Totally OT: Euro 2020
 

Any other football (soccer, for my fellow Yanks) fans out there? Anyone watching the Euros?

Netherlands v. Ukraine has been the match of the tournament, so far.

For whatever match I'm watching, I tend to cheer for the country that I've visited. If two such countries are playing one another, I tend to cheer for the one I enjoyed my visit to more. For example, Poland v. Slovakia is on right now. I spent a couple of days and an overnight in Krakow and quite enjoyed my time there; I only stopped for lunch in Slovakia and it was not a pleasant experience. Therefore, in this particular match, I'm cheering for Poland.

I've visited England three times and always enjoyed it, so I'm hoping that England wins the championship.

Who's your team and why?

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Watched Scotland getting beat today (nothing new) but I’ve got hope they won’t disgrace themselves in the next two games.

I imagine we’ll get beat by England (pains me to write that) then beat Croatia 5-0 in our last game when it won’t actually count for anything.

We always make it hard for ourselves

If that happens then there is a chance that Scotland will qualify as one of the four best 3rd place teams.

For me I'm finding it fascinating watching my sons (aged 12 and 14) learn how frustrating it is to be an England fan and then watch them in tournaments. So much potential but you just know that they will stumble at some point.

Yeah, I hadn't realised at time of writing that some third placed teams would also advance. I'm still not optimistic.

We can but hope... :)

You hope, I expect.....

Historic
 

England v. Scotland (football) is the oldest rivalry in international sports. It's older than at least a dozen countries!

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I'm hoping Scotland win tonight and it's a good fair game.

Well that was a dull game......

Whit? What game were you watching? I was alternately on the edge of my seat or not able to watch. We were immense after that wee wobble in the first ten minutes where they hit the post. Our defence was awesome, covered everything. And the crowd made it sound like a home game. Couldnae hear the English sing…!

I was watching the game where England kept slowing the pace down and gradually trying to build attacks. There was no tempo or energy to the England team and they were dull as a result. Scotland played well but England didn't. Kane looked very slow and didn't really threaten and Stirling looked like a prima donna who is keeping keener players on the bench. Both of my sons are convinced that England played the wrong team.

In terms of crowd noise, apparently there were 2,700 tickets for Scotland. It didn't look or sound like that to me! :D

Yeah, I remarked to the person I was watching the game with at half time that Kane had scarcely been in it but we didn't say any more about in case we jinxed it. I was unimpressed with the incident in the second half where Sterling tripped over his ankles then wanted a penalty. However, there is a maxim that you're only able to play as well as the opposition let you :)

As for the crowd, yep, I presume you were watching on ITV. STV had a completely separate broadcast (lead pundit David Moyes!) and their commentators did allude to the fact that there appeared to be significantly more Scottish fans than the number of tickets Scotland were allocated would suggest there should have been.

Initially I thought Sterling dived but the replays showed that he tripped over his own foot.

Who do you have making it through the semi's? Who do you have taking home the trophy?

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Italy to win personally. I wouldn't be surprised if England ended up in the final though, but Denmark will be a tougher customer than Ukraine turned out to be...

Hopefully Denmark vs Italy or Spain in the final.

Predictions
 

Denmark has looked good, but I expect their fairy tale run to end in the semis. England hasn't conceded a goal in this tournament and is really starting to find its scoring form. I tip England to win this matchup.

Spain has struggled to create chances, and is deficient in the striker department. They've also given up some incredibly cheap goals. Italy has looked really good at times, doesn't seem to have any glaring weaknesses, has faced tougher opposition so far, and has seen and overcome various scenarios. In other words, they know how to win. I expect Italy to beat Spain.

That leaves England and Italy in the final. My gut tells me Italy is going to win it all.

On a related note, both of my former South American home countries- Ecuador and Uruguay- have crashed out of the Copa America quarterfinals. I think Argentina and Brazil will meet in the final, and Argentina will win it all.

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Italy vs Spain is the first result that I've predicted correctly in the entire competition! A one all draw and then Italy win on penalties!

According to my youngest son (who knows a hell of a lot more about football than I do even though he's 12) Italy winning is better for England (presuming that we beat Denmark in the other semi-final tomorrow). Apparently Italy have lost one of their main attackers and so their attack isn't as potent as Spain's. I'm not so sure myself.

Personally I can see England beating Denmark and then losing to Italy in the final.

I can see soccer being one of the first sports that starts to come back after the Twilight War - rudimentary at first with just poles for the goal and an old ball, possibly stitched together or the wrong size (i.e. kids size ball used with no adult size to be found). Most likely the biggest issue would be that it would have to be played on dirt - I dont see perfectly manufactured and manicured playing surfaces coming back for quite a while

Official Team Sport of the T2kU
 

Totally agree. Poor kids in Third World countries often play barefoot on dirt lots. All one needs to play football (aka soccer) is a ball, an open space (see street football or beach football), and a couple of random objects to mark out the width of the net. That's it. When the World Cup was in South Africa, the telly showed a piece on how kids there make footballs (aka soccer balls) from wadded up plastic grocery bags. I don't know if they were available or common in the T2k timelines, but I bought an "indestructible" football that doesn't even need to be inflated. It's a little harder (i.e. less bouncy) than a real football, but it's close enough to do the job.

Football (aka soccer) is probably the easiest team sport to play in primitive conditions. Second would probably be American football (of the touch or flag varieties as COs probably wouldn't to lose troops to tackling-related injuries). Sports that require more equipment (e.g. baseball gloves, hockey sticks, etc.) would be much less common.

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Plenty of shots from Afghanistan of people playing in wrecked stadia.

Also, imagine a battle inside Old Trafford or the Bernabéu...

When we were kids it was usually rolled up jumpers for goal posts in the school playground (concrete, not grass. Made tackling fun). Any flat surface will do.

I guess it's likely to depend on which nationality is in the majority. in British / German / Dutch etc cantonments football is likely to dominate, in American cantonments it's more likely to be American sports.

I could imagine 'international' football matches between different nationalities might be popular.

I'll remind you that I've had more than one PC in your games carry a baseball or softball bat and a couple of balls. It's good for building rapport with local kids, and it helps justify levels in Thrown Weapon and Armed Martial Arts. ;)

- C.

Congratulations, Italy! Well deserved!