Just when you thought European football was done for the summer(*) - the Euro 2024 qualifiers return tomorrow at 5pm GMT when Finland host Slovenia in Group H! There are four match days, with games Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.

UK broadcast rights holder Viaplay are currently doing a special offer on subscriptions - £59 for a whole year - considering a monthly Sky subscription can be more than £59, it seemed rude not to take this up. They also broadcast La Liga and Scottish football and you can watch the selected broadcast game via your Sky box (satellite) or stream any qualifying game online.

Selected fixtures:

16/6:

Greece - Ireland (Group B)

North Macedonia - Ukraine (Group C)

Latvia - Turkey (Group D)

Denmark - Northern Ireland (Group I)

Kosovo - Romania (Group I)

17/6:

Norway - Scotland (Group A)

Belgium - Austria (Group F)

Montenegro - Hungary (Group G)

Luxembourg - Liechtenstein (Group J)

Portugal - Bosnia (Group J)

19/6:

France - Greece (Group B)

Turkey - Wales (Group D)

Slovenia - Denmark (Group H)

Switzerland - Romania (Group I)

20/6:

Austria - Sweden (Group F)

Bulgaria - Serbia (Group G)

Iceland - Portugal (Group J)

(*) - Admittedly the UEFA Nations League is also being played this week, and if you really want to know Croatia beat Netherlands 4-2 AET and Spain beat Italy 2-1 to set up a Croatia v Spain final on Sunday, but being as there isn't even a thread about it on rss, perhaps the less said the better).

RM

16/6 FT:

Group B:

Greece 2 - Ireland 1

Gibraltar 0 - France 3

Group C:

Malta 0 - England 4

North Macedonia 2 - Ukraine 3

Group D:

Latvia 2 - Turkey 3

The latest installment in the least likely rivalry in World football produced a 5 goal thriller in a stadium which would be regarded as 5th tier in some countries (the Skonto Stadium has a capacity of 8000 and one end is just a wall over which you can see into a car park). As in their last meeting, Turkey won with an injury time goal. Latvia had their chances to get more out of the game, with Turkey clearing a couple of shots off the line, although to be fair Turkey had what I thought was a fair enough goal ruled out VAR in the first half - Ferdi took the ball past the Latvia defender, who collapsed to the ground, before getting into the area and putting away a nice shot. The replay appeared to show contact between Ferdi's foot and that of the Latvia defender, but I got the impression this was one of those situations where if you replay a scene in slow motion enough times it can sometimes look like something that it isn't.

Wales 2 - Armenia 4

Group H:

Finland 2 - Slovenia 0

Denmark 1 - Northern Ireland 0

San Marino 0 - Kazakhstan 3

Group I

Andorra 1 - Switzerland 2

Belarus 1 - Israel 2

Kosovo 0 - Romania 0

RM

On Friday, June 16, 2023 at 11:28:38 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

>
>
> Group H:
>
> Finland 2 - Slovenia 0
>
:-( What's gone wrong with Slovenia? 20 years ago my 15th favourite national team had a good enough team to qualify for the European Championship and the World Cup, and give the likes of Yugoslavia and Spain a good run for their money. Now they're losing against the likes of Finland! What's gone wrong?

FT 17/6:

Luxembourg 2 - Liechtenstein 0

Daniel Sinani tapped in Gerson Rodrigues' low cross over the line for the opener, Rodrigues got the second.

Lithuania 1 - Bulgaria 1

RM

HT:

Norway 0 - Scotland 0

The early pressure came from Norway but Scotland looked threatening at times on the counter.

The Scotland away kit looks nice, white with navy trim, the simple ones are the best.

I must say, all this international football played under bright skies is making me wish it was a World Cup or Euros year. We need a summer tournament, why did they waste a World Cup slot on Qatar? :(

RM

On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 5:54:12 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> HT:
>
> Norway 0 - Scotland 0
>
> The early pressure came from Norway but Scotland looked threatening at times on the counter.
>
> The Scotland away kit looks nice, white with navy trim, the simple ones are the best.
>
> I must say, all this international football played under bright skies is making me wish it was a World Cup or Euros year. We need a summer tournament, why did they waste a World Cup slot on Qatar? :(
>
> RM

FT:

Norway 1 - Scotland 2

Haaland was pulled down in the area and put the resulting penalty away to put Norway 1-0 up with 29 minutes to go. In truth Norway looked comfortable, Scotland didn't look a threat, the Norwegian manager presumably felt the same as he substituted Haaland and fellow striker Solbakken. Then with three minutes left a Norwegian defender mis-hit a pass, Lyndon Dykes ran onto the loose ball and poked the ball past the keeper for an unlikely equaliser. Two minutes later Scotland found themselves passing the ball around comfortably in the Norway area, Kenny McLean placed a sweet low shot past the keeper and into the bottom corner of the net to send the Scotland fans delirious with joy. In a crazy three minutes they had turned defeat into a memorable victory and continued their perfect start to the Euro 2024 qualifiers. Surely they've got one foot in Germany now?

