itsbeautifuloutside

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Spain 3 Croatia 0

Sat 15th June. Olympiastadion Berlin

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⚽️ IBO Reporter: OneBeat

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This game took place at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, a venue that has hosted Hitler, Jesse Owens, Cricket, American Football, Franz Beckenbauer, Zidane headbutting Materazzi, Usain Bolt’s 100 metre world record, AC/DC, U2, Pink and my dad who played there for the Army while doing National Service. I have also stood outside it on a cold December evening.

I got to the TV as the national anthems were happening, and the Spanish fans appeared to be singing along to their anthem, which amused me as it has no words.

As the game got started, the noise from Croatia fans was quite something, but it was Spain who were attacking with pace and pressing high up; Croatia were finding it hard to get out of their half.

All the talk was of Spain’s 16-year-old, but as I didn’t watch the build-up up it took me a while to work out that it was Lamine Yamal, but it didn’t take me long to realise that the hype seems dot be justified. Close up, he looked very young, but on the pitch, it was clear he was one of the best players out there.

I didn’t like the Croatia shirts, with the big squares and odd collar, but they weren’t as bad as the stock, fussy Adidas kits. Spain’s, like Scotlands, isn’t too bad, though; both the Hungary and German kits are terrible.

Spain were so much on top that it took 20 minutes for Croatia to have an attempt, then eight minutes later Morata, who I hadn’t realised was still in the Spain squad, scored. Fabian Ruiz played a ball through the Croatia defence, Morata took it into the area and calmly slotted it into the net.

3 minutes later, it was 2-0 after great work from Yamal, who twisted and turned and fed Pedri, who found Fabian Ruiz, his great close control and shot found the bottom corner.

On 40 mins, Croatia should have scored, but somehow didn’t. It was their best period of play, but they couldn’t hit the target.

In added time, Spain got a third. Yamal put in a good cross and Dani Carvajal appeared from between a couple of defenders to stab home.

Half Time: 3-0

I missed the first couple of minutes of the second half as I was getting my tofu out of the air fryer. But it appeared that Croatia were attacking more. However, it was Yamal who nearly got another for Spain. The Croatian keeper made a fantastic save as Yamal looked to have side-footed his shot past him.

Then it was Croatia’s turn to go close, and they really should have scored, but first, Cucurella kept them out with a great block before the keeper, Simón, punched away a header and the ball was cleared.

Croatia thought they had scored in the 77th minute. An error from Simón gave the ball to Majer, who fed Petković. He rounded the keeper, and although Rodri challenged him, and there was contact, Petković took a step and then fell over. It looked like a dive, but the ref gave a penalty. Replays convinced me it was a dive and that he could have stayed on his feet and rolled the ball into an empty net, but surprise, surprise, VAR confirmed the penalty!

Petković took the spot kick himself, but Simón saved it, pushing it away to his right. Croatia were quicker to the ball; it was passed back across the six-yard box for Petković to put it in.

A VAR check picked up encroachment from the Croatians, and the goal was disallowed. It was the correct decision, but surely the on-field officials should have spotted it?

Spanish substitute Olmo seemed to be playing for himself, trying to do too much when teammates were in better positions; Yamal, in particular, looked frustrated not to be given the ball on a couple of occasions, but in the end, it didn’t matter, and Spain deserved their win.

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Italy 2 Albania 1

15th June. BVB Stadion Dortmund

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⚽️ IBO Reporter: OneBeat

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It was interesting to see the little feature on Albania before kick-off. It’s a country I’ve always had a bit of interest in since the early 1980s when Attila The Stockbroker kept mentioning it in his Rants, and I always remember him referencing dictator Enver Hoxha and his pet halibut flounder called Tristan. I’d forgotten there was a civil war after Hoxha’s death and their move away from his imposed isolationism, meaning a lot of families fled the country, which is why a few of their players were born in other countries, Armando Broja, for one.

I’m not a fan of national anthems, but the Italian one is quite something, and their fans made themselves heard, which wouldn’t be the case through the game as they were heavily outnumbered by noisy Albanians.

Before the game had started I’d taken a dislike to Scamacca’s neck tattoo. I’m not sure why; it bugged me so much, but it did.

Italy has another of Adidas’ stock kits; again, it’s rubbish. I quite liked Albania’s kit though. Very unfussy.

