David Beckham: From Hero to Zero

England have managed to top their Euro 2020 group, easily beating off Austria, Holland and Montenegro to win all 3 of their group matches. Austria were fortunate to manage to stave off Holland and Montenegro, winning 2nd place, while the poor Dutch sink lower and lower as they fail to qualify. Although Montenegro have also failed to qualify, they will have been very happy with their progress, with no man in the country expecting the national team to qualify for the group stages at all.

Beckham's Thoughts

The group games have gone brilliantly and I can't ask for better results. Although we were the favorites for topping the group I am still very happy we won all 3 games without a hitch especially against quality sides like Holland. I look forward to the rest of the tournament.

2013-06-19 02:04#113625 Inquisition : Great update Do you think you will ever change team again?

Yes.

That's all I'm telling you

2013-06-18 12:14#113629 Glenn T :

2013-06-19 02:04#113625 Inquisition : Great update Do you think you will ever change team again?

Yes.

That's all I'm telling you

Oh so theres a plan

The Second Round draws for Euro 2020 took place today with France legend Zinedine Zidane and former England star Frank Lampard doing the honors.

After 18 group games played in 6 different groups, the final 16 of the tournament will contest each other in knockout matches.

The first two teams drawn were Switzerland and Belgium.

Currently ranked 7th in the World Rankings, Belgium is definitely the favorite for the clash but the Swiss have shown they can always pull off an upset, having beaten reigning Euro champions Spain 2-1 in the group stages.

Switzerland will have to watch out for players like Manchester United's Eden Hazard and Arsenal vice-captain Radja Nainggolan. However, the nation, currently ranked 21st in the rankings, also boast quite a bit of quality within their squad like Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri.

The next two teams drawn proved to be a delicious match-up for viewers and footballing fans, with giants France and Portugal being drawn together.

France are ranked 4th in the world while Andre Villas-Boas' Portuguese are not far behind in 6th.

Both sides breezed past their groups winning two and drawing one. They are also not short of great players. Paul Le Guen's Frenchmen have Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane, Liverpool defensive midfielder Yann M'Vila, Arsenal right-back Sebastian Corchia and last but not least Benfica captain Morgan Schneiderlin, just to name a few.

Portugal are not lacking in this aspect either, with FC Porto midfielder Fernando and Juventus wing back Fabio Coentrao among them. They have also brought a footballing legend along with them. Although now a 35-year-old, Cristiano Ronaldo show no signs of aging and the 178-capped Portuguese legend will be making sure his final major international tournament ends on a high.

Sweden and Norway are drawn next.

Both are mere minnows in the tournament and to advance further to the Quarter Finals would mean an overachievement. They also share another similarity in the fact that they had to struggle to get past the group stages, with Sweden barely making it out to the Second Round.

Norway will also be facing one of their own with Norwegian manager Kjetil Rekdal being the man in charge of the Sweden national team.

While the Swedes have players like Ramsus Elm of CSKA Moscow and PSV's Oskar Hiljemark, the Norwegians will be responding through star men Ruben Yttergard Jenssen and Havard Nordtveit. No matter how minor a role these two nations are playing in the tournament, it will still be a great match to spectate.

Another eye-savoring clash as Spain and Italy are drawn together next. It's an unfortunate tie for the Italians, with Spain probably not the opponents they were bargaining for.

Josep Guardiola's Spaniards will be looking to defend their Euro crown and win the tournament for a record fourth time in a row, but Vincenzo Montella's Italy side will be doing all they can to prevent that.

Unbelievably, Spain stuttered in the group stages, only confirming their safe entrance to the Second Round after winning their final match, while Italy managed to cruise through their group easily. Perhaps it is a sign of what is to come...?

The Azzuri will have two players very familiar with the Spanish style of play in Barcelona duo Leonardo Bonucci and Stephan El Shaarawy. However it remains to be seen if this will be enough to go up against the likes of the Italian duo's Barca teammate Javi Martinez, and Bayern Munich playmaker Thiago Alcantara.

Greece and Ukraine, the next two drawn, are another two examples of tournament minnows.

Both failed to impress much in their group campaign, but made it to the Second Round anyway, and both will be looking to take their run further into the Quarter Final.

The Greek, one-time winners of the European Championships in 2004, will be led by Paris Saint-Germain duo Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Kyriakos Papadopoulos.