RM

On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 7:43:06 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 5:54:12 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> > HT:
> >
> > Norway 0 - Scotland 0
> >
> > The early pressure came from Norway but Scotland looked threatening at times on the counter.
> >
> > The Scotland away kit looks nice, white with navy trim, the simple ones are the best.
> >
> > I must say, all this international football played under bright skies is making me wish it was a World Cup or Euros year. We need a summer tournament, why did they waste a World Cup slot on Qatar? :(
> >
> > RM
> FT:
>
> Norway 1 - Scotland 2
>
> Haaland was pulled down in the area and put the resulting penalty away to put Norway 1-0 up with 29 minutes to go. In truth Norway looked comfortable, Scotland didn't look a threat, the Norwegian manager presumably felt the same as he substituted Haaland and fellow striker Solbakken. Then with three minutes left a Norwegian defender mis-hit a pass, Lyndon Dykes ran onto the loose ball and poked the ball past the keeper for an unlikely equaliser.. Two minutes later Scotland found themselves passing the ball around comfortably in the Norway area, Kenny McLean placed a sweet low shot past the keeper and into the bottom corner of the net to send the Scotland fans delirious with joy. In a crazy three minutes they had turned defeat into a memorable victory and continued their perfect start to the Euro 2024 qualifiers. Surely they've got one foot in Germany now?
>
>
> RM

17/6/23 FT:

Group E:

Faroe Islands 0 - Czechia 3

Albania 2 - Moldova 0

Group F:

Azerbaijan 1 - Estonia 1

Belgium 1 - Austria 1

Watched some of this, Austria's opener seems to be credited to Gregoritsch even though it looked like an own goal from Mangala, who seemed to back heel Gregoritsch's shot past his own keeper. Lukaku equalised for Belgium but Austria had a lot of attacking play and in the second half looked the more likely to win. The match was played at the King Baudouin Stadium which has a 50000 capacity and a running track around it and just looks the part for a big football match.

Group G:

Lithuania 1 - Bulgaria 1

Montenegro 0 - Hungary 0

Group J:

Luxembourg 2 - Liechtenstein 0

Iceland 1 - Slovakia 2

Portugal 3 - Bosnia 0

RM

On 2023-06-17 12:43, Real Mardin wrote:
> On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 5:54:12 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
>> HT:
>>
>> Norway 0 - Scotland 0
>>
>> The early pressure came from Norway but Scotland looked threatening at times on the counter.
>>
>> The Scotland away kit looks nice, white with navy trim, the simple ones are the best.
>>
>> I must say, all this international football played under bright skies is making me wish it was a World Cup or Euros year. We need a summer tournament, why did they waste a World Cup slot on Qatar? :(
>>
>> RM
>
> FT:
>
> Norway 1 - Scotland 2
>
> Haaland was pulled down in the area and put the resulting penalty away to put Norway 1-0 up with 29 minutes to go. In truth Norway looked comfortable, Scotland didn't look a threat, the Norwegian manager presumably felt the same as he substituted Haaland and fellow striker Solbakken. Then with three minutes left a Norwegian defender mis-hit a pass, Lyndon Dykes ran onto the loose ball and poked the ball past the keeper for an unlikely equaliser. Two minutes later Scotland found themselves passing the ball around comfortably in the Norway area, Kenny McLean placed a sweet low shot past the keeper and into the bottom corner of the net to send the Scotland fans delirious with joy. In a crazy three minutes they had turned defeat into a memorable victory and continued their perfect start to the Euro 2024 qualifiers. Surely they've got one foot in Germany now?

