On another thread. I will be missing the semi final
http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread....um-Share-Ur-Lobang-Here&p=2462527#post2462527
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On another thread. I will be missing the semi final
http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread....um-Share-Ur-Lobang-Here&p=2462527#post2462527
On another thread. I will be missing the semi final
http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread....um-Share-Ur-Lobang-Here&p=2462527#post2462527
Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies will be huge losses for Wales in the SF.
On another thread. I will be missing the semi final
http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread....um-Share-Ur-Lobang-Here&p=2462527#post2462527
Don't worry, save your energy for the final.
Either France or Iceland. Italy got chance because of their BBBC.
By Gabriele Marcotti
from espnfc.com
Italy's BBBC - Buffon, Bonucci, Barzagli and Chiellini anchor Italy's formidable back line
BORDEAUX, France -- What do you do when your tactical game plan is crushed underfoot by the opponent?
When the Germans rumble into your final third, destroying whatever semblance of advanced press you might have had and sending your midfield to search for cover?
That's when you go to the well; the safety blanket that comes standard with the job of coaching Italy. Some roll themselves up in it from the start. Others, like Antonio Conte, have kept it for special occasions.
We're talking about that seemingly inveterate quality Azzurri sides have harbored for the past 60-odd years: The ability to defend. And, come Saturday night, this will be epitomized by a goalkeeper -- Gianluigi Buffon -- and his three centerbacks -- Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini.
Call them the BBBC, a riff on Real Madrid's BBC -- Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo -- for defensive connoisseurs.
This quartet is the only portion of Conte's lineup that could seamlessly hold a candle to Italy sides of yesteryear. Midfield and attack, as the manager himself has admitted, are low on quality and high on work rate, enthusiasm and tactical nous, all things you can learn. But the BBBC, while no slouches in the above departments, are blessed with nature's gifts to go with the nurture they've had over the years.
Buffon made his Serie A debut 21 years ago and won the first of his 159 Italy caps two years after that, at the age of 19. He is a physical freak, who is the most expensive goalkeeper in history and the only goalkeeper in the 50 biggest transfers of all time. He's also the only one Italians place alongside the legendary World Cup winner Dino Zoff, which is about the highest accolade Italy can give its own.
Bonucci showed size, athleticism and a ton of technical ability from a very young age, which is why Inter snapped him up at the age of 18. By 22 he was a starter in Serie A and, a year later, became a regular at Juventus.
Chiellini was in the first XI in Serie A at Fiorentina -- albeit as an oversized left-back -- by the time he turned 20, which is also when he made his Italy debut. A year later he moved to Juve, where he's been the defensive bedrock for the past decade.
As for Barzagli, his route to the top was a bit more circuitous. A native Florentine, he's a recycled midfielder who, like Buffon, won the 2006 World Cup. Two years later he opted for a move abroad, where he won a Bundesliga crown at Wolfsburg. Barzagli returned to Serie A to join Juventus in January 2011 and, apart from injury layoffs, has been a regular alongside the other three ever since.
In other words, with the possible exception of Barzagli, the other three are guys who were labeled superstars from a young age and lived up to the tag. That's a rarity in a world where we so often search for the next big thing and where the burden of expectation can be crushing.
What's more, while you can talk endlessly about professionalism and hard work, above all these are superbly gifted athletes though, particularly in the case of Buffon and Bonucci, they quickly added technique to their repertoire. In fact, of the four, Barzagli may be the most athletic, despite his size and 35 years.
What makes them fascinating as a unit is that they've been teammates at club level since January 2011 and worked together under Conte at Juventus for three seasons. It's hard to put an exact value on the chemistry and camaraderie that develops in those circumstances, but it is something to consider. Defense is perhaps the part of your lineup that most relies on the synchronicity of movement and common understanding.
Most managers at Euro 2016 not only have to put together guys who play for different clubs and perhaps might have played together a dozen times if they're lucky, but they also only get a few weeks to drill and turn them into a unit. The BBBC have played together hundreds of times and spent three full club season absorbing the Conte credo.
(Of course, simply playing together for a long time is no guarantee of success. The Russian center back pairing of Vasili Berezutski and Sergei Ignashevich have played alongside goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev for club and country since 2004 and worked under Leonid Slutsky at CSKA Moscow since 2009, yet Russia flopped at the Euros and conceded six goals in three group games.)
In terms of personality, they are different. Buffon is the former Golden Child turned charismatic leader, perhaps the most outgoing of the quartet. Chiellini is the one with a university degree and the nasty, uncompromising, "by any means necessary" streak, though then you look at his wide eyes and prominent nose -- especially when appealing for a foul, which he does often -- and it's hard to dislike him.
Bonucci is the one who employed a mental coach and psychologist, but also the guy who, when out with his wife and baby, was faced with a gun-toting mugger and reacted by whacking the guy in the face, making him flee. And then there's Barzagli the gentle giant, who is the most laid-back and soft-spoken of the four, but also probably the most cultured.
