Euro 2016: the best XI from the first round of matches

theguardian.com ^ | 15 June 2016 | Martin Laurence

[Berlin_Freeper]

The decision to expand Euro 2016 to a 24-team tournament suggested that the group stage would be somewhat cagey, particularly in the first matches, but the opening round of fixtures has met expectations. Who would have thought that Hungary would be the only team with more than a single-goal lead going into added time at this stage? There haven’t been many goals but a number of players have caught the eye. Here is our statistically calculated team of the round:

[Berlin_Freeper]

Group A

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
FRA	2	0	0	3	6
SWI	1	1	0	1	4
ROM	0	1	1	-1	1
ALB	0	0	2	-3	0

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

Group B

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
WAL	1	0	0	1	3
SVK	1	0	1	0	3
ENG	0	1	0	0	1
RUS	0	1	1	-1	1

Wales 2-1 Slovakia
England 1-1 Russia
Russia 1-2 Slovakia

Group C

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

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

Group D

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

Turkey 0-1 Croatia
Spain 1-0 Czech Republic

Group E

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
ITA	1	0	0	2	3
IRE	0	1	0	0	1
SWE	0	1	0	0	1
BEL	0	0	1	-2	0

Ireland 1-1 Sweden
Belgium 0-2 Italy

Group F

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

Austria 0-2 Hungary
Portugal 1-1 Iceland

June 16
England vs Wales, 9 a.m. on ESPN
Ukraine vs. Northern Ireland, 12 p.m. on ESPN
Germany vs. Poland, 3 p.m. on ESPN

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

#EURO2016

[Berlin_Freeper]

Nelly the Elephant predicts Germany win

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Tear gas, pepper spray and batons are used against English fans in Lille on the eve of today's Euro 2016 match against Wales.

[Berlin_Freeper]

monumental, must-win encounter with Wales

[Berlin_Freeper]

Jonny Evans has said Northern Ireland require greater adventure on the ball and may need to revise their tactics for what he labelled a “make-or-break” game against Ukraine.

“We had a lot of men behind the ball. I think we’ll learn from the fact that maybe at times we need to try to play a bit more. We rushed things a bit. Especially in that heat and against that quality of opposition, you know if you keep giving the ball back to them that it’s going to be a long night. I thought we showed good endeavour and we worked our socks off, which we’re always going to do, but maybe we need to play a bit better.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Poland confident before ‘difficult’ Germany game

Polish star striker Robert Lewandowski said ahead of the game: “Germany have a solid defence, but you can bring down any wall.”

[Berlin_Freeper]

France are the first team through to the round of 16 with a 2-0 victory over Albania on Wednesday evening.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Welcome to the House of F.U.N.

[Berlin_Freeper]

GOAL!!!!! England 0-1 Wales (Bale, 42 min)

“Surely not,” wrote some idiot. Surely. Gareth Bale has given Wales the lead with a free-kick from a preposterous distance – but Joe Hart needs to have a long, hard look at himself after failing to keep this one out. From roughly 35 yards out, Bale took his trademark run-up and his left-footed effort dipped and swerved over the England wall. It was on target but it wasn’t quite in the corner. There was enough time for Hart to react but all he could do was palm it into the bottom left corner, the ball trickling inside the post and over the line! Wales are in dreamland!

⚽ Bale scores for Wales to make it 1-0 vs England

[Berlin_Freeper]

England 0-1 Wales
Half Time

64%	Ball Possession	36%
6	Goal Attempts	3
1	Shots on Goal	1
4	Shots off Goal	0
1	Blocked Shots	2
7	Free Kicks	6
4	Corner Kicks	1
0	Offsides	0
14	Throw-in	10
0	Goalkeeper Saves	1
6	Fouls	7
252	Total Passes	111
219	Completed Passes	81

[dfwgator]

What was Hart thinking?

[Berlin_Freeper]

GOAL!!!! England 1-1 Wales (Vardy, 56 min)

Wales struggle to clear their lines and the ball reaches Sturridge on the left of the area. He lifts it back into the middle and though Vardy is offside, the ball reaches him via an unintentional touch from Williams. The rest is inevitable. Vardy swivels and smashes the loose ball past Hennessey! The Welsh protests fall on deaf ears. England are level and Hodgson’s changes have paid off.

⚽ Jamie Vardy scores vs Wales to make it 1-1

[Berlin_Freeper]

I don’t know what Hart was thinking before but after it was: Bales!!

[dfwgator]

STURRIDGE! 2-1 England!

[Berlin_Freeper]

GOAL!!!!!! England 2-1 Wales (Sturridge, 90 min+2)

Daniel Sturridge has surely won it for England in stoppage time! He picked up the ball on the left and knocked it to Vardy. He tried to knock it down for Alli, but the ball got away from him. Not to worry, though, because Sturridge was there to barrel through and shove a toepoked finish inside Wayne Hennessey’s near post! Roy Hodgson’s substitutions have worked!

⚽ Sturridge scores vs Wales to make it 2-1 to England

[Berlin_Freeper]

England 2-1 Wales
Finished

65%	Ball Possession	35%
21	Goal Attempts	6
4	Shots on Goal	2
9	Shots off Goal	2
8	Blocked Shots	2
9	Free Kicks	11
9	Corner Kicks	3
1	Offsides	1
26	Throw-in	19
1	Goalkeeper Saves	2
10	Fouls	9
0	Yellow Cards	1
498	Total Passes	204
431	Completed Passes	143

[dfwgator]

Cracker of a match. Wales played way too complacent with the lead and it cost them.

[Berlin_Freeper]

Group A

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
FRA	2	0	0	3	6
SWI	1	1	0	1	4
ROM	0	1	1	-1	1
ALB	0	0	2	-3	0

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

Group B

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

Wales 2-1 Slovakia
England 1-1 Russia
Russia 1-2 Slovakia
England 2-1 Wales

Group C

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

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

Group D

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

Turkey 0-1 Croatia
Spain 1-0 Czech Republic

Group E

Country	W	D	L	GD	Pts
ITA	1	0	0	2	3
IRE	0	1	0	0	1
SWE	0	1	0	0	1
BEL	0	0	1	-2	0

Ireland 1-1 Sweden
Belgium 0-2 Italy

Group F

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

Austria 0-2 Hungary
Portugal 1-1 Iceland

June 16
Ukraine vs. Northern Ireland, 12 p.m. on ESPN
Germany vs. Poland, 3 p.m. on ESPN

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

#EURO2016

[Berlin_Freeper]

Another late scoring match. Been pretty amazing in that regard. England on top! L⚽L!