the sterile dull football on show.
Georgia’s first excursion into finals football saw them unluckily beaten 3-1 by Turkey in by far the best and most entertaining match of Euro 2024 so far and probably a time to come.
OK I have to admit, sitting down to watch Turkey versus Georgia looked like a chore, a chore bore out of the tradition of having to watch every match possible. I wasn’t the only one.
Couldn’t have been more wrong and what a refreshing change it was to be watching a match that didn’t send me to sleep.
While the big boys – might discount Germany but they were playing the Jocks after all but England, France, Portugal, all borefest football – are playing that tedious backwards/sideways game, these two just went forward. At one point I said I couldn’t remember a passback to the goalkeeper, of course one shortly arrived, there was 70 minutes on the clock.
There wasn’t that running forward, stopping – with acres of space in front of them – and passing sideways. There wasn’t that having the ball on the edge of opposition penalty area and three passes later it being at the feet of their keeper.
There was just go forward, front foot, entertaining football. Getting to the byline and getting crosses in, people having shots. Players just running forward non stop. And goals, cracking goals from Turkey’s opener to their eventual winner. The final one to make it 3-1 was unfortunate for Georgia but at least they were going for it, and almost got it. Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.
Thirty six total shots in the match. Only Poland vs Netherlands has got over 30 and that wasn’t a good match. There was 11 in the England game.
Honestly imagine England played like that. With the players they have they could but with Southgate they never will. Dullards bread dull football.
If either of them play like that in their next games, then Portugal and the Czechs – who played out a static dull game later – could b in for a hell of a shock.