From Conte's perspective, these guys are plug-and-play and this is not the part of his team he needs to worry about. How to replace Daniele De Rossi -- assuming he does not recover by 9 p.m. local time Saturday night -- with Thiago Motta suspended and nobody else capable of filling the role of midfield playmaker is presumably one of the things that keep the manager up at night.
Yet they also represent his Plan B, which for many years had been Italy's Plan A: Sit back and let these guys absorb the German pressure. It's not what Conte wants to do and with good reason: Italy don't have the attacking individual talent to rely on the counter. But if Conte can't figure out a rational way of playing without De Rossi -- or even going with an unfit De Rossi -- he may not have a choice.
Italy may have to go back to the well and hang on for dear life. It's not ideal but, then again, there are worse spots to be in than placing your faith entirely in the BBBC.
Never write off the Germans. Probably the most consistent footballing nation in history.
By Raphael Honigstein
from espnfc.com
Will Germany, Joachim Low stick with what's working or tweak vs. Italy?
If "Angstgegner" (German for "bogey team") was the watchword after Italy (unbeaten in eight tournament games against the Nationalmannschaft) secured a quarterfinal meeting with Joachim Low's team, the eve of the match in Bordeaux was dominated by something called "Geheimniskrämerei" -- extensive secret-mongering both in and by the Germany camp.
The German FA received permission from UEFA to hold their last training session at their base in Évian, rather than at the stadium in Toulouse, on Friday night in order to escape prying eyes. The pitch in the Stade Camille Fournier was hidden behind huge screens to enable Low to train with his first team in total seclusion. FA officials were posted around the ground to stop anyone from getting too close; chief scout Urs Siegenthaler was tasked with patrolling the perimeter on his bike.
Team manager Oliver Bierhoff revealed that the coach was "weighing up plenty of options" including the introduction of captain Bastian Schweinsteiger in place of, or in addition to, Sami Khedira. The players also hinted at changes, namely at the back.
"We don't know yet if we will play with three or four defenders," Jerome Boateng said. Germany, who have played in a 4-2-3-1 formation so far at Euro 2016, could be tempted to mirror the Italian 3-5-2 on Saturday after beating Antonio Conte's side 4-1 that way in a March friendly in Munich. "We didn't play that system for fun that day," midfield linchpin Toni Kroos said on Thursday. "We were outstanding that night," stressed centre-back Mats Hummels, "because we managed to completely clamp down on their two, three attacking moves that they had."
All this talk about altering the setup and their sudden, ostentatious secrecy makes you wonder if Germany aren't engaging in an elaborate double-bluff, hiding the fact that there is nothing to hide. Perhaps the big surprise is that there won't be a big surprise, but rather the exact same formation and lineup that delivered so well against Slovakia and has yet to give up a goal at this competition.
In any case, Low will have had to think very carefully about the right approach. A few shaky moments against Ukraine and Poland aside, his Germany have not been tested too much defensively, which makes an evaluation of their robustness difficult.
Can Kroos and Khedira be trusted to hold their ground against three central Italian midfielders? Or do they need a defensive specialist behind them to offer extra protection? Switching to a back three would offer an extra man in midfield and undermine the Azzurri's man-marking system in the middle of the park by adding width, but at the considerable cost of losing the creativity of either Julian Draxler or Mario Götze up front. The more fundamental, almost philosophical question behind all these deliberations, however, concerns the extent to which a functioning side should adapt to the opposition.
Low knows all about that dilemma from painful personal experience. Ahead of the Euro 2012 semifinal, the national manager was so worried about the influence of Andrea Pirlo that he sacrificed the width brought by Marco Reus for a lopsided team with Kroos as an unhappy Pirlo shadow. Germany lost 2-1 in Warsaw, and Low got the blame. He stood accused of overthinking things and mismanaging the potential of an entire generation right up until the summer of 2014, when the World Cup win put such notions to bed.
In Brazil, the 56-year-old persisted with a back four consisting of four centre-backs in the face of much public resistance for the first four games then changed the team for the quarterfinal, just as many felt he'd be too proud to do it. He appeared tougher, and more detached than before, thoroughly uninterested in the perception of him back home.
On Thursday, Low vaguely claimed that Italy's plan would "play a role, in a way" regarding Germany's tactics but also stressed that the basic aim was to "bring our strengths to bear, to try to put our football on the pitch. You can do that with three at the back or four at the back, the differences aren't too big."
Listening to the coach at this tournament, you get the sense that his confidence in the team getting all the little things right on the day has grown so strong that he has come to regard the grand, much-discussed tactical variations as being of secondary importance. Asked about the team reverting to a more traditional setup with a recognised centre-forward in Mario Gomez, Low this week declared the whole debate outdated and formulaic.
"For us, it's no longer about a false nine or a real nine -- it's about getting into deep spaces [in the box]." Lineups and formations are not a big deal anymore, in other words, but only an means to an end.
Low and his team have earned the right to think in these terms, talking down the relevance of specific measures. That won't stop the rush to portray Sunday's game as a battle of wits between the two managers but it should perhaps give pause for thought. As much as the right formation and game plan will increase your chances of winning, it's often a little too easy to blame them for defeats as Kroos reminded everyone on Thursday. "We didn't lose because of tactics in 2012 but due to individual errors," the Real Madrid midfielder said.
