It’s been a couple of weeks since the end of the Premier League season and now the focus, well temporary focus, is on the delayed Euro 2020s, taking place in June 2021, due to the global pandemic. Before England, Scotland and for that matter, Wales are given a preview, it would be remiss for John not to offer a short recap from the season’s end before giving his correct score predictions for each and every one of the Euro 2020 group games.
You can read all of John’s past posts here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication.
Last August 2020, John Newsome and EveryTip published a column regarding the final League Positions, which can be viewed following the link below.
With the finishing positions predicted as follows,
1st CHELSEA
2nd MAN CITY
3rd LIVERPOOL
4th MANCHESTER UNITED
5th TOTTENHAM
6th WOLVES
7th ARSENAL
8th LEICESTER
9th LEEDS UNITED✅
10th EVERTON✅
11th SHEFFIELD UNITED
12th BURNLEY
13th CRYSTAL PALACE
14th WEST HAM
15th NEWCASTLE
16th SOUTHAMPTON
17th BRIGHTON
18th ASTON VILLA
19th WEST BROM
20th FULHAM
One final thing to add is, throughout the season, there has been a sentence regularly repeated in various previews, stating,
Manchester United will not win anything with Fred!
First appearing back in October, with the warning that Ole’s Trollies will not win a trophy with Fred, so no Red, Grey or Zebra Devil can say that they were not warned!
This narrative was borne out culminating in the Europa League Final defeat against Villarreal.
As a closet United fan, it was painful to continually state this but it doesn’t take a UEFA Pro-licenced coach to see the failings of Manchester United.
The players are simply not good enough, as mentioned in previous columns, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has 9-players of a decent standard, whereas Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, even Leicester have more than 9 of top quality.
This is Manchester United, not Salford City, a United who are a Brand Name, having Brand Names pay them Millions and Millions of Dollar just to be associated.
Some of those Millions, at least £300 of them, need to be spent on players, to at least give the manager a fighting chance.
Notice how that was put as ‘the manager’ and not Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as it’s now not a certainty that the Norwegian is the right man to progress Manchester United.
Zinedine Zidane and Antonio Conte have just become available, although Mr Conte looks set on replacing Mr Zidane at the Bernabeu.
Mauricio Pochettino isn’t a certainty to stay in Paris and there are rumours Tottenham want the lad back, however, if the boys from Old Trafford get on the phone to Poch, that could be possible.
One last piece on the Manchester United situation, as it’s now known, is
United haven’t and won’t win anything with Fred.
The Euro 2020s are a year behind schedule, understandably cancelled last season due to the Pandemic and start on June 11th, 2021 but are still rightly referred to as the Euro 2020s.
All of England, Scotland and Wales will take part in a tournament that isn’t in one specific country but spread over 11 host cities with London and Glasgow included.
Wales have Mr Bale at the forefront of their attack on the Euros and the lad is a phenomenal player, with his goal in the last game for Tottenham against Leicester, highlighting how good the 31-year old is, so will light up the European stage this next month.
Thirty-one is no longer old in the modern game, yes, in the 1970s and 80s, 31 was old, ancient but nowadays, the boys of the triple century situation, as Glenn would call it, are youths, still virtually in their nappies.
It’s not sure whether Mr Bale plays at football, preferring golf instead, or if the lad is injured and not fully fit.
There was talk that Gareth would inform Jose Mourinho that it wasn’t possible to play in certain games, which appeared to irk Dracula, however, looking at that with a different pair of spectacles, is Mr Bale right?
At 32 (well in July !) GB will return to Real Madrid and see how the new manager if it is to be Mr Conte, feels about the Welsh ace.
There’s also rumours that Carlo Ancelotti is to leave Everton and head back to the Bernabeu to replace Zinedine Zidane.
It was quite apparent that Mr Zidane and Gareth had differences but Double Z is gone, so it’s a fresh page for Mr Bale and an impressive summer in Baku and Rome and maybe Wembley could elevate the Golfman to a regular Real Madrid starter.
The host countries are,
Azerbaijan
Denmark
England
Germany
Hungary
Italy
Netherlands
Romania
Russia
Scotland
Spain
A couple of weeks back, this column predicted Gareth Southgate’s initial 26-man squad plus a starting eleven for the game against Croatia on Sunday, June 13th.