Every game so far has had plenty of goals, and it didn’t take long before this game got in on the act; Albania scored in 23 seconds, Bajrami scoring the quickest-ever goal in the European Championships. It came from an Italian throw-in. Dimarco threw the ball back into the Italian area, but it went straight to Bajraimi, who smashed it past Donnarumma into the roof of the net. The Albanians in the crowd went mad, understandably. Bajrami, who plays in Italy for Sassuolo, was one of the players born outside of Albania, in Switzerland. Just as Attila The Stockbroker posted, “Nice one, Albania” on Facebook, Italy should have equalised straight away, but Pellegrini shot wide.

They did get their goal on 10 minutes. Bastoni headed in from a corner. Italy were now on top, playing some good stuff and five minutes after equalising, they went 2-1 up; the ball was pinged around the 18-year-old box before finding its way to Barella, who smashed it in from the edge of the area. It was a fine finish, and my fairly quiet “woah” woke the dog up, who then demanded a belly rub for the next 20 minutes.

Italy’s frequent spells of possession were greeted with whistles from the Albanians in the crowd, who drowned out the Italian fans for pretty much the whole game.

There was a stop in play for an injury and I noticed the Italian officials had ITALIA on the back of their suit jackets.

Before the break, Brentford’s Strakosha in the Albanian goal made two excellent saves to keep the score at 2-1.

I didn’t really watch much of the halftime chat; there was tea to be made, but I did catch Mica Richards pronouncing the name of Italy’s opponents as “Albeenia”.

Italy looked good at times, playing the ball around well, but they don’t excite me like teams of old. I miss Totti, Schillaci, Zola, Vialli, Baggio, Giannini, Maldini, etc. Maybe that will change as the tournament goes on.

Albania made a substitution, and I wondered if the player coming on, Arbër Hoxha, is a relation to Enver?

As the game entered the last five minutes, I got a bit distracted by the dog dreaming on the sofa next to me. But Albania weren’t giving up, and in the 89th minute, they nearly scored a second. Donnarummer made a good save to deflect the ball away from his goal, but the officials gave a goal kick, much to the exasperation of the Albanian coach, ex-Arsenal, Barcelona and Man City defender Sylvinho and his assistant Pablo Zabaleta.

Albania kept going right until the end, but Italy did enough to deservedly win, although judging by today's other game in this group, Albania may have a chance against Croatia

One thing I have noticed the the games so far is the lack of segregation in the stands. There’s been no trouble that I have seen, I hope it stays that way.

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Croatia 2 Albania 2

19th June, Volksparkstadion

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⚽️ IBO Reporter: OneBeat

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I was expecting to have to try and watch this game while working, but in the end, I was off work sick; a heavy cold had brought on a sore throat, headache, tiredness and a nose that constantly dripped like a tap that needed a washer replaced. So I took paracetamol just before kick-off and hoped it would dull the headache and keep the tiredness at bay. I also opened the back door in case the dog needed to go out, although at kick-off, she was on the lookout by the window waiting to give the postie some stick.

I completely missed the lineups (in my defence, I was distracted by a red kite that appeared from behind the trees and flew low past our house before steadily climbing higher and disappearing into the distance), but I did hear the commentator say that Broja was on the bench for Albania.

Albania, wearing a nice all-black kit, went on the attack straight away; they didn’t take the lead in 23 seconds like they did in the Italy game, but on ten minutes, Croatia failed to deal with a hopeful high ball and Albania were able to work the ball out to the edge of the box, working it around well before before Asani put a cross to the near post that was headed in by Laçi. It was great play from Albania, but poor from Croatia; just like the Spain game, they allowed a player to easily run between the central defenders, and the goalkeeper should have done better. Albania didn’t care; they were too busy celebrating.

From then on Croatia may have had more of the possession, but Albania looked more of a threat when they did get the ball, attacking with pace and good movement, crisp passing and inventiveness.

30 minutes in Albania should have had a second; a great through ball was played for Asani to shoot, but this time, the keeper made a good stop.

Now, my head was a bit befuddled, but I’m sure at one point, co-commentator Andros Townsend suddenly said, “3 Albanias, 4 Albanias, 5.” It couldn’t have been just me, full of tiredness and drugs, who found it confusing.

Just before the break, Albania should have scored again, but the free diving header from Manaj was easily saved, and the half ended 1-0.

During half-time, the dog ran to the front door, which usually indicates she wanted a walk. So I roused myself, got her ready, opened the door and she just sat there and wouldn’t budge. I closed the door and went with her to the back door; she popped out for a bit, then came back as the second half started and requested a belly rub.