Ukraine will be responding to their threats in kind with Chelsea striker Alexey Baryshev, who has had an excellent season with the Blues in the Premier League. Southampton winger Andriy Yarmolenko and Paris Saint-Germain's Denys Garmash can also cause problems for any side.

Germany are drawn with Euro 2020 hosts Turkey next.

Robin Dutt's Germans are naturally the favorites with his team having players like Sampdoria duo Holger Badstuber and Thomas Muller, Arsenal's offensive-minded midfielder Mario Gotze, Bayern Munich captain Toni Kroos, and Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who has been recognized as the best goalkeeper in the world currently.

However, Turkey can take heart from the fact that Germany struggled in the group stages. By contrast, the Turkish won 3 out of 3 of their group games.

Gokhan Tore and Gokmen Hacieyupoglu might not be as big as the names of the key players in the Germany squad, but they will be giving their all to make their country proud.

England, pre-tournament favorites to at least make it to the Final of Euro 2020, have been drawn against the Czech Republic.

The Three Lions suffered a loss in the Euro 2016 Final against Spain, and it was so close yet so far for England in getting their first European Championship title. This time, led by a new manager in David Beckham, the English boys will no doubt be hungrier than any other nation in this team to win.

Ranked 3rd in the World Rankings, England are favorites to toss the Czech aside in what English journalists are predicting as 'the beginning of the rampage through Euro 2020'. With star players Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Phil Jones, England will certainly have little difficulty in a serious rampage through the tournament, and Czech Republic look certain to be the unlucky firsts.

Despite having some quality options at the back like Jakub Novotny, the Czech have little hope of pulling off an upset, with England having breezed through their Euro group with 3 wins in 3 games.

Austria and Serbia were the final two teams drawn out, and coincidentally, they 16th and 15th-placed on the World Rankings respectively.

The Austrians have done well in their group to overcome the likes of Holland and will come face to face with Serbia in the Second Round as well as opponents like Neven Subotic and Zdravko Kuzmanovic.

However, Austria will have a top player of their own. David Alaba, who also turns out for Arsenal, is rated as one of the best left-backs in world football and he will be a stumbling block for any Serbian right wingers trying to contribute to the team.

16 nations, 8 matches.

But only 8 out of these 16 will make it to the Quarter Finals of Euro 2020.

Who will win their fixture and make it through to the Quarter Finals? Leave your predictions in the comments section below.

ooohhh, Italy vs Spain. That is a big one. Come on England, the Czechs are crap (no offence to the Czech)

I bet Austria beat the crap out of Serbia

God that was an epic update mate absolutely excellent! The time and effort really worth it and we don't see stories with these kinds of posts which makes yours even better!

That's superb Glenn. As I said to k1rups on his story "Detail FTW". Totally worth the effort

Humpty Dumpty, is that you?

Nah joking, Czech Republic should be easy. Although never underestimate

Some great stuff Glenn! Fantastic update, original!

TSO: If The Czech saw this it would be awkward. Lucky for you I don't think he reads my story

Louis: Will they?

Krupesh: Thanks mate, the compliments mean a lot!

Paddy: Cheers Paddy

JL:

Jeremy: Thanks Jezza

Euro 2020: Second Round

Neal Hasan: Hello sirs and welcome to Eurosport's live coverage of today's match! England versus the Czech Republic. This is going to be a very good match. I'm Neal Hasan.

Paddy da Costa: And I'm Paddy da Costa. England will probably have it easy against Czech Republic today, but you should never underestimate an opponent. Well, let's get right to the team line-ups.

Czech: Zima; Celustka, Zahalka, Novotny, Klement; Vydra, Holek, Rezek, Prochazka; Necid, Kadlec

England: Hart; Walker, Jones, Shawcross, Naughton; Chamberlain, Wilshere, Shelvey, Ince; Rooney; Maddison


Neal Hasan: Who the fuck are all these Czech people?

Paddy da Costa: Please, you are representing Eurosport! Don't talk like a ruffian!

Neal Hasan: Who the fuck names their kid Holek? Hehe. Hole. Holek. Get it?

Paddy da Costa: Oh, man...

Neal Hasan: Vydra. Viagara. Vydra. Viagara. Hehehe.