If the latter will be avoided, no one will second-guess Low's choices come the final whistle.
from espnfc.com
Will Germany, Joachim Low stick with what's working or tweak vs. Italy?
If "Angstgegner" (German for "bogey team") was the watchword after Italy (unbeaten in eight tournament games against the Nationalmannschaft) secured a quarterfinal meeting with Joachim Low's team, the eve of the match in Bordeaux was dominated by something called "Geheimniskrämerei" -- extensive secret-mongering both in and by the Germany camp.
The German FA received permission from UEFA to hold their last training session at their base in Évian, rather than at the stadium in Toulouse, on Friday night in order to escape prying eyes. The pitch in the Stade Camille Fournier was hidden behind huge screens to enable Low to train with his first team in total seclusion. FA officials were posted around the ground to stop anyone from getting too close; chief scout Urs Siegenthaler was tasked with patrolling the perimeter on his bike.
Team manager Oliver Bierhoff revealed that the coach was "weighing up plenty of options" including the introduction of captain Bastian Schweinsteiger in place of, or in addition to, Sami Khedira. The players also hinted at changes, namely at the back.
"We don't know yet if we will play with three or four defenders," Jerome Boateng said. Germany, who have played in a 4-2-3-1 formation so far at Euro 2016, could be tempted to mirror the Italian 3-5-2 on Saturday after beating Antonio Conte's side 4-1 that way in a March friendly in Munich. "We didn't play that system for fun that day," midfield linchpin Toni Kroos said on Thursday. "We were outstanding that night," stressed centre-back Mats Hummels, "because we managed to completely clamp down on their two, three attacking moves that they had."
All this talk about altering the setup and their sudden, ostentatious secrecy makes you wonder if Germany aren't engaging in an elaborate double-bluff, hiding the fact that there is nothing to hide. Perhaps the big surprise is that there won't be a big surprise, but rather the exact same formation and lineup that delivered so well against Slovakia and has yet to give up a goal at this competition.
In any case, Low will have had to think very carefully about the right approach. A few shaky moments against Ukraine and Poland aside, his Germany have not been tested too much defensively, which makes an evaluation of their robustness difficult.
Can Kroos and Khedira be trusted to hold their ground against three central Italian midfielders? Or do they need a defensive specialist behind them to offer extra protection? Switching to a back three would offer an extra man in midfield and undermine the Azzurri's man-marking system in the middle of the park by adding width, but at the considerable cost of losing the creativity of either Julian Draxler or Mario Götze up front. The more fundamental, almost philosophical question behind all these deliberations, however, concerns the extent to which a functioning side should adapt to the opposition.
Low knows all about that dilemma from painful personal experience. Ahead of the Euro 2012 semifinal, the national manager was so worried about the influence of Andrea Pirlo that he sacrificed the width brought by Marco Reus for a lopsided team with Kroos as an unhappy Pirlo shadow. Germany lost 2-1 in Warsaw, and Low got the blame. He stood accused of overthinking things and mismanaging the potential of an entire generation right up until the summer of 2014, when the World Cup win put such notions to bed.
In Brazil, the 56-year-old persisted with a back four consisting of four centre-backs in the face of much public resistance for the first four games then changed the team for the quarterfinal, just as many felt he'd be too proud to do it. He appeared tougher, and more detached than before, thoroughly uninterested in the perception of him back home.
On Thursday, Low vaguely claimed that Italy's plan would "play a role, in a way" regarding Germany's tactics but also stressed that the basic aim was to "bring our strengths to bear, to try to put our football on the pitch. You can do that with three at the back or four at the back, the differences aren't too big."
Listening to the coach at this tournament, you get the sense that his confidence in the team getting all the little things right on the day has grown so strong that he has come to regard the grand, much-discussed tactical variations as being of secondary importance. Asked about the team reverting to a more traditional setup with a recognised centre-forward in Mario Gomez, Low this week declared the whole debate outdated and formulaic.
"For us, it's no longer about a false nine or a real nine -- it's about getting into deep spaces [in the box]." Lineups and formations are not a big deal anymore, in other words, but only an means to an end.
Low and his team have earned the right to think in these terms, talking down the relevance of specific measures. That won't stop the rush to portray Sunday's game as a battle of wits between the two managers but it should perhaps give pause for thought. As much as the right formation and game plan will increase your chances of winning, it's often a little too easy to blame them for defeats as Kroos reminded everyone on Thursday. "We didn't lose because of tactics in 2012 but due to individual errors," the Real Madrid midfielder said.
If the latter will be avoided, no one will second-guess Low's choices come the final whistle.
Don't worry Wales will knock out Portugal and we will see a Crexit.On another thread. I will be missing the semi final
http://www.sammyboy.com/showthread....um-Share-Ur-Lobang-Here&p=2462527#post2462527
The penalties got better as the shootout continued, meaning that the 2 coaches don't know who are their better penalty kickers.