Goalkeepers
1. Jordan Pickford
2. Nick Pope
3. Dean Henderson
Defenders
4. Harry Maguire
5. John Stones
6. Tyrone Mings
7. Connor Coady
8. Kyle Walker
9. Kieran Trippier
10. Reece James
11. Luke Shaw
12. Ben Chilwell
13. Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders
14. Jordan Henderson
15. Kalvin Phillips
16. Jesse Lingard
17. Jadon Sancho
18. Jack Grealish
19. Jude Bellingham
20. Mason Mount
21. Declan Rice
Forwards
22. Harry Kane
23. Marcus Rashford
24. Dominic Calvert-Lewin
25. Raheem Sterling
26. Callum Hudson-Odoi
Initially, Gareth decided that 26 was too many and wanted to choose only 23, to limit the disappointment that will no doubt come from informing the boys that they weren’t included.
Mr Southgate then chose a Provisional 33-man squad to start with, so now the lad has to upset 7-players, makes sense does that GS!
Added to the 26-already mentioned above, Gareth included, goalkeepers Arron Ramsdale and Sam Johnstone.
Ben White and Ben Godfrey were added to the Defenders roster, with James Ward-Prowse included with the Midfielders.
The extra Forwards were Mason Greenwood, Bukayo Saka, Ollie Watkins, Phil Foden.
With Nick Pope and Callum Hudson-Odio missing out all together.
Gareth Southgate then narrowed his 33, down to 26, informing both Ben’s-Godfrey and White, Arron Ramsdale, James Ward-Prowse, Mason Greenwood, Jesse Lingard and Ollie Watkins that their services weren’t required.
The 3-missing from John Newsome’s initial 26-man squad are Nick Pope through injury, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Jesse Lingard, with Sam Johnstone replacing Nick, Phil Foden instead of Jesse and Bukayo Saka in for Callum.
John Newsome and EveryTip named 23 of the 26, including all 10-defenders and all 5-midfielders.
England’s official 26-man Squad is,
Goalkeepers
1. Jordan Pickford
2. Dean Henderson
3. Sam Johnstone
Defenders
4. Harry Maguire
5. John Stones
6. Tyrone Mings
7. Connor Coady
8. Kyle Walker
9. Kieran Trippier
10. Reece James
11. Luke Shaw
12. Ben Chilwell
13. Trent Alexander-Arnold
Midfielders
14. Jordan Henderson
15. Kalvin Phillips
16. Jude Bellingham
17. Mason Mount
18. Declan Rice
Forwards
19. Harry Kane
20. Marcus Rashford
21. Dominic Calvert-Lewin
22. Raheem Sterling
23. Jack Grealish
24. Phil Foden
25. Bukayo Saka
26. Jadon Sancho
The starting eleven against Croatia could be,
Jordan Pickford
Kyle Walker
Harry Maguire
John Stones
Luke Shaw
Declan Rice
Jordan Henderson
Mason Mount
Phil Foden
Marcus Rashford
Harry Kane
Obviously, that’s depending on injuries that could occur between now and the 13th.
A quick note on Phil Foden, a couple of weeks back, when Mr Newsome gave his England 26-man squad for the upcoming Euro 2020s.
Due to a combination of editing, counting and miscounting and the odd glass of wine, Big Phil was somehow missed from the final 26-men chosen.
This was an obvious error by this EveryTip contributor, with Mr Foden quite rightly in Gareth Southgate’s squad and quite possibly in the starting eleven.
The lad is currently the best England player on show and could just lead the Three Lions to their 1st European Championship Title that would be a fitting end to a dreadful Coronavirus affected season.
That said, it must have been Phil’s somewhat useless twin that wore the Man City shirt in the Champions League Final defeat against Chelsea, as the player with ‘Foden’ and ‘47’ on the back was rubbish in Porto.
A couple of sentences on that Final are, Pep Guardiola somehow must have had a bump on the head as the usually tactical maestro, was outthought by Thomas Tuchel.
Pep decided to start Kevin De Bruyne as the supposed ‘false Number 9’.
Yet Kevin needed a De Bruyne to supply the ammunition so the idea was futile.
