Italy's defensive shape has taken Euro 2016 by storm,

dailymail.co.uk ^ | 1 July 2016 | Martin Keown

[Berlin_Freeper]

Italy are the team who have impressed me most at Euro 2016.

They don’t really have any star names but they’ve already seen off two sides packed with them — Belgium and Spain — and face another on Saturday.

The key to their success is their formation — and how well it is executed. Playing three at the back has often been dismissed as old hat in recent years, but we are beginning to see more teams flirt with the idea.

And when you see a team like this employ it to perfection, who can blame them?

[Berlin_Freeper]

Group A

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
FRA	2	1	0	3	7
SWI	1	2	0	1	5
ALB	1	0	2	-2	3
ROM	0	1	2	-2	1

France 2-1 Romania
Albania 0-1 Switzerland
Romania 1-1 Switzerland
France 2-0 Albania
Switzerland 0-0 France
Romania 0-1 Albania

Group B

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
WAL	2	0	1	3	6
ENG	1	2	0	1	5
SVK	1	1	1	0	4
RUS	0	1	2	-4	1

Wales 2-1 Slovakia
England 1-1 Russia
Russia 1-2 Slovakia
England 2-1 Wales
Russia 0-3 Wales
Slovakia 0-0 England

Group C

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
GER	2	1	0	3	7
POL	2	1	0	2	7
NI	1	0	2	0	3
UKR	0	0	3	-5	0

Poland 1-0 N.Ireland
Germany 2-0 Ukraine
Ukraine 0-2 N.Ireland
Germany 0-0 Poland
N.Ireland 0-1 Germany
Ukraine 0-1 Poland

Group D

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
CRO	2	1	0	2	7
SPA	2	0	1	3	6
TUR	1	0	2	-2	3
CZE	0	1	2	-3	1

Turkey 0-1 Croatia
Spain 1-0 Czech Republic
Czech Republic 2-2 Croatia
Spain 3-0 Turkey
Czech Republic 0-2 Turkey
Croatia 2-1 Spain

Group E

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
ITA	2	0	1	2	6
BEL	2	0	1	2	6
IRE	1	1	1	-2	4
SWE	0	1	2	-2	1

Ireland 1-1 Sweden
Belgium 0-2 Italy
Italy 1-0 Sweden
Belgium 3-0 Ireland
Italy 0-1 Ireland

Group F

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
HUN	1	2	0	2	5
ICE	1	2	0	1	5
POR	0	3	0	0	3
AUT	0	1	2	-3	1

Austria 0-2 Hungary
Portugal 1-1 Iceland
Iceland 1-1 Hungary
Portugal 0-0 Austria
Iceland 2-1 Austria
Hungary 3-3 Portugal

Qualified for Round of 16: Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Poland, Switzerland, Spain, Wales

Best third placed teams to qualify: Northern Ireland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia

Eliminated: Albania, Austria, Czech Republic, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Turkey, Ukraine

Round of 16

Saturday, June 25
Switzerland 1-1 (Poland wins 5-4 on penalties) Poland
Wales 1-0 (Own Goal) Northern Ireland
Croatia 0-1 (117th minute goal) Portugal

---

Sunday, June 26
France 2-1 (Irish see RED) Ireland -- Lyon (3 p.m. CET/9 a.m. ET, ESPN)
Germany 3-0 (Tourney Team starts to peak at right time) Slovakia -- Lille (6 p.m. CET/12 p.m. ET, ESPN)
Hungary 0-4 (Blowout) Belgium -- Toulouse (9 p.m. CET/3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

---

Monday, June 27
Italy 2-0 (The rain in Spain falls mainly in Italy) Spain
England 1-2 ("Humiliated") Iceland

---

Quarterfinals

Thursday, June 30 - Match 45
Poland 1-1 (Portugal win 5-3 on penalties) Portugal

---

Friday, July 1 - Match 46
Wales 3-1 (Red Dragon defeats Golden Generation) Belgium

---

Saturday, July 2 - Match 47
Germany vs. Italy -- Bordeaux (9 p.m. CET/3 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

---

Sunday, July 3 - Match 48
France vs. Iceland -- Saint-Denis (9 p.m. CET/3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