By Nick Ames
from espnfc.com
Iceland continue to dream of Euro 2016 ahead of showdown with France
The news conferences Iceland have conducted at their team base in Annecy this summer have been enjoyable, lighthearted affairs and laughter broke out again on Thursday when their right-back, Birkir Mar Saevarsson, was asked a question. Was it true, queried an Icelandic journalist to laughter from his peers, that Saevarsson had once outrun a running machine?
It was, the player responded after the mirth died down. He had been training in a village called Bolungarvik in the country's western fjords and had run so hard that the machine broke.
Even if that takes some imagining, extending the metaphor does not take too much further thought. Every time the momentum has been against Iceland at Euro 2016 they have kept on going, plugging away relentlessly before seeing off their opposition. It is a team with remarkable reserves of willpower and if France appear to be the treadmill's fastest setting yet, there is plenty of confidence they can be broken, too.
The six days since their life-altering 2-1 win over England in the round of 16 have been the busiest in Icelandic sporting history. While their hotel, Les Tresoms, is cocooned in an idyllic spot above the banks of Lake Annecy and the players have been shielded from pressure adeptly, the outside world has been doing everything it can to get in on football's biggest story of the summer.
By 9am every day, their press officer Omar Smarason has received calls from media on all continents. Meanwhile, those who cannot engage directly are keen to display their colours and demand for Iceland shirts, produced by Errea, has been roughly 1,800 percent higher than expected and the manufacturer's staff have been taking extra night shifts to meet demand.
They are, whatever happens at Stade de France, a global phenomenon but another victory would send their popularity off the scale. "I will continue saying that we haven't seen Iceland's best game yet," said their co-manager Heimir Hallgrimsson on Saturday. "As we have already got past the obstacles that have been put in front of us, I think the ones ahead get smaller."
That is a good indicator of their attitude and even Lars Lagerback, Hallgrimsson's generally more conservative colleague, said that he "won't call [France] a big favourite."
Lagerback said earlier in the week that the two coaches had played "Devil's Advocate," in a team meeting following that memorable night in Nice, looking to spur their players on further, and there is a genuine sense that only against England have Iceland played some of the football of which they are capable at Euro 2016.
They have had to hold on to leads, with varying degrees of comfort, for long periods in three of their four games and they believe there is still more to come on the attacking front -- with a France side that will miss the suspended Adil Rami and, particularly, N'Golo Kante there to be got at.
France will need to begin at a higher intensity than in their four matches to date. They have left all of their victories -- against Ireland, Albania and Romania -- late and their performances have given Iceland hope that they can impose themselves early on.
"It's just about being aggressive," said Saevarsson about the prospect of dealing with Dimitri Payet, a sensation earlier in the tournament. Aggression is precisely what Hugo Lloris, speaking in France's prematch news conference, admitted his side have lacked at times and the early stages in Paris may be decisive.
Perhaps, though, it will be time for one more Icelandic star to emerge. It is heartening, in this day and age, to see that a major tournament can still make heroes of lesser-known names and on Monday night it was Ragnar Sigurdsson, the 30-year-old centre-back who currently plays in Russia for Krasnodar, who was launched into the spotlight after an all-action display at both ends of the pitch.
Within hours Leicester and Tottenham had both been linked and Hallgrimsson had said he would be "surprised if a big team was not writing his name on a sheet and calling his agent."
Then again, this team are rapidly becoming household names and it says much for their last month that it would be hard to find a player who has not done his individual cause immeasurable good. The Iceland camp has been keen to stress that within the much-feted collective lies some top-level talent and it would be a surprise if several of the squad do not upgrade to major leagues over the coming weeks.
If there really is room for improvement against the hosts, another remarkable chapter may be written. The treadmill has not quite packed in yet, but Iceland are getting closer and closer to stopping it in its tracks.
from espnfc.com
Iceland continue to dream of Euro 2016 ahead of showdown with France
The news conferences Iceland have conducted at their team base in Annecy this summer have been enjoyable, lighthearted affairs and laughter broke out again on Thursday when their right-back, Birkir Mar Saevarsson, was asked a question. Was it true, queried an Icelandic journalist to laughter from his peers, that Saevarsson had once outrun a running machine?
It was, the player responded after the mirth died down. He had been training in a village called Bolungarvik in the country's western fjords and had run so hard that the machine broke.
Even if that takes some imagining, extending the metaphor does not take too much further thought. Every time the momentum has been against Iceland at Euro 2016 they have kept on going, plugging away relentlessly before seeing off their opposition. It is a team with remarkable reserves of willpower and if France appear to be the treadmill's fastest setting yet, there is plenty of confidence they can be broken, too.
The six days since their life-altering 2-1 win over England in the round of 16 have been the busiest in Icelandic sporting history. While their hotel, Les Tresoms, is cocooned in an idyllic spot above the banks of Lake Annecy and the players have been shielded from pressure adeptly, the outside world has been doing everything it can to get in on football's biggest story of the summer.