Gabriel Jesus should have started with KDB in a deeper role.
Pep knows way more than a fat kid from Barnsley but the Spaniard got his tactics wrong and it was glaringly obvious to someone who has watched football for over 50-years.
Chelsea comfortably beat Man City in the Champions League Final by a 1-0 scoreline.
For England’s sake at least, it’s hoped that the real Phil Foden turns up in a Three Lions jersey.
The other 23-Nations taking part in the Euros along with England are placed in the following 6-groups.
Group A
Turkey
Italy
Wales
Switzerland
Group B
Denmark
Finland
Belgium
Russia
Group C
Netherlands
Ukraine
Austria
North Macedonia
Group D
England
Croatia
Scotland
Czech Republic
Group E
Spain
Sweden
Poland
Slovakia
Group F
Hungary
Portugal
France
Germany
The tournament kicks off on Friday the 11th of June 2021, with the 36-Group fixtures spread over 12 days.
It’s a bit of a convoluted process with there being 6-groups of 4, totalling 24-teams, with the Winners and Runners-up of each group going through to the Last-16.
Obviously those good at Math, as the Americans refer to it, will have worked out that the Winners and Runners-Up, from 6-groups, total 12, meaning that there as to be another 4-teams to make up the Last-16.
Those remaining 4, come from the best 3rd-placed teams from the 6-groups, meaning, for example, Scotland could finish 3rd in Group E but make the Last-16.
It would be a great game to play, to go through the 36-fixtures listed below, predict the outcome of each and then try and come up with the Winners, Runners-up and the best 3rd-Placed team.
John Newsome has done just that for the first 36-Group Games, with the predictions for the Last-16, Quarters, Semi and Final shown later.
Euro 2020 Group Game Correct Score Predictions
Friday 11th June 2021
Group A
BBC 20.00 in England
TURKEY v ITALY
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Bet 365 offer Turkey at 11/2, the draw at 3/1 and slight Odds On 8/15 for Italy to come away with all 3-points.
Italy Win 1-0
Saturday 12th June 2021
Group A
BBC 14.00 in England
WALES v SWITZERLAND
Olympic Stadium, Baku
Bet 365 offer Wales at 11/4, the draw at 21/10 and 11/10 for Switzerland to come away with all 3-points.
Wales Win 2-0
Group B
BBC 17.00 in England
DENMARK v FINLAND
Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
Bet 365 offer Denmark at Odds On 9/20, the draw at 10/3 and 6/1 for Finland to come away with all 3-points.
Denmark Win 2-0
Group C
ITV 20.00 in England
BELGIUM v RUSSIA
Krestovsky Stadium, St Petersburg
Bet 365 offer Belgium at slight Odds On 3/5, the draw at 14/5 and 19/4 for Russia to come away with all 3-points.
Belgium Win 4-0
Sunday 13th June 2021
Group D
BBC 14.00 in England
ENGLAND v CROATIA
Wembley Stadium, London
Bet 365 offer England at Odds On 7/10, the draw at 13/5 and 17/4 for Croatia to come away with all 3-points.
England Win 2-0
Group C
ITV 17.00 in England
AUSTRIA v NORTH MACEDONIA
Arena Nacional, Bucharest
Bet 365 offer Austria at Odds On 1/2, the draw at 16/5 and 11/2 for North Macedonia to come away with all 3-points.
North Macedonia Win 1-0
ITV 20.00 in England
NETHERLANDS v UKRAINE
Johan Cruff Arena, Amsterdam
Bet 365 offer the Netherlands at Odds On 11/20, the draw at 11/4 and 11/2 for the Ukraine to come away with all 3-points.
Netherlands Win 2-0
Monday 14th June
Group D
BBC 14.00 in England
SCOTLAND v CZECH REPUBLIC
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Bet 365 offer Scotland at 2/1, the draw at 11/5 and 7/5 for the Czech Republic to come away with all 3-points.
Draw 1-1
Group E
ITV 17.00 in England
POLAND v SLOVAKIA
Krestovsky Stadium, St Petersburg
Bet 365 offer Poland at Odds On 7/10, the draw at 5/2 and 4/1 for Slovakia to come away with all 3-points.
