Cry Havoc and let slip the dogs of war

 

Four quarterfinals are ahead of us over the next two days. Instead of saving the best for last, we start with probably the most mouthwatering of all of them, the light footed, whirling flamenco dancers of Espana against the thigh slapping, beer swilling Mannschaft of Deutschland.

La Roja have been a joy to watch, they have woven their magic, over the football fields of Germany, entertaining us all with their breathless style. The Sherman’s have not been their methodical selves but have had lady luck on their side. I cannot stress enough the benefit of playing at home, but if things are not going well, it can be a double-edged sword if the fans turn against their team.

One of the standout players for Espana so far has been Nico Williams, this is significant, because although of Ghanian heritage he was born in Pamplona, famous for its bull run and what also used to be the capital of the Basque country in Espana.

In 1937, during the Spanish Civil war, at the behest of Generalissimo Franco, the German Condor Legion of the Luftwaffe destroyed the Basque city of Guernica in the first terror bombing raid in history and a precursor to what was to follow in WWII. This led to Pablo Picaso painting his most famous picture, simply known as Guernica. The Basques do not like the Shermans (I know who does?)

The Basques are so fiercely patriotic, that you must have been born in Basque territory to play for the main club in the region, Athletic Bilbao, which is where Williams plies his trade at the moment. Luckily, they let the manager be a non-Basque which allowed them to once appoint Marcelo Bielsa, probably one of the best and innovative managers of all time.

We can only hope that Williams and the rest of the players imbue the spirit of the bull run to overrun the Mannschaft and advance to a deserved semifinal. Unfortunately, the best team so often falls at an early stage but I’m going with Espana.

Two to look out for:

Kroos, perhaps his last game of football

Williams, pace to burn

 

 

 

Next up is Les Bleu against Ronaldo and ten others, as with all the names I use, this is supposed to be a bit of fun, but unfortunately for the navigators, it has become the actuality of their existence.

We have already mentioned in previous posts, that both these teams have been incredibly disappointing to date. The French, remarkably, have reached this point without scoring a goal from open play, having been the recipients of two own goals and a penalty for the paltry three goals they have managed so far.

The bottle stoppers have become bottle jobs as they just to look to try and enable Ronaldo to score. The last game against Slovenia was a pathetic display in general and embarrassing by Ronaldo as he cried after missing a penalty in extra time.

They met in the 2016 final, when the bottle stoppers won in extra time after the crybaby was injured and had to be substituted which helped them win as you can see below.

 

However, I think the corks will be popping in Champagne rather than Porto after this game.

Two to look out for

 

Maignan, has been the best Frog so far

Leao, they need someone apart from CR7 to shine

 

 

On Saturday, we have two more games, and we will preview the later game first. The dyke builders against the Sauna attendants. The Dutch are beginning to get it together at the right time, they comfortably saw off the vampires of Transylvania to reach this stage.

The carpetbaggers were lucky to overcome the Austrians, with two goals from corners and a poor attacking performance from the Tyrol boys, with a super save from their goalkeeper in the 95th minute to protect their lead.  The Orange wave and their great fans to move on.

Two to look out for 

 

Gunok, will be kept busy

Gakpo, Golden boot winner ?

 

Finally, we come to EnGerLand against the Merchant bankers from Zurich and Geneva who like playing at the stadium of the young boys from Bern. My message to Gareth Southgate, is as follows. “Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war” to quote the great bard.

EnGerLand have been appallingly awful, they are a packet of Jammy dodgers to still be in the tournament. However, the fact remains they are still alive and kicking, even if they seemed to be flat lining until that remarkable overhead kick form the mercurial talent that is Jude Bellingham, who to be honest had done nothing in the game until that moment.

You only need to watch the first 34 seconds of the video

EnGerLand will be forced to make a defensive change as they have a player suspended, perhaps they will change their formation back to how they played in the last Euros (for those who understand, a 3-5-2 or maybe even a 3-4-2-1) the second choice is the one I would go for and if Southgate has the nerve to make this change, EnGerLand may finally click.

The watchmakers have been very good so far, they almost beat the Shermans in the group stages and they dealt with the Pasta boys with ease. On the flipside they only managed a draw with the kilted Jocks, and we saw how good they were. They do not have a very good record in competitive matches against EnGerLand, last beating them in an actual game that mattered back in 1981.

My Head says the Swiss, but my heart goes with EnGerLand

Two to watch out for:

Toney, super sub or will he start ?

Vargas, been exciting so far