There is the prospect of defensive football taking over as sides try everything they can not to lose rather than win games but hopefully some of the real superstars in these teams will choose tomorrow to put on a show.
Switzerland looked out of sorts against Albania in their first match but still managed to get the crucial win before drawing against both Romania and France. Their star players are yet to perform and they may feel that attrition is the way to go against Poland.
The Poles are in a similar position having not played that well yet still going into the second round unbeaten. Robert Lewandowski has looked particularly out of sorts with Milik picking up the slack. The Ajax striker has found good positions in all three matches without actually finding his finishing form.
These two sides are pretty evenly matched but I fancy Switzerland to go through if their players can rise to the occasion. It might go to penalties though!
Wales and Northern Ireland both qualified much to the surprise to most neutrals. Northern Ireland have looked a very cohesive unit and it will be this team strength that they will be hoping will be too much for the Welsh. Unfortunately for them Wales have just about trademarked 'teamwork' - even their slogan is 'Together Stronger'.
Gareth Bale finally clicked into gear against a very poor Russian side but his presence alone puts fear into opponents. Joe Allen and Aaron Ramsey have been superb, running the show in the middle with the rest of the side playing as a team to see them qualify top of their group.
Wales should be too strong for Northern Ireland tomorrow and their superior class will show. Northern Ireland's fans will no doubt make it a great occasion but I see them going home after this one - 2-0 to Wales.
The final match of the day could be a real cracker. Croatia have come past the incidents of their second match with the Czech Republic to look like real contenders for the title. The speed and skill on show has been a delight to watch, even with Modric injured for the last game.
Portugal just about limped through to the second round thanks to Ronaldo finally scoring some goals. I've said before that they are more than a one man team but they really need the Real Madrid ace to perform if they are to beat Croatia tomorrow. I think they will play better than they have in the group stage - they couldn't get much worse - but to lose out to the better team in the end. Croatia to win 2-1.
No comments:
Post a Comment