Poland Win 2-0
BBC 20.00 in England
Group E
SPAIN v SWEDEN
La Cartuja, Seville
Bet 365 offer Spain at Odds On 2/5, the draw at 7/2 and 13/2 for Sweden to come away with all 3-points.
Spain Win 1-0
Tuesday 15th June
Group F
ITV 17.00 in England
HUNGARY v PORTUGAL
Puskas Arena, Budapest
Bet 365 offer Hungary at 19/4, the draw at 14/5 and slight Odds On 4/7 for Portugal to come away with all 3-points.
Portugal Win 2-0
ITV 20.00 in England
FRANCE v GERMANY
Allianz Arena, Munich
Bet 365 offer France at 13/8, the draw at 11/5 and 7/4 for Germany to come away with all 3-points.
Draw 1-1
Wednesday 16th June
Group B
BBC 14.00 in England
FINLAND v RUSSIA
Krestovsky Stadium, St Petersburg
Bet 365 offer Finland at 5/1, the draw at 13/5 and slight Odds On 8/13 for Russia to come away with all 3-points.
Draw 1-1
Group A
BBC 17.00 in England
TURKEY v WALES
Olympic Stadium, Baku
Bet 365 offer Turkey at 6/5, the draw at 21/10 and 5/2 for Wales to come away with all 3-points.
Draw 1-1
ITV 20.00 in England
ITALY v SWITZERLAND
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Bet 365 offer Italy at slight Odds On 7/10, the draw at 5/2 and 9/2 for Switzerland to come away with all 3-points.
Italy Win 1-0
Thursday 17th June
Group C
ITV 14.00 in England
UKRAINE v NORTH MACEDONIA
Arena Nacional, Bucharest
Bet 365 offer the Ukraine at slight Odds On 3/5 the draw at 13/5 and 5/1 for North Macedonia to come away with all 3-points.
North Macedonia Win 2-0
Group A
ITV 17.00 in England
DENMARK v BELGIUM
Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
Bet 365 offer Denmark at 3/1, the draw at 23/10 and slight Odds On 19/20 for Belgium to come away with all 3-points.
Belgium Win 3-0
Group C
BBC 20.00 in England
NETHERLANDS v AUSTRIA
Johan Cruff Arena, Amsterdam
Bet 365 offer the Netherlands at Odds On 1/2, the draw at 3/1 and 6/1 for Austria to come away with all 3-points.
Netherlands Win 3-0
Friday 18th June
Group E
BBC 14.00 in England
SWEDEN v SLOVAKIA
Krestovsky Stadium, St Petersburg
Bet 365 offer Sweden at slight Odds On 4/5, the draw at 5/2 and 15/4 for Slovakia to come away with all 3-points.
Draw 1-1
Group D
BBC 17.00 in England
CROATIA v CZECH REPUBLIC
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Bet 365 offer Croatia at Evens 1/1, the draw at 23/10 and 14/5 for the Czech Republic to come away with all 3-points.
Draw 1-1
ITV 20.00 in England
ENGLAND v SCOTLAND
Wembley Stadium, London
Bet 365 offer England at Odds On 4/11, the draw at 7/2 and 8/1 for Scotland to come away with all 3-points.
England Win 2-0
Saturday 19th June
Group F
BBC 14.00 in England
HUNGARY v FRANCE
Puskas Arena, Budapest
Bet 365 offer Hungary at 15/2, the draw at 10/3 and Odds On 2/5 for France to come away with all 3-points.
France Win 2-0
ITV 17.00 in England
PORTUGAL v GERMANY
Allianz Arena, Munich
Bet 365 offer Portugal at 12/5, the draw at 9/4 and 23/20 for Germany to come away with all 3-points.
Draw 0-0
Group E
BBC 20.00 in England
SPAIN v POLAND
La Cartuja, Seville
Bet 365 offer Spain at Odds On 1/2, the draw at 3/1 and 6/1 for Poland to come away with all 3-points.
Spain Win 1-0
Sunday 20th June
Group A
ITV 17.00 in England
SWITZERLAND v TURKEY
Olympic Stadium, Baku
Bet 365 offer Switzerland at 7/5, the draw at 23/10 and 19/10 for Turkey to come away with all 3-points.