This is Scotland, always capable of seizing defeat from the jaws of
victory. Great result, mediocre performance. Haaland was pretty static
and did not do much. Solbakken and Sørloth were bigger threats.
Ødegaard also good. Norway certainly have bigger stars than Scotland,
but possibly (unlikely though it may seem) have even less depth.
Bringing on Gimour, McLean and Armstrong certainly seemed to have a
positive effect. Too many yellow cards for the Scots, and referee
performance was a bit erratic. For a while I thought I was watching a
concacaf referee.

In theory, Scotland could now manage to lose to Spain away and draw with
Norway at home, but of course they will make life difficult for
themselves in their time honoured tradition by dropping points to
Georgia and/or Cyprus.

>
>
> RM

On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 5:54:12 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:

> I must say, all this international football played under bright skies is making me wish it was a World Cup or Euros year. We need a summer tournament, why did they waste a World Cup slot on Qatar? :(
>

We've got 1. 2 in fact. The CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Women's World Cup. If they're not good enough for some reason, you can blame the Asians and the Africans!

Mark wrote:

> On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 5:54:12 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
>
> > I must say, all this international football played under bright
> > skies is making me wish it was a World Cup or Euros year. We need a
> > summer tournament, why did they waste a World Cup slot on Qatar? :(
> >
>
> We've got 1. 2 in fact. The CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Women's World
> Cup. If they're not good enough for some reason, you can blame the
> Asians and the Africans!

No, we'll blame FIFA... like we always do! ;-)

On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 11:11:27 PM UTC+2, Real Mardin wrote:
> 17/6/23 FT:
>
>
> Group E:
>
> Faroe Islands 0 - Czechia 3
>
> Albania 2 - Moldova 0
>
>
> Group F:
>
> Azerbaijan 1 - Estonia 1
>
> Belgium 1 - Austria 1
>
> Watched some of this, Austria's opener seems to be credited to Gregoritsch even though it looked like an own goal from
> Mangala, who seemed to back heel Gregoritsch's shot past his own keeper.

I think they finally settled on own goal, which sounds about right.
Although it's funny how Gregoritsch only succeeded because his soft shot attempt
must have appeared quite harmless to both Mangala and Courtois.

> Lukaku equalised for Belgium but Austria had a
> lot of attacking play and in the second half looked the more likely to win. The match was played at the King Baudouin
> Stadium which has a 50000 capacity and a running track around it and just looks the part for a big football match.

Tielemans thundered a trademark shot off the crossbar in the last minute of stoppage
time, we'll take the point, thank you very much.

Sweden at home on Tuesday will be a big match.

Ciao,
Werner

On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 12:28:38 AM UTC+2, Real Mardin wrote:
> 16/6 FT:
>
>
> Group D:
>
> Latvia 2 - Turkey 3
>
> The latest installment in the least likely rivalry in World football produced a 5 goal thriller in a stadium which would be
> regarded as 5th tier in some countries (the Skonto Stadium has a capacity of 8000 and one end is just a wall over which you
> can see into a car park). As in their last meeting, Turkey won with an injury time goal. Latvia had their chances to get more
> out of the game, with Turkey clearing a couple of shots off the line, although to be fair Turkey had what I thought was a fair
> enough goal ruled out VAR in the first half - Ferdi took the ball past the Latvia defender, who collapsed to the ground, before
> getting into the area and putting away a nice shot. The replay appeared to show contact between Ferdi's foot and that of the
> Latvia defender, but I got the impression this was one of those situations where if you replay a scene in slow motion enough
>times it can sometimes look like something that it isn't.

That this is a genuine decade-long rivalry never ceases to amuse me.
Although it appears that with those last two stoppage time wins you've finally exorcised
the Latvian demon.

Ciao,
Werner

On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 12:07:22 PM UTC+2, Mark wrote:
> On Friday, June 16, 2023 at 11:28:38 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > Group H:
> >
> > Finland 2 - Slovenia 0
> >
> :-( What's gone wrong with Slovenia? 20 years ago my 15th favourite national team had a good enough team to qualify for the
> European Championship and the World Cup, and give the likes of Yugoslavia and Spain a good run for their money. Now
> they're losing against the likes of Finland! What's gone wrong?

I'm wondering what you're expecting, since they are a small country of just 2.1 million people that has
punched above their weight for quite a while. They used to have World Class goalkeeping, but
Handanović has long retired, and Oblak is currently injured. It absolutely can't be expected that they
churn out one Golden Generation after the other.