Paddy da Costa: I will have you know these are last names Neal, and you can't choose your last names. Anyway! On to football. Czech Republic have one of their best elevens. Lukas Zima is in goal as usual, and he will definitely look to put a stop to England's plans today.

Neal Hasan: A stop? Because he's a stopper? Hahahaha good one Paddy!

Paddy da Costa: ... No, I didn't particularly mean it like that. Back on topic - Zima has had a fantastic season with AS Monaco, being part of the team that finished 2nd in Ligue 1. Another danger man England will have to look out for is Vaclav Kadlec, who will be a very vital player for the Czechs today.

Neal Hasan: They also have Hoe-lek and Viagara. Hahaha!

Paddy da Costa: ... On to England's XI. David Beckham has fielded one of his best teams today. Phil Jones and Ryan Shawcross is an unbeatable pair and so is Jack Wilshere and Jonjo Shelvey. Colin Maddison, who has been on top form for England recently, starts alongside captain Wayne Rooney. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also going prove a very difficult opponent for the Czechs, so they have to watch out for him.

Neal Hasan: There goes the whistle! It's time for the match.



1' - We kick off here at the Timsah Arena, with England kicking the game off.

1' - The English players certainly seem very eager! Tom Ince charges up to the box and crosses it for Colin Maddison. The Nottingham Forest striker executes a perfect striker but Lukas Zima pulls off a great save to stop him.

14' - Kyle Walker has a crack, but it sails way over the bar. Terrible shot! He's a right-back, so why is he trying to be a striker? Jeez.

34' - Radim Hruby comes on for Zdenek Rezek, who's gotten himself injured. Quite the blow for Czech Republic, Rezek's a quality player.

45' - Half-time here at the Timsah Arena and it's still 0-0. Boring!

HT: Czech 0-0 England

45' - We are back out for the second half, and both England & Czech Republic will need to find a goal within the next 45 minutes if they want to progress. England have made two changes, with Jonjo Shelvey coming off for Will Hughes, and Tom Ince being substituted for Jordan Henderson.

62' - Kyle Naughton tries a long throw into the box and Ryan Shawcross is on the end of it, but he strikes it like Emile Heskey! And obviously, he misses.

67' - Jack Wilshere gets the ball from Jordan Henderson and tries a shot at goal, but Zima blocks it, palming it away to another defender.

74' - Kyle Walker's free kick just goes slightly wide of the net.

80' - Shahbas Tabia comes on for Jack Wilshere, who seems to be tiring like a right pussy.

90' - No goals from either side after 90 minutes, which means this is going to extra time, not an outcome England will like, having been billed as pre-match favorites.

FT: Czech 0-0 England

90' - And here are the players, back out for extra time. Can either side snatch a goal before it goes to penalties? Czech Republic have used up their last two changes, with Ondrej Celustka and Vaclav Kadlec being substituted to the bench for David Blazek and Jan Moravek to play the remaining minutes.

102' - Shahbas Tabia has a try for 1-0 with a free kick, but like Walker earlier, his free kick goes completely wide of the mark. Are England even trying?!

104' - Kyle Naughton tries another long throw and Jack Wilshere heads it towards goal, but the ball goes flying over the net.

105' - Half-time, for the second time.

HT in ET: Czech 0-0 England

105' - And we're back out for the second half, hopefully a goal can be scored in the remaining minutes, I'm kinda getting tired of commentating this shitty match!

106' - Ryan Shawcross rises up to meet an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain corner, but Lukas Zima saves his effort.

117' ENGLAND GOAL - Yes! Finally! A goal! Praise the Lord! Jordan Henderson darts past Mario Holek... Haha, Holek. He darts past Holek, and crosses it for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and the Bayern Munich winger does not disappoint with his close-range strike.

117' - After all that holding out, what a disappointment for the Czech Republic!

119' - England don't seem to have had enough, and Colin Maddison, after losing his marker, tries to go for another goal, but the effort is wasted as the ball goes right into the hands of Zima.

120' - And England have done it, without the need to go for penalty shootouts. They've secured the win, however shitty the match was. It was almost as shitty as Manchester City! Haha, get it? City? Shitty?

FT in ET: Czech 0-1 England

Haha great update. Nearly fell off my chair when I saw mine and Neal's name

Oh dear England

Paddy:

TSO: Oh dear indeed