All To Play For - A Very British Football Redux TL

[MatthewFirth]

Brazil vs Germany

England vs Argentina

 

[Unknown]

My picks: Brazil and England...

 

[GeorgeUK]

Brazil 1-7 Germany

England 0-2 Argentina

 

[jmmcb94]

Germany vs Argentina in the final, Brazil and England both take a severe hammering.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Chapter 93
Reality Strikes
​

It is amazing what a few games can do to change public opinion on a team's chances and the run of England for this World Cup would be an example of that. When they arrived in Brazil very few gave them much of a chance to even get out of the group let alone go deep into the tournament. Now against all the odds here they were in a Semi-Final and a game away from playing in a final in the legendary Maracanã in Rio. To add more to the drama, standing in England's way would be their rivals Argentina and this would be the first time the two would have faced each other since that final in 2002 in which England had been the victors on that occasion, now the South Americans were not only wanting long outstanding revenge on the Three Lions but the hope that they could make life a living hell for the Brazilians by reaching the final themselves though in truth the host nation was already feeling much pain even before a ball had been kicked in this game.

While there should have been a major build up to this big clash, all the media attention had instead been focused on what had happened the previous evening that involved the other Semi-Final with Brazil and Germany which turned out to be one if not the extraordinary games in the World Cup though for all the wrong reasons depending on who you ask. Brazil 1 - Germany 7. Yes, seven goals the Germans managed to put past an utterly shambolic Brazil team who's confidence just seemed to collapse following that opening goal not to mention the loss of Neymar that ruled him out and the huge pressure of hosting the World Cup had all done much hard to affect the mindset of that team who would now go down in infamy though given the result, it was hard to know if the Germans were that good or the Brazilians were that bad.

Either way, it would be the Germans awaiting either England or Argentina in that final and given what damage the Germans had been from that game alone, it was uncertain to know if either the English and Argentines wanted to be playing them though nonetheless that was a thought that had to be put to one side. The venue of choice was the Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo and the atmosphere was quite a tense one whenever the two sides met in which add the fact they were playing in Brazil in which a heavy handed police presence following much scenes of madness in which saw angry Brazilians cause much damage in the streets and much anger found it's way aimed at the camp of the Argentine team in which they clearly didn't want their arch rivals making it to the final.

Two Argentina fans have their hopes placed on one certain man...
​

While England's run had been touch and go with their victory over Scotland being something of a rare exception in which you would never really have them down as the favourites of this match, in truth however the Argentines hadn't done much better themselves as much like England they had been touch and go too in the group stage and had only managed to sneak past two 1-0 victories in their knockout games so far, not really impressive all things considered and that wasn't including the fact that Messi had yet to score in the knockout phase of this World Cup. Despite this fact, the rest of the stats and figures pointed to the fact that Argentina were still clear favourites and that despite a good number of English fans in the stadium, the vast majority of those there were for Argentina and there were many more outside trying to get in which many had many the short journey north to Sao Paulo. A great reception followed both teams as they were lead out onto the pitch and both sets of fans gave it much gusto during the anthems though sadly much jeering and whistling for both anthems in equal measure which wasn't the best thing to witness.

With that done though, the game would soon begin with England kicking off. Those who were hoping for a fast and slick end-to-end game were to be left somewhat annoyed that the game started off as a rather cagey affair with neither side really going for it to try and get an early lead and this was notable with England who had not only looked like they were trying to play defensively but rather than knock the ball forward had ended up playing the ball side-to-side and this was hardly going to win the the Three Lions any award for forward attacking play. However this type of play was actually part of a elaborate plan to lure the Argentines into a false sense of security and it would prove it's worth in the ninth minute when Steven Gerrard went toe to toe with Higuaín and manged to not only get the ball off his feet via a sliding tackle but punt the ball over towards Wayne Rooney who ran down on the counter with the ball in which he found himself unmarked by any Argentine player there.