Also, for such a small population, they excel at other team sports, too (much like their bigger neighbours Croatia) -
their basketball NT (led by Luka Dončić) finished 4th at the last Olympics, their handball NT won a bronze at the
2017 World Championship and reached the semifinal at the 2020 Euros, and their volleyball NT finished 4th at
the World Championship and runners-up twice in a row at the Euros. Not to speak of winter sports, or their
World Class cyclists Pogačar and Roglič.
So football has quite the competition in Slovenia, too.

Ciao,
Werner

On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 10:11:27 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 7:43:06 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> > On Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 5:54:12 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> > > HT:
> > >
> > > Norway 0 - Scotland 0
> > >
> > > The early pressure came from Norway but Scotland looked threatening at times on the counter.
> > >
> > > The Scotland away kit looks nice, white with navy trim, the simple ones are the best.
> > >
> > > I must say, all this international football played under bright skies is making me wish it was a World Cup or Euros year. We need a summer tournament, why did they waste a World Cup slot on Qatar? :(
> > >
> > > RM
> > FT:
> >
> > Norway 1 - Scotland 2
> >
> > Haaland was pulled down in the area and put the resulting penalty away to put Norway 1-0 up with 29 minutes to go. In truth Norway looked comfortable, Scotland didn't look a threat, the Norwegian manager presumably felt the same as he substituted Haaland and fellow striker Solbakken. Then with three minutes left a Norwegian defender mis-hit a pass, Lyndon Dykes ran onto the loose ball and poked the ball past the keeper for an unlikely equaliser. Two minutes later Scotland found themselves passing the ball around comfortably in the Norway area, Kenny McLean placed a sweet low shot past the keeper and into the bottom corner of the net to send the Scotland fans delirious with joy. In a crazy three minutes they had turned defeat into a memorable victory and continued their perfect start to the Euro 2024 qualifiers.. Surely they've got one foot in Germany now?
> >
> >
> > RM
> 17/6/23 FT:
>
>
> Group E:
>
> Faroe Islands 0 - Czechia 3
>
> Albania 2 - Moldova 0
>
>
> Group F:
>
> Azerbaijan 1 - Estonia 1
>
> Belgium 1 - Austria 1
>
> Watched some of this, Austria's opener seems to be credited to Gregoritsch even though it looked like an own goal from Mangala, who seemed to back heel Gregoritsch's shot past his own keeper. Lukaku equalised for Belgium but Austria had a lot of attacking play and in the second half looked the more likely to win. The match was played at the King Baudouin Stadium which has a 50000 capacity and a running track around it and just looks the part for a big football match.
>
>
> Group G:
> Lithuania 1 - Bulgaria 1
> Montenegro 0 - Hungary 0
>
>
> Group J:
> Luxembourg 2 - Liechtenstein 0
> Iceland 1 - Slovakia 2
>
> Portugal 3 - Bosnia 0
>
>
> RM

I missed Cyprus 1 - Georgia 2 (Group A)!

RM

19/6 FT:

Group A:

France 1 - Greece 0

Ireland 3 - Gibraltar 0

Group C:

England 7 - North Macedonia 0

Ukraine 1 - Malta 0

Group D:

Armenia 2 - Latvia 1

Saw some of this, a draw would have flattered Latvia but then neither was it nice to see Armenia win with a 91st minute handball penalty where the Latvian defender's body position was surely natural in the context of a player who's had the ball shot at him?

Turkey 2 - Wales 0

This was practically played in Wales' penalty area, particularly in the second half. In the first half Morrell was sent off for a high challenge that caught a Turkey player around the thigh area and after that Wales went to 5 at the back and just sought to contain Turkey. For a while it looked like they might get away with it, with Turkey not creating many clear chances. When Turkey did get the ball in the net, VAR overruled their efforts - twice! The first was an own goal which looked in real time like the attacker might be offside, but as far as I could make out the replay showed a Welsh defender level with the Turkish attacker. VAR took forever to review the position before sending the ref to the video monitor to rule the goal out. The second was a tap in goal from Umut which Turkey had already celebrated, again for what seemed like forever, before some eagle eyed person at VAR Towers noticed the ball had deflected off Umut's hand before it fell to him to score. Completely accidental and given his proximity to the deflected ball I don't see how it could have passed the "unnatural position" test, but it was ruled out. Oh, and in between those two incidents Turkey had a penalty (again, Ramsay's handball was completely accidental and given how close he was to the player kicking the ball I don't see how his hand was in an unnatural position) but Ward saved Calhanoglu's penalty. Just as it looked like Turkey would never score, Umut headed in a cross on 72 minutes to give them the lead and eight minutes later Arda Guler curled in a wonderful strike from outside the area to put the result beyond doubt.

