Euro 2016 FIFA Tournament (Days 3 - 5)
Date: 27th Jun 2016 @ 3:36pm
Reporting by Megan and Laura
Wednesday 15th June
The FIFA Tournament today moved to its third day. The first game saw Mason, as Turkey, take on Tom (as Croatia). Many people thought this would be one of the closest games we had seen so far and they weren’t wrong as Mason scraped a 1-0 victory courtesy of a goal in the first three minutes. Both players had chances to score more goals in an exciting game but were kept out by excellent goalkeeping.
Secondly, Czech Republic- Luca- went against Spain, Haider. The match had a great atmosphere, with the crowd singing repeatedly for both teams. Only 39 minutes in did Haider take the lead by scoring to make it 1-0, but he then he gave Luca a chance to catch up by receiving a red card. Spain was down to ten men. During the 77th minute Luca scored making the score equal. The final score was 1-1.
The final match of the day was Josh, from Mr Bolton’s, class as Belgium against Anthony as Italy from Mr McGorian’s class. It was a tight game during the first half, except for a chance where Josh missed a crucial penalty. The second half brought no more excitement to the game, until Belgium scored a shocking goal in the 81st minute that went in off the post. It was a 1-0 victory to Josh A.
Thursday 16th June
Day four of the group stages opened with Joe B facing Louis (Sweden v Republic of Ireland). The half concluded with the score as 1-0 to Louis due to ROI scoring 38 minutes in. Early on in the second half, the crowd became very irritated ; they kept on shouting that Shane long – ROI- couldn’t finish! Long was subbed for Murphy soon after, much to the crowd’s amusement. The end score was 3-0 to Louis: he scored in the 54th and 90th minute.
Undoubtedly the best match of the tournament so far was Fletcher v Dan C. Dan, playing as Hungary, raced into a 2-0 lead after being given two early penalties. Fletcher had the chance to half the lead, when he was given a penalty as well as seeing Dan reduce to ten men. However, Dan kept his 2-0 lead, saving a penalty. But Dan couldn’t keep Fletcher out for much longer and the score was quickly levelled. Just when it seemed all the scoring for the first half had been done, Dan regained the lead in the second minute of stoppage time. Unbelievably, this still wasn’t enough for a half time lead as a minute later Fletcher equalised for the second time. The second half was equally breathless but, with an improvement in goalkeeping, the scoring was kept to one more goal- coming in the 79th minute and giving Fletcher a dramatic comeback win. The final whistle was met with rapturous applause from an appreciative crowd, delighted by the match they had seen unfold. The verdict was unanimous- the game of the tournament so far.
In the final game, Jordi (as Portugal) played against Ben M (as Iceland). Jordi nearly got off to a great start by scoring in the 8th minute, although it was declared offside almost immediately after. Portugal had a free kick at 41 yards and decided to try to score, desperate to gain a goal. Unfortunately, he missed. Surprisingly, Jordi scored three quick goals, all in the second half. The final score was three nil -3-0 – to Portugal.
Friday 17th June
Today was the fifth and final day of the group stages this week. With George playing as Switzerland and Byron playing as Romania, both teams were desperate for a big win. Romania needed a win to stand a chance in going through to the next stage, while Switzerland didn’t have much pressure: they had already won their first match. By the 26th minute, George had scored two goals in the space of two minutes. To start off the second half, a yellow card was given to Romania. To add to the score, Switzerland gained a goal in the 61st minute; 3-0 was now the score. Apart from a yellow card for Switzerland, the rest of the game was quiet. It was a 3-0 win for George.
What a tight game! There was only one goal in it for France. The first and second half held no excitement, until Daniel M (France) scored a terrific goal in the 82nd minute. The game was surely over now. At the end of the match, the score was one goal to Daniel and no goals for Jamie – Albania. Maybe next time Jamie!
The score for the next game was 2-0 to Russia (James). April (Slovakia) just couldn’t gain a goal. Russia missed an easy penalty at thirty minutes - James was devastated. In the four minutes of stoppage time, before half time, a free kick was given to Russia at 27 yards. Everybody believed that James had missed when the ball hit the bar but it luckily bounced back into the net! Even though James was winning, he wanted to add at least one more goal to the score. This happened in the 66th minute with a great goal for Russia. The game was over and the score was 2-0 to Russia. Slovakia may have lost the game, but was there any chance they could still advance to the next level of this tournament?