He would then cross the ball over to Daniel Sturridge up front who tried to fire a one footed volley and for one heart stopping moment looked like it was going to go in had it not been for the quick thinking of Argentina's goalkeeper - Romero - who had to knock it away out for a corner kick. The following corner kick saw another good chance for Scotland as Sturridge tried to get his head on the ball only for him to send it wide over the bar. What a chance for England to take a sudden lead there and a big warning shot for Argentina to be careful that this England team was not for turning over and just five minutes later, Argentina tried to respond when they got a good shot on target thanks to Messi as he tried to send it into the bottom right only though to land in the hands of Joe Hart. No sign of goals yet...

Rooney talks plans during the game
​

Argentina did seem to wake up following that scare from the English and they began to turn on the pressure for England with that front three of Messi, Higuaín and Lavezzi causing much of the problems for the Three Lions, though curiously Messi didn't seem to be the main threat that the English had singled out as the one to look out for as the rest of the team were showing that they weren't going to be left in the shadows by their star man. The first booking of the game would come in the seventeenth minute when Gary Cahill brought down Perez in what seemed to be a fair tackle yet oddly the referee ordered for a freekick to be taken. There is a deal of anger from the English that it shouldn't be a free kick, alas the referee orders for one and Messi stands some thirty yards away from the box in which a red wall of English players stand in his way as they attempt to keep him out.

Messi fires it through and the ball is flying through the air heading towards the bottom right and tries Hart gets his hands on it but only gets his fingertips at as the ball screams past his grasp and with that, Argentina have taking the lead and Messi has finally scored in the knockout stage of the World Cup. From the bench, Roy Hodgeson can only look on with some despair as England now find themselves with it all to do now though as he glanced up at the England fans up on the terraces, he could see that there was a sense of dread written across their faces. That said, the red shirted England players don't back down so easily and manage to cancelled out the waves of Argentine attacks to prevent a second goal from happening and pretty much putting them out of sight.

Amazingly by the twenty-eighth minute after England now perform their 'sideways' style of play, the ball is let loose towards Raheem Sterling who runs through past the likes of Biglia and Zabaleta and nears back towards the box in which he crosses the ball towards Sturridge standing in the box. The move is sadly though cut short when Demichelis gets in the way to header the ball away and out for a eventually wasted corner kick for England. Argentina then strike back when just two minutes later when Higuaín is given the ball by Perez after he rips through the English defence up to his teammate. Higuaín manages to get the ball past Hart and it looks certain to be a the second goal they are looking for but instead the ball clatters on the top left corner of the goalpost and somehow the game remains at 1-0 to Argentina.

Messi after scoring the opening goal for Argentina​

A similar attack follows in the thirty-third minute when Argentina win a corner and Mascherano gets his head on the ball and aims it at goal into the top right corner, but once again Hart - in what looks to be the game of his life - proves himself yet again to keep his country alive in this tie. That all being said, it is looking desperate for England here. By the thirty-eighth minute, Argentina are slowly turning the screw on England in their hunt for the second goal yet despite all their best efforts, the Three Lions are like a stubborn animal that won't give up so easily and it becomes clear that they look unlikely to score in this half and hope to get to half time to work out a new plan. However such plans are nearly turned on their heads when in the second minute of added stoppage time, Rojo is chasing down Jordan Henderson on the right, however thanks to a slippery pitch, he slips and suddenly Argentina are left open in which Henderson uses the chance to flick the ball over to Rooney nearby who in turn passes it up to Sturridge to try and fire on target.

Much his annoyance yet again, he just can't get his goal as his shot hits the right hand post and the ball goes out to a goal kick for Argentina. What a time to score had that gone in and poor Sturridge is clearly having no luck with scoring today. Then as soon as that moment happens, the whistle blows for half time and while the score might tell you that Argentina might be in front, it really has in truth been a tense game that has had many heart stopping moments, drama, many near goals and much pride on the line. Sometimes you don't need to have a barrel load of goals to half a dramatic semi-final and as the players trot off to their dressing rooms, it is unclear who might come out on top here though some of the England fans who fear another Brazil would be pleased that they haven't been humiliated so far and that their luck would be turning soon...