By 9am every day, their press officer Omar Smarason has received calls from media on all continents. Meanwhile, those who cannot engage directly are keen to display their colours and demand for Iceland shirts, produced by Errea, has been roughly 1,800 percent higher than expected and the manufacturer's staff have been taking extra night shifts to meet demand.
They are, whatever happens at Stade de France, a global phenomenon but another victory would send their popularity off the scale. "I will continue saying that we haven't seen Iceland's best game yet," said their co-manager Heimir Hallgrimsson on Saturday. "As we have already got past the obstacles that have been put in front of us, I think the ones ahead get smaller."
That is a good indicator of their attitude and even Lars Lagerback, Hallgrimsson's generally more conservative colleague, said that he "won't call [France] a big favourite."
Lagerback said earlier in the week that the two coaches had played "Devil's Advocate," in a team meeting following that memorable night in Nice, looking to spur their players on further, and there is a genuine sense that only against England have Iceland played some of the football of which they are capable at Euro 2016.
They have had to hold on to leads, with varying degrees of comfort, for long periods in three of their four games and they believe there is still more to come on the attacking front -- with a France side that will miss the suspended Adil Rami and, particularly, N'Golo Kante there to be got at.
France will need to begin at a higher intensity than in their four matches to date. They have left all of their victories -- against Ireland, Albania and Romania -- late and their performances have given Iceland hope that they can impose themselves early on.
"It's just about being aggressive," said Saevarsson about the prospect of dealing with Dimitri Payet, a sensation earlier in the tournament. Aggression is precisely what Hugo Lloris, speaking in France's prematch news conference, admitted his side have lacked at times and the early stages in Paris may be decisive.
Perhaps, though, it will be time for one more Icelandic star to emerge. It is heartening, in this day and age, to see that a major tournament can still make heroes of lesser-known names and on Monday night it was Ragnar Sigurdsson, the 30-year-old centre-back who currently plays in Russia for Krasnodar, who was launched into the spotlight after an all-action display at both ends of the pitch.
Within hours Leicester and Tottenham had both been linked and Hallgrimsson had said he would be "surprised if a big team was not writing his name on a sheet and calling his agent."
Then again, this team are rapidly becoming household names and it says much for their last month that it would be hard to find a player who has not done his individual cause immeasurable good. The Iceland camp has been keen to stress that within the much-feted collective lies some top-level talent and it would be a surprise if several of the squad do not upgrade to major leagues over the coming weeks.
If there really is room for improvement against the hosts, another remarkable chapter may be written. The treadmill has not quite packed in yet, but Iceland are getting closer and closer to stopping it in its tracks.
Not too late to put a bet on the Ice Men tonight.
Why u score the 2nd goal? ICIC it was suppose to sail over the cross bar.[COLOR=#0000900]
We are reverting back to 4-2-3-1 formation while our opponent is sticking with 4-4-2
I hope that Iceland wins.Am i a traitor? [/COLOR]
[video=dailymotion;x4ig837]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4ig837_france-5-2-iceland-hd-all-goals-highlights-03-07-2016-hd_sport[/video]
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4...d-hd-all-goals-highlights-03-07-2016-hd_sport
France 5-2 Iceland HD All Goals & Highlights (English)
By Chris Jones
from espnfc.com
Focused Bale ignores talk of Ronaldo ahead of Wales' biggest game
PARIS -- Two days before the biggest international game of Gareth Bale's life, a little more than 54 hours before the first major semifinal in Welsh history, he took to the stage Monday in front of a room filled with reporters and looked as relaxed as that kid who always sat in the last row in class. Question after question came his way, and he never bristled, never wavered, never showed a flicker of any emotion other than contentment. He didn't come close to throwing a microphone in a lake.
The man who recently did, Cristiano Ronaldo -- Bale's teammate at Real Madrid and his principal opponent on Wednesday when Wales play Portugal -- was the subject of much of the conversation. Bale was asked what he thought of Ronaldo, the player and the person. ("Of course we get on very well. We enjoy playing with each other.") He was asked whether he had spoken or texted with Ronaldo during the tournament. ("No, we haven't. No.") He was asked why Ronaldo has seemed so on edge during Euro, on the brink of spontaneous combustion. ("I'm not too sure. I can't comment on how he's feeling. For me, I feel comfortable.")
He was asked...
"It's not about two players," Bale said. "It's about two nations in a semifinal, 11 men against 11 men. It's going to be a very difficult game. They're in the semifinal for a reason. We're just going to try to enjoy the occasion as we always have."
And he was asked...
"Of course he's a fantastic player. Everybody knows what he can do. But we've always spoken about what we do, what we do ourselves as a team. We don't worry about the opposition. For us, it's about the team."
And then he was asked...
"The team is the star for us. There's no stars on our team. We're all together, we all work as one. We all run for each other, tackle for each other, fight for each other. We're just a very close team. We all get along like brothers. We're here having fun. We have no fear. It's working so far."
And he was asked again in a slightly different way...
"I never think about the Ballon d'Or. It's not in my mind at all. The most important thing for me is to win with my team."
