Dont Germans have a stronger rivalry with the Dutch than they do us
Be like having a Scottish Referee in charge of this one
That's true, I forgot about that. According to Callum above he has already been in charge of a Dutch game. I would never be pleased to have a home nation referee in charge of one of our games and I guess the feeling is mutual for all of us home nations. Guess we are just very small minded petty people.
Breaking news... The referee for the England v Netherlands game is non other than German Felix Zwayer who was given a six month ban for taking a bribe many years ago. Jude Bellingham got a 34k fine in 2021 when at Dortmund he slagged him off for not giving Dortmund a penalty yet giving a less obvious pen to Bayern Munich in a match that they lost 3-2. Jude said what do you expect from that ref with his past.
Don't be surprised if Jude gets 2 yellows in this match 🤦🏻♂️
I don't see his appointment having any infleunce on the match.
That being said, it's insane that he's still refereeing, let alone at the Semi final of a major tournament.
I don't think any bribes come into it now with this ref but if has a memory then Bellingham may be wise to curb his usual in the refs face as the Dutch will look to make a meal of any contact. From the point of view that most games Jude will do tackles and challenges that are 50/50 to being a yellow. That's why he is such a talent with the effort and skill but his tackling can be near the mark. With England's record of their young stars getting red cards in Tournaments: Beckham and Rooney we really don't want a hat trick.
Hopefully they’ll make it 32 soon. Will make it so much easier to split 32 into 16 and stop all this best third placed team nonsense.
God no... UEFA only has 55 Members, more countries will qualify than not.
32-teams is ideal for a World Cup... 16-teams is ideal for something like the Euros
It’s only an extra 8 teams and it would make the format so much better. There are plenty of half decent teams, eg. Norway, Finland, Greece etc who could have qualified. It doesn’t mean that San Marino or Wales would get in.
Hopefully they’ll make it 32 soon. Will make it so much easier to split 32 into 16 and stop all this best third placed team nonsense.
God no... UEFA only has 55 Members, more countries will qualify than not.
32-teams is ideal for a World Cup... 16-teams is ideal for something like the Euros
It’s only an extra 8 teams and it would make the format so much better. There are plenty of half decent teams, eg. Norway, Finland, Greece etc who could have qualified. It doesn’t mean that San Marino or Wales would get in.
Hopefully they’ll make it 32 soon. Will make it so much easier to split 32 into 16 and stop all this best third placed team nonsense.
God no... UEFA only has 55 Members, more countries will qualify than not.
32-teams is ideal for a World Cup... 16-teams is ideal for something like the Euros
It’s only an extra 8 teams and it would make the format so much better. There are plenty of half decent teams, eg. Norway, Finland, Greece etc who could have qualified. It doesn’t mean that San Marino or Wales would get in.
Not sure how you'd get around the qualifying, which would be pretty much pointless. Unless you just gave a bye to the best few teams and let the rest go through qualifying.
Hopefully they’ll make it 32 soon. Will make it so much easier to split 32 into 16 and stop all this best third placed team nonsense.
God no... UEFA only has 55 Members, more countries will qualify than not.
32-teams is ideal for a World Cup... 16-teams is ideal for something like the Euros
It’s only an extra 8 teams and it would make the format so much better. There are plenty of half decent teams, eg. Norway, Finland, Greece etc who could have qualified. It doesn’t mean that San Marino or Wales would get in.
Not sure how you'd get around the qualifying, which would be pretty much pointless. Unless you just gave a bye to the best few teams and let the rest go through qualifying.
Would have to be like the Copa America this time around where they have teams invited and the rest qualify
the more games the merrier as far as I'm concerned
Each to their own, but I prefer quality over quantity - the 3rd place thing means a lot of the 3rd group games in particular lose that sense of jeopardy, and a lot more teams playing for draws etc.
I prefer 16 teams over 24 in the Euros too.
Spot on, there are too many teams in the current format.
I can understand having loads of teams in the world cup, but 24 teams in a continental tournament is too many and we have a ton of games just to remove the first 8 sides. I get why they do it, but having a max of 16 teams is enough really as a finals tournament should be for the elite teams only.
