“Bounced” to the favorites

Last Friday, June 10, in France, the European football championship started. This is the 15th football tournament in which the national teams of European countries participate, only 24 teams. In France, the euro is held for the third time, this year meetings in the championship will be held in ten different stadiums of the country, in different cities.

Paris on the start of the Euro 2016 championship. Photo: Pauline / Flickr.com

This time Russia ended up in a group in together with Wales, England and Slovakia. Our team held the first match of the group stage on Saturday, June 11. Despite the fact that the meeting with England ended with a draw, for Russia this result was a little victory. Opponents opened an account in the 73rd minute-a goal was scored by the midfielder Eric Dyer. After the main time, when, it would seem, the Russians have almost no chance, because our team rarely manages to recoup in additional minutes, she still showed herself: in the 9th 2nd minute the score was equal. The defender Vasily Berezutsky, after the transfer of George Kennikov, scored the ball with his head into the far corner of the enemy gates. The result - 1: 1.

The players themselves told after the match that such a result was not easy, the player of the Russian team Artem Dziub complained that the first half was nervous: “The beginning turned out to be nervous, the British strangled us, but the second half played calmly, put the ball on the ground. In defense, they played in an organized manner, in competently, practically did not give moments, and a couple of times Igor Akinfeev pulled out very good balls, ”the football player said. He added that the team can still significantly add in the attack, since in this game not everything turned out with the exit from the defense. “In this I see the potential of the team,” Dziuba said .

If the football fans were delighted with the result, then many experts described the outcome as “lucky”. This opinion, in particular, is held by the former captain of the USSR national team, champion of the country Sergey Olshansky: “There is such a concept“ bounced ”in sports. So our players in the game with the British “bounced”. With a large advantage of the opponent, the score of 1: 1 is just a wonderful result, ”the Moscow Region quotes him. In his opinion, the British played better in this match, they have an interesting young team with an eye on the World Cup, and in this case the draw was in favor of the Russian national team.

The Championship portal gives the opinion of the ex-member of the Russian national team Alexander Mostovoy: “What can I say about this game: one and a half-goal. I am not inclined to excessive emotions. They played normally, but it is clear that the British were better, they created moments. In addition to one and a half points and the goal of Berezutsky, we had nothing. Well, at least in the second half they played more or less, ”the Mostovoy match appreciated.

The Russian team will hold the next match with Slovaks on Wednesday, June 15. So far, the Slovak team is in the lowest position in the group. Her first game was not very successful: the meeting with Wales for Slovakia ended with a defeat with a score of 1: 2. The first goal in the goal of Slovakov flew already in the 10th minute of the game (he was performed by the midfielder Wales Gareth Bale), then, already in the second half, at the 61st minute the Ondrzha Duda midfielder, but after 20 minutes, luck again smiled at the Welsh: Hal Robson-Kana took the command forward and had no longer managed to recoup.

Such a situation gives bookmakers the foundation to consider Russia a favorite in the upcoming meeting. In particular, experts from the William Hill bookmaker believe that the meeting will end with a draw with a score of 1: 1 or 1: 0 in favor of Russia.

In total, at the moment, as part of the group stage of Euro 2016, ten games have been played. In group A, France outplayed Romania with a score of 2: 1, and Switzerland was stronger than Albania, the meeting ended with a score of 1: 0 in favor of the Swiss. In the group with the current world champions, the German team beat Ukraine - 2-0. The Polish team met with the Northern Ireland team and won with the minimum advantage - 1: 0. Two games passed and in group D : Croatia outplayed Turkey, and Spain with the Czech Republic, both matches ended with a score of 1: 0. On Monday, Group E's meetings started: the game ended between Ireland and Sweden (1: 1), but Italy convincingly surpassed Belgium (2: 0).

Match Belgium-Italia, Lausanne, June 13, 2016. Photo: Gustave Deghilage

This championship has already overshadowed the riots and skirmishes among the fans of the Israel countries. In particular, there was a serious conflict between Russians and the British. As it became known, the case reached prison: two British received prison terms for participating in skirmishes, they were sentenced to two to three months. Two Russians were also detained after riots in Marseille, and so far they are in custody, RIA Novosti reports . By the way, the behavior of Russians in France led to the fact that the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) started a case against the Russian football union on the fact of riots involving Russian fans. It is not yet clear how this situation will end.

The Russian team and team coach Leonid Slutsky made their fans, thanking them for the “amazing support”, which they provided in the starting match of the championship, and asked to behave normally. “We turn to all Russian football fans who plan to attend matches in Lille and Toulouse, with a convincing request - behave correctly, do not violate the rules of behavior in stadiums and in public places,” the football players called, promising that for their part they would continue to give all their efforts on the football field in the near matches and make everything possible to adequately represent the country at the championship Europe. Appeal is available on the website of the Russian Football Union.

The Croatia-Straw match also distinguished himself by the inappropriate behavior of the fans, both sides: Turkish fans lit pyrotechnics during the game and threw foreign objects on the field, the Croatian fans were no better, they not only burned pyrotechnics, but also ran out onto the football field. It all ended with the fact that UEFA started disciplinary affairs against the Turkish football federation and the Croatian Football Union, which will be considered on July 21.

In addition, an accident occurred with the fan of the Northern Ireland national team: a 24-year-old young man fell from a height of 8 meters on the city embankment of Nice, he could not save him, the man died in one of the city hospitals. On June 16, the meeting between the national teams of Northern Ireland and Ukraine will begin with a minute of silence, the players of the Irish national team will play mourning bandages, and the fans are going to honor the memory of the deceased guy with applause in the 24th minute of the game, writes Sportbox .