Match Day Thread Euro 2020 Final. Italy v England

Aside from Ukraine, we didn't have much of an easier run to the final than Italy really. It could have been tougher but we still played Germany and Denmark, ranked as the 7th and 8th best sides in Europe.

Our group was made up of a rival, a team we lost to fairly recently and a World Cup finalist.

Italy had arguably the easier group and yes they played Belgium, but they also played Austria in the round of 16.

Is there that much between Spain and Germany?

 

Well there's the Pyrenees and France...

 

Who ??

 

You are right.
Deep societal problems, not just here but in many countries.
IMO, the best thing would be to stop for ever talking about and reporting on these colour issues (and the range of other issues). But the media, and now social media, fuel it all.
As many posts & tweets said, at the time of the penalties, we didn't even notice the players colour. The abuse comes no matter what colour, race, religion, status, etc. Remember back to Beckham, Southgate, Turner, McClaren, the list goes on and on.
The media are without a moral compass and are utterly 2 faced. As are most organisations, who only really serve self / shareholder interest.
The government and institutions need to focus on tackling the societal problems at their roots. Kneeling, armbands, symbols, whatever, will never solve anything, and in fact often just create further division and also distraction from the real issues; they are bollocks. It's about what you actually DO.
And when players & managers themselves get on their high horses, perhaps remind them that they wear those 'respect' armbands; maybe they should start with themselves and how they behave on the field e.g. the way they react to the ref, linos & other players, the way most constantly cheat (claiming a throw or corner was theirs when they know it's not or conning the ref), the language they use on the field, etc etc.
I can't really see society changing now. It's all gone too far. Society is pretty ****ed. We've reaped what we've sown over decades. Violence, abuse, rights ahead of responsiblity, blame & victim culture, etc have all been normalised. Governments don't really have the will (for the risk of upsetting those that have different views) nor do they have, or at least want to put the money & resource to really tackle things, and besides they've gone way too far down the path of devolving power & authority to multiple authorities that it's now so difficult to change anything and so easy for the government and these devolved authorities to simply blame each other.
It's a pity that China isn't a force for good. Their inevitable rise to world domination might have seen some sort of societal reset, but frighteningly they are the opposite.
Even a pandemic hasn't really brought some sort of reset. After the initial early promise & hope, it looks increasingly like it's just another accelerator of the existing societal problems.
As the increasingly used phrased goes "what is wrong with people"? Something needs to change in our society and urgently. I just don't see it happening. We've been on a worrying path for decades, and it's only getting worse.

 

The actions of a very small minority of no-marks,some anonymous and perhaps some with the sole purpose of stirring up the media frenzy,have seen a football tournament 'Swept under the carpet'...

 

Excellent post

 

We all need to remember that the huge majority of people on this planet are good people. It's easy to forget that. The hard of thinking just stand out more.

When you walk through a park or down the street, you will pass everyday family people going about their business.

But if just one of them causes a problem, it's easy to think how bad things are.

Just saying...

 

Yes,you're 'just saying' exactly what I'm saying.

 

I would of said that.

 

Me too,I'm thinking the same...

 

57 eh, when Hull Fair returns see the 'guess your age' guy on Walton Street, you'll be quids in when he mentions 70-80!

 

I agree this is not said enough IMO, always the relative few who are mindless idiots get all the headlines, and sometimes it was would be helpful if it was said how much support they have had over the years from the vast majority.

I have spent a lot of my working life in Africa, and I can honestly say I have witnessed more abuse perpetrated by their own kind than I have seen in this country.

 

I will accept racism is only from a tiny minority when appalling abuse stops being mainstream, and young black footballers can go an entire season without getting monkey chants or some such rubbish. Until then, we need the media spotlight on these racist maggots to ensure all right thinking people are aware its still going on and we all need to do something to stop it. Like calling it out when we see it and making informed decisions on who we do business with.

 

That is barely believable! It must have been some sort of misguided, supposedly satirical thing that backfired surely? Nobody can be that thick and obnoxious, can they?

 

You not met Erik?

 

ive seen Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle say 1000 times worse , in the not too distant past.
he probably should have read the room though and kept it for one of his gigs rather than twitter at the moment

 

Yep. I was at the Frankie Boyle comic relief gig down London when he was banging on about Kate MIddleton only being pregnant because her tits weren't worth finishing on. He slaughtered everybody that night. Come to think of it, that's what might have had him banned from the BBC.