Draw 1-1
ITALY v WALES
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Bet 365 offer Italy at Odds On 4/9, the draw at 16/5 and 13/2 for Wales to come away with all 3-points.
Italy Win 1-0
Monday 21st June
Group C
ITV 17.00 in England
NORTH MACEDONIA v NETHERLANDS
Johan Cruff Arena, Amsterdam
Bet 365 offer North Macedonia at 14/1, the draw at 11/2 and Odds On 2/11 for the Netherlands to come away with all 3-points.
Netherlands Win 2-0
UKRAINE v AUSTRIA
Arena Nacional, Bucharest
Bet 365 offer the Ukraine at 8/5, the draw at 9/4 and 17/10 for Austria to come away with all 3-points.
Ukraine Win 2-1
Group B
BBC 20.00 in England
RUSSIA v DENMARK
Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
Bet 365 offer Russia at 3/1, the draw at 23/10 and slight Odds On 19/20 for Denmark to come away with all 3-points.
Denmark Win 2-0
FINLAND v BELGIUM
Krestovsky Stadium, St Petersburg
Bet 365 offer Finland at 11/1, the draw at 5/1 and Odds On 2/9 for Belgium to come away with all 3-points.
Belgium Win 3-0
Tuesday 22nd June
Group D
ITV 20.00 in England
ENGLAND v CZECH REPUBLIC
Wembley Stadium, London
Bet 365 offer England at Odds On 2/5, the draw at 7/2 and 7/1 for the Czech Republic to come away with all 3-points.
England Win 2-0
CROATIA v SCOTLAND
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Bet 365 offer Croatia at slight Odds On 19/20, the draw at 23/10 and 3/1 for Scotland to come away with all 3-points.
Draw 0-0
Wednesday 23rd June
Group E
ITV 17.00 in England
SPAIN v SLOVAKIA
La Cartuja, Seville
Bet 365 offer Spain at Odds On 1/5, the draw at 11/2 and 12/1 for Slovakia to come away with all 3-points.
Spain Win 1-0
SWEDEN v POLAND
Krestovsky Stadium, St Petersburg
Bet 365 offer Sweden at 6/4, the draw at 9/4 and 9/5 for Poland to come away with all 3-points.
Poland Win 2-0
Group F
BBC 20.00 in England
PORTUGAL v FRANCE
Puskas Arena, Budapest
Bet 365 offer Portugal at 12/5, the draw at 11/5 and 6/5 for France to come away with all 3-points.
France Win 1-0
GERMANY v HUNGARY
Allianz Arena, Munich
Bet 365 offer Germany at Odds On 1/5, the draw at 6/1 and 11/1 for Hungary to come away with all 3-points.
Germany Win 2-0
The fixture to get the juices flowing is the tie between England and Scotland taking place at Wembley on Friday, June the 18th.
As well as the Scotland National Football Team qualifying for their first major tournament in 23-years, after getting there via a Play-Off penalty shootout against Serbia, Scotland are one of the 11-host nations at this year’s Euro 2020s.
The Australian branch of this EveryTip column, Andrew Hall, is a passionate member of the Tartan Army and has kindly given a Scotsman’s view on the upcoming adventure that sees Steve Clarke’s Blues entertain the Czech Republic and Croatia at Hampden Park, in Glasgow, with a trip South of the Border, to face the Auld Enemy at Wembley, in between.
Mr Hall takes over.
One of Scotland’s most successful foray into England, that didn’t involve Mel Gibson, was at Euro’96, where England and Scotland were drawn against each other, with Switzerland and Holland making up the Group.
Scotland didn’t have a bad team with Ally McCoist, Gary McAllister, John Collins, Stuart McCall and Colin Hendry to name but a few.
After mentioning those great stars, it would be remiss not to include the rest,
Scotland 1996 Squad
Jim Leighton
Stewart McKimmie
Tom Boyd
Colin Calderwood
Colin Hendry
Derek Whyte
John Spencer
Stuart McCall
Ally McCoist
Gary McAllister
John Collins
Andy Goram
Tosh McKinlay
Gordon Durie
Eoin Jess
Craig Burley
Billy McKinlay
Kevin Gallacher
Darren Jackson
Scott Booth
Scot Gemmill
Nicky Walker
Scotland started off their campaign with a credible goalless draw against Holland at Villa Park, backed by a strong following of the Tartan Army in Aston Villa’s famous Holte End, with a few of the faithful smattered in little pockets all around the stadium.
