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, dishwasher and kettle.

Disappointments Belgium, played Ireland in the day’s opener, knowing that another loss would surely condemn them to an early exit from Euro 2016. Kevin De Bruyne and Thomas Vermaelen represented Nike and Adidas respectively.

It was Eden Hazard, though, who had the opening opportunity. The ball fell to the Chelsea forward, but he lashed his shot over the bar. Yannick Carrasco thought he then gave his side the lead after he headed his original effort that rebounded off the crossbar back into the net, but he was judged to be offside.

In the second-half, the Irish thought they should have had a penalty, when a foot higher than Snoop Dogg on April 4th by Toby Alderweireld connected with Shane Long in the box, but it wasn’t given. Belgium then immediately countered, with De Bruyne running down the left wing. He squared it to Romelu Lukaku who opened his body up nicely and finished into the corner.

Axel Witsel then headed home just after the hour mark, after a great cross. His header proved too powerful for Daren Randolph to keep out of the net. Lukaku then killed the game off completely, when another counter-attack was finished off sublimely by the big man.

De Bruyne picks us two points for Nike after his assist and good performance. Vermaelen gets one point for the clean sheet, but this is countered by his booking.

The two surprises in their group, Hungary and Iceland, then battled it out knowing a win for either would pretty much guarantee qualification.

Johann Gudmundsson had the first chance of the match when he found himself with space in the box, but Gabor Kiraly saved well with his feet.

Soon after, Kiraly dropped a corner kick, and Hungary subsequently gave away a penalty following a soft challenge in the area. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored the penalty to give the minnows the lead.

They were denied the win late on, though, when Nemanja Nikolic put a great ball into the box, and Bikir Saevarsson could only turn it into his own net.

The final match saw Austria take on Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo played for Nike and David Alaba started for Adidas.

An action-packed first-half saw a host of chances but no goals. Nani had a one-on-one saved, as well as a header hit the post. Ronaldo shot wide from inside the area, and Austria nearly took the lead when a cross was exceptionally cleared off the line, when it looked as though it would be headed in at the back post.

Robert Almer, Austria’s keeper, put in an immense performance, as the second-half seemed to be a battle between him and Ronaldo. The striker unleashed a bullet on goal which was well saved, before his header was blocked.

Ronaldo was then bundled over in the box, and a penalty was awarded. Despite this great chance, the Madrid forward failed to open his account for the tournament after clattering his penalty against the post. As if that wasn’t enough, he later had a header that did eventually beat Almer but it was ruled out correctly for offside.

Ronaldo loses two points for Nike after missing the penalty and missing all of the chances that he had. Alaba got injured in the 65th minute, and so he will unlikely feature in the battle again.

Adidas 

Vermaelen 0

Alaba 0

Nike

De Bruyne +2

Ronaldo -2

Overall score

Adidas 16-10 Nike

Tomorrow’s Euro 2016 matches

Switzerland v France

Albania v Romania

Players involved

Adidas: Pogba

Nike: Evra, Payet

Share

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]

Lost Password

Powered by themekiller.com