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From the Argentine bench as the teams prepare to play for the second half, Argentina manager Alejandro 'Alex' Sabella glanced over at his English counterpart with the brows on his head furrowed in deep thought. Despite the two nations being rivals on the field, he didn't belittle his opponent nor his chosen team, yet on paper Sabella's side should be easily crushing the English under their boots and be nearly there for a big trip to Rio. All they needed was that second goal and they'd be there surely. To add to this he was aware that because of the history of being rivals to Brazil, Sabella was dimly aware that his side were the team that many Brazilians didn't want to win and had likely cheered for the English in the hope that they could knock out Argentina and in the forty-seventh minute, they nearly did it!

Hodgson during the game with Argentina​

A free kick would follow for England after a tackle on Sterling and Sturridge was the man who would take it and it would kick it some twenty yards away from the penalty box. He curls it up and over the wall at quite a good angle but the ball lands on the roof of the net. Poor Sturridge is not having a good day and it likely wondering just what on earth he has to do to get a lucky break; then it gets worse for him. In the fifty-sixth minute, he tries to get his foot on a loose ball by stretching his leg out but then he suddenly falls to the ground and clutches his leg in agony. It becomes clear that he injured himself by pulling a muscle in his leg and there is little choice but for him to go off for medical attention as he is stretchered off.

Rickie Lambert is suddenly called into action to help but yet feels a sense of sadness for his now fallen teammate that the injury looks like it can't be cured in a few days and that even if England somehow turned it around and make the final, it's unlikely he'll not be playing for it. Because of a lack of a warm up, Lambert doesn't quite make a good impact to start with and looks rather flustered being thrusted into a World Cup semi like that. Argentina though carry on piling pressure and misery on the Three Lions and in the sixty-third minute, the dam finally bursts. Perez runs down near the corner flag in which he finds himself surrounded by Gerrard and Cahill before he makes a long cross of the ball towards the penalty area were despite several players trying to get it, Higuaín is the lucky one who gets his head on the ball and he buries it into the bottom left in which Hart can't get his hands on it and finally, Argentina have their second goal and England look doomed.

The roar of many thousand Argentine supporters really says what this means for them and the English find some irony in the moment. In the English press and social media, it has been joked that with Higuaín has all the target ability of a stormtrooper given how many goals he has missed, yet here he has popped up here and fired in the goal that surely kills of England. Only the Three Lions could have had this happen to them. Argentina now attempt to add more to their new lead and put the game to bed as quickly as possible and if the English supporters thought things were bad, they go far worse. A dangerous shot in the sixty-eighth minute happens when Perez fires a shot that just only misses the goal but hits the post and just when the England players thought that they had escaped there, Messi pops up to fire in on the rebound into an unguarded net - the English defence all at sea - to make the score read 3-0 for Argentina and fears grip the English supports that they are about to suffer their own Brazil moment.

Rojo at the start of the second half
​

Some England fans can't bare the sight of what they are seeing and many starting heading for the exits knowing that there is no way for this England team to come back and that their luck has run out with the victory over Scotland now being looked upon as nothing more than a mirage. Thankfully much to the relief of the English - either from knowing that they had won the game by this point, getting tired or maybe trying to act in good sportsmanship in not making things even worse for their rivals - Argentina don't add to their lead and the game ends up being nothing more than a lot of silky passing from the Argentines towards each other in which no England player could get a foot on it and the Argentine supporters - having waited for so long to get a victory over England - all take great delight at seeing the humiliation in action. Those red shirted England players badly want the final whistle to blow sooner than later and thankfully enough, that final whistle does blow with Argentine winning in a handsome 3-0 victory that puts them on their way to the final in Rio and England have now to make the journey home.

