Administrator Stan 18,399 Posted November 15, 2023 Administrator Share Posted November 15, 2023 all kick-offs 19.45 (GMT) Friday 17th November, 2023 England vs Malta Italy vs North Macedonia Monday 20th November, 2023 North Macedonia vs England Ukraine vs Italy - England will secure 1st place with a draw against Malta - Ukraine will secure direct qualification for Euro 2024 with a win over Italy - Italy have to win 1 and draw 1/win both of their remaining games to qualify directly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 1,117 Posted November 17, 2023 Share Posted November 17, 2023 Italy are leading North Macedonia by a 3-2 score-line in Rome, with 15 minutes remaining of the game to play. North Macedonia were already knocked out before this game kicked-off, while for Italy, it is a must win game if they want to increase their chances of finishing in 2nd place in this group and qualifying. If Italy manage to hold on to this lead, they will go level on points with Ukraine in 2nd place. Which would mean that their last match against Ukraine, will decide who finishes in 2nd place in the group and qualifies alongside England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 1,117 Posted November 17, 2023 Share Posted November 17, 2023 Raspadori steps up and scores to increase Italy's lead to 4-2! Surely Italy have won this match now, here in front of a full house in Rome. Italy 4-2 North Macedonia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 2,210 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 That is exactly the midfield we want to see, especially in the Summer. Obviously Bellingham in for Foden in the middle but that is a quality fucking midfield. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewolf 7,161 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 Grealish is such a fanny.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewolf 7,161 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 That has to be a penalty surely??? Maguire is such a clumsy tit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewolf 7,161 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 Harsh... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadLinesman 5,938 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 Lolz. @LFCMadLadmy apologies. VAR has indeed ruined football. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewolf 7,161 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 Never a penalty for me but considering we already got away with one is about right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewolf 7,161 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 Apart from the Rice strike we have not really threatened at all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadLinesman 5,938 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 Grealish is a bit shit isn’t he. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 2,210 Posted November 20, 2023 Share Posted November 20, 2023 5 minutes ago, DeadLinesman said: Grealish is a bit shit isn’t he. we need luke chadwick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 1,117 Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 Ukraine v Italy finished 0-0 in Leverkusen, Germany, but the goal-less result, didn't represent how entertaining the match was. Both sides created several chances to score, but in the end, neither could find the back of the net. Chiesa for me, was Italy's best player, he was everywhere. He was almost always behind every attack that Italy created, but he was also back defending tirelessly, when Italy needed him. He adds another dimension to this Italy team and he really is their key player for me. To be honest, Italy's forward line-up of the trio, Chiesa, Raspadori and Zaniolo, that started today against Ukraine, is the best attacking line-up that Italy have in my opinion. Chiesa was injured for a while, while Zaniolo was left out of some matches, due to an investigation into illegal betting. None of these 3 forwards started against England in both Italy's matches against England in this group for example. I think Italy have now worked out their best starting 11 and I think they've played their best football in their last 2 matches in this group. Italy hammered North Macedonia in Rome 5-2 and today, they put in another very determined performance. For Ukraine, Sudakov stood out for me. His creative ability on the ball and his lovely passing is great to watch. He had a couple of very dangerous efforts on goal today and he was generally a real nuisance for the Italian defenders. Dovbyk held the line well up-front and I think he is now Ukraine's undisputed number one forward right now. He is fast, powerful and he holds the ball up beautifully. Tsyhankov and Zinchenko both also had good games, but Mudryk always looks to take on far too many players and he can be quite selfish on occasions. But it was in fact Mudryk who had a great chance to score for Ukraine, when a throw in found him right in front of goal, but his shot was excellently blocked by Donnarumma. Moreover, the most controversial event of the match, was when Mudryk was clearly fouled in the penalty area by Cristante, but the referee said no penalty. The referee didn't even check the foul on the replay. I have to say, I wasn't impressed by the Spanish referee Manzano, not only did he miss the foul on Mudryk, but he also didn't award two free-kicks for a couple of likely fouls on Sudakov in dangerous positions just outside the Italian penalty area. He seemed to let a lot of rough play go on in the match, it was a very aggressive match. In the end, the 0-0 draw means that both Ukraine and Italy finish level on 14 points in the final table of