Again and again, Ronaldo surfaced like sweat, and again and again, Bale sat back with his hands folded in front of him and said the same good and logical things he has always said. It's been remarkable to watch Bale and this Welsh team, playing above their heads in some ways and yet never losing them. Bale especially is either one of the world's great actors or almost completely immune to anxiety. He should be studied someday to see if he has some built-in resistance to pressure that the rest of us might take as a pill.
The only time he betrayed any negative emotion was when he was asked about the looming absence of Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies, critical starters who will miss the semifinal because of accumulated yellow cards. Even in his sadness, however, Bale managed to find the positive.
"It's horrible," he said. "It's when the rules are difficult to take sometimes. You feel for them, of course, and of course they're going to be hurt deep down. But they're not showing it. They're really getting behind the team. I suppose it's giving us even more motivation now, for us to win the semifinal for them to play again in the tournament in the final. We're not doing it just for the nation and the badge. We're doing it for them as well."
Bale, having lived in the spotlight for so long, is well practised at football's sometimes strange politics. He has minders who are careful to maintain his everyman image, the ordinary superstar walking in our midst. (One writer who visited Bale at his home was later scolded for making his back garden sound too lavish in his descriptions.)
But he also seems genuinely unconcerned with the little games that surround the big ones. He appears as unaffected as anyone in his position might be, just a little Welsh boy who grew up to become extraordinarily good at this one simple, beautiful thing.
"The biggest honor you can have is to play for your country," he said. "To be a part of history now for our country, to play in the biggest game our country has ever been involved in, is an amazing achievement in itself. But we think it's our time. We don't want it to end here. We want to continue the journey, continue to keep fighting, and hopefully we can make more history."
Maybe the real gift of Gareth Bale is his refusal to make it with anything but his feet.
from espnfc.com
Focused Bale ignores talk of Ronaldo ahead of Wales' biggest game
PARIS -- Two days before the biggest international game of Gareth Bale's life, a little more than 54 hours before the first major semifinal in Welsh history, he took to the stage Monday in front of a room filled with reporters and looked as relaxed as that kid who always sat in the last row in class. Question after question came his way, and he never bristled, never wavered, never showed a flicker of any emotion other than contentment. He didn't come close to throwing a microphone in a lake.
The man who recently did, Cristiano Ronaldo -- Bale's teammate at Real Madrid and his principal opponent on Wednesday when Wales play Portugal -- was the subject of much of the conversation. Bale was asked what he thought of Ronaldo, the player and the person. ("Of course we get on very well. We enjoy playing with each other.") He was asked whether he had spoken or texted with Ronaldo during the tournament. ("No, we haven't. No.") He was asked why Ronaldo has seemed so on edge during Euro, on the brink of spontaneous combustion. ("I'm not too sure. I can't comment on how he's feeling. For me, I feel comfortable.")
He was asked...
"It's not about two players," Bale said. "It's about two nations in a semifinal, 11 men against 11 men. It's going to be a very difficult game. They're in the semifinal for a reason. We're just going to try to enjoy the occasion as we always have."
And he was asked...
"Of course he's a fantastic player. Everybody knows what he can do. But we've always spoken about what we do, what we do ourselves as a team. We don't worry about the opposition. For us, it's about the team."
And then he was asked...
"The team is the star for us. There's no stars on our team. We're all together, we all work as one. We all run for each other, tackle for each other, fight for each other. We're just a very close team. We all get along like brothers. We're here having fun. We have no fear. It's working so far."
And he was asked again in a slightly different way...
"I never think about the Ballon d'Or. It's not in my mind at all. The most important thing for me is to win with my team."
Again and again, Ronaldo surfaced like sweat, and again and again, Bale sat back with his hands folded in front of him and said the same good and logical things he has always said. It's been remarkable to watch Bale and this Welsh team, playing above their heads in some ways and yet never losing them. Bale especially is either one of the world's great actors or almost completely immune to anxiety. He should be studied someday to see if he has some built-in resistance to pressure that the rest of us might take as a pill.
The only time he betrayed any negative emotion was when he was asked about the looming absence of Aaron Ramsey and Ben Davies, critical starters who will miss the semifinal because of accumulated yellow cards. Even in his sadness, however, Bale managed to find the positive.
"It's horrible," he said. "It's when the rules are difficult to take sometimes. You feel for them, of course, and of course they're going to be hurt deep down. But they're not showing it. They're really getting behind the team. I suppose it's giving us even more motivation now, for us to win the semifinal for them to play again in the tournament in the final. We're not doing it just for the nation and the badge. We're doing it for them as well."
Bale, having lived in the spotlight for so long, is well practised at football's sometimes strange politics. He has minders who are careful to maintain his everyman image, the ordinary superstar walking in our midst. (One writer who visited Bale at his home was later scolded for making his back garden sound too lavish in his descriptions.)
But he also seems genuinely unconcerned with the little games that surround the big ones. He appears as unaffected as anyone in his position might be, just a little Welsh boy who grew up to become extraordinarily good at this one simple, beautiful thing.
