The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 12
Oh my word PANIC. There were four matches at Euro 2016 today… Four! We just do not think we are ready for this. But it was a huge day of football. The first match involved a lot of battle players in the Germany side who faced Northern Ireland, who still had a realistic chance of going through, even if they were to lose.
Michael McGovern saved early when Thomas Muller went through on goal. He then saved when Mesut Ozil somewhat fluffed his shot, and then again kept out Sami Khedira excellently. Some great play between Mario Gomez and Muller ended with the latter striking his shot wide.
The Bayern forward then hit the post with a powerful diving header, and it looked as though the Irish may somehow make it to half-time with their clean sheet intact. However after 30 minutes, Muller carried the ball into the area and played it back to Gomez who finished well from close range.
Muller had time to hit the bar before the break, but it was only 1-0 by half-time.
Mario Gotze was in on goal after the break, but a stubborn McGovern again denied the Germans. The outstanding keeper made more impressive saves to keep the score to one, and give the Irish a good chance of qualifying, despite going away from the match with no points.
Hummels and Neuer get a point each for a clean sheet, Howedes did come on for Boateng but his 15-minute performance did not merit a point. Kroos didn’t pick any points up, nor did Gotze, but Muller got one for the assist for the goal and Ozil gets one for a good performance.
The other game in that group saw Poland take on Ukraine. No players in the game were involved in the battle. A fantastic Jakub Blaszczykowski effort, where the winger cut back onto his left foot and fired a shot into the top-left corner, gave Poland a narrow 1-0 lead over Ukraine- who failed to pick up a point or even score a single goal at this year’s Championships.
In Group D, two of the tournament’s most impressive teams battled it out together; Spain and Croatia. Srna, Ramos and Iniesta represented team Nike, and Adidas had Rakitic and Alba starting for them.
Alvaro Morata opened the scoring for the Spaniards when Cesc Fabregas dinked over the keeper and Morata tapped it in on the line. Rakitic hit the bar with an unlucky lob before Nikola Kalinic eqaulised, turning in a good cross.
In the second half, David Silva was tripped in the box, but his resulting penalty was saved. In the 87th minute, Ivan Perisic won the match for the Croats as he finished from a tight angle.
Both Rakitic and Srna get a point for good performances, but Srna’s is cancelled out by the goal Croatia conceded and ends up losing a points for his booking as well. Ramos loses Nike three points after missing a penalty and letting two goals through the backline. Iniesta doesn’t lose or win any points, but Alba loses two for the goals.
In the final game of the day, Czech Republic played Turkey knowing that a win would see them progress. No players were involved in the battle. Turkey took an early lead when Burak Yilmaz converted a cross by placing his finish into the top corner. They doubled their lead midway through the second half, when Ozan Tufan lashed home after the Czechs failed to clear. It condemns Czech Republic to bottom of the group, while Turkey have a chance of qualifying in third place.
All in all, a terrible day for Nike as they end up losing four points, enabling Adidas to extend their lead.
Adidas
Neuer +1
Hummels +1
Muller +1
Howedes 0
Kroos 0
Ozil +1
Rakitic +1
Alba -2
Nike
Gotze 0
Srna -1
Iniesta 0
Ramos -3
Overall score
Adidas 24-8 Nike
Tomorrow’s Euro 2016 matches
Hungary v Portugal
Iceland v Austria
Italy v Ireland
Sweden v Belgium
Players involved
Adidas: Vermaelen
Nike: De Bruyne, Ibrahimovic, Ronaldo
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