It might not be as humiliating or even controversial like what had happened at the hands of the Germans in the last World Cup, it was still a rather painful exit nonetheless. That being said there would be some consolation in which England did leave not empty handed as they would defeat Brazil 2-0 in the third-place play-off round in their best finish since 2002 though some would say that they only won it as Brazil were still a state of trauma following that game. Also, the England fans did have the last laugh with Argentina in which after hearing nothing but mocking comments about how England had lost badly in the Semi-final, it would the Argentines coming up short in the final in which they would lose to the Germans who would successfully defend their World Cup crown and prevented Argentina from winning the World Cup on Brazilian soil, much to the relief of the hosts.

For many England fans looking back on hindsight at this World Cup have many mixed feelings on this tournament; on one hand they had a bad loss at the hands of Argentina yet on the other hand they had gone further than what many had predicted they would do so in many ways it was hard to think if this was a good World Cup for them or not but alas, the great Brazilian adventure was over and by some bizarre coincidence, the film Mike Basset: England Manager from 2001 had even England finishing in the last four in which was set in Brazil of all places and many think that their prediction was shockingly close. Still, with England hosting the tournament in four years time there was hope that they would be able to do one step better then before having the small matter of Euro 2016 to deal with in which they felt would be a good one for them in which nothing could go wrong...at least, they hoped so...

Final results of the knockout stage of the 2014 World Cup

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And there we are with 2014 with Argentina getting a victory over England - something that must warm the heart of any Argentine I'm sure. Anyway, you can see the winners here are different from the old TL as given real events recently, I decided not to deny Germany their OTL place in the (Brazilian) sun and let them have their glory there with a WC victory and that game with Brazil. Yes, Brazil is pretty much screwed for 2014 no matter what TL you find. Plus, with Germany winning a fourth WC here it actually brings their WC count up to OTL level which in many ways brings the two TL's together.

So yeah, we now will move onto Euro 2016 but before that we will be getting the update on the domestic club scene and see how well all the clubs are getting on at this point. Hope you enjoyed that update and until then, catch you all later!

​

 

[jmmcb94]

Good stuff again, but the pic of the knockout stage results doesn't appear to be working.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Good stuff again, but the pic of the knockout stage results doesn't appear to be working.

FTFY.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Before we start with Euro 2016, here we go with the recaps of the British leagues and European honours since 2007 to 2016...

British/Irish Leagues And Club Football Recap
Part 4

England

​

It has been something of a disappointing time for the national team for after the glory of 2002, England have fallen to lacklustre levels with the national side underperforming at tournaments. A reason for this is said to be due to the fact that in recent years the Premier League has been bringing more foreign players outside the British isles which is starting to lead English based players out of the country and into playing for the Welsh and Scottish leagues; an unheard of idea that seemed crazy just few years ago but alas has proven to become such a thing. Recently, a new powerhouse team in the form of a big bankrolled Manchester City team have taken the top flight by storm and with a 'big seven' consisting of them, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Leeds United, Tottenham and Chelsea.

With the retirement of Sir Alex Fergusson in 2013, English football at club level looks set to change yet again with its power balance, and nowhere was this more evident than that with the unlikely success story of Leicester City. One will hope that money will not ruin the game in England with the fact that many will argue that most Premier League games are now being attended by tourists rather than of the true fans. Nonetheless, with the news that England will host the 2018 World Cup and after an unexpected but welcomed run in the last World Cup, there is much pressure on the national side to do well and Euro 2016 might be a good chance to show what England have to show; but as the old saying goes, better laid plans...

English League Winners from 2007 to 2016

2007 - Manchester United
2008- Leeds United
2009 - Manchester United
2010 - Chelsea
2011 - Manchester United
2012 - Manchester City
2013 - Manchester United
2014 - Liverpool
2015 - Chelsea
2016 - Leicester City

FA Cup Winners from 2007 to 2016

2007 - Chelsea
2008- Portsmouth
2009- Everton
2010 - Chelsea
2011 - Manchester City
2012 - Chelsea
2013 - Wigan Athletic
2014 - Arsenal
2015 - Leeds United
2016 - Crystal Palace

