Belgium could have gotten one full move with a man advantage. It takes time for a sub to get ready, then run from the bench to go to his position on the field. Meaning at best Italy would have all 11 but one out of position. Still advantage Belgium. Never ever going to happen in a QF, that too when being faught so close. Only a highest level of stupidity will allow other team to take any kind of advantage.
Day 18: Switzerland vs Spain | Belgium vs Italy (QF 1&2)
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik @Rood and Imran @Annihilate Now! start with the good news by celebrating Manchester United Women's emphatic FA Cup win over Spurs at Wembley and the future of manager Marc Skinner.
Then it's the bad news and the ever worsening form of our Men with losses to Arsenal and Palace.
Finally the main debate - ETH Out now or keep him until the end of the season - if not longer. Are you Team Nik or Team Imran?
Belgium rely on kdB being world class and tonight he was poor by his own standards. Poorly set up and best player not playing well = defeat.
Any media outlet that has declared England winners of anything football-related isn't worth paying attention to. England fans no better. You can't take anything for granted in a knockout competition.
Thats excatly why Chadli also sat on the pitch when injured
Italy have not limited in one way. They are strong in attack with variety of play structure. They still have gears to shift in my opinion. But also very good at defending. They defend as unit. Very well organised side. Spain vs Italy will be tasty.
Still put it on a plate for Lukaku
You mean Lewa who doesn't have likes of KDB and #1 ranked team in the world behind him?
Oh I thought about general cheating like diving and all.
As far as I am concerned, seeing out game by time wasting isn't cheating. It's upto ref to decide whether it is happening or not. Diving on the other hand is deceiving the ref and it's difficult to judge how much contact was there.
Stood there absolutely 'fine' (injury aside). Teammate comes up, gets close, says something... he goes down.
Donnarumma collides with own player, gets a freekick.
5 mins injury time? Those two instances alone were about 5 minutes.
(Italy deserved the win mind)
People really underestimate England. Close call between the two teams - their midfield is better than ours but our attack better than theirs. I could see our wide players having fun with Di Lorenzo and Emerson if it comes to that. Anyway, not sure that will be the final. Spain could beat Italy. England might not make it either, the Danes are especially dangerous.
Midfield is where they win their games
They are remarkably unlikeable.I see that Belgium rubbed everyone the wrong way.
Also Lukaku
Carrasco should've played the second half instead of Chadli or Mertens.
They are a good side with real quality up front but have an ageing defence, Witsel was not fit enough for a game like that and Hazard injured. I don't think they will win anything now, their second XI is way off, unsurprisingly for a small nation.
Lost to best team in the tournament in QF.
Their lost against Wales is the worst by far.
I haven’t seen their quality upfront either to be honest, hazard was. KDB is midfield. That youngster on the left looked ok but raw. Don’t think I’m missing anyone.
a good side yes, number one in the world or better than good side, no chance.
The second half was painful to watch as a non-neutral, folks. 
Commiserations to @RobinLFC and the Belgian fans on the Caf. You wanted one more goal more than us and we were lucky to not concede. See you at WC22.
We are through but possibly toast, if you ask me: for the majority of our players, this international SF is the biggest achievement in their career. Congrats to them and we. want. more.
See you all next week, against our Spanish cousins for a place in the final. What a tournament!
Commiserations to @RobinLFC and the Belgian fans on the Caf. You wanted one more goal more than us and we were lucky to not concede. See you at WC22.We are through but possibly toast, if you ask me: for the majority of our players, this international SF is the biggest achievement in their career. Congrats to them and we. want. more.
See you all next week, against our Spanish cousins for a place in the final. What a tournament!
Romelu Lukaku...Nearly Man
Belgium being number 1 ranked team shows how stupid that ranking system is.
Theyre consistent in that they rarely feck up in games they should win, and that racks up the points in the rankings. In games that are tight like knockout tournament games, they fall short.
No they haven't.
1 dog year equal 7 of human.
So an 11 y.o dog equals to 77 y.o. human. How's that other way around?
System is clearly broken. Tournament games especially knockouts should count for more
Nope
I believe it used to be like that but they removed it because there was a ton of other factors and it was overly complicated.
On paper only england attack is better but they displayed variety of goal scoring ability but England s best striker not even looked like fit.
I am not saying england is bad but will be exposed heavily. Italy have every thing in their arsenal short pass,long pass, attack through center, attacking wide area, dominating midfield, counter attack, pressing up front,counter pressing.
What ever you need in a club in attacking ability they displayed every thing with their players in this tournament . They always able to create 1vs2 situation if they wanted to. That's the big plus but also comfortable in possession.
I think the winner of the World Cup should be ranked number 1 until the next world cup. That would be an improvement.
It is weird not having the world champions as number one ranked.
The difficult probably comes from the Copa America and Euros. How do you rank each? The World Cup is easy, though.
Watching this, the trophy is England to lose. Really lucky that France self-destructed against this Belgium side.
Poor by his standards is an understatement. He was very bad, no matter whose
You played some very good stuff even when you were ahead. Deservedly went through! Good luck on Tuesday.The second half was painful to watch as a non-neutral, folks.
We are through but possibly toast, if you ask me: for the majority of our players, this international SF is the biggest achievement in their career. Congrats to them and we. want. more.
See you all next week, against our Spanish cousins for a place in the final. What a tournament!
Are you kidding me? Italy looks miles ahead of England.
The issue then is that 4 years is a long time in football and you would get scenarios where in early 2010 Italy would be ranked number 1 where they clearly weren’t the best team in the world. That said, I struggle to think of an effective system
Because if the dog is 11 in human years its 77 in dog years.
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I think Italy have a better team than England and would have them comfortably ahead of England in a league format. But in a knockout match, England is not a good match for Italy.
They won’t mind Italy controlling the ball and will want to counter with their quick attackers, which Italy is uncomfortable with. They also like to play wide, where Italy have their worst players at full back (apart from Immobile). And while Chiellini loves a good fight with a big forward, someone like Kane is more difficult for him. Finally, there is the home advantage.
On the other hand, I don’t really know England‘s central midfielders. They may just be suffocated from Italy‘s midfield.
Anyway, there are two semi-finals left.
They won’t mind Italy controlling the ball and will want to counter with their quick attackers, which Italy is uncomfortable with. They also like to play wide, where Italy have their worst players at full back (apart from Immobile). And while Chiellini loves a good fight with a big forward, someone like Kane is more difficult for him. Finally, there is the home advantage.
On the other hand, I don’t really know England‘s central midfielders. They may just be suffocated from Italy‘s midfield.
Anyway, there are two semi-finals left.
That prize goes to Sweden. Started wasting time as early as the 55th minute against Spain in the opening game. A player even got a yellow card for it
I don't think so. Very different approaches - England plays a control game, Italy an energy game. It's not a given who will manage to impose their game on the opposition. England haven't conceded a single goal in four games, and will be hard for anyone to break down. They've also not had a serious wobble so far, unlike Italy who really struggled with Austria. I'd say it's even money, so far.
That was a very good game and tactical battle, though i thought the english commentators were full of hyperbole trying to hype up the individual quality on show. Neither midfield really impressed me.
it was a brilliant match but hotter than shit that day. Special day for me personally as my heritage is dutch/irish so i really enjoyed going. The after party downtown was fcking mental. The irish were drinking and singing basically took over every bar and the dutch women were jaw dropping hot and barely dressed because of the heat.
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A one off game would be even of course, I agree. Italy looks better on the eye though (although England could do that as well with a manager like Mancini imo). England vs Italy would be a great final.