Turning to the Dark Side

[inactionman]

Dupay rocking the LeBron headband

[tc27]

OK time to dig in and play for the penalty shootout

[inactionman]

I'm struggling to see what kyle walker does other than run fast

[inactionman]

OK time to dig in and play for the penalty shootout

We're ace at those now

[Blackmac]

1. Jammy penalty aside England playing reasonably well

2. What a great save by the Dutch player with his feet.

Foden running the show. Bellingham anonymous so far.

[Slick]

The Weghorst guy just loves kicking Ingerlanders

[Blackmac]

Foden and Saka now tiring and Bellingham and Rice providing nothing.

[Tichtheid]

Both sides now playing to not lose.

Can we just go to the penalties now plz?

[inactionman]

The Weghorst guy just loves kicking Ingerlanders

He'll score now, the fecking iain dowie wannabe

[Tichtheid]

Wow!

[Biffer]

Bugger.

[salanya]

The German referee can feck right off. Joke penalty and bought some poor diving.

I hope Spain wipe this anti-football team off the field in the final - Vamos!!

(And yes, I wish the Dutch defended tighter and played better in the second half too)

[Tichtheid]

The second half wasn't a great watch, but the goal was.

Well done England

[Slick]

England deserved that, well done

[inactionman]

The German referee can feck right off. Joke penalty and bought some poor diving.

I hope Spain wipe this anti-football team off the field in the final - Vamos!!

(And yes, I wish the Dutch defended tighter and played better in the second half too)

[Tichtheid]

Ally McCoist won that by the sounds of things

[tc27]

It's coming home

[Blackmac]

Not a great second half but the right result, despite the form of some of their bigger players. Foden, Saka outstanding and Watkins probably ran more in 5 minutes than Kane did all game.

[inactionman]

I'll post it again

[Slick]

Ally McCoist won that by the sounds of things

[tc27]

Bugger.

[Slick]

Very pleased for Gareth Southgate. Very much enjoying every pundit and journo eating humble pie

[salanya]

Very pleased for Gareth Southgate. Very much enjoying every pundit and journo eating humble pie

There's a truth in there, but for the good of football Spain must win the final.

[inactionman]

Very pleased for Gareth Southgate. Very much enjoying every pundit and journo eating humble pie

There's a truth in there, but for the good of football Spain must win the final.

[JM2K6]

Great first half from England, very impressive stuff against a game Dutch side. Slightly fortunate penalty but if you go high with studs up you get booked anywhere else on the pitch so I don't have too much sympathy tbh. Kinda tallies with my crusade against allowing foul play in the act of scoring/defending a try.

Superb goal to win it. Ironically, Kane had probably run himself out - he was actually good in the first half and far more mobile than at any point earlier in the tournament.

Dutch didn't really have the quality and England deserved to win on balance, but it was an excellent contest. Shame Foden didn't score, he produced some real magic this evening.

Spain will be huge favourites but they will not have wanted this result. They looked surprisingly anxious in the second half against France and while they're the most talented side in the tournament, I don't think they quite have the mentality of their champion side. Worried about what they'll do to Rice, Trippier, and Walker, though.

[JM2K6]

Very pleased for Gareth Southgate. Very much enjoying every pundit and journo eating humble pie

There's a truth in there, but for the good of football Spain must win the final.

Your dislike of diving is very situational, it seems

[inactionman]

Very pleased for Gareth Southgate. Very much enjoying every pundit and journo eating humble pie

There's a truth in there, but for the good of football Spain must win the final.

Your dislike of diving is very situational, it seems

Thank god Spain are here to save us from diving

[petej]

There's a truth in there, but for the good of football Spain must win the final.

Your dislike of diving is very situational, it seems

Thank god Spain are here to save us from diving

Rodri is in reality the best player in the premiership but by far the biggest gamesmanship cheating prick I've ever seen so anyone saying Spain are here to save us from cheating or diving is very delusional.

[salanya]

Very pleased for Gareth Southgate. Very much enjoying every pundit and journo eating humble pie

There's a truth in there, but for the good of football Spain must win the final.

Your dislike of diving is very situational, it seems

You're defending the penalty, so sense is not on your side.

[Slick]

Great first half from England, very impressive stuff against a game Dutch side. Slightly fortunate penalty but if you go high with studs up you get booked anywhere else on the pitch so I don't have too much sympathy tbh. Kinda tallies with my crusade against allowing foul play in the act of scoring/defending a try.

Superb goal to win it. Ironically, Kane had probably run himself out - he was actually good in the first half and far more mobile than at any point earlier in the tournament.

