The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 15
Three more last-16 ties were played today. The hosts were in action, as well as hotly-tipped Belgium and Germany. Ireland versus France was the day’s first match, with Paul Pogba, Dimitri Payet, Patrice Evra and Laurent Koscielny all featured in the boot battle.
In the opening two minites of the game, Ireland won a penalty following a rash challenge by Adidas’ Paul Pogba. Robbie Brady stepped up to take the subsequent kick, and he perfectly buried his effort right into the corner. Daryl Murphy and Shane Duffy has chances to extend their lead but they weren’t taken, and they defended resiliently to deny France many decent openings.
Blaise Matuidi forced a great save out of Darren Randolph, and Koscielny and Payet had efforts off target. An equaliser was on the cards though, and it came via Antoine Griezmann, where he headed a cross powerfully into the net.
Just two minutes later, the forward put his side into the lead when he ran through on goal and finished calmly.
Things got worse for the Irish in the 65th minute when Griezmann ran through on goal, but was fouled by Shane Duffy, who subsequently received a red card. The hosts continued to press and looked to be going through comfortably following an early scare. It finished 2-1, meaning it was the end for the brave Irish.
Koscielny and Evra lose a point each for the goal they conceded, and Pogba also loses a point for his stupid challenge to give away the penalty. Payet gets nothing.
Germany played Slovakia in the 17:00 match. Germany were being typically German by cruising to the knockout stages of a tournament without really being too breath-taking, but looking a bit better as they progressed.
Jerome Boateng gave the German’s an early lead with a magnificent long-range volley. It could have been over within 15 minutes as Martin Skrtel was penalised for pulling in the area, but Mesut Ozil’s tame penalty was saved.
They were two up, though, just before half time after some good work by Julian Draxler was finished off by Mario Gomez.
Slovakia looked better in the second half, and threatened to come back into the game before Draxler made it three, pouncing on a rebound in the area.
They went through comfortably in the end. Mats Hummels and Manuel Neuer both get a point each for the clean sheet, but Hummels’ is councelled out by his booking. Howedes, although coming on, did not play for long enough. Gotze did not feature for Nike, but Ozil loses a point for his penalty miss and Muller does not get anything.
The final match of the day was Hungary versus Belgium. Thomas Vermaelen and Kevin De Bruyne featured in this one and in all fairness, Belgium walked it.
Toby Alderweireld headed home inside ten minutes to give the Belgians a perfect start. Hungary contained them well, but good defensive work was undone in the 78th minute when Eden Hazard played in Michy Batshuayi who finished from close range.
Hazard himself then dribbled past a few defenders before unleashing a shot into the corner of the net in the 80th minute, to put the game to bed. Yannick Carrasco had time to put another one in in stoppage time, ensuring his side came out 4-0 winners.
Vermaelen gets no points after his clean sheet was cancelled out for his booking. De Bruyne gets one bonus point for a good performance.
Adidas
Pogba -1
Neuer +1
Hummels 0
Ozil -1
Muller 0
Vermaelen 0
Nike
Evra -1
Koscielny -1
Payet 0
Gotze 0
De Bruyne +1
Overall score
Adidas 25-15 Nike
Tomorrow’s Euro 2016 matches
Spain v Italy
England v Iceland
Players involved
Adidas: Alli
Nike: Hart, Ramos, Iniesta
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 ...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 11
Today was the day which home nations Wales and England would decide their Euro 2016 fate. England faced Slovakia knowing that they were all but mathematically through to the last 16, with Wales playing Russia. What more motivation did the two need to win today than knowing that wins would send those Russian muppets home? Roy Hodgson changed his side majorly from the team which beat Wales in the pr...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 10
Business time! Two matches played simultaneously. Obviously we can’t be in two places at once, and don’t have the dedication or will-power to record one game and watch it after, so we only watched the most important game. Seeing as though the tournament is being held in France, and the fact you could probably count the number of Romanian and Albanian players on a paraplegic’s hand, we chose to wat...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 9
Day 9 of Euro 2016 was the final day of the tournament where group matches will not be played simultaneously. What does this mean? It effectively means that we are getting down to the juicy, meaty, business end of the tournament. The part where teams can no longer sit back and rely on gaining a point through solid defensive play. No. Teams will have to all-out go for it with the kitchen sink, dish...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 8
Today hosted another three matches in this glorious Championships. No team has taken the initiative and the tournament by the balls and really put in an impressive performance. On show on day 8, were three teams who were fancied to do well at Euro 2016; Croatia, Spain and Italy. Italy were up first, and after never really emulating their famous 2006 World Cup success, they had a real chance to com...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 7
Day 7 at Euro 2016, and it was a big one. We’re going to do something a little different with this one. There may have been three matches, but only one stood out like a Zinidine Zidane headbutt to an Italian. England v Wales, so we will concentrate mostly on that battle. Firstly, though, Northern Ireland faced Ukraine in a match that they could do with winning after their opening-game defeat...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 6
The Russian fans took time out of their MMA schedules to show up to their nation’s game against Slovakia. But they needn’t have bothered. Their team, much like their reputation over the past week, got battered. Marek Hamsik was the star for the Slovaks, and his early volley went just past the post in the opening 15 minutes. The breakthrough came after 32 minutes though, when Hamsik again switched ...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 5
Fifth day of the tournament, and we’ve named it Pepe Day in honour of one of football’s biggest d****. His Portugal side faced minnows Iceland. In the same group, Hungary faced Austria. Sad news, there were only two games today. Good news, those two games produced more drama than the rest of Euro 2016 put together. And while we’re talking about bad news, on an unrelated topic, we...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 4
At last, a day of Euro 2016 without violence! Thank God, just how football should be. And thank God also that Germany weren’t playing again today, so we didn’t get another Joachim Low sex show. Holders Spain were in action first today, with Nike’s Iniesta and Ramos as well as Adidas’ Alba all involved. It was an absolute annihilation by the Spaniards, who dominated the Czechs in both possession an...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 3
Anyone else wake up this morning with an overwhelming sense of disappointment and a banging headache (as a result of trying to deal with that disappointment)? Me too. Kane on corners… No Vardy… We think this may be the beginning of the end for Roy. So expect Hart on all free-kicks and Rashford starting holding mid for the Wales game. But oh well, let’s not reminisce of the past. Today was another ...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 2
Second day of the 2016 Euros, and two of the home nations were involved. But before that, it was Switzerland’s turn to open their campaign against Albania. Fabian Schaer heading in after five minutes following a keeping misjudgement, putting the Swiss 1-0 up. Lorik Cana received two first-half bookings, firstly for a rash challenge and the second one for a humorous and blatant handball follo...[Read More]
The UEFA Euro 2016 boot battle: Day 1
Despite Payet’s incredible display in last night’s opening match which saw France defeat Romania 2-1, the two teams are tied. Koscielny looked uncomfortable at times paired with Rami, but in the end avoided losing points for a bad performance by being more solid in the second half. Evra however, had a shocker topped off with him conceding the penalty, meaning both defenders loose points for the go...[Read More]