There are actually some certain ways to predict the future. I know of two ways.. The first is when you're about to kill someone he can tell of the future.. The other way is to come someone in a barrel of nut oil for fourth days.. Then he can tell the future..
Hey guys, I've been offline for a few days. Stupid of me to miss this wekeend's matches, gonna cost me points in the competition!
Anyways, here's my predictions for the coming matches:
Russia - Wales: 0-2 Slovakia - England: 1-2 (I hope I get the chance to see this one.) Ukraine - Poland: 0-2 (Ukraine has been weaker than I had anticipated and Poland are strong.) Northern Ireland - Germany: 0-2 (I think the german machine will wake up now) Czech Republic - Turkey: 1-1 (difficult game to predict.. I think it will be a tight game) Croatia - Spain: 0-2 Iceland - Austria: 1-0 (my mind tells me otherwise, but I will predict a win for Iceland out of sympathy!) Hungary - Portugal: 0-2 (portugal will step up and take command) Italy - Republic of Ireland: 1-0 (Italy will win on experience, defense and counter-attacks.) Sweden - Belgium: 0-2 (I'm sorry Sweden, our journey ends here. Even though we played decent vs Italy, we just can't make goals and belgium are really strong.)
Cheers, //Skat.
Edit: Btw, thanks @JuliusBorisov for computing the statistics and scores between us.
What was wrong with France??? I don't think I have ever seen such unwilling, insipid performance from the host nation, no less.
FR lacked in pace, movement, accuracy and ... will. Switzerland would have frankly deserved to win tonight.
The most notable feature of this match is probably the seven ripped Swiss jerseys!!
The will to score collapsed when Albania scored in the other match. Apparently Switzerland was ultra cautious and very keen to secure its qualification without fighting for the first place. That's why we had a 40 minute match. It does not explain the lack of accuracy though. Switzerland did not deserve to win, they were very slow and led no decisive offensive.
Oh no! I totally forgot to participate Sorry, busy weekend!
Okay
Russia v Wales: Russia is all but done for, unfortunately for them. However, they will want to fight it out until the end. Wales need a point to advance, and they'll probably get it. I agree with Bengoshi (that is his REAL name) and predict 1-1
England v Slovakia: England will want to win. Slovakia impressed last time, but England seem to have their best team since 06. I say England 2 Slovakia 1.
Zee Germany v Northern Ireland: I love Northern Ireland, as I just had a great weekend there. However, Zee Germans are an incredible force. 2-0 for Zee Germans. Maybe if NI manages a draw three teams advance from this group!
Poland v Ukraine: Poland has talent. Ukraine has struggled and lost to Northern Ireland handily. Poland 2 Ukraine 0.
Spain v Croatia: Unfortunately, this is a great game on paper but seems less urgent now since both teams are likely to advance... EXCEPT Spain might change their lineup around to give players like My Lord and Savior Koke a chance. Croatia can also pip them to the top spot in the group with a win, and might need a draw. I say Spain 2 Croatia 1.
EXTRA CREDIT COPA AMERICA PREDICTION USA! v Argentina: I! I believe! I believe that! I believe that we will... lose tragically 2-0. Messi is Messi. Good run by the USA though. Hopefully we are ready in two years to impress in Russia!
I want to also say that ICELAND has really impressed me this tournament
Why did they change the schedule for the final round? So annoying
To make all games in one group be played in one time, so that it was fair till the last minute. It's a common practice in tournaments.
But there's still one thing they didn't think about (or didn't think about enough) - the third placed teams. Matches of one groupd being played in one time is OK, but still with each gaming day the teams know better about results that could give them a qualification from the 3rd place. For example, the fact Albania, not Romania won yesterday, will greatly influence today's Wales vs Russia game.
The practice goes back to the 1982 world cup where three teams ended with four points in one group (this was back when a victory gave only two points).
The situation before the last round was that Algeria had beaten West Germany but lost to Austria. Both West Germany and Austria had beaten Chile. So Austria had 4 points, West Germany and Algeria had 2, and Chile had none. And Algeria would play Chile before West Germany played Austria...