Croatia started the second half stronger, pinning Albania back, so they were finding it much harder to get their rapid passing counter-attacking going. When Croatia got a thrown deep into the Albanian half and Perišić prepared to take a long throw, the subs warming up lined up next to him looking like backing singers, I expected them to start clicking their fingers and harmonising some “doo-wops”

Croatia continued to boss the second half and our dog got up and wandered off to the bedroom for a doze on our bed. Maybe it was because she’s Bosnian, and the old Balkan rivalry got too much for her??

For all of Croatia’s possession and attacking, they never really caused Strakosha, the Albanian keeper, too many problems and while Albania we’re having to defend a lot, they were doing it well.

Their counter-attacking had been nonexistent for the first 15 minutes of the second half, but when they did finally break with numbers, they moved the ball well across the edge of the area, but Asani decided to shoot when there was a man on his own out to the right.

Their attacks were infrequent, but when they happened, Albania looked dangerous.

At one point, a Croatian defender passed the ball back to the keeper purposely with his knee, and I had a conversation with myself about whether that was allowed. Watching football while full of cold and painkillers is an interesting experience.

With fifteen minutes to go, another Albanian attack saw a weak long-range shot when there was a better-placed teammate. Croatia then went up the other end, and Kramarić scored.

They almost scored again straight away, but the keeper did well to claim the ball from the forward’s feet. But Croatia did get a second just two minutes after their fist as they swarmed over Albania. A shot was blocked, but it ricocheted off the defender, Gjasula, into the net.

Subs were made by both sides, and as the game entered the last ten minutes, Albania was the team looking more likely to score again; several chances came and went, and still, players took on shots when there were players in better positions.

Time was running out, but Albania were continuing to force Croatia into desperate defending; then, in the 95th minute, their goal came; more good incisive passing found Gjasula in the area, and he side-footed it home. Players, fans and the Albanian bench went nuts.

The game continued, going past the signalled 6 minutes of added-on time; it was end-to-end stuff as each side tried to win it. The noise in the stadium meant that it was difficult to hear the final whistle, and a draw was probably a fair result. It had been a great game, played in a good atmosphere between two committed teams, both desperate to win.

I really rather like this Albanian team.

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Spain 1 Italy 0

Thursday 20th June, Gelsenkirchen

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⚽️ IBO Reporter: OneBeat

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After sitting through the terrible England performance, I was looking forward to this game. I’ve had an interest in Italian football since the mid-1970s when my uncle gave me two magazines, one about Juventus and the other about Internazionale. The photos were black and white and the text was in Italian, so I couldn’t read them, but even with the lack of colour photos, they seemed exotic and exciting. Funnily enough, although Italian football appealed to me, and I would go on to love Channel 4’s coverage a couple of decades later, I never warmed to either Juve or Inter; it was Roma I took a shine to, although Milan (briefly) and Livorno also grabbed my attention. As well as that, it had been Spain, who look like the most exciting team so far in this tournament.

As usual, I didn’t watch the build-up, only sitting down in front of the TV as the teams walked out of the tunnel. Italians do like their anthem, belting it out with closed eyes and plenty of gusto. The Spanish anthem has no words, but that didn’t stop their fans from “do-do-doing” along to it. There was a nice little wink from one of the Spanish players too.

Both teams were wearing the new over-fussy Adidas kits; Italy’s white kit with the red and green flashes looked very tacky.

Clive Tyldesley was commentating, which is not usually a good sign, but he was with Ally McCoist, who I have warmed to and not just because he listed Killing Joke, The Clash and Sex Pistols amongst his top five bands (the other two were Gun and AC\DC, so it wasn’t all good).

Spain started as they had finished their previous game, attacking with pace, and should have scored inside 2 minutes. Good work from Nico Williams down the left and his cross found Pedri, whose header was tipped over the bar by Donnarumma. Seven minutes later, Williams should have scored himself. Morata was the provider this time, but Williams put his header wide when he really should have put Spain 1-0 up.

14 minutes into the game, I got a text from a friend. It said, “This pisses all over the England game.” Talk about stating the bleedin’ obvious.

Donnarumma, who would prove to be Italy’s best player, made another great fingertip save, this time stopping a rocket from Fabian Ruiz.

From the start, Spain had been on top, pinning Italy into their own half. Nico Williams and Cucarella were working well together down the Spanish left, Morata and Pedri were working hard, and one on the right, the wonder kid, Yamal, was a joy to watch.