The Scots were upbeat and confident, going to Wembley to take on the English!
The original Mr Hall and Andy had been at Villa Park for the first game but as often happens following Scotland, it’s extremely difficult to obtain tickets, as was the case with the fixture at Wembley. so the Hall family watched in Worcester.
The better half, April, hung out the Saltire for everyone in the nearby vicinity to know the Hall allegiance for the day.
A Saltire is the Flag of Scotland.
As the game built up, the banter upped its level with the English friends in Barnsley, predicting scores of 5 or 6-0 in favour of the Three Lions.
The game started and following a tight and goalless 1st-half, with not many chances for either team, both went in level at the break.
In the second half, England took an undeserved 1-0 lead but Scotland fought back with a superb header by Gordon Durie inviting David Seamen to pull off a save, keeping the English ahead.
Andy Goram, the Scotland goalkeeper, had earlier produced a great save himself from an Alan Shearer header.
An experienced Scotland side refused to buckle.
Mr Durie was then brought down by Tony Adams in the area, giving Scotland a well-deserved penalty and Gary McAllister the chance to put the scores level.
Back in Worcester, at this stage in proceedings, Mr Hall Junior took the opportunity to phone the friends in Barnsley, to kindly inform them how excited one was about the penalty and how Scotland were going to resoundingly beat their boys, (or words to that effect!) when the penalty was converted.
As the saying goes, the rest is history, as Mr McAllister began his run-up, the ball appears to move on the penalty spot, which although didn’t affect Gary’s kick, who still hit a firm shot, David saved with, of all things, his elbow.
The Hall family hate Mr Seaman with a passion!
With the kind of luck they have grown used to in major finals, Scotland then fell further behind.
Paul Gascoigne, aka Gazza, does something ridiculous, with Colin Hendry, looking like a drunk Sunday league player, as Gazza goes past the Big Defender, to score one of the greatest goals at Wembley followed by one of the most iconic celebrations ever.
Another glorious defeat again for Scotland, by a 2-0 scoreline.
Going into the final group game, the Tartan Army were back at Villa Park, facing Switzerland, with England meeting Holland at Wembley.
The scenario was simple, Scotland had to beat the Swiss and hope England not only defeat the Dutch but score a good few goals.
With both games having a 19.45 start time, the evening’s entertainment kicked off.
Scotland once again were roared on by the brilliant Tartan faithful, who were rewarded in the 36th-Minute when Super Ally McCoist scored an absolute worldie (Check out Ally’s goal on youTube) and the place erupted.
Big Ernie and Andrew were bouncing!
It’s one of those occasions where Dad was as happy as a man could be, the joy on his face was immense.
In the other game, England had taken the lead against the Netherlands, so at half-time, both Scotland and England were winning by the same 1-0 scoreline.
Unfortunately, that still wasn’t enough for Scotland, who need England to score at least another 3 or our boys to score more goals themselves.
The 2nd-half started.
At Villa Park, the stadium have the Private Boxes running down the side of the ground.
From the edge of the Holte End, it was noticeable that quite a lot of commotion was coming from the said Boxes and suddenly, the word spreads through the ground that something special was happening at Wembley.
England had scored those 3-goals needed, through the SAS (Sheringham and Shearer) before 63-minutes were up in the clock.
At that moment Scotland were in 2nd-place in the Group behind England, on the verge of progressing to the Quarter-Finals of a major tournament for the 1st-time ever.
The atmosphere in the famous Holte End was electric, Dad had tears rolling down his face in the excitement of the fact that his beloved Scotland could actually qualify from a Group for the 1st-time ever, after the despair of Germany’74, Argentina’78, Spain’82 and Mexico’86.
The Scottish tradition of glorious failure could soon be coming to an end.
Minutes ticked by, like the sands of time, as Scotland eventually ground out their win, with all eyes turning to Wembley.