In the third round Algeria won against Chile but their goal score was only 5-5. So the Germans and Austrians knew before their last match that a West German 1-0 victory would send both teams to the next round, at Algeria's expense. To nobody's great surprise, West Germany scored an early goal (IIRC it was scored by Horst Hrubesh), and both teams made sure nothing more happened in that match! The Algerians were understandably furious but could do nothing. From that time on, the last group matches have been played simultaneously.
(It hasn't always helped. In the 2004 European Championship both Denmark, Sweden and Italy won their matches against Bulgaria. But Denmark had drawn 0-0 against Italy, Sweden drew 1-1 with them, and both teams knew that a 2-2 draw would send them to the quarter finals, no matter Italy's result against Bulgaria. I don't think Denmark's and Sweden's 2-2 draw came as a great surprise to anyone...)
And as @JuliusBorisov points out, the last groups to play will now know what it takes to progress on a third place.
@JuliusBorisov Thanks a lot indeed for keeping the scores - even if I hopped in a bit late, I actually have a genuine (but good-humoured) suspense if I shall indeed get even one result quite correct!
My Belgian friend has a slightly different system at his workplace, for your consideration (*), just because it has more points available to allow eventual comebacks. In their case, I think, entirely correct result is three points, correct goal difference is 2 points and correct winner is 1 point, which ever is the best.
Will be a very suspenseful match between England and Slovakia! Due to my under-dog fixation I've predicted the Slovaks and the Welsh to go forth, obviously...
Sorry JB; sorry Spakleav! If 'leav is England supporter in footie that is, I mean: there is Wales, and also Northern Ireland would have a chance by beating Germany, but I cannot quite stretch my predictions that far...
(*) Edit: not for these Euros of course, but any future tournament of sufficient interest - just to be clear.
The practice goes back to the 1982 world cup where three teams ended with four points in one group (this was back when a victory gave only two points).
And as @JuliusBorisov points out, the last groups to play will now know what it takes to progress on a third place.
I actually think that it would be more logical to have those 32 teams and eight groups, as "best third" is a bit opaque concept, at least to me.
No individual team would have more matches, even if there would be more match days maybe needed, or parallel matches.
However, I think that Euros are really popular, and having more teams in would delight at least the public. I have been very impressed with supposedly "weak teams" this far - Iceland, Albania etc. As said due to emotional investment I almost prefer Euro to the footie World cup.
Even if I am no fan of Platini's concept of "good governance" - irony here! - I think him pushing shared Euros as to utilize existing football-fields and not build new stadia was a very reasonable one. It also spreads other burdens such as security, hospitality and transport.
What a match! What a courage! Who would have guessed Wales will win this group?! Not many even thought they would qualify.
And the difference between finishing first and second in the group B is quite big. Wales will play against the 3rd place from A/C/D (Albania, Northen Ireland, Croatia or Czech Rep), while England will play against the 2nd place from F (it may be Portugal, or Iceland).
And Russia was eliminated. Before the tournament I wrote that the western press thought highly about the Russia team, but people in Russia were skeptical - the team is very weak physically, has no spirit and plays badly.
I didn't guess any result yesterday but I'm very, very pleased. I've believed in Wales and in Bale and it looks like it's the tournament of their lives.
My Belgian friend has a slightly different system at his workplace, for your consideration (*), just because it has more points available to allow eventual comebacks. In their case, I think, entirely correct result is three points, correct goal difference is 2 points and correct winner is 1 point, which ever is the best.
How many points does guessing a draw give? 1 (correct outcome) or 2 (correct goal difference)? If "which ever is the best", then any right prediction about a draw will generally give more points than a right prediction about a win.
I chose the system of 1 and 2 points only because it's easy to administrate, and because it's quite fair for all involved, but I'm open to suggestions, of course.
Northen Ireland vs Germany. Both Germany and Poland will try to win the group. After all, the runner-up in this group will face France, and I think noone will want to face France yet. Also, Germany is not known for saving power. 0:2.
Ukraine vs Poland. Poor Ukraine, they started so brightly in their first match. And now they have Poland who don't want to give Germany any favours. 0:3.
Croatia vs Spain. Both teams need a draw to quailify from the group. They don't need to fight till the end. 0:0.