But they weren’t the only ones. Rodi had a good shot blocked, and the only surprise was that they hadn’t found the net and the first half ended 0-0.

Italy made two subs at halftime, and in less than a minute of the restart, one of them, Cristante, was booked for assaulting Rodri. But if Italy thought that strong tackles would stop Spain, they were wrong as the red shirts continued to flood forward. Cucurelle got to the byline after playing a nice one-two with Williams; he pulled the ball back to Pedri, who somehow managed to sidefoot it wide. However, with their next attack, Cucurella and Williams again combined with the young forward working an opening before crossing to Morata, who flicked it on with his head; Donnaramma got a hand to the ball but could only deflect it onto Calafiori’s knee, which saw the ball fly into his own net. The goal was only what Spain deserved; it was just a surprise that it was an Italian who had put it in.

Spain started peppering the Italian goal. Donnarumma was having to make save after save, and when he couldn’t get to a header from a corner, Cambiasso hooked it off the line. Yamal was the next to go close; his long-range shot only narrowly went wide.

In the 65th minute, Italy suddenly attacked and should have scored, but the cross was missed at the near post by Retrgui as the ball flashed across the area. Again, Italy had the ball in the Spanish half, only to lose it and see Spain break down the left. Nico Williams raced towards the area, cut inside and curled a shot towards the far top corner, but it crashed off the bar.

With still 20 minutes to play, Spain took off Pedri and Yamal, sadly. Both had been great to watch, and the change seemed to blunt Spain’s attacking as Italy got themselves into the game, but were never able to really trouble Simón in the Spanish goal. Then on 77 minutes, Morata and Williams were substituted, meaning Span had replaced all of their exciting front four. Clive Tyldesley made a comment about five subs being allowed, and I think it’s fair to say that Ally McCoist is not a fan, commenting that it wasn’t fair on the teams with less deep squads.

With just five minutes to go it got a bit tetchy in the Spanish area as they waited for an Italian corner. In the end it all came to nothing, the arguments and the corner. Since the substitutions, Spain had lost their cutting edge, and Italy were beginning to get on top, but in added time, Spain were back on the attack, and Donnarumma had to make a couple of good saves to keep the score down. Italy seemed to be more energised and, in added time, got a couple of corners in quick succession, but neither came to anything, and the ref blew the whistle to end the game.

It was a very convincing 1-0 win, and despite a lack of goals had been a really entertaining game. Spain were great, and Italy struggled to contain them. I guess Roma fans were right: “No Totti, No Party”

Oh, and Clive Tyldesley’s commentary was much less annoying than it used to be; he concentrated on the game without the constant wittering on about other nonsense that used to really wind me up.

I'm really looking forward to the Spain v Albania game now.

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Albania 0 Spain 1

24th June, Düsseldorf Arena

Croatia 1 Italy 1

24th June, Leipzig Stadium

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⚽️ IBO Reporter: OneBeat

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I got a text from a mate saying, “Here we going BBC1 or BBC2 tonight?” I’ve enjoyed watching Spain and Albania in this tournament, so I decided on BBC2, my mate went for the other side. The first face I saw after turning the TV on was Jose Fonte, sitting there between Ellen White and Ashley Williams, while over on BBC1, and up on the roof, they had Wayne Rooney alongside Shearer and Micah Richards. I know who I’d rather listen to.

The pundits were talking about the line-ups, and I was disappointed that neither Nico Williams nor Lamine Yamal were starting. Pedri, Morata, Ruiz and Cucarella were also out of the team, as well as Rodri who was suspended. But still, I was expecting a good game.

I tried to get as comfortable as I could on the sofa as I had a very painful foot; it looked like gout, even though I hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol for almost 40 years, had no meat for over 30 years and had no dairy for over 20 years. As far as I know my cholesterol and blood pressure are ok, so I was surprised. Apparently, gout is genetic, so I’m blaming my dad.

Anyway, I got settled, and with my foot up, I was almost comfortable. But then had to watch the stupid anthems. I did quite enjoy the Spanish fans “La La Laing” through their instrumental anthem though.

Albania started the game with fire in their bellies, pinning Spain into their own half. Spain broke away once and got a cross in, but it came to nothing, and then it was back to the Albania swarm.

Spain were wearing a horrible yellow Kit with grey and red bits on it. It looked like something a bored child would have come up with using the only three crayons left on the table after a tantrum.

