Euro 2016 Qualification

[Rob.]

Wow.....credit to Poland, this has been a really brave performance. Beating Germany 2-0 with three minutes left.

Edited October 11, 2014 by Rob.

[gotosy]

Group D

Poland 2-0 Germany

1-Poland 6 pts

2- Ireland 6

3- Germany 3

4- Scotland 3

5- Georgia 0

6- Gibraltar 0

Group F

Finland 1-1 Greece

Northern Ireland 2-0 Faroe Islands

1- Northern Ireland 6 pts

2- Finland 4

3- Romania 4

4- HUngary 1

5- Greece 1

6- Faroe Island 0

Group I

Albania 1-1 Denmark

1- Denmark 4 pts

2- Albania 4

3- Serbia 1

4- Armenia 1

5- Portugal 0

[Scotguy]

Northern Ireland and Wales doing well so far, although they do have easier groups compared to Scotland and England.

[Rob.]

Northern Ireland and Wales doing well so far, although they do have easier groups compared to Scotland and England.

Not sure. I think Scotland easily has the hardest group of the home nations, and Poland's amazing win yesterday has potentally made it harder for the other teams who'll be looking to finish 2nd behind Germany. I'm not sure England's is much harder than what Wales or NI have other than the fact we're the favourite in our group.

Anyway....1-0 win away against Estonia. Very, very one sided but Estonia contained well and England were a bit sloppy in front of goal. Should really have been 2 or 3. But 9 points out of a possible 9 isn't something to grumble about.

Edited October 12, 2014 by Rob.

[Tony E Loves Architecture]

9 Points out of 9. A Win is a Win. I did say we will get a 100 Per Cent record through this Qualifying Group even before the First Game was played. We will be talking about this next Year, with England having 30 Points out of 30, I'm quite certain of that.

[Rob.]

SkyBET are offering odds of 5/1 for that. If you're that certain Tony, stick a tenner on it and you're set for an easy 50 quid.

https://www.skybet.com/football/specials/england-specials

Certainly not a crazy bet to make, but I don't think I'll bite. We'll be favourites going into every match, but it's more likely than not we'll end up with a draw or two.

[gotosy]

Group E

Estonia 0-1 England

Lithuania 0-2 Slovenia

1- England 9 pts

2- Slovenia 6

3- Lithuania 6

4- Estonia 3

5- Switzerland 0

6- San Marino 0

[gotosy]

Group G

Austria 1-0 Montenegro

Russia 1-1 Moldova

Sweden 2-0 Liechtenstein

1-Austria 7 pts

2- Russia 5

3- Sweden 5

4- Montenegro 4

5- Moldova 1

6- Liechtenstein 1

Group C

Luxembourg 0-4 Spain

Ukraine 1-0 Macedonia

Belarus 1-3 Slovakia

1- Slovakia 9 pts

2- Spain 6

3- Ukraine 6

4- Macedonia 3

5- Belarus 1

6- Luxembourg 1

[Fox334]

Moldova holding Russia to a point is pretty surprising. Liechtenstein is also holding it's own surprisingly well so far.

Watched the Ukraine - Macedonia game today. It was pretty ugly.

[StefanMUC]

I find this new format of spreading qualifiers quite confusing. I know there's reasons for this, but I preferred the compact, usually Wednesday/Saturday scheduled better.

[Luffy]

I think it's much cooler for people who love football to have matches every night for six days in a row instead of having only two matches in 15 days.

[gotosy]

Group H

Malta 0-1 Italy

Croatia 6-0 Azerbaijan

Norway 2-1 Bulgaria

1- Croatia 9pts

2- Italy 9

3- Norway 6

4- Bulgaria 3

5- Malta 0

6- Azerbaijan 0

[gotosy]

Group A

Iceland 2-0 Netherlands

Kazakhstan 2-4 Czech Rep

Latvia 1-1 Turkey

1- Iceland 9 pts

2- Czech Rep 9

3- Netherlands 3

4- Latvia 2

5- Kazakhstan 1

6- Turkey 1

Group B

Bosnia Herzegovina 1-1 Belgium

Andorra 1-4 Israel

Wales 2-1 Cyprus

1- Wales 7 pts

2- Israel 6

3- Belgium 4

4- Cyprus 3

5- Bosnia Herzegovina 2

6- Andorra 0

[Fox334]

The Netherlands is really not looking good so far. Losing to the Czech Republic and Iceland... ya.

Really happy for Iceland, though. 9 points and +8 differential after three games. Looks like they have a fair chance of making their first major tournament appearance.

[Tony E Loves Architecture]

I think it's much cooler for people who love football to have matches every night for six days in a row instead of having only two matches in 15 days.

I agree. The Week of Football Idea was a brilliant idea. I'm still against the 24 Team Idea for the Final Tournament. The 24 Team way is weird, because You have to do all the Best 3rd Place Team etc. I preferred the 16 Team Format. I think the 6 Continental Tournaments (UEFA Euro's, Africa Cup of Nations, Asian Cup, Gold Cup, OFC Nations Cup and Copa America), should be 16 Team Formats and the Fifa World Cup should be 32 Team Formats.

