Ronaldo wouldn’t be getting judged so harshly for this stinker if he wasn’t a complete clown during the tournament. Honestly, I don’t think he’s been mentally right since the 2022 WC.

The combination of getting his contract terminated, getting benched against Morocco, seeing Messi win the WC, and then realizing no top team wants you so you have to go to Saudi must’ve been haunting for his ego.

That’s why he’s a lot more theatrical and plays more to the cameras. His game is also more ego driven. He still feels like he has something to prove and that is negatively impacting the rest of his team.

Anyways he never sat on the same table with Messi, Pele, and Maradona. He could stat pad against Estonia and Luxembourg, but when the lights shine brightest on the international stage he went missing. Even when Messi was stinking it up internationally at least you could make the argument that he had the ‘eye test’ on his side. Ronaldo doesn’t have that either.

21 knockout games. That’s the equivalent of reaching a final 7 times in your career, and all he has to show it for it is 3 goals. He does nothing else beyond scoring so it’s even more daunting. The one trophy they won he wasn’t even playing. You even question if they would’ve won the Euro had he played in the final.

Him being injured allowed them to park the bus. Had he stayed on the pitch the game would’ve been more open which would’ve impacted France more positively. Blessing in disguise.

El Gunner wrote:

Vibe wrote:Doesn't Ronaldo have twice as many goals as Messi in UCL quarters, semis and finals?

Literally what Messi scored, double that, and a couple more.

conveniently leaving out R16 as if it isn't part of the KO stages
conveniently leaving out appearances and goals per minute as if it doesn't give a clearer picture

smart Vibe stay smart

Uhm... Okay.

Let's add round of 16... The least important one, where Messi has 4 goals more and 3 assists less than CR in the same ammount of games?

UCL L16

CR 89 minutes per goal contibution
LM 89 minutes

UCL QF

CR 71 minutes per goal contribution
LM 147 minutes

UCL SF

CR 127 minutes per goal contribution
LM 147 minutes

UCL F

CR 126 minutes per goal contribution
LM 135 minutes

What exactly is your point, other than pretending there is a point?

Cas says it all as always 3 goals in 21 KO games... pfft... penaldo no more... he confirmed this was the last Euro... n prolly wont make the cut in 2 yrs time for the WC so hes done pretty much.

Not sure if I'll miss him though, for the attention n laughs... prolly a little more dull without him... but Im a bit of a fan of some of these Portugese players tbh, if they can just find a decent 9, they will be a force as always...

Harmonica wrote:How on earth is France on semis without scoring an open play goal? Their scorers are 2 og and peno.

Solidity defending as a unit n cautious tactics means they dont concede either... but can only get u so far I think... hate to see they pen there way to the final or even the cup

Hope u guys are right that France should beat Spain Likes of Kante n Theo have been great so should be able to handle Yamal... also physically should be able to cope in the midfield. Griezmanns definitely aging though... knowing Deschamps he'll prolly play it safe again n play him without Dembele though n have Muani again. If it were me though definitely playing Dembele cos hes just so fun to watch even if success rate of his final product has been like 1 in 100 XD Thuram I dunno what he is but hes been poor all round...

Btw, if France does go all the way, n Mbappe still show up cos hes worried about his nose it seems, then Kante would be player of the tournament, amazing He needs to come back to a top club n not freakin Saudi...

sportsczy wrote:You watch. France is going to absolutely crush Spain.

This is the matchup I’ve wanted since the beginning. Spain have plan A and that’s it. If plan A doesn’t work, they fall apart. France never allows plan A to work for the opponent. Only Argentina was able to for about 70 mins.

These lot have not scored a goal from open play and you predict they will "crush" Spain?

Bold guess, but I think if Spain can score they can easily take it all the way. It will definitely be a tough game but no crushing involved

That's how I feel as well. This team has been so toothless in attack I don't even feel confident we can get back in a game after conceding first, so I'm definitely not confident about "crushing" anyone.

Is this the worst international tournament of all time?

Yea, Im finding Im mostly just running the game in window n half listening to the commentary mostly... except last nights two games of the big 4 teams... otherwise too boring...?

LOL just heard 75min Eng concedes... imagine going out to Swiss with the best squad in yrs, the media n fans would kill them?

Gareth... Nothing else needs to be said.

Anyway... According to whoscored, Ronaldo, who had an absolute stinker, did better than:

Morata
Sesko
Depay
Foden
Saka
Chiesa
Lukaku
Leao
Griezmann
Mitrovic
Hojlund
Scamacca
Vlahovic

But let's talk about 40 year old Ronaldo

Bellingham out Or is it a mistake?

Southgate

get this clown gone, we're out now for sure, fully deserved too

Saka, where you at El G

Cant believe Northgate will get away with another dire performance. Absolutely unwatchable football from the islanders

Aww... for some reason almost want Eng out... not even watching this game until maybe now... equalized already?

I think england is playing much better today.

Didnt even watch except the pens So how did the stars perform, like Kane, Foden, Bellingham?

Lol, kinda feels like Guler is pulling off an "inverted Kroos" sort of performance. His character, sense of tempo, and tactical awareness. His maturity. His crosses. It feels like he's pulling strings the way Kroos would, but from the front side of the pitch. Playmaker.

Türkiye playing with a 541/3421 and Guler is interchanging between a false 9 position (the 1 in the formation) and a right sided AM position (the right sided 2 in the formation) and he's moving all over the pitch and telling his teammates what to do. There was a sequence where Holland were really pressing Türkiye for space and he literally almost broke that press by himself with his movement across the sideline of the pitch, if only the GK hadn't hoofed it and passed it back to him once he was central.

In this match I'm noticing some things that were palpable in his very first match with Madrid in the Copa Del Rey, it's just that here it's now widescreen. In his first Madrid match, he already showed that he had a relatively functional use of his weaker, right foot, he showed that he could cross well with his weaker foot and even shoot accurately with it, and he also showed glimpses of interesting movement across the pitch, he would go deeper into double pivot zones a couple of times and also play across the span of the "3 line" in the 4231 formation Madrid used that day. He also showed the clutchness and personality to almost score off a free kick in his first Madrid appearance.

That character, movement, and... his WEAKER FOOT are now putting Türkiye in the Semis of the Euros.

If England wins this...

Gareth will be louded as some sort of mastermind. While reality is he is badly out of depth and keeps getting bailed out by individual brilliance of the squad.

What a great game.

Finally a decent match in the tournament.

Gakpo is one of the best player in the Euro as well, even though this is an own goal, he forcednit. His take ons have been great as well.

So much for Guler dragging Turkey into what?

Gakpo almost cements his top scorer award, but OG again

Best match of the tournament so far.

Proper football.