Czech Rep vs Turkey. Czechs need a win here, to become one of the best 3rd placed teams on the tournament. 2:1.
(It hasn't always helped. In the 2004 European Championship both Denmark, Sweden and Italy won their matches against Bulgaria. But Denmark had drawn 0-0 against Italy, Sweden drew 1-1 with them, and both teams knew that a 2-2 draw would send them to the quarter finals, no matter Italy's result against Bulgaria. I don't think Denmark's and Sweden's 2-2 draw came as a great surprise to anyone...)
I am happy that you mentioned this episode, I got it in my mind while reading your whole post.
The same could have happened in the last European Cup, when Spain and Croatia could have sent us out, I think with a draw. But they both played to win, and Spain made it. After that, we met in the final, and we all know how it went (although the result was way too punishing).
HAHA! I'm so bad at this. Then again my interest in this tournament kind of waned after the first match and I haven't been watching it. I did watch the England game last night though, Slovakia defended well especially Martin Skrtel, it's good to see as there's so much negativity surrounding him as Liverpool defender
Comments
Anyways, here's my predictions for the coming matches:
Russia - Wales: 0-2
Slovakia - England: 1-2 (I hope I get the chance to see this one.)
Ukraine - Poland: 0-2 (Ukraine has been weaker than I had anticipated and Poland are strong.)
Northern Ireland - Germany: 0-2 (I think the german machine will wake up now)
Czech Republic - Turkey: 1-1 (difficult game to predict.. I think it will be a tight game)
Croatia - Spain: 0-2
Iceland - Austria: 1-0 (my mind tells me otherwise, but I will predict a win for Iceland out of sympathy!)
Hungary - Portugal: 0-2 (portugal will step up and take command)
Italy - Republic of Ireland: 1-0 (Italy will win on experience, defense and counter-attacks.)
Sweden - Belgium: 0-2 (I'm sorry Sweden, our journey ends here. Even though we played decent vs Italy, we just can't make goals and belgium are really strong.)
Cheers,
//Skat.
Edit: Btw, thanks @JuliusBorisov for computing the statistics and scores between us.
That's why we had a 40 minute match. It does not explain the lack of accuracy though.
Switzerland did not deserve to win, they were very slow and led no decisive offensive.
Okay
Russia v Wales: Russia is all but done for, unfortunately for them. However, they will want to fight it out until the end. Wales need a point to advance, and they'll probably get it. I agree with Bengoshi (that is his REAL name) and predict 1-1
England v Slovakia: England will want to win. Slovakia impressed last time, but England seem to have their best team since 06. I say England 2 Slovakia 1.
Zee Germany v Northern Ireland: I love Northern Ireland, as I just had a great weekend there. However, Zee Germans are an incredible force. 2-0 for Zee Germans. Maybe if NI manages a draw three teams advance from this group!
Poland v Ukraine: Poland has talent. Ukraine has struggled and lost to Northern Ireland handily. Poland 2 Ukraine 0.
Spain v Croatia: Unfortunately, this is a great game on paper but seems less urgent now since both teams are likely to advance... EXCEPT Spain might change their lineup around to give players like My Lord and Savior Koke a chance. Croatia can also pip them to the top spot in the group with a win, and might need a draw. I say Spain 2 Croatia 1.
EXTRA CREDIT COPA AMERICA PREDICTION
USA! v Argentina: I! I believe! I believe that! I believe that we will... lose tragically 2-0. Messi is Messi.
I want to also say that ICELAND has really impressed me this tournament
But there's still one thing they didn't think about (or didn't think about enough) - the third placed teams. Matches of one groupd being played in one time is OK, but still with each gaming day the teams know better about results that could give them a qualification from the 3rd place. For example, the fact Albania, not Romania won yesterday, will greatly influence today's Wales vs Russia game.
The situation before the last round was that Algeria had beaten West Germany but lost to Austria. Both West Germany and Austria had beaten Chile. So Austria had 4 points, West Germany and Algeria had 2, and Chile had none. And Algeria would play Chile before West Germany played Austria...