League Cup Winners from 2007 to 2016

2007 - Chelsea
2008- Tottenham Hotspurs
2009 - Tottenham Hotspurs
2010 - Manchester United
2011 - Birmingham City
2012 - Liverpool
2013 - Middlesbrough
2014 - Newcastle United
2015 - Chelsea
2016 - Manchester City

Scotland

​

The past few years has seen the national team flying high with the Tartan Army having many fond memories of their various adventures around the world, except maybe Japan of South Africa given the calamitous exits in those countries. The domestic front has seen a something of a much needed powershift away from the likes of the Old Firm which for many neutrals in Scotland is something very welcomed to say the least. This has seen with along with a return of the New Firm in Aberdeen and Dundee United seen several teams rising up to try and become the new top dog which while from an outsider's perspective makes the league very competitive.

While this makes does make Scottish football not are truly Glasgow dominated as it had been for many years, it does have some side effects with money with the most notable being with Rangers who nearly lost everything in the summer of 2012 due to reckless spending and though in the end they managed to survive thanks in no small part of a lucrative TV deal Scottish football had been seeing, the after effects have seen them weakened as they try to get back into the black and thus saw the rise of many new teams trying to compete with the Old Firm, New Firm and the Edinburgh clubs. The same thing couldn't be said about poor little Gretna who unlike Rangers who only just managed to survive their own financial woes, Gretna would after their own big spending would end up going bust and reforming in the lower Scottish leagues.

That being said, it can be said that some clubs didn't quite get the message as thanks to a relaxation of rules in ownership of clubs which meant owners of clubs down south or abroad all saw many clubs in Scotland were ripe for a takeover in which in theory meant with little investment, those clubs could have a better chance reaching Europe compared to trying it all down in the English leagues. Clubs like Raith Rovers and Dundee have been part of this and have been easing their way up, though a new up and coming opponent in the form of Vladimir Romanov who after nearly getting his hands on either Heart of Midlothian or Dundee United, decided upon an unlikely choice in Dunfermline Athletic with the hope that they could help turn Scottish football on it's head, if only though he didn't have his hands on many of the club's operations...

Scottish League Winners since 2007 to 2016

2007 - Celtic
2008 - Celtic
2009 - Rangers
2010 - Rangers
2011 - Rangers
2012 - Celtic
2013 - Dundee United
2014 - Celtic
2015 - Heart of Midlothian
2016 - Aberdeen

Scottish Cup Winners from 2007 to 2016

2007 - Dunfermline Athletic
2008 - St Johnstone
2009 - Rangers
2010 - Dundee United
2011 - Motherwell
2012 - Hearts
2013 - Raith Rovers
2014 - St Johnstone
2015 - Inverness Caledonian Thistle
2016 - Hibernian

Scottish League Cup Winners from 2007 to 2016

2007 - Hibernian
2008 - Rangers
2009 - Dundee United
2009/10 - Rangers
2010/11 - Rangers
2011/12 - Kilmarnock
2012/13 - St Mirren
2013/14 - Aberdeen
2014/15 - Dundee United
2015/16 - Ross County

Wales

​

2016 marks the Football Association of Wales' 140th anniversary and while the national side has been somewhat a mixed bag in this decade in terms of qualification and doing well, there has been much to say on the domestic front with it's clubs. For years Welsh football has been dominated by the big three know as Cardiff City, Swansea City and Wrexham AFC and many have wondered where the so called fourth force for Welsh football would come from and if it would ever happen. In the end, it would be an unlikely location as it would be Barry Town who would find themselves in a take over bid in 2008 which rumours started that they were bought by the same who had taken over Manchester City. To hammer home this point, the team would be renamed into it's Welsh spelling as 'Barri AFC' to promote a more Welsh image.

It wouldn't take long for them to make an impact in which they would soon become the scourge for the big three who weren't liking these upstarts trying to challenge them. However Barri's achievements on the field would actually pale in comparison in which Aberystwyth Town from Mid Wales would stun everyone in a pretty crazy season to win the league during the 2015/16 season, it was the first time a team from Mid Wales had won the league title and it became something of an event for the area that this was the start of something big and quite a way to celebrate the FAW's 140th birthday, though with Euro 2016 around the corner and with Wales having managed to qualify for that, it might change with possibly something bigger...