Group H:

Finland 6 - San Marino 0

Northern Ireland 0 - Kazakhstan 1

Abat Aimbetov with the late winner on 88 minutes. So now Kazakhstan have defeated two United Kingdom teams (they've already beaten Scotland)

Slovenia 1 - Denmark 1

Group I

Belarus 2 - Kosovo 1

Israel 2 - Andorra 1

Switzerland 2 - Romania 2

The stats suggest Romania were completely dominated but earned a point with goals in the 89th and 92nd minutes from Parma winger Valentin Mihaila.

RM

Interesting scenes at Hampden Park. Scotland - Georgia was suspended after 6 minutes with Scotland leading 1-0 due to a waterlogged pitch. There was a torrential downpour before the game and I wonder whether starting in those circumstances was the right thing to do.

Cue scenes of ground officials valiantly brushing the water off the pitch as best as they could with brooms and handheld roller devices. Some comic genius played "Why does it always rain on me?" by Travis over the tannoy and the whole ground sang along.

This was about an hour and a half ago.

It was then reported Georgia were refusing to come out to play the game, presumably they thought if the game is re-started it should restart with the scores at 0-0. The Scotland goal came about due to water on the pitch causing the ball to fall to McGregor in a position which gave Scotland a good shot on goal, suspending the match was sort of an admission that the pitch wasn't fit to play on, so I can kind of see where Georgia are at.

Anyway, looks like Georgia have realised they'll lose the game by default if they don't play, so have just come out.

Kick off is in 10 minutes, so by my estimate the match should finish at about 11.15pm local time.

RM

20/6 FT:

Group A:

Norway 3 - Cyprus 1

Group E:

Faroe Islands 1 - Albania 3

Moldova 3 - Poland 2

Group F:

Austria 2 - Sweden 0

Estonia 0 - Belgium 3

Group G:

Bulgaria 1 - Serbia 1

Hungary 2 - Lithuania 0

Group J:

Bosnia 0 - Luxembourg 2

Iceland 0 - Portugal 1

Liechtenstein 0 - Slovakia 1

RM

On Tuesday, June 20, 2023 at 4:52:10 p.m. UTC-4, Real Mardin wrote:
> 20/6 FT:
>
> Group A

In the other game, We can confirm the pitch in Scotland is quite wet. Scotland lead 1-0 at the half.
>
> Norway 3 - Cyprus 1
>
>
> Group E:
>
> Faroe Islands 1 - Albania 3
>
> Moldova 3 - Poland 2
>
>
> Group F:
>
> Austria 2 - Sweden 0

Ya.I watched some of this.Austria were good value for the win.

I also watched the Germany vs Colombia game. We are projecting germany to go out in the group stage of the euros next year.
>
> Estonia 0 - Belgium 3
>
>
> Group G:
>
> Bulgaria 1 - Serbia 1
>
> Hungary 2 - Lithuania 0
>
>
> Group J:
>
> Bosnia 0 - Luxembourg 2
>
> Iceland 0 - Portugal 1
>
> Liechtenstein 0 - Slovakia 1
>
> RM

On Tuesday, June 20, 2023 at 10:18:37 PM UTC+1, Binder Dundat wrote:
> On Tuesday, June 20, 2023 at 4:52:10 p.m. UTC-4, Real Mardin wrote:
> > 20/6 FT:
> >
> > Group A
>
> In the other game, We can confirm the pitch in Scotland is quite wet. Scotland lead 1-0 at the half.
> >
> > Norway 3 - Cyprus 1
> >
> >
> > Group E:
> >
> > Faroe Islands 1 - Albania 3
> >
> > Moldova 3 - Poland 2
> >
> >
> > Group F:
> >
> > Austria 2 - Sweden 0
> Ya.I watched some of this.Austria were good value for the win.

Yes, Austria could have won by quite a few more were it not for some good saves by the Swedish keeper.

RM

Group A FT:

Scotland 2 - Georgia 0

Kvaratskhelia missed a penalty at the end, not Georgia's night. Scotland 8 points clear at the top of the group!

RM

Two days of matches played this week and not a single post on rss to mark them?