"The biggest honor you can have is to play for your country," he said. "To be a part of history now for our country, to play in the biggest game our country has ever been involved in, is an amazing achievement in itself. But we think it's our time. We don't want it to end here. We want to continue the journey, continue to keep fighting, and hopefully we can make more history."
Maybe the real gift of Gareth Bale is his refusal to make it with anything but his feet.
By Miguel Delaney
from espnfc.com
Euro 2016 semis: Will Portugal show up? Are France ready for revenge?
Euro 2016 has reached the semifinal stage, with Portugal facing Wales on Wednesday and Germany taking on France the following days. Here is one big question for each of the final four.
Will Portugal finally come to play now that the focus is on them?
Much has been made of Portugal's becoming the first team to reach four European Championship semifinals since 2000. But that mark comes with another, much less-desired record: Portugal are also the first team to reach a European Championship semifinal since the competition's 1996 expansion while only managing to win one game (the victory over Poland in penalties is officially a draw). Moreover, their 1-0 victory over Croatia didn't even come in regular time; Ricardo Quaresma's 117th-minute goal sealed the deal.
What's more, Portugal have only been in a winning position for a total of 22 minutes during Euro 2016 so far. This can perhaps be credited to an overly defensive approach, one that doesn't necessarily suit the technical abilities of so many promising young players.
Regardless, there has been an odd sense of caution about Portugal in virtually all of their games, bar the 1-1 draw with Iceland and the 3-3 with Hungary, where they knew they needed to score. That adventure was a consequence of desperation rather than design.
Now, for the first time in the knockout stages, Portugal will face a side just as willing to sit back as they are. Will it cause a change in the approach of Fernando Sanches' men, or will it bring the worst stalemate yet? If Portugal are to finally win this competition after coming close on multiple occasions, it does feel like they will need to put in one flourishing performance. Will this be it?
Can Wales maintain their brilliant momentum without Ramsey?
That Wales advanced to the semifinals is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. One of the glories of their quarterfinal win against Belgium was how brilliantly and assertively they imposed their gameplan. This was not a calculated counterattack against a superior side with Wales holding tight and riding their luck. This was a team with the assurance to stand up to a stellar attack.
The ultimate proof can be found in how proactively Wales came back from behind. Similar teams in their situation would have most likely buckled, but Wales hit back with a physical force greater than Radja Nainggolan's 13th-minute opener. There was a sweeping and unhesitatingly adventurous quality to their three goals, especially Hal Robson-Kanu's turn for the second and Sam Vokes' emphatic header for the third, which sealed the deal.
That kind of courage and fully-committed play should give Wales the confidence to take on anyone, but there is a catch: Aaron Ramsey is suspended after two yellow-card bookings, and his absence could affect Wales' style of play. The Arsenal midfielder is so crucial due to his ability to brilliantly link breaks with his natural running game.
He is the perfect player to connect the two different parts of the Welsh team: that sturdy defence and the world-class power of Gareth Bale. Chris Coleman said that Ramsey's performances have been "off the chart" -- so the manager might now have to plot a slightly different way to play. It could mean Wales have to be more cautious than they have been in any game other than their loss vs. England.
Will absent players do more damage to Germany than their fired-up opposition?
On the face of it, some of Germany's feats at Euro 2016 should boost their confidence to a level where they feel they can get through anything. They offered the attacking performance that everyone had been waiting for in their 3-0 round-of-16 win over Slovakia and broke a huge psychological and historic barrier by eliminating Italy from a international tournament for the first time ever.
Can Germany physically hold up when their team has effectively been stripped of its spine, though? Main centre-back Mats Hummels is suspended, Mario Gomez will miss the rest of the tournament and there are major doubts over midfielders Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Germany could probably weather one or two of those changes with relative ease, but more than that? Will too big of a reconfiguration be needed from Joachim Low, and in turn upset Germany's balance? Will they remove the fluency that the team is belatedly discovering?
Not to mention the fact that a makeshift lineup will be facing a French side fired up to avenge historic barriers of their own. The hosts have lost their last three competitive knockout games to Germany: the 2014 World Cup quarterfinal, the 1986 World Cup semifinal and the 1982 World Cup semifinal. It's a lot for Low to consider.
Are Deschamps and France ready for revenge?
Get ready for a lot of references to Toni Schumacher over the next few days. Schumacher was the goalkeeper who arguably should have been sent off for his collision with Patrick Battiston in the semifinals of the 1982 World Cup, which ended a 3-3 draw before West Germany beat France 5-4 on penalties.
It's a controversy that has never completely gone away, partly because France have since failed to beat Germany. The onus will be on Didier Deschamps' side to finally win now that they're in form -- and at home. And while that might add to the pressure, it could also take some focus off of the huge tactical decisions that the French manager will be forced to make ahead of the match.
Does Deschamps continue with the new, fluid attacking formation that he's stumbled upon at risk of being too open? Or does he go back to a more conservative midfield and potentially remove his side's impetus? There is also the question of whether to include N'Golo Kante; the midfielder has been one of the best in Europe this year, but it did not seem a coincidence that his suspension against Iceland made France better going forwards.