Welsh League Winners from 2007 to 2016

2007 - Cardiff City
2008 - Wrexham AFC
2009 - Swansea City
2010 - Barri AFC
2011 - Cardiff City
2012 - Wrexham AFC
2013 - Swansea City
2014 - Cardiff City
2015 - Barri AFC
2016 - Aberystwyth Town

Welsh Cup Winners from 2007 to 2016

2007 - Wrexham AFC
2008 - Bangor City
2009- Swansea City
2010 - Swansea City
2011 - Bangor City
2012 - Cardiff City
2013 - Barri AFC
2014 - Aberystwyth Town
2015 - Newport County
2016 - Swansea City

Welsh League Cup Winners from 2007 to 2016

2007 - Newport County
2008 - Wrexham AFC
2009 - Cardiff City
2010 - Llanelli
2011 - Wrexham AFC
2012 - Cardiff City
2013 - Barri AFC
2014 - Bangor City
2015 - Swansea City
2016 - Wrexham AFC

Ireland

​

Out of all of the Home Nations, there is no shadow of a doubt that perhaps the greatest changes to date has been taking place in Ireland in which much history regarding football on both sides of the Irish border in which to say it has all been a watershed moment not just for the game but the island of Ireland as a whole would be a major understatement. Following the somewhat shaky starts of the the merging of the two separate Irish cup competitions on both sides of the border into being both control by Belfast due to fears of sectarian violence in which while reported was thankfully only minor and slowly but surely the unified cup competitions would be welcomed by fans on both sides of the border though some being considered 'event' games in the early years some would be quite violent. The best example of this being in a Irish cup tie with Linfield and Derry City in a game known as 'The battle of Belfast' would be a pretty violent encounter thankfully kept to the pitch in which five players would be sent off and many yellow cards shown in what was pretty much the dirtiest games in Irish football history.

Linfield would win in a tetchy 1-0 victory but were greatly weakened by the encounter that would see them lose steam for the rest of the season. It would be however in 2013 in which the acid test would finally take place in which the 2013/14 season would make history as the first all Irish league since 1920 in which a 16 team league featuring (in alphabetical order) Ballymena United, Bohemians, Bray Wanderers, Cliftonville, Coleraine, Cork City, Crusaders, Derry City, Dundalk, Glentoran, Limerick, Linfield, Portadown, Shamrock Rovers, Shelbourne and Sligo Rovers would all take part in that historic season. In the end, Shamrock Rovers would be the first winners that season though it would be a league that in time would be battle mostly by teams between Belfast and Dublin in terms of who was the best though other teams would often make an upset by challenging them both.

It would prove to be success and soon enough Irish clubs began having European adventures lasting until Christmas and sometimes beyond that though those are actually a rarity. One this was done, the endgame target of a united Irish team was within touching distance and with both UEFA and FIFA's support, the long held dream to some would become a reality in which in September 2014 would be the very last time in which the island of Ireland would be represented by two teams and thus with the reunification of the Irish Football Association taking place in Belfast with the board of directors being a 50/50 split between North and South, the newly reunited Irish team was ready to take part in its first qualifiers for Euro 2016. Under the management of Martin O'Neil and his assistant in Michael O'Neil (no relation whatsoever), they would successfully guide the team for France in which would be the first time the world would see a united Irish take part in a major football tournament though by some unfortunate coincidence this appearance would fall upon the 100th anniversary of the Easter uprising in which some certain politicians on both sides of the Irish border would try and exploit this for political gain but thankfully were called out.

They weren't the only ones trying to make jump on the Irish bandwagon in which following the successful merger of the leagues and national teams, both UEFA and FIFA would barge in a totally brass neck attempt of claiming how this was a wonderful effort for football promoting peace when in truth they had done nothing to help and many could see that in reality they saw nothing but a pawn to exploit for money and they were quickly called out on it. Nonetheless though the new national team would have something of a confused identity in which home games would alternate between Belfast and Dublin and the flag situation was always going to be a sticky point until it was the help of the Irish Rugby Union came up with a tried and tested solution having themselves worked with a united Irish team for rugby.