7/9/23:

Group B:

Netherlands 3 - Greece 0

France 2 - Ireland 0

Group E:

Czechia 1 - Albania 1

Poland 2 - Faroe Islands 0

Group G:

Lithuania 2 - Montenegro 2

Serbia 1 - Hungary 2

Group H

Kazakhstan 0 - Finland 1

Slovenia 4 - Northern Ireland 2

Denmark 4 - San Marino 0

8/9/23:

Group A:

Georgia 1 - Spain 7 (seven)

Saw some of this. Spain were 4-0 up at half time and if the shower of goals wasn't bad enough for the Georgian fans, just to rub salt into the wounds the actual rain also made an appearance in the second half, a torrential downpour dispersing those fans who's spirits hadn't already been dampened by their team being taken apart. Trivia: this match apparently saw 16 year old Lamine Yamal become the youngest player to appear for Spain and Spain's youngest scorer.

Binder can give his super computer a rest as the commentators boldly predicted Spain to win Euro 2024 after this result, but think about this: if this result makes Spain one of the favourites and Scotland beat Spain, are Scotland the real Euro 2024 favourites?

Cyprus 0 - Scotland 3

Group D:

Turkey 1 - Armenia 1

Oh dear. Just when Turkey seem to have turned the corner we under perform as we always do. I've never heard an anthem drowned out by booing as much as the Armenian one was drowned out by the Turkish fans today. Unnecessary and disrespectful and it's only really going to serve to motivate the other team to play harder against you. Saying that I've lost count of the number of times the Turkish anthem has been booed before qualification games, but still.

The stats show that Armenia had 13 shots (Turkey had 19) but a lot of these were optimistic lobs from not far off the halfway line, Armenia seemed to think the Turkish keeper Mert was vulnerable due to pushing out of his box a bit too far. In reality this was all Turkey attacking, but as is all too familiar we didn't put our chances away and Armenia took an undeserved lead early in the second half when Ozkacar missed a clearance to gift Dashyan an easy shot on goal. There had also been a deflection earlier in the build up - it was a bit of a calamity really. Anyway, Bertug (silent G) saved Turkey's blushes when a deflected shot fell to him on the edge of the area and he put a low shot away.

Croatia 5 - Latvia 0

Group J:

Luxembourg 3 - Iceland 1

A result that would have been unimaginable a few years ago?

Bosnia 2 - Liechtenstein 1

Slovakia 0 - Portugal 1

RM

On Friday, September 8, 2023 at 11:14:27 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> Two days of matches played this week and not a single post on rss to mark them?
>
> 7/9/23:
>
>
> Group B:
>
> Netherlands 3 - Greece 0
>
> France 2 - Ireland 0
>
>
> Group E:
>
> Czechia 1 - Albania 1
>
> Poland 2 - Faroe Islands 0
>
>
> Group G:
>
> Lithuania 2 - Montenegro 2
>
> Serbia 1 - Hungary 2
>
>
> Group H
>
> Kazakhstan 0 - Finland 1
>
> Slovenia 4 - Northern Ireland 2
>
> Denmark 4 - San Marino 0
>
>
> 8/9/23:
>
> Group A:
>
> Georgia 1 - Spain 7 (seven)
>
> Saw some of this. Spain were 4-0 up at half time and if the shower of goals wasn't bad enough for the Georgian fans, just to rub salt into the wounds the actual rain also made an appearance in the second half, a torrential downpour dispersing those fans who's spirits hadn't already been dampened by their team being taken apart. Trivia: this match apparently saw 16 year old Lamine Yamal become the youngest player to appear for Spain and Spain's youngest scorer.
>
> Binder can give his super computer a rest as the commentators boldly predicted Spain to win Euro 2024 after this result, but think about this: if this result makes Spain one of the favourites and Scotland beat Spain, are Scotland the real Euro 2024 favourites?
>
> Cyprus 0 - Scotland 3
>
>
> Group D:
>
>
> Turkey 1 - Armenia 1
>
> Oh dear. Just when Turkey seem to have turned the corner we under perform as we always do. I've never heard an anthem drowned out by booing as much as the Armenian one was drowned out by the Turkish fans today. Unnecessary and disrespectful and it's only really going to serve to motivate the other team to play harder against you. Saying that I've lost count of the number of times the Turkish anthem has been booed before qualification games, but still.
>
> The stats show that Armenia had 13 shots (Turkey had 19) but a lot of these were optimistic lobs from not far off the halfway line, Armenia seemed to think the Turkish keeper Mert was vulnerable due to pushing out of his box a bit too far. In reality this was all Turkey attacking, but as is all too familiar we didn't put our chances away and Armenia took an undeserved lead early in the second half when Ozkacar missed a clearance to gift Dashyan an easy shot on goal. There had also been a deflection earlier in the build up - it was a bit of a calamity really. Anyway, Bertug (silent G) saved Turkey's blushes when a deflected shot fell to him on the edge of the area and he put a low shot away.
>
> Croatia 5 - Latvia 0
>
>
> Group J:
>
> Luxembourg 3 - Iceland 1
>
> A result that would have been unimaginable a few years ago?
>
> Bosnia 2 - Liechtenstein 1
>
> Slovakia 0 - Portugal 1
>
>
> RM