Dutch didn't really have the quality and England deserved to win on balance, but it was an excellent contest. Shame Foden didn't score, he produced some real magic this evening.

Spain will be huge favourites but they will not have wanted this result. They looked surprisingly anxious in the second half against France and while they're the most talented side in the tournament, I don't think they quite have the mentality of their champion side. Worried about what they'll do to Rice, Trippier, and Walker, though.

If they play close to how they did in the first half they have a good chance

[tc27]

https://x.com/FFS_WhatNow/status/181109 ... 87565?s=19

[Hugo]

The good news is we go into the final as heavy underdogs and there would be no shame to lose to this Spanish side who have been incredible all tournament. This reality may relieve England of a lot of the pressure of the match and a large chunk of this squad have played in a Euro final before.

All fingers crossed for Sunday..

[JM2K6]

There's a truth in there, but for the good of football Spain must win the final.

Your dislike of diving is very situational, it seems

You're defending the penalty, so sense is not on your side.

You go with a high foot, studs up, and too late to get the ball, you're risking a free kick at a minimum everywhere else on the pitch. That's inarguable. I can understand why some people don't think it's a penalty, because there is usually some leeway given in the box, and I said it was a bit soft, but let's not pretend it's been invented out of thin air.

Now, back to you slating England's diving while wanting the most disgraceful cheats of the last two rounds to win "for the good of de game"

[Hugo]

We probably got the rub of the green on that penalty but lest we forget in 1993 we didn't and Koeman's foul on Platt went unpunished and we missed world cup qualification.

These things tend to even out over 30 years.

[Blackmac]

We probably got the rub of the green on that penalty but lest we forget in 1993 we didn't and Koeman's foul on Platt went unpunished and we missed world cup qualification.

These things tend to even out over 30 years.

The more I see the penalty I think it was the right call. It's late and his studs are showing. Similar fouls given all over the field.

[Margin__Walker]

We probably got the rub of the green on that penalty but lest we forget in 1993 we didn't and Koeman's foul on Platt went unpunished and we missed world cup qualification.

These things tend to even out over 30 years.

The more I see the penalty I think it was the right call. It's late and his studs are showing. Similar fouls given all over the field.

Yeah, it's an odd one. Far from the softest pen I've seen given, but seems to be discussed as a complete howler form VAR by many pundits.

It's one of those that is 100% a foul outside the box. No question. He's gone in studs up, got there late and made contact. Yeah, there's velocity in both directions, but if you go into a challenge like that and get the player late, he cant have too many complaints imo

[Sandstorm]

It's one of those that is 100% a foul outside the box. No question. He's gone in studs up, got there late and made contact. Yeah, there's velocity in both directions, but if you go into a challenge like that and get the player late, he cant have too many complaints imo

This. Footballers are nuts because they think fouls outside the box are different to those inside.

[JM2K6]

He's trying to play the ball and fails to do so, endangering an opponent. It seems straightforward enough to me - even if he's just blocking, it's still studs up and dangerous play. You can put a foot out to block a pass and if it doesn't work and the opponent collides with your foot it's a foul every time, so it shouldn't be that controversial, but there's a strong correlation with the defence of high tackles in rugby of "what is he supposed to do"

(The answer is "don't gamble" but they don't want to hear that)

[dpedin]

Not a great second half but the right result, despite the form of some of their bigger players. Foden, Saka outstanding and Watkins probably ran more in 5 minutes than Kane did all game.

Watkins scared the shit out of the Dutch defence. Kane was easy to defend against, everything he did was stationary in front of the defenders and then he went deeper and deeper getting in the way of his midfield. Watkins stretched the defence pushed them back as they were scared shitless of his pace and runs in behind so they sat deeper off him and this created more space for English midfield to play in. Big call from Southgate about Kane now, play him v Spain and they will defend him easily and push England back or play Watkins and stretch the Spanish defence creating space for Foden, Bellingham et al. I suspect he will play safe with Kane but make the subs earlier, probably to chase the game! Should be an interesting game to watch!

[dpedin]

He's trying to play the ball and fails to do so, endangering an opponent. It seems straightforward enough to me - even if he's just blocking, it's still studs up and dangerous play. You can put a foot out to block a pass and if it doesn't work and the opponent collides with your foot it's a foul every time, so it shouldn't be that controversial, but there's a strong correlation with the defence of high tackles in rugby of "what is he supposed to do"

(The answer is "don't gamble" but they don't want to hear that)

Have to agree it was dangerous play endangering the attacker, albeit soft, and Kane made a miraculous recovery to slot home the penalty!