The idea would be that when the flags would be seen on the field prior to any international game, the two flags of the north and south would be flown together which would make it an unusual system for football while a flag for the team would actually be instead the IRFU flag first designed in 1925 which featured the four proveniences of Ireland and it was decided that they would give the football team the same flag. Quite amazingly, this was actually a fair system that was accepted by many and that flag would become the main flag to represent the national team wherever they played. Either way, it is a brave new world out there for Irish football and the rest of the world will be waiting to see what happens next...

Irish League Winners from 2014 to 2016

2014 - Shamrock Rovers
2015 - Dundalk
2016 - Linfield

Irish Cup Winners from 2007 to 2016

2007 - Linfield
2008 - Cork City
2009 - Derry City
2010 - Linfield
2011 - Shamrock Rovers
2012 - Dundalk
2013 - Cliftonville
2014 - Linfield
2015 - Derry City
2016 - Dundalk

Irish League Cup Winners from 2007 to 2016

2007 -Shelbourne
2008 - Portadown
2009 - Shamrock Rovers
2010 - Linfield
2011 - Crusaders
2012 - Sligo Rovers
2013 - Derry City
2014 - Glentoran
2015 - Glentoran
2016 - Dundalk

Champions League Final results from 2007 to 2016

2007 - AC Milan
2008 - Manchester United
2009 - Barcelona
2010 - Inter Milan
2011 - Barcelona
2012 - Chelsea
2013 - Bayern Munich
2014 - Real Madrid
2015 - Barcelona
2016 - Atletico Madrid

UEFA Cup/Europa League Final results from 2007 to 2016

2007 - Heart of Midlothian
2008 - Rangers
2009 - Shakhtar
2010 - Liverpool
2011 - Braga
2012 - Atletico Madrid
2013 - Chelsea
2014 - Valencia
2015 - Sevilla
2016 - Sevilla

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And that is the roundup of the leagues systems as we go into 2016. And yes, the big thing to notice is that we will have just one Irish team ITTL and we shall be seeing them a few times to follow so keep any eye on that. Anyway, stay tune for the next update in which we get onto Euro 2016 and there will be a few tweaks here so stay tuned for that...until then, catch you all later!

 

[QTXAdsy]

Chapter 94
All Change

2016 had proven to be the year of the underdog across British leagues but it would also be the year of the 15th European Championship and this tournament in France though this was not to be a typical European Championship. After much talk within UEFA, the 2016 edition of the Euros was to have an increased number of the teams from sixteen to twenty-four countries taking part and all hoping to win silverware. While one would think this was of trying to respond to complaints that the United Kingdom had the unfair advantage of having four teams playing in which all four would be playing for this one - the first time all four would be seen at a European Championship since Euro 2008, the truth was that many countries had appeared around Europe since the collapse of the Iron Curtain and all wanted to have a chance to play at a tournament. Thus, Euro 2016 was here to give those nations a chance.

Places across Britain and Ireland had turned into ghosts towns with many people making the short trip over to France with the hope that one of them would win glory out there though as it would turn out things would be different regarding the Irish in which it would be a case of all change. Just after the 2014 World Cup, the many years of work between the two Irish football associations would finally come to pass as for the first time in history, a reunited Irish football team would take part in a major tournament in which the united Irish team would take the position of where the Northern Ireland team was located in Group F along with the likes of Romania and Hungary in which the team would handsomely win the group with a game to spare.

It really was a great time to be a fan of Irish football and there was a sense of unity that wasn't connected with any polarising politics that would have easily exploited it for certain policies as both sides of the Irish border just wanted to see an Irish team do well no matter what though there was some debated on if this Irish team should be considered a 'Home Nation' in which it included the independent Irish Republic in the mix which had always been separate to the other British isles teams. However, it must be noted that the previous Republic of Ireland team had been always accepted as a honourably member of this group so it was a case of just accepting it as having this Irish team as a Home Nation even though some hardcore Irish nationalists would have disagree with this.