UEFA Euro - Host Country or Co-Host Countries Qualify automatically, 15 Teams Qualify from Qualifying.

Africa Cup of Nations - Host Country or Co-Host Countries Qualify automatically, 15 Teams Qualify from Qualifying.

Asian Cup - Host Country or Co-Host Countries Qualify automatically, 15 Teams Qualify from Qualifying.

Gold Cup - Host Country or Co-Host Countries Qualify automatically, 15 Teams Qualify from Qualifying.

OFC Nations Cup - Host Country or Co-Host Countries Qualify automatically, as well as the other 12 or 13 Countries Qualify automatically, 2 Countries invited from around the World (Maybe 1 European Country and 1 South American Country).

Copa America - Host Country or Co-Host Countries as well as the 8 or 9 other South American Countries automatically Qualify, 6 Teams from around the World get invited to the Copa America. (2 European Countries, 1 African Country, 1 Asian Country, 1 North American or Caribbean Country, 1 Oceania Country).

Fifa World Cup - As it is now.

[Rob.]

Time for UEFA to throw Serbia out of European competition

[Olympian2004]

Did I miss something about Serbia?

Quite shocking result for Germany: They led 1-0 until the final seconds of the match when Ireland scored the equaliser. This way, Germany remains on 4th place in group D after its surprising defeat against Poland on Saturday - outside the qualifying ranks... Come on guys, you must get your act together! I feel that - regardless of Lahm's departure - the team has become too complacent after the World Cup title. The performances since then were not overly convincing, and actually we thought that we have enough football talents to be able to cope with Lahm's, Klose's and Mertesacker's departure. Were we wrong, after all? I'm quite gutted.

[p85]

http://www.rts.rs/page/sport/ci/story/31/Фудбал/1722778/Прекинут+меч+Србија+–+Албанија.html Interrupted match Serbia - Albania

Match between Serbia and Albania disrupted by crowds on the ground. Delegate and the referee wanted to continue the match, the Albanian delegation refused such an outcome. Whether and when the match will be played and still not known.

The incident began when it appeared above the stadium drone (aircraft on the remote control) which was the flag of the so-called Greater Albania.

At a time when Serbian footballer Stefan Mitrovic grabbed the flag, he was attacked on two Albanian players in an attempt to kidnap him.

Then there was a general crowd on the ground, ran into a few fans, and the referee Martin Atkinson of England urged players in the locker room and interrupted the match.

Albania players were leaving the field during the targeted torches and lighters, and police entered the south stand and separate the two groups of fans.

Fan who rushed to hit the running track is an Albanian players when he left the field.

Interruption lasted more than 50 minutes, and in the meantime led the consultations between the two national associations and UEFA delegates about whether it can be continued.

The final decision was that match will be continued, and the fate of the match will discuss the Disciplinary Commission of UEFA.

[gotosy]

absolute chaos, sad..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iUBsSlDXc0&feature=youtu.be

[gotosy]

Group D

Germany 1-1 Ireland

Gibraltar 0-3 Georgia

Poland 2-2 Scotland

1- Poland 7 pts

2- Ireland 7

3- Germany 4

4- Scotland 4

5- Georgia 3

6- Gibraltar 0

[p85]

Time for UEFA to throw Serbia out of European competition

I think Albania deserves the same

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0h9mWv2hqA#t=111

[gotosy]

Group E

San Marino 0-4 Switzerland

1- England 9 pts

2- Slovenia 6

3- Lithuania 6

4- Switzerland 3

5- Estonia 3

6- San Marino 0

Group F

Finland 0-2 Romania

Greece 0-2 Northern Ireland

Faroe Islands 0-1 Hungary

1- Northern Ireland 9 pts

2- Romania 7

3- Finland 4

4- Hungary 4

5- Greece 1

6- Faroe Islands 0

Group I

Denmark 0-1 Portugal

Serbia v Albania - Match abandoned

[Ikarus360]

Time for UEFA to throw Serbia out of European competition

Albanians started that **** putting their Greater Albania flag on that drone. What reaction did you expected?

It seems all matches involving Serbia vs *insert a Balkan country here* are always going to end in some incident or other. They should start playing them on neutral territories if the fans are going to keep trying to revive a conflict which is already over.

[StefanMUC]

Time for UEFA to throw Serbia out of European competition

I have no time for Serbian nationalism, they should have come to terms with losing Kosovo years ago.

But clearly this time the provocation came from the Albanian side. Even worse that it was apparently the Albanian PM's brother who did this.

And while we're at banning countries, I'd throw out any country which currently needs to get separated from other ones when a draw is made. Bye ArmeniaAzerbaijanGeorgiaRussiaSpainGibraltar.

[Rob.]

Of course Albania deserves some punishment as well, but as far as I'm aware they don't have the black record the Serbians do in recent years. The reaction to this didn't have to involve a pitch invasion and an abandoned match but of course, it was in Serbia so that's what happened. Racism against England U21s team and coaching staff, antisemitism when Spurs visited there a month ago, "death to the Albanians" chants and burning of flags this time around. No team or fans deserve to be sent there. Maybe it's time, at the very least, that they have to play their home games behind closed doors or find a neutral country in which to host their matches.

Edited October 15, 2014 by Rob.