Just watching some of North Macedonia- Italy.

This all blue Italy kit is NOT working for me. Particularly with the white trim on the shoulders they look more like Greece!

Anyway, 17 minutes 0-0.

RM

On 2023-09-08 16:14, Real Mardin wrote:
> Two days of matches played this week and not a single post on rss to mark them?
>
> 7/9/23:
>
>
> Group B:
>
> Netherlands 3 - Greece 0
>
> France 2 - Ireland 0
>
>
Given France were at home, and have tons of fire power, this scoreline
is a bit of surprise. Ireland does not seem to carry much threat any
more. E. Ferguson, scorer of a recent hattrick in the EPL was not in
the team - not sure why.

On Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 8:04:49 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> On Friday, September 8, 2023 at 11:14:27 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> > Two days of matches played this week and not a single post on rss to mark them?
> >
> > 7/9/23:
> >
> >
> > Group B:
> >
> > Netherlands 3 - Greece 0
> >
> > France 2 - Ireland 0
> >
> >
> > Group E:
> >
> > Czechia 1 - Albania 1
> >
> > Poland 2 - Faroe Islands 0
> >
> >
> > Group G:
> >
> > Lithuania 2 - Montenegro 2
> >
> > Serbia 1 - Hungary 2
> >
> >
> > Group H
> >
> > Kazakhstan 0 - Finland 1
> >
> > Slovenia 4 - Northern Ireland 2
> >
> > Denmark 4 - San Marino 0
> >
> >
> > 8/9/23:
> >
> > Group A:
> >
> > Georgia 1 - Spain 7 (seven)
> >
> > Saw some of this. Spain were 4-0 up at half time and if the shower of goals wasn't bad enough for the Georgian fans, just to rub salt into the wounds the actual rain also made an appearance in the second half, a torrential downpour dispersing those fans who's spirits hadn't already been dampened by their team being taken apart. Trivia: this match apparently saw 16 year old Lamine Yamal become the youngest player to appear for Spain and Spain's youngest scorer.
> >
> > Binder can give his super computer a rest as the commentators boldly predicted Spain to win Euro 2024 after this result, but think about this: if this result makes Spain one of the favourites and Scotland beat Spain, are Scotland the real Euro 2024 favourites?
> >
> > Cyprus 0 - Scotland 3
> >
> >
> > Group D:
> >
> >
> > Turkey 1 - Armenia 1
> >
> > Oh dear. Just when Turkey seem to have turned the corner we under perform as we always do. I've never heard an anthem drowned out by booing as much as the Armenian one was drowned out by the Turkish fans today. Unnecessary and disrespectful and it's only really going to serve to motivate the other team to play harder against you. Saying that I've lost count of the number of times the Turkish anthem has been booed before qualification games, but still.
> >
> > The stats show that Armenia had 13 shots (Turkey had 19) but a lot of these were optimistic lobs from not far off the halfway line, Armenia seemed to think the Turkish keeper Mert was vulnerable due to pushing out of his box a bit too far. In reality this was all Turkey attacking, but as is all too familiar we didn't put our chances away and Armenia took an undeserved lead early in the second half when Ozkacar missed a clearance to gift Dashyan an easy shot on goal. There had also been a deflection earlier in the build up - it was a bit of a calamity really. Anyway, Bertug (silent G) saved Turkey's blushes when a deflected shot fell to him on the edge of the area and he put a low shot away.
> >
> > Croatia 5 - Latvia 0
> >
> >
> > Group J:
> >
> > Luxembourg 3 - Iceland 1
> >
> > A result that would have been unimaginable a few years ago?
> >
> > Bosnia 2 - Liechtenstein 1
> >
> > Slovakia 0 - Portugal 1
> >
> >
> > RM
> Just watching some of North Macedonia- Italy.
>
> This all blue Italy kit is NOT working for me. Particularly with the white trim on the shoulders they look more like Greece!
>
> Anyway, 17 minutes 0-0.
>
>
> RM

46 minutes, Barella’s volley bounces off the crossbar and falls to Immobile, gifting him a simple finish- North Macedonia 0 - Italy 1.