Then it happened and another reason why the Scots hate the English and the Halls hate David Seamen.
In the 78th-minute at Wembley, Patrick Kluivert hits a shot that a blindfolded 3-year-old child could save and Mr Seaman somehow manages to let it through his legs, into the goal.
Maybe Big Dave’s ponytail got in his eyes, maybe he just hates the whole Scottish Nation but whatever the reason, the lad lets a dribbler through his legs to knock the gallant Scots out of Euro’96.
A few rude words then left the mouths of the whole of the Tartan Army, directed towards the Moustached Wearing England Stopper.
Back at Villa Park, the news spread like wildfire that Scotland needed another goal or England needed to score again.
England did the Auld Enemy no favours, just passing the ball around for the last 12-minutes to take the win by a 4-1 scoreline, with Scotland unable to muster a 2nd.
Tears of happiness were replaced with tears of glorious failure (AGAIN).
Craig Brown’s men got a resounding Thank You and send off from the Tartan Army and from the Kilted Scottish Warriors, who set off on the long road home to once again romanticise their ‘if only stories’.
The Scotland Idols all knew that the faithful will support them evermore!
Rest in Peace Big Ernie and Wee Jean x
Most won’t be experts on the former Yugoslavian successor state football team North Macedonia, with Ezgjan Alioski, being the only English Premier League player in their 26-man squad.
Ezgjan is now out of contract at Leeds United and is effectively in the Euro shop window but has been offered a new contract to keep the lad at Elland Rd, so could just stay in West Yorkshire, however, a decent few games in the Euro 2020s could offer up a move to Barcelona, Real Madrid or Barnsley.
Most won’t have come across a former player Georgi Hristov either, however, not only does this EveryTip contributor have knowledge of the former North Macedonian striker, John Newsome has met the guy and kicked the odd football about with the lad.
In 1997, Barnsley FC gained promotion to the Premier League and spent just one memorable season in the Top Flight.
Barnsley, unfortunately, have just failed to make it to the Promised Land again, losing against Swansea in the Semi-Final of the Championship Play-offs.
Swansea, were subsequently beaten against Brentford in the Final, so both the Super Reds and the Swans will be playing, once again, in Division 2, next season.
A place in the Premier League now is worth in the region of about £160 Million, back in 1997, the prize was about £40 Million.
The Reds used some of that money to purchase a young Partisan Belgrade player aged 21-years old, called Georgi Hristov.
The youngster had scored 21-goals for the Serbian club and at £1.5 Million was Barnsley FC’s record signing.
Georgi Boy didn’t score many in the Premier League but did win a penalty, at Oakwell, against Michael Owen’s 12-man Liverpool in March 1998, where, with Barnsley having only 8-men, (yes 8-eight!), Liverpool managed a 3-2 victory, just, scoring the winner in the last minute.
Liverpool had an extra-man wearing Black that day, rumours being, he was Young Michael’s uncle.
(EveryTip’s All-Time Liverpool Best Eleven details the game)
It is fair to say that Mr Hristov was injured a lot in his time at Oakwell and only appeared 41-times for the Reds in 3-seasons, scoring 8-goals.
Following the defeat in the 2000 Play-Off final and failure to get back to the Premier League, Georgi Boy left Barnsley.
Whilst in the Yorkshire town, Georgi spiced things up a bit off the pitch by calling the lovely ladies of Barnsley ugly.
Whilst not scoring many on the pitch, the lad did score an own-goal off it.
The North Macedonia International striker, who scored against England in the game Wayne Rooney scored his first International goal, must be ruing the day he made public his feelings about the Barnsley girls.
Whilst back in Belgrade, Georgi Boy decided to do an interview with a local magazine and commented,
“I’m finding it difficult to find a girlfriend in Barnsley, or indeed settle into a decent way of life.”
“The local girls are far uglier than the ones back in Belgrade or Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, where I come from.”
“Our women are much prettier and besides, they don’t drink as much beer as the Barnsley girls do, which is something I don’t like at all.”
Georgi, Georgi, Georgi, what have you said?
The young ladies of the town, whose football team were newly promoted, were not happy with Mr Hristov and challenged him to judge a beauty contest.
The local girls got together and Georgi judged.