Can Deschamps really consider leaving out such a brilliant protective midfielder against an attack as good as Germany's? It may be required in order for France to take the game into their own hands, go at the world champions and seize a chance at history.
from espnfc.com
Euro 2016 semis: Will Portugal show up? Are France ready for revenge?
Euro 2016 has reached the semifinal stage, with Portugal facing Wales on Wednesday and Germany taking on France the following days. Here is one big question for each of the final four.
Will Portugal finally come to play now that the focus is on them?
Much has been made of Portugal's becoming the first team to reach four European Championship semifinals since 2000. But that mark comes with another, much less-desired record: Portugal are also the first team to reach a European Championship semifinal since the competition's 1996 expansion while only managing to win one game (the victory over Poland in penalties is officially a draw). Moreover, their 1-0 victory over Croatia didn't even come in regular time; Ricardo Quaresma's 117th-minute goal sealed the deal.
What's more, Portugal have only been in a winning position for a total of 22 minutes during Euro 2016 so far. This can perhaps be credited to an overly defensive approach, one that doesn't necessarily suit the technical abilities of so many promising young players.
Regardless, there has been an odd sense of caution about Portugal in virtually all of their games, bar the 1-1 draw with Iceland and the 3-3 with Hungary, where they knew they needed to score. That adventure was a consequence of desperation rather than design.
Now, for the first time in the knockout stages, Portugal will face a side just as willing to sit back as they are. Will it cause a change in the approach of Fernando Sanches' men, or will it bring the worst stalemate yet? If Portugal are to finally win this competition after coming close on multiple occasions, it does feel like they will need to put in one flourishing performance. Will this be it?
Can Wales maintain their brilliant momentum without Ramsey?
That Wales advanced to the semifinals is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself. One of the glories of their quarterfinal win against Belgium was how brilliantly and assertively they imposed their gameplan. This was not a calculated counterattack against a superior side with Wales holding tight and riding their luck. This was a team with the assurance to stand up to a stellar attack.
The ultimate proof can be found in how proactively Wales came back from behind. Similar teams in their situation would have most likely buckled, but Wales hit back with a physical force greater than Radja Nainggolan's 13th-minute opener. There was a sweeping and unhesitatingly adventurous quality to their three goals, especially Hal Robson-Kanu's turn for the second and Sam Vokes' emphatic header for the third, which sealed the deal.
That kind of courage and fully-committed play should give Wales the confidence to take on anyone, but there is a catch: Aaron Ramsey is suspended after two yellow-card bookings, and his absence could affect Wales' style of play. The Arsenal midfielder is so crucial due to his ability to brilliantly link breaks with his natural running game.
He is the perfect player to connect the two different parts of the Welsh team: that sturdy defence and the world-class power of Gareth Bale. Chris Coleman said that Ramsey's performances have been "off the chart" -- so the manager might now have to plot a slightly different way to play. It could mean Wales have to be more cautious than they have been in any game other than their loss vs. England.
Will absent players do more damage to Germany than their fired-up opposition?
On the face of it, some of Germany's feats at Euro 2016 should boost their confidence to a level where they feel they can get through anything. They offered the attacking performance that everyone had been waiting for in their 3-0 round-of-16 win over Slovakia and broke a huge psychological and historic barrier by eliminating Italy from a international tournament for the first time ever.
Can Germany physically hold up when their team has effectively been stripped of its spine, though? Main centre-back Mats Hummels is suspended, Mario Gomez will miss the rest of the tournament and there are major doubts over midfielders Sami Khedira and Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Germany could probably weather one or two of those changes with relative ease, but more than that? Will too big of a reconfiguration be needed from Joachim Low, and in turn upset Germany's balance? Will they remove the fluency that the team is belatedly discovering?
Not to mention the fact that a makeshift lineup will be facing a French side fired up to avenge historic barriers of their own. The hosts have lost their last three competitive knockout games to Germany: the 2014 World Cup quarterfinal, the 1986 World Cup semifinal and the 1982 World Cup semifinal. It's a lot for Low to consider.
Are Deschamps and France ready for revenge?
Get ready for a lot of references to Toni Schumacher over the next few days. Schumacher was the goalkeeper who arguably should have been sent off for his collision with Patrick Battiston in the semifinals of the 1982 World Cup, which ended a 3-3 draw before West Germany beat France 5-4 on penalties.
It's a controversy that has never completely gone away, partly because France have since failed to beat Germany. The onus will be on Didier Deschamps' side to finally win now that they're in form -- and at home. And while that might add to the pressure, it could also take some focus off of the huge tactical decisions that the French manager will be forced to make ahead of the match.
Does Deschamps continue with the new, fluid attacking formation that he's stumbled upon at risk of being too open? Or does he go back to a more conservative midfield and potentially remove his side's impetus? There is also the question of whether to include N'Golo Kante; the midfielder has been one of the best in Europe this year, but it did not seem a coincidence that his suspension against Iceland made France better going forwards.
Can Deschamps really consider leaving out such a brilliant protective midfielder against an attack as good as Germany's? It may be required in order for France to take the game into their own hands, go at the world champions and seize a chance at history.
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