UEFA EURO 2016: England’s Joy, Crying Welsh Fan, All Hail Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland get Belgium drubbing

Second round of group matches done, how are our four most favourite teams doing? (Sorry, we do have favouritism but… y’know, not sorry).

ENGLAND (2-1 win vs. Wales)

So two of our teams came together. With four of our lot in the selection, there was a high chance it’d happen – and sure enough, England drew Wales.

It was a highly anticipated contest, and much like when England played Russia, the Three Lions dominated for most of the match – but it was Wales who struck first. A Gareth Bale free kick which wrong footed Joe Hart meant Wales took a lead against the form, and looking to keep the massive momentum they had going with a second win.

Hodgson, realising that a change was desperately needed, brought on both Jamie Vardy and Daniel Sturridge. What an inspired decision that turned out to be.

Within the opening few minutes, Vardy was able to equalise and bring England back in to the game – and Sturridge would make sure England had a reversal of fortunes in injury time compared to against Russia, scoring a last-minute winner and giving us this absolutely terrifying shot of Wayne Rooney. That haunts my nightmares.

The result means it’s in England’s hands to win the group now: Just beat Slovakia, and either 3rd place of Group A, C or D awaits on Saturday.
NEXT MATCH: vs. Slovakia (Monday)

With Wales hanging on to a draw, one fan would become a meme on the internet.

WALES (2-1 loss vs. England)

With one side’s joy, is another’s agony. Despite England possessing the ball for much of the match, the Welsh were able to frustrate them a lot – even to the point of taking the lead just before half time, Bale getting his second goal of the tournament from yet another free kick.

They weren’t able to hold on, though – a Jamie Vardy equaliser early on in the second half was contested by Wales for being offside, but it was Williams of Wales who played him on.

Then, in the dying moments, as a mad scramble ensued in the box – try as they might – Wales eventually succumbed to Daniel Sturridge finding his way in to the goal.

It’s not all doom and gloom, though – Wales still look good to qualify for the knockout stages. Their final group match is against Russia, who’ve not looked on form at all despite a late equaliser against England, and a late goal against Slovakia (still in loss, however).

Build the lead up early, and Wales should be safe of Russia’s seemingly late onslaughts – and depending on England, will either play Saturday or Monday.
NEXT MATCH: vs. Russia (Monday)

Northern Ireland are on fire, even without Will Grigg, and even in terrible weather.

NORTHERN IRELAND (2-0 win vs. Ukraine)

“YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS!”

The scream of the commentators as the second went in. Northern Ireland have their first win at a major tournament in 34 years!

It was some pretty adverse conditions for the match – it wasn’t just raining, it wasn’t just pouring: the hail stones were falling! It got so bad that at one point, the referee called for the match to be stopped while the worst of the weather passed half way through the second half. Luckily, the delay wasn’t for long, and after a quick change of shirts, everyone was back out.

Early on in the second half, it was Gareth McAuley who would head in Northern Ireland’s first goal, and right in the depths of injury time they sealed it with Niall McGinn finding the net, causing utter chaos: fans AND commentators going in to full celebration mode.

It’s going to be more difficult next time out as they play World Champions Germany – however thanks to their draw against Poland, Ukraine are already out of the running – meaning Northern Ireland, at worst, will finish 3rd in their group. They just need two other teams in 3rd to have worse results than them, and they’re through to the knockout stages. Unbelievable!

The Northern Irish fans continue even still to entertain the world with their antics: they introduced Ukraine to the ever-popular “Will Grigg’s on Fire” (despite Grigg having yet to even play at Euro 2016), cheering a man on a balcony and even helping change a tyre on a couple’s car that broke down!

Goodness knows what antics we’ll be talking about in our next blog, but we hope they’ll be as fun and brilliant as what we’ve covered so far!
NEXT MATCH: vs. Germany (Tuesday)

A 3-0 loss is the joint biggest loss so far in the tournament, matching Turkey’s defeat to Spain the day before.

REPUBLIC OF IRELAND (3-0 loss vs. Belgium)

We wish it could be looking all good and happy for all our teams – unfortunately this one looks to be in danger.

It was always going to be a difficult group for the Republic of Ireland: Sweden featuring Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Belgium ranked #2 in the world and best in this tournament and 2006 World Champions Italy.

A draw against Sweden was great, but a 3-0 loss to Belgium was far from what they needed. To make matters worse, their final match is against the Italians who have had two wins out of two in their group so far. Sweden don’t have it easy, either – their final match is against the Belgians, and they too have just one point – but it seems unlikely either could pull an upset result against their opposition.

Republic of Ireland can only hope that, with Italy already qualified and through to the knockout stages as group winners, they may look to rest some of their top players knowing their place is safe. If that’s an open door to try and get to 3rd in the group, they’ll take it – but they’ll realistically need to win to stand any chance, as Portugal – who play after them and are 3rd in their group – would be unlikely to stay on their current 2 points when they’re done.
NEXT MATCH: vs. Italy (Wednesday)

Ashley Redman
My defense is terrified of Will Grigg