RM

On Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 8:59:09 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> On Saturday, September 9, 2023 at 8:04:49 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> > On Friday, September 8, 2023 at 11:14:27 PM UTC+1, Real Mardin wrote:
> > > Two days of matches played this week and not a single post on rss to mark them?
> > >
> > > 7/9/23:
> > >
> > >
> > > Group B:
> > >
> > > Netherlands 3 - Greece 0
> > >
> > > France 2 - Ireland 0
> > >
> > >
> > > Group E:
> > >
> > > Czechia 1 - Albania 1
> > >
> > > Poland 2 - Faroe Islands 0
> > >
> > >
> > > Group G:
> > >
> > > Lithuania 2 - Montenegro 2
> > >
> > > Serbia 1 - Hungary 2
> > >
> > >
> > > Group H
> > >
> > > Kazakhstan 0 - Finland 1
> > >
> > > Slovenia 4 - Northern Ireland 2
> > >
> > > Denmark 4 - San Marino 0
> > >
> > >
> > > 8/9/23:
> > >
> > > Group A:
> > >
> > > Georgia 1 - Spain 7 (seven)
> > >
> > > Saw some of this. Spain were 4-0 up at half time and if the shower of goals wasn't bad enough for the Georgian fans, just to rub salt into the wounds the actual rain also made an appearance in the second half, a torrential downpour dispersing those fans who's spirits hadn't already been dampened by their team being taken apart. Trivia: this match apparently saw 16 year old Lamine Yamal become the youngest player to appear for Spain and Spain's youngest scorer.
> > >
> > > Binder can give his super computer a rest as the commentators boldly predicted Spain to win Euro 2024 after this result, but think about this: if this result makes Spain one of the favourites and Scotland beat Spain, are Scotland the real Euro 2024 favourites?
> > >
> > > Cyprus 0 - Scotland 3
> > >
> > >
> > > Group D:
> > >
> > >
> > > Turkey 1 - Armenia 1
> > >
> > > Oh dear. Just when Turkey seem to have turned the corner we under perform as we always do. I've never heard an anthem drowned out by booing as much as the Armenian one was drowned out by the Turkish fans today. Unnecessary and disrespectful and it's only really going to serve to motivate the other team to play harder against you. Saying that I've lost count of the number of times the Turkish anthem has been booed before qualification games, but still.
> > >
> > > The stats show that Armenia had 13 shots (Turkey had 19) but a lot of these were optimistic lobs from not far off the halfway line, Armenia seemed to think the Turkish keeper Mert was vulnerable due to pushing out of his box a bit too far. In reality this was all Turkey attacking, but as is all too familiar we didn't put our chances away and Armenia took an undeserved lead early in the second half when Ozkacar missed a clearance to gift Dashyan an easy shot on goal. There had also been a deflection earlier in the build up - it was a bit of a calamity really. Anyway, Bertug (silent G) saved Turkey's blushes when a deflected shot fell to him on the edge of the area and he put a low shot away.
> > >
> > > Croatia 5 - Latvia 0
> > >
> > >
> > > Group J:
> > >
> > > Luxembourg 3 - Iceland 1
> > >
> > > A result that would have been unimaginable a few years ago?
> > >
> > > Bosnia 2 - Liechtenstein 1
> > >
> > > Slovakia 0 - Portugal 1
> > >
> > >
> > > RM
> > Just watching some of North Macedonia- Italy.
> >
> > This all blue Italy kit is NOT working for me. Particularly with the white trim on the shoulders they look more like Greece!
> >
> > Anyway, 17 minutes 0-0.
> >
> >
> > RM
> 46 minutes, Barella’s volley bounces off the crossbar and falls to Immobile, gifting him a simple finish- North Macedonia 0 - Italy 1.
>
> RM

Well, well. Bardhi curls in a free kick on 81 minutes and it finishes 1-1. North Macedonia are becoming Italy’s bogey team.

RM