tunnel now - come on!
Ian Darke tempting fate now by mentioning that dreaded loss to the US in 1950. Shut it!
Both teams wearing their first kit tonight, as it should be.
Harry looks up for it tonight. I want a hat-trick from my Golden Boot boy. Come on!
And we're set to go in Nice. England to kick off wearing all white. Come on!
Ian Darke and Macca are mentioning that the pitch looks crap.
Oh - Kyle Walker gets an early cross over, but it's cleared.
Sturridge has a go from distance after a one-two. Scuffed it.
Sterling has a chance in the box but it's blocked out. We're all over them already. Finish the chances!
YESSSSS!!!!!!!
Penalty to England!
Great penalty from Rooney - perfect start from England.
1-0!
Come on, now - let's get another.
BUGGGGERRRR!
Iceland get the equalizer off a long throw. Poor defending.
Well, now - let's start again. It was a great start from England. Let's get another goal.
England have been caught out by a Stoke City routine.
Ian Darke is already getting on my nerves.
can't be happy about that, but England has already shown its superiority.
Raheem is upended and now England will have a free kick chance.
Great ball in but nodded out again.
Good pace to the England attack - Kane wins a corner.
Oh - that was a free header for Smalling - good chance there.
Another corner won by Kane.
Oh - how did that not go in from the corner. And then Dele Alli struck it really well. Just over.
Ah - Sturridge was set loose there but then dithered on it.
Oh - Kane was given a chance to shoot but blazed over. Nice effort.
See how weak that keeper is?
I don't like leaving out Llallana, but I guess Rooney must play.
I would have thought Vardy's pace would have made him a more natural choice.
Oh well, if the UK has a good lead at half, it's academic. If not, you can sub out Kane.
Kane tries an up and under toward Sterling but it doesn't quite come off.
Hart.
BUGGERRR BUGGGERRR!
Hart allows a soft shot under his body.
Welcome back, Red Devil. This is going to be a struggle.
Crisis of confidence right now for Joe Hart.
Win or lose, this has not been a good defensive outing.
Sterling earns a free kick now. Come on!
Why is Harry Kane taking these free kicks? I don't understand it.
Matched up against the worst goalie of the tournament, Hart feels the need to look even worse.
Another long throw routine now....
Joe Hart looks like a bag of nerves right now.
I don't know about that foul. He was outside the 6, and it was Hart who jumped into him.
Hart needs to calm down.
Suddenly England have reverted to long ball. Shame - they started so well. Go back to the game plan at the start.
Long ball (sigh)....
England needs to swinging the ball from left to right quickly. Iceland is compact and they overcommit to the side where the attack is. Quick play with a lot of left-to-right should be the way to crack this defense. Especially, the wideouts need to take a few chances and beat their man. Not like that, Sterling.
Great shot.
Oh - that was better - a sweeping move that ended with Sturridge playing a cross for Kane to volley - Haldorsson saves well.
That's what I am talking about. Iceland overcommits, so switching back and forth is the way to go.
Another good move there but it ends up in the goalie's arms.
Rooney is quick-thinking as forward, but as a number 10, he is witless.
Dele Alli went down there in the box - ref waved on. Probably right.
The ref is letting them play.
I agree - they're doing the same thing that they did with Beckham when he lost his pace. He's only on for the set pieces now.
The other reason that the English need to keep the pace high is that when you are playing against a bunch of guys who sit on the bench at club level, they tend to tire in the 2nd half.
Lots of England pressure now - the chances will come.
Decent idea from Roon - tried to bend it into the top corner.
That was a crummy and insolent shot, but it shows what Iceland thinks of Hart.
Good noise from the England crowd now - they were really quiet for about ten minutes after Iceland scored.
Sigurdsson goes into the book for tugging back Rose.
Oh - Smalling had a chance at the back post there. The shirt tug was blatant - should have been a penalty.
England subs are up warming up now. Might be some changes at half-time.
After that bright start, the English don't even look as sharp as against Slovakia. They need to pass it out of defense slowly (none of this long-ball crap), then start to work it down the sides. Like that, with Rose bombing forward.
Rose bundled over there - goal kick. Typical refereeing.
Iceland is starting to get a bit stupid now, too. They need some possession or they will tire themselves out chasing.
It's the same story - they've been good but haven't finished multiple chances.
Ah - Walker cuts back to Rooney but he gets the volley all wrong.
Not a great shot by Rooney, but that was a clever pull-back cross. As Kane's earlier volley demonstrated, Iceland leaves the trailing midfielders too open.
I still think England will pull this out. Not 3-2 like Cameroon, but 4-2 (late counter goal).
Iceland has a better than 50% scoring rate in Euros. 6 goals off of 11 shots. Insane.
Half-time comes: England sure do like to make their fans suffer. It was a great start with a penalty in four minutes. But then we threw it away with two poor pieces of defending and goalkeeping.
I agree with you. Iceland really haven't been much of a threat. They were lucky to score off both of their only chances. More chances will come.
Jack Wilshere is coming on for the second half - I don't know what I think of that.
England start as they started the first half - with loads of pressure.
Dier?? I feel like he has been good the whole tournament - though admittedly he was anonymous today, but really I think Roo is occupying his space.
Foolish tackle by Sturridge, even if that first challenge was a foul on him.
Sturridge picks up a yellow card early on in the second half.
Long throw time again...
Rose is bundled over and England have a chance to swing a free kick now.
The more this game develops a flow, the better it is for England. If it devolves into a series of short bursts between fouls and out of bounds, the more Iceland can regroup and remarshall.
Iceland are starting to commit a lot of ticky, tacky fouls. I know they are good in the air, but so is England. They are playing with fire.
Didn't beat the first man - why is he taking these?
I agree - but the referee is waving a lot of stuff on.
Wilshere tries to bend a ball forward to Dele Alli but the pace of it runs to the keeper.
They are not as dirty as Albania, but Iceland's fouling tactics are similarly disruptive.
England suffering from a lack of ideas right now.
Long throw wins a corner.
And a close call there - Overhead kick saved by Hart.
Nice bike, but it should have been a high kick.
Macca seems to approve of Iceland's retrograde football. This is League 1 quality play.
Vardy is up getting ready.
Vardy comes on for Sterling - good move.
Oh - great chance for Dele Alli but he skies it.
I agree. Vardy's speed and bite will help.
I will have to leave you, as we are putting the girls to bed. I will see the rest later.
good luck!
Thanks!
Gunnarsson gets a yellow card for a nasty chop on Dele Alli. Could be a shooting opportunity.
Oh - that was woeful. Get him off!
Iceland are parking the bus now - no threat at all at the back.
Wilshere tries one - well wide. They don't have their shooting boots on today.
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