Group C. However, Italy finish in 2nd place, because of a better goal-difference, while Ukraine finish in 3rd position. England obviously top the group in 1st place. North Macedonia finish on a respective 8 points in 4th place, with Ukraine the only team to have beaten them both home and away. Malta finish rock bottom with 0 points, having lost all their group matches. For Ukraine, it has been a relatively successful qualifying campaign, considering the fact that they were placed in a group featuring strong national teams in England and Italy, while North Macedonia proved themselves to be no mugs. Furthermore, the fact that Ukraine couldn't play any of their matches on home ground in Ukraine, due to the ongoing war in their country, was clearly a significant disadvantage. However, Ukraine still have a chance of qualifying for Euro 2024 in Germany via the play-offs. Rebrov has done a decent job since he took over as manager of Ukraine, under the circumstances. I am very confident that Ukraine will still qualify for the Euros, as they look to me to be the strongest team in the play-offs. So whoever they are drawn against in the play-offs, I am quite confident they will manage to beat them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Stan 18,399 Posted November 21, 2023 Author Administrator Share Posted November 21, 2023 7 hours ago, Michael said: Moreover, the most controversial event of the match, was when Mudryk was clearly fouled in the penalty area by Cristante, but the referee said no penalty. The referee didn't even check the foul on the replay Just seen this. Unbelievable decision not to award that. Or not even to have it checked on VAR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 1,117 Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 57 minutes ago, Stan said: Just seen this. Unbelievable decision not to award that. Or not even to have it checked on VAR. Yeah, most people are saying that it was a certain penalty, even many of the Italian pundits have apparently said this as well. Mudryk was theatrical as usual when he went down, but Cristante clearly fouled him. I really don't understand why the referee didn't even have the incident at least checked by VAR, in such an important match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Palace Fan 3,406 Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 Once I saw what Ceferin said about it being a disaster if Italy didn't qualify, I knew that game would be decided by a poor referee's decision in Italy's favour. It's just easier to assume football is corrupt at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 1,117 Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 2 minutes ago, The Palace Fan said: Once I saw what Ceferin said about it being a disaster if Italy didn't qualify, I knew that game would be decided by a poor referee's decision in Italy's favour. It's just easier to assume football is corrupt at this point. Yeah, I heard that the other day, that was a completely unprofessional thing for a man in his position to say. Some people at the higher echelons of UEFA, clearly wanted the defending Champions to be at the Euros. But that foul on Mudryk was a stonewall penalty, one would have to be blind not to award it..... or corrupt. It's just sad that we are not having consistency with such incidents. VAR is there for a reason, it should have been used yesterday, if the referee didn't get a good view of the incident himself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 1,117 Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 13 hours ago, DeadLinesman said: Grealish is a bit shit isn’t he. I've never been a huge fan of his to be honest. A very good player obviously, but not as good as some people make him out to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 1,117 Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 14 hours ago, Bluewolf said: Apart from the Rice strike we have not really threatened at all... Of course we'd already qualified prior to yesterday's match against North Macedonia, but North Macedonia proved once again to be a tough nut on home ground. I mean as England are probably the strongest team in Europe right now, alongside the French, we would have expected the win. But teams like North Macedonia have proven that they are very decent sides, who are not easy to play against, especially when they play on home ground in front of their own fans. They have several very useful players in their team as well, so it's not an easy feat for any national team to beat a team like North Macedonia, particularly when they play on their own patch in Skopje. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael 1,117 Posted November 21, 2023 Share Posted November 21, 2023 5 hours ago, The Palace Fan said: Once I saw what Ceferin said about it being a disaster if Italy didn't qualify, I knew that game would be decided by a poor referee's decision in Italy's favour. It's just easier to assume football is corrupt at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadLinesman 5,938 Posted November 22, 2023 Share Posted November 22, 2023 On 20/11/2023 at 21:35, Danny said: we need luke chadwick As manager. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny 2,210 Posted November 22, 2023 Share Posted November 22, 2023 2 hours ago, DeadLinesman said: As manager. I’ve missed your positive outlook on life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadLinesman 5,938 Posted November 22, 2023 Share Posted November 22, 2023 2 hours ago, Danny said: I’ve missed your positive outlook on life I’ll be here all week. Probably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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