---

Semifinals

Wednesday, July 6
Portugal vs. Wales -- Lyon (9 p.m. CET/3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

---

Thursday, July 7
W47 vs. W48 -- Marseille (9 p.m. CET/3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

---

Final

Sunday, July 10
W49 vs. W50 -- Saint-Denis (9 p.m. CET/3 p.m. ET, ESPN)

UEFA.com
UEFA Euro 2016 - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

#EURO2016

[Berlin_Freeper]

Tickets for the UEFA EURO 2016 semi-finals

[Berlin_Freeper]

Wales shock Belgium to reach semifinals at Euro 2016
But the Welshmen will be without both Ramsey and Davies, who will be suspended after bookings on Friday.

[Berlin_Freeper]

All three Wales players who scored last night were born in England:

Sam Vokes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born and raised in England, Vokes is eligible to represent Wales through a grandfather born there.

Ashley Williams
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born in England, Williams qualifies to play for Wales through his maternal grandfather.

Hal Robson-Kanu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
At international level Robson-Kanu initially represented the country of his birth, England, at under-19 and under-20 level. In 2010 he switched allegiance to Wales, the country of his grandmother,

[Berlin_Freeper]

Cristiano Ronaldo has taken same number of shots as the entire Italy team

[Berlin_Freeper]

"My hair-n wool-add ver n-had eye". What? Your hair and wool had an eye?

[Berlin_Freeper]

Two international heavyweights take to the stage on Saturday as Germany face Italy in the penultimate quarter-final of Euro 2016.
Three key players

[Berlin_Freeper]

Belgium fails to overcome defensive problems
Belgium knew

[Berlin_Freeper]

Preview: Germany v Italy
Italy have never lost to Germany/West Germany in eight competitive meetings

[Berlin_Freeper]

http://m.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11665983

[Berlin_Freeper]

Antonio Conte has warned his Italy players they will be confronted by “the most complete side in the world” when they try to stop Germany’s extraordinary record of having never been involved in a major tournament since Euro 2004 without reaching at least the semi-finals.

[Berlin_Freeper]

“Germany have never digested that defeat,” declared Giovanni Trapattoni in the opening Italian salvo of last week’s war of words. “Their suffering ever since stems from when we met them there.”

[Berlin_Freeper]

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Qualification
The eight competing teams will be the host nation, the reigning FIFA World Cup champions, and the six holders of the FIFA confederation championships. If any team qualifies for multiple berths (such as, if the World Cup champions [Germany] also won their continental championship), the next best-placed team from their continental championship qualifies.

UEFA berth
Winners of UEFA Euro 2016
Teams competing in the UEFA Euro 2016 knockout phase:

France
Iceland
Italy
Portugal
Wales

[Berlin_Freeper]

Germany look to overturn Italy hoodoo: Euro 2016 match preview – video

[Berlin_Freeper]

Wales 3-1 Belgium Highlights
https://youtu.be/c1hmAuhg_Hk

[oldplayer]

I coached a high school boys varsity team this past spring. We were weak in the mid-field. By necessity we instituted this exact scheme. We made it to play-offs and played well. We are a rural school playing against metro-teams, many of whom had elite club players.

It was FUN beating them occasionally and scaring them when we didn’t!

Oldplayer

[safeasthebanks]

I also think they know this is Buffons last go round and would like to see him go out with another championship.

[BeadCounter]

Hazard and De Bruyne ineffective as Wilmots failed to turn Belgium into a unit – Euro 2016 talking points

Wilmots: Strategy was not the problem

Iceland:

Director Halldorsson dares to dream of ´Hollywood´ France upset

One more thing, historically, Italy has not been as successful in the Euro vs. World Cup. Italy look better than expected, Germany looks good but not as up to form as their World Cup team. I know I'm going to be wrong if I say it looks like a draw up to the 90 minutes, maybe Germany gets a goal in added extra-time. I think it will be a long match.

[BeadCounter]

Blast from the past: 5 memorable Germany Vs Italy clashes

Note, one of those matches in the Euro was a 0-0 draw per the article, Germany blocked a penalty kick from Zola.

For some reason, the Euro scenario seems a bit different than the World Cup.

Miroslav Klose analyzes matchup.