In the end, the Mac Lad got a date with an older lady, who showed Georgi Boy, what the girls of Barnsley are really like.
To be fair to Georgi Hristov, he’s not wrong, the ladies do sup more than us.
Luck fell in the right place for me, the day you happened to come by.
You caught me feeling all was useless, then left me feeling ten feet high.
Now nothing again will be quite the same.
So gather the fears and throw them away.
Luck dropped in just at the right time, the time that I felt most alone.
All my dreams had seemed to vanish,
now my nightmares have upped and gone.
Not scared of farewells, nothing’s the same twice.
I stride through the day and float through the night.
How much choice do we have in this?
Like some almighty hand, smashing my life into pieces.
One day, I was washed and drowned and the next minute put back on land.
Now nothing again can be quite the same.
Gather my fears and throw them away.
Luck, when it holds you closely, it feels like summertime.
Luck, when it holds my hand, wanting it all the time.
Luck, in our country kisses, loving the outlook.
Luck, in the hills and valleys, go on talking ones babbling brook.
Knock-out Game Fixtures
The Last-16 start on the 26th of June, with the fixtures as follows.
Saturday 26th June
GAME 1
17.00 in England
Group A Runners-up v Group B Runners-Up
Johan Cruff Arena, Amsterdam
GAME 2
20.00 in England
Group A Winners v Group C Runners-Up
Wembley Stadium, London
Sunday 27th June
GAME 3
17.00 in England
Group C Winners v 3rd from Group D, E or F
Puskas Arena, Budapest
GAME 4
20.00 in England
Group B Winners v 3rd from Group A, D, E or F
La Cartuja, Seville
Monday 28th June
GAME 5
17.00 in England
Group D Runners-Up v Group E Runners-Up
Parken Stadium, Copenhagen
GAME 6
20.00 in England
Group F Winners v 3rd from Group A, B or C
Arena Nacional, Bucharest
Tuesday 29th June
GAME 7
17.00 in England
Group D Winners v Group F Runners-Up
Wembley Stadium, London
GAME 8
20.00 in England
Group E Winners v 3rd from Group A, B, C or D
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Friday 2nd July
Quarter-Final
17.00 in England
GAME A
Krestovsky Stadium, St Petersburg
20.00 in England
GAME B
Wee Jean
Allianz Arena, Munich
Saturday 3rd July
Quarter-Final
17.00 in England
GAME C
Olympic Stadium, Baku
20.00 in England
GAME D
Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Tuesday 6th July
Semi-Final 1
20.00 in England
Wembley Stadium, London
Wednesday 7th July
Semi-Final 2
20.00 in England
Wembley Stadium, London
Sunday 11th July
Final
20.00 in England
Wembley Stadium, London
What that all basically means is there’s going to be a great month of football to look forward to.
Is it Coming Home?
As a prediction column, it would be remiss not to offer up a few scenarios that could possibly happen.
Above are the 6-Groups on offer showing all 24-teams and the fixtures that each side will compete in, so it is possible for everyone to come up with, firstly, the Last-16 stage, then the Quarter-Final, Semi-Final and Final.
It’s a fun game to play so get the family and friends involved and join in, maybe set up a league between everyone and offer a prize for the winners.
John Newsome’s Last-16 lineup is predicted as.
Game 1
Wales v Denmark
Game 2
Italy v North Macedonia
Game 3
Netherlands v Scotland
Game 4
Belgium v Portugal
Game 5
Croatia v Poland
Game 6
France v Ukraine
Game 7
England v Germany
Game 8
Spain v Turkey
The Quarter-Finals are as follows, with the winners from the 8-games making up the 4-ties.
A-Game 6 Winners v Game 5 Winners
B-Game 4 Winners v Game 2 Winners
C-Game 3 Winners v Game 1 Winners
D-Game 8 Winners v Game 7 Winners
Game A
France v Poland
Game B
Belgium v Italy
Game C
Netherlands v Wales
Game D
Spain v England
That throws up the Semi-Final of
France v Belgium
Netherlands v England
With the Final of the Euros 2020s, taking place a year later at Wembley, being
France v England
……and the winners are England
John Newsome will be back for the start of the Last-16, once the final 8-fixtures are confirmed.
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