In the third round Algeria won against Chile but their goal score was only 5-5. So the Germans and Austrians knew before their last match that a West German 1-0 victory would send both teams to the next round, at Algeria's expense. To nobody's great surprise, West Germany scored an early goal (IIRC it was scored by Horst Hrubesh), and both teams made sure nothing more happened in that match! The Algerians were understandably furious but could do nothing. From that time on, the last group matches have been played simultaneously.
(It hasn't always helped. In the 2004 European Championship both Denmark, Sweden and Italy won their matches against Bulgaria. But Denmark had drawn 0-0 against Italy, Sweden drew 1-1 with them, and both teams knew that a 2-2 draw would send them to the quarter finals, no matter Italy's result against Bulgaria. I don't think Denmark's and Sweden's 2-2 draw came as a great surprise to anyone...)
And as @JuliusBorisov points out, the last groups to play will now know what it takes to progress on a third place.
SVK - ENG 1-1
NIR 1 - GER 3
UKR 1 - POL 2
CRO 3 - SPA 3
CZE 1 - TUR 2
ICE 1 - AUT 1
HUN 1 - POR 0
ITA 2 - IRL 0
SWE 2 - BEL 3
I especially trust Hungary and Iceland to bring me that perfect prediction on the final match-day of the group stages!
My Belgian friend has a slightly different system at his workplace, for your consideration (*), just because it has more points available to allow eventual comebacks. In their case, I think, entirely correct result is three points, correct goal difference is 2 points and correct winner is 1 point, which ever is the best.
Will be a very suspenseful match between England and Slovakia! Due to my under-dog fixation I've predicted the Slovaks and the Welsh to go forth, obviously...
Sorry JB; sorry Spakleav! If 'leav is England supporter in footie that is, I mean: there is Wales, and also Northern Ireland would have a chance by beating Germany, but I cannot quite stretch my predictions that far...
(*) Edit: not for these Euros of course, but any future tournament of sufficient interest - just to be clear.
No individual team would have more matches, even if there would be more match days maybe needed, or parallel matches.
However, I think that Euros are really popular, and having more teams in would delight at least the public. I have been very impressed with supposedly "weak teams" this far - Iceland, Albania etc. As said due to emotional investment I almost prefer Euro to the footie World cup.
Even if I am no fan of Platini's concept of "good governance" - irony here! - I think him pushing shared Euros as to utilize existing football-fields and not build new stadia was a very reasonable one. It also spreads other burdens such as security, hospitality and transport.
NIR - GER 1-3
CZE - TUR 2-0
CRO - ESP 0-2
And the difference between finishing first and second in the group B is quite big. Wales will play against the 3rd place from A/C/D (Albania, Northen Ireland, Croatia or Czech Rep), while England will play against the 2nd place from F (it may be Portugal, or Iceland).
And Russia was eliminated. Before the tournament I wrote that the western press thought highly about the Russia team, but people in Russia were skeptical - the team is very weak physically, has no spirit and plays badly.
I didn't guess any result yesterday but I'm very, very pleased. I've believed in Wales and in Bale and it looks like it's the tournament of their lives.
Now, the leaderboard:
P.S. How many points does guessing a draw give? 1 (correct outcome) or 2 (correct goal difference)? If "which ever is the best", then any right prediction about a draw will generally give more points than a right prediction about a win.
I chose the system of 1 and 2 points only because it's easy to administrate, and because it's quite fair for all involved, but I'm open to suggestions, of course.
Northen Ireland vs Germany. Both Germany and Poland will try to win the group. After all, the runner-up in this group will face France, and I think noone will want to face France yet. Also, Germany is not known for saving power. 0:2.
Ukraine vs Poland. Poor Ukraine, they started so brightly in their first match. And now they have Poland who don't want to give Germany any favours. 0:3.
Croatia vs Spain. Both teams need a draw to quailify from the group. They don't need to fight till the end. 0:0.
Czech Rep vs Turkey. Czechs need a win here, to become one of the best 3rd placed teams on the tournament. 2:1.
The same could have happened in the last European Cup, when Spain and Croatia could have sent us out, I think with a draw. But they both played to win, and Spain made it. After that, we met in the final, and we all know how it went (although the result was way too punishing).
Also, screw Del Bosque for not playing Koke! They deserved to lose. Croatia... very impressive!
Must admit it doesn't look so far. US having trouble keeping the ball.