What do we think tonight? Spain on past performances should be favourites but I fancy France to win by the odd goal, wouldn't be surprised if it goes all the way to penalties
I think Spain will win tonight on pens and meet Holland in the final, Holland to win and make right their 2010 finals loss in the world cup.
Holland are a bit of an underrated side. They were unfortunate not to reach the semis in the world cup, and had they beat Argentina, may have even won the whole thing.
Holland are currently ranked 7th in the world, and although it doesn't always mean much, we have quite a poor record against top10 world ranking teams.
Hope I'm wrong, but I've still yet to see us beat a genuine top side, as much as I've enjoyed the tournament runs.
I think Spain will win tonight on pens and meet Holland in the final, Holland to win and make right their 2010 finals loss in the world cup.
Holland are a bit of an underrated side. They were unfortunate not to reach the semis in the world cup, and had they beat Argentina, may have even won the whole thing.
Holland are currently ranked 7th in the world, and although it doesn't always mean much, we have quite a poor record against top10 world ranking teams.
Hope I'm wrong, but I've still yet to see us beat a genuine top side, as much as I've enjoyed the tournament runs.
The Netherlands were terrible in the 2010 final, and deserved their loss. All they did was try to kick Spain.
Yeah think this'll be a France victory - Spain have been impressive but think this is their first real test.
Croatia (Ageing) Italy (Struggled to Qualify, and lost to the Swiss) Albania and Georgia (Say no more)
Even beating Germany was nothing really special seeing that they're in a bit of a transition phase, and only beat Scotland and Hungary (Say no more), drew with the Swiss, and just about beat an ageing Denmark.
I think Spain will win tonight on pens and meet Holland in the final, Holland to win and make right their 2010 finals loss in the world cup.
Holland are a bit of an underrated side. They were unfortunate not to reach the semis in the world cup, and had they beat Argentina, may have even won the whole thing.
Holland are currently ranked 7th in the world, and although it doesn't always mean much, we have quite a poor record against top10 world ranking teams.
Hope I'm wrong, but I've still yet to see us beat a genuine top side, as much as I've enjoyed the tournament runs.
The Netherlands were terrible in the 2010 final, and deserved their loss. All they did was try to kick Spain.
I know Spain were better, I don't think there will ever be a better footballing nation than Spain between the late 00s and early 10s. I more mean just getting to a final and losing, they'll want to correct that loss Vs. Spain.
Appreciate it looks worded as if Holland were hard done by
Comments
That's true, I forgot about that. According to Callum above he has already been in charge of a Dutch game. I would never be pleased to have a home nation referee in charge of one of our games and I guess the feeling is mutual for all of us home nations. Guess we are just very small minded petty people.
I don't think any bribes come into it now with this ref but if has a memory then Bellingham may be wise to curb his usual in the refs face as the Dutch will look to make a meal of any contact.
From the point of view that most games Jude will do tackles and challenges that are 50/50 to being a yellow. That's why he is such a talent with the effort and skill but his tackling can be near the mark.
With England's record of their young stars getting red cards in Tournaments: Beckham and Rooney we really don't want a hat trick.
I can understand having loads of teams in the world cup, but 24 teams in a continental tournament is too many and we have a ton of games just to remove the first 8 sides. I get why they do it, but having a max of 16 teams is enough really as a finals tournament should be for the elite teams only.
Holland are a bit of an underrated side. They were unfortunate not to reach the semis in the world cup, and had they beat Argentina, may have even won the whole thing.
Holland are currently ranked 7th in the world, and although it doesn't always mean much, we have quite a poor record against top10 world ranking teams.
Hope I'm wrong, but I've still yet to see us beat a genuine top side, as much as I've enjoyed the tournament runs.
Croatia (Ageing)
Italy (Struggled to Qualify, and lost to the Swiss)
Albania and Georgia (Say no more)
Even beating Germany was nothing really special seeing that they're in a bit of a transition phase, and only beat Scotland and Hungary (Say no more), drew with the Swiss, and just about beat an ageing Denmark.
Appreciate it looks worded as if Holland were hard done by
Spain will have the majority of the possession, and the French for the most part will soak it up... First goal tonight is so crucial for Spain