The next 2 days are going to feel weird without any football games on. Because it's very quiet at work, I've been sitting down to watch a lot of the games. At least I can go out for a lunchtime walk for a few days rather than sit on my ass in front of the telly!
- Today's games were good. It started with watching Spain, since they had to win. But as soon as they had that game sewn up, I switched to Sweden vs Poland and that was much closer. Sweden are one of those teams that you kind of write off yet they're always there - good for them for topping the group. We could potentially face them in the second consecutive quarter final in a major tournament.
- But first we had to see who we were going to face in the round of 16. Started with France vs Portugal, but then Hungary went ahead and it got very interesting as I started to switch between games. That France vs Portugal game was the first game that had some really poor refereeing and VAR - some terrible penalty decisions. But it was fascinating how the standings changed throughout these games. It was almost inevitable that it would end up with Germany finishing 2nd in the group and facing us. But I think I'd rather have Germany at home than Spain at a neutral venue, which is what would have happened if we'd drawn against Czech Republic.
- Talking about that game, England were better against the Czechs than against the Scots, but barely. The first 20 or so minutes were good, then the game kind of got away from both teams and it was not very memorable. I think we needed a statement win, in much the same way that Spain did today, but it just wasn't there. Despite our potential, I worry about how we'll do against Germany.
- What about the other contenders? Belgium, Netherlands and Italy all came away with 9 points and looking like contenders. And congrats to Wales for making it through, and with a winnable game against Denmark next - though I don't fancy their chances against the "feel-good" story of the tournament. Everybody else - don't care.
- So, 2 games really stand out in the round of 16 - Belgium vs Portugal could be interesting, and naturally England vs Germany. I'd be surprised if Italy, France, Spain and Netherlands don't win their games, and the other 2 games are relative toss-ups. I don't expect many surprises.
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