It was 11 minutes before Spain made Strakosha in the Albanian goal make a save. Then, a minute later, Ferran Torres calmly slotted the ball into the net after a nice pass from Olmo.

After the goal, Spain had a period of keeping the ball, making the Albanian players scamper about a bit. When they did get some possession back, a through ball played into the Spanish half was easily cleared by the defender. Jermaine Jenus said he wanted more of that from Albania, and I wondered if he meant more giving the ball to the Spanish?

Text incoming: “Apart from Spain, is every side in these Euros playing with the handbrake on?”

Follow-up text: “I’ve been very underwhelmed by the quality so far, and we know it will not improve tomorrow night with Gareth Handbrake’s England.”

In the game I was watching, Albania were still trying to attack Spain, but weren’t really hurting them, and the Spanish looked dangerous on the break. Then, just before the end of the half, Albania had a great chance, but Reya made a good save from Asllani’s long-range effort.

Halftime, 1-0 to Spain.

I hadn’t received any further texts, but the Croatia v Italy game was still 0-0, and the highlights showed both keepers making a good save. I didn’t really listen to the pundits chat during the break; I needed the loo, and it took me a while to hobble there. Also, while I was up, I took some painkillers. When I got back to the sofa, the dog was there, but she moved to the other end to allow me to put my foot up. She’s not usually that accommodating.

After the brief pause where the ref had to wait until both games could start at exactly the same time, the second half got underway, and just over a minute after the restart, Joselu nearly put Spain two up, but his overhead kick went just wide.

It was weird seeing Spain throw crosses into the box. The game then became quite end-to-end without either side coming close to scoring. In the other game, Croatia took the lead through Modric, who, a minute before, had missed a penalty.

Incoming text: “Danny Murphy has been covered in beer from fans celebrating. It’s quite amusing.”

My reply: “Are you torturing yourself with Pearce and Murphy?”

Incoming text: “I am, but the game just got interesting.”

Reply: “Pearce keeps saying ‘Damian, the former Man United defender’ Who cares about where he used to play?” (Disclosure: My mate is a Man United fan).

Albania brought on Broja. They continued to try to get at Spain without making much progress. Then, all of a sudden, Broja had a chance, but Rays just got to his chipped effort, and Spain cleared it out for a corner.

Every time Guy Mowbray said the name of Albanian player Djimisti, it sounded like Jim Shitty.

Incoming text: “Italy are playing attacking football. It’s odd.”

My reply: “Are you resorting to football cliches over there?”

Incoming text: “Oh, I hope I get ‘You couldn’t write a script like this’.”

On 71 minutes, Spain brought on Yamal and Morata. Albania immediately tried to intimidate the 16-year-old with a lunging tackle. The tactic failed as Yamal just bounced back up and carried on.

Jermaine Jenus suggested that Albania wouldn’t be as fit as Spain, and I wondered why that would be. They are professional footballers, some playing in Europe’s biggest leagues. Their Coach is Brazilian; his assistant is Argentinian. Both played at the highest level, so why would these players be less fit than Spanish players? Tired or not, the Albanians continued to attack with pace, and Asllani went close, just pulling his shot wide.

Incoming text: “This is not a good Italian side. Not really creating anything, but Croatia have decided to drop very deep.”

Follow-up text: “Pearce keeps going on about Italy having enough.”

Albania clearly weren’t dropping deep. Substitute Berisha kept running at the Spanish defence with pace several times, but each time, Spain was able to deal with it easily.

Up the other end, Spain got a corner, and plastic cups came raining down on the corner taker.

In their next attack, Yamal brought the ball out of the air and, with one touch and in the same movement, controlled the ball, turned and beat two defenders; it was a stunning bit of skill. He ran into the box and, instead of shooting, tried to play a teammate in, but it was intercepted.

As the game went into the 91st minute, Broja improvised a shot, flicking the ball from a crowded area and bringing a good save out of Raya. But Spain held out to win easily.

A shame for Albania, but they did well in a tough group. Spain didn’t have to exert themselves too much to get this win. Albania may be going home, but they have been great to watch and can hold their heads high.

Incoming text: “Who knew Italy could score?”

Italy’s late equaliser, which was a very well-taken goal, saw them end up second in the group.

Incoming text: “(Italy) have been pants. Croatia were very reckless with the ball at the very end.” Follow up text: “So England have qualified because of the Spain v Albania result?”

And that was that. It had been a good group to watch. I was brought a cup of tea, and some (sugar free vegan) ginger biscuits, which I had to share with the dog.