At gameweek two in the summer tournament, things are going relatively well for the Home Nations.
Expectation was never that high for Wales and Northern Ireland and of course, England fans feared yet another stupefying stumble to early elimination.
The Republic of Ireland get included in the press when mentioning Home Nations and with their second game imminent, we will get a better idea about their fortunes. With a fired up Roy Keane behind them, Ireland’s players will certainly need to be on top of their game or fear an unpleasant backlash.
For Wales and Northern Ireland, qualification to the EUROs came as somewhat of a surprise. Their results against some tough teams, including Wales being unbeaten against the much fancied Belgians and Northern Ireland starting the ball rolling with three victories in the first three qualifying games, meant that their fans dared to dream the unlikely.
However, yesterday’s disappointment for Wales shouldn’t get them down. They only really need a point against Russia to secure a place in the next stage and for a first assault on the European Championship, they have already excelled. Manager Chris Coleman has led them exceptionally well, but they were rather toothless against England and looked to contain them rather than ask questions.
Northern Ireland’s first appearance in the EUROs has also made Irish history, as they defeated a poor Ukraine side 2-0 on Thursday after initial defeat against highly-rated Poland. It keeps alive their hopes of reaching the last 16 and the win was their first at a major tournament finals for 34 years. The next game for the Irish is the against the world champions, Germany, and they will need to be at their very best to get anything from that game. Yet it isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. Germany don’t appear to be the side we thought we’d see. They lack cohesion, togetherness and the final ball forward is devoid any sort of intent.
We are seeing what was once a gulf between the main European powers and the smaller nations now becoming much slimmer, as Wales and Northern Ireland, and even Iceland, have demonstrated.
Another chapter written in the Northern Irish fairytale could have equally been a disaster. Defeat against Ukraine would have meant that the they would have been the first team eliminated from the finals, but a gutsy and determined performance showed that the Irish haven’t finished in France.
“It was the proudest I have felt, certainly in the dugout and probably in my entire football career,” Michael O’Neill said. “When you get heart and endeavour like that you can’t ask any more as a manager.”
England on the other hand, despite the Welsh win and topping the table are still not altogether inspiring. They produce periods of good play, but Roy Hodgson rode his luck on Thursday and fortunately some substitutions paid off for him. Early elimination is not unheard of for England, but it would have meant shame for a nation that is meant to be a force within football. Especially, if Wales had gone on to the next stage while our players sat at home reflecting on what could have been and the FA had been.
For all of their possession on Thursday, England’s lack of intensity in the first half was awful. Wales allowed them plenty of the ball and England used that 60% of possession woefully. Against Slovakia, England will need to start as they did in the second half versus Wales, and the Slovakians will be expecting a much more aggressive England attack.
At this point in time, it has been a fantastic start to the EUROs for the Home Nations. Their performances need polish, but you can’t argue with the current table positions and the unexpected victories.
There’s a way to go, but let’s hope the fairytale’s keep on being written.
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