Euro 2020/2021

[Duque de Bragança]

It's over for Scotland now, I'm afraid.

[Duque de Bragança]

England scored in the beginning and has been defending then.

[Josquius]

England's poor goalscoring ability must be a concern. Can't see them getting beyond the next round considering it's going to be against one of the likely finalists.

[Admiral Yi]

That said, I can't quite root for England. Kane just seems like a despicable human being 

I don't like his jump-float victory dance, I don't like his pointy nose, and I don't like his hair.

[Sheilbh]

England's poor goalscoring ability must be a concern. Can't see them getting beyond the next round considering it's going to be against one of the likely finalists.

Agreed - although part of that is Southgate's decisions.

And, frankly, given England's defenders I'm surprised they've not conceded. For me the defence was a bigger concern (and the way to do well in international tournaments) - I feel the attacking players should generally be capable of scoring goals.

But against that I think Southgate is a very cautious, instinctively negative coach so...

[FunkMonk]

England's poor goalscoring ability must be a concern. Can't see them getting beyond the next round considering it's going to be against one of the likely finalists.

Agreed - although part of that is Southgate's decisions.

And, frankly, given England's defenders I'm surprised they've not conceded. For me the defence was a bigger concern (and the way to do well in international tournaments) - I feel the attacking players should generally be capable of scoring goals.

But against that I think Southgate is a very cautious, instinctively negative coach so...

Should sack Southgate and bring in Wenger imo.

[HVC]

Should have hire the Icelandic coach from 2016. Part time coach full time dentist hah

*edit* not a British teeth joke, I just found it funny they were beat by a team with a dentist for a coach

[Sheilbh]

Should have hire the Icelandic coach from 2016. Part time coach full time dentist hah

*edit* not a British teeth joke, I just found it funny they were beat by a team with a dentist for a coach

Although my favourte one of these memes is now Mourinho being knocked out the Europa League by a manager in prison

[The Larch]

England will now play in the round of 18 the runner-up of the France-Germany-Portugal group, so that's going to be a proper top game.

[Tamas]

England will now play in the round of 18 the runner-up of the France-Germany-Portugal group, so that's going to be a proper top game.

I can't see England beating any of those 3.

[Sheilbh]

England will now play in the round of 18 the runner-up of the France-Germany-Portugal group, so that's going to be a proper top game.

Yeah - doomed.

But karma after the "easy" run in 2018.

[Syt]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57579821

Hungary PM 'scraps Euros visit' amid German LGBT row with Uefa

Hours before Hungary's footballers face Germany in Munich in their final Euro 2020 group stage match, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has cancelled a visit to the game, German reports say.

Earlier Germany and 13 other EU states condemned a Hungarian law that bans portraying homosexuality to under-18s.

Europe's football governing body has been criticised for not allowing Munich to use rainbow colours in the stadium.

Uefa said it had to deny the request given the political context in Hungary.

German press agency DPA said Mr Orban had cancelled his trip to Munich and was planning to travel to Brussels instead, where an EU leaders' summit starts on Thursday.

There was no confirmation from the prime minister's spokesman, who said: "We do not provide information, now as before, on Viktor Orban's private programme."

Uefa rejected the request, insisting it was a "politically and religiously neutral organisation". It later added a rainbow to its logo and said Munich's request had been political, even though the rainbow symbol was not.

Uefa's refusal was derided as "shameful" by Mayor Dieter Reiter, while Green party leader Annalena Baerbock called for rainbow colours to be displayed across Germany as a "strong message of diversity".

Bavarian Premier Markus Söder said Germans had to "stand up against exclusion and discrimination" and Munich's gay community said it would hand out rainbow flags for fans inside the Allianz Arena for the match at 19:00 GMT. German captain Manuel Neuer, who wore a rainbow armband for the first two games, will continue to do so.

A number of stadiums in Germany have said they will light up in rainbow colours, and Munich town hall tweeted a picture of rainbow flags hoisted outside the building.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the Hungarian law was "a shame" that went against European values.

Mr Orban told DPA that modern Hungary protected the rights of homosexuals, but "whether the Munich football stadium or another European stadium lights up in rainbow colours is not a state decision". In Budapest too, he said, rainbow colours were a normal part of the landscape.

Hungarian MPs voted last week to ban depiction or promotion of homosexuality to under-18s, as part of a law against paedophiles.

Justice Minister Judit Varga has rejected condemnation of the anti-LGBT law by 14 EU member states as based on "fake news". It did not deprive anyone of their rights nor discriminate against any member of society, she insisted, complaining that the countries involved had not contacted Budapest to clarify the true meaning of the law.

The outcry against Uefa's decision has spread far beyond football and politics in Germany.

In Munich alone, the Olympic tower and an enormous wind turbine near the stadium are to be lit up in rainbow colours.

Outside the stadium, a campaign to get as many of the 11,000 supporters as possible to wear stickers or carry flags is being co-ordinated by Christopher Street Day, which organises annual LGBT parades in July across Germany. An estimated 2,000 Hungary fans are expected to attend the game.

Stadiums in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Cologne and Wolfsburg are among a number planning to light up during the match in rainbow colours.

Clubs including Stuttgart posted simple messages ahead of the match.

Some of Germany's biggest companies posted rainbow colours on Facebook and Twitter, including BMW, Volkswagen, Siemens and financial organisations such as Sparkasse and Hypovereinsbank.

German drag queen Olivia Jones started a petition online calling for Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst to sing the German anthem ahead of the match.

[Tamas]

The coward  At least this much good has come out of the planned Munich stadium action on this. This must be absolutely killing him.

[FunkMonk]

Conchita at the Euros

[Sheilbh]

Also love the various German stadiums lighting up in rainbows tonight - as well as Griezmann or the Swedish coach commenting on it. A number of clubs (I would note that at least a few are still technically in the Super League so may just enjoy the chance to tweak UEFA) have also made statements/solidarity.  I think UEFA and clubs and football authorities generally underestimate the power of the people who participate in the game on some of these issues. On all the English podcasts/Twitter everyone has suggested that the Allianz Arena should do it anyway and set up a GoFundMe for the fine (which, based on the fines for racism, would be quite small anyway).

And I'd add that polls supporting, say gay adoption, are about the same level of support in Hungary as France - and some Hungarian players have spoken out about this.

There's two things that really annoy me about UEFA on this.

The first is this is sort of a consequence of positioning anti-homophobia and anti-racism as non-political when they are political - and it's clear that groups opposed to these ideas don't think they're neutral which means if you back them it is and should be political. See the Hungarian ultras with their anti-taking-the-knee banner:


But the other that really frustrates me is that UEFA very happily allow themselves to be used politically by authoritarian strong men (see the games in Russia, Azerbaijan and Hungary - all accompanied with Ceferin meeting Putin, Aliyev and Orban - plus Belarus and Lukashenko which - I'm not sure if this has been cancelled - were hosting a UEFA youth tournament). If you want to be utterly non-political - fine, stop doing photo ops with politicians.