Euro 2016 Round of 16 Breakdown Part II
On Thursday we took a look at Saturday’s Round of 16 games. Let’s take a look at Sunday’s games:
Sunday, June 26 8:00 a.m. CT: France (First in Group A) vs. Ireland (Third in Group E)
Best Player (Most Important Player): France — Paul Pogba (Olivier Giroud); Ireland — Shane Long (Wes Hoolahan)
France’s Pogba has been solid this tournament but has yet to put on a performance worthy of his talent. A couple of his long balls have shown what he is capable of, but he has also whiffed on a couple volleys, and is yet to score. That could very well change against what should be an overwhelmed Ireland squad. Speaking of failing to score, France’s favorite whipping boy, Olivier Giroud, has had a pretty standard tournament for Giroud. He scored France’s opening goal of the tournament, and was subsequently booed in their third game, a 0–0 draw with the Swiss. Such is life for Giroud, who can never seem to play well enough to win over Les Bleus faithful.
For Ireland, if they have any chance to win this game, it will likely be on a counter attack started by Wes Hoolahan (nicknamed “The Irish Messi,” and only a bit sarcastically) and finished by Shane Long. Keeping France off the scoreboard will be of the utmost importance, but if they can do that for a half or so, the pressure will start to mount on France, who have been known to crumble in big tournaments. That’s when Hoolahan/Long should look to strike.
Prediction (With a shot in the dark guess at how it goes down): France 2 Ireland 0
Sorry, Hoolahan/Long, I don’t see that happening. France will tally a goal in the first half (a Pog-BOOM from just outside the box), which will let the team play a bit looser in the second half. My only worry is that this appears to be the easiest game to pick in the Round of 16. Those are the games that always surprise the most…
Sunday, June 26 11:00 a.m. CT: Germany (First in Group C) vs. Slovakia (Third in Group B)
Best Player (Most Important Player): Germany — The entire roster (Jerome Boateng); Slovakia — Marek Hamsik (Ondrej Duda)
The German roster is littered with elite-level players. If the entire Euro pool of players were to be ranked, Germany would probably have six or seven of the top 20. However, they lack a top-five talent, and although that hasn’t stopped them from having recent success (see: the 2014 World Cup), it’s something to think about.
The best player for Slovakia and most important player for Germany are tied together, as German defender/do-it-all man Boateng will likely be tasked with keeping an eye on Uber talent, Marek Hamsik. Hamsik is the type of player who can pull off a David vs. the Goliath takedown on some of the bigger teams in the tournament, but in Boateng, who has been an absolute delight to watch at this tournament, Germany has about as strong an anecdote to Hamsik’s slingshot and stone as you will find at Euro 2016. If Slovakia are to have any chance, some of the youngbloods, like Ondrej Duda, are going to have to step up and have their moment in the sun.
Prediction (With a shot in the dark guess at how it goes down): Germany 1 Slovakia 0
If France/Ireland is the biggest long shot to have an upset in the Round of 16, this is probably the second-least likely. Germany will likely see this as a warm-up game for their potential quarterfinal showdown with Spain/Italy. Germany may well overlook Slovakia a bit, leading to a closer game than might be thought, but Thomas Muller, who is surprisingly yet to score, will ease the German tensions with a typically well-poached goal in the 71st minute.
Sunday, June 26 2:00 p.m. CT: Hungary (First in Group F) vs. Belgium (Second in Group E)
Best Player (Most Important Player) Hungary — Laszlo Kleinheisler (Balazs Dzsudzsak); Belgium — Eden Hazard (Toby Alderweireld)
Hungary were a relative unknown before Euro 2016, but they have shown a buccaneering style in the group stages, scoring six goals, including three in a wild game against Portugal their most recent time on the pitch. Their star man, Laszlo Kleinheisler, has yet to tally, making those six goals, which are tied for most of any team, all the more impressive. Balazs Dzsudzsak, the 29-year-old Bursaspor forward, got their final two goals of the Portugal game, and seems to be in strong form headed into the knockout stages.
On the Belgian side, the number two ranked team in the world, per FIFA, is loaded with talent. When looking over the roster to choose a “Best Player” there were a half dozen options (Kevin De Bryune, Romelu Lukaku, Yannick Ferreira-Carrasco, Thibault Cortois to name a few), but Eden Hazard’s ceiling is higher than any other. When he is in form, he can single-handedly create a multitude of scoring chances for him and his teammates during a single game. Belgium will have to be sturdy at the back, hence Toby Alderweireld’s importance, if they want to cash in on their potential
Prediction (With a shot in the dark guess at how it goes down): Hungary 3 Belgium 2
This has all the makings of a letdown game for Belgium. With the way the bracket is set up (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and England are all on the other half of the bracket), nearly every pundit is penciling Belgium into the final. It rarely goes that smoothly. Belgium will open up with a goal in the first 20 minutes, but Hungary will respond just before the half, as Belgium loses focus just before the break. A Romelu Lukaku header will put the Red Devils back up, but after Belgium subs off their attackers, a Dzsudzsak free kick beauty will tie it up in the 85th minute and send the game to overtime. Having blown two leads, and without their attacking talent left on the pitch, Belgium will slip up and allow Hungary to score on a corner in overtime, leading to the biggest upset of the Round of 16.