As the united Irish team had taken the qualifying spot that was for Northern Ireland before the reunification took place, the spot for the Republic of Ireland in Group F would be left empty reducing that group from six to five and by some coincidence it had also contained Scotland and the latter would breath a sigh of relief and for good reason. Group F itself was very much a group of death as along with Scots it was a group that featured a tough Poland team and World Champions Germany; the thought of having to compete with the Irish along with that list would have been a nightmare for the Scots for their qualification hopes. Thankfully with the reunification taking place before the qualifying games could start, it gave the Scots a better chance and with that they, along with Poland and Germany, would qualify as many predicated though the Scots had managed to put the Poles into third-place in which the latter would only get through via the play-offs.

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​

When it came to the group stage, all four Home Nations would find themselves playing each other one way of the other in which England and Wales would be placed in group B along with Slovakia and Russia while Scotland and Ireland would be both placed in Group C along with Germany and Ukraine. When it came to Group B, despite several suspecting that England would win the group without much fuss, that would not turn out to be the case. Wales would get off to a good start in which they would defeat Slovakia 2-1 in their opening group match while England in the game later on that day would lead but ultimately end up drawing with Russia which would see some sorry scenes of hooligans fighting in the streets of Marseille in which it seemed that the Russians wanted to show how much stronger they were than that of the English.

It was situation that was a sorry state of affairs and that was not helpful for the Three Lions in which their next game would be with Wales in a game that England needed to win to have any chance of going through. As of a result, it was nearly a disaster for England in which from a freekick, Gareth Bale put Wales in front with Joe Hart making a complete mess of the save and it would be a tournament that he would wish to forget though that is another story. Thankfully for the Three Lions they would come back to win 2-1 though it was fair to say that they were far from their best and Wales were more angry that that they were denied from grabbing a point from England. With that into the final game meant that both Home Nations had a chance of snatching the top two spots in the group with a win for both of them.

England vs Wales at Euro 2016
​

Wales would put on perhaps their best performance at a major tournament in which goals from Taylor, Bale and Ramsay would have The Dragons destroy the Russians 3-0 to pretty much eliminate them from the tournament and given some of the violence that had been caused by their fans following their game with England, some would say that it was deserved. While Wales enjoyed a great victory, England on the other hand struggled against Slovakia in which they couldn't find the back of the net and the game would end in a dull 0-0 draw though both those teams would qualify for the next round nonetheless with Slovakia going through as one of the best rank third place teams. Though the fact that England finished second behind Wales was a shock to some yet ask any Welshman then they would not care about that as the fact that overall they felt that they were the better team of the group that they deserved it was all that mattered.

England on the other hand just looked poor overall and in some ways many felt that if they were given a tougher group then they likely would have struggled badly to the point that they might've flopped. They could only hope for better things in the knockout stage...that is until a certain little nation called Iceland came calling...

Final results of England and Wales' group at Euro 2016

---------​

In the other group with Scotland and Ireland, it looked to be something of a more tougher task in mind in which the Germans were clear favourites to win the group though Ukraine did look to be a team that could cause to trouble for all concern so if both Home Nations were hoping to get though then it was going to be a tough task in mind. As it would happen, the Scots and Irish were to meet in their opening match in Nice on June 12th - a historic day in Irish football in which would be the first ever game that an united Irish team would play in a major tournament and there was much hype going into this game in which the Irish supporters - a mix of supporters from north and south who over a decade ago likely would have never imagine they would be rubbing shoulders with each other but alas here they were.

Such was their excitement that they managed to even out sing the Tartan Army pre-match which went to show much this game meant though there was the question of what anthem and flag the team would be following them. As it turned out, the IFA had decided to use the trial and test format of their rugby counterparts by having the team have the two flags of Ireland be represented being that of the Tri-Colour and St Patrick's Cross flags shown together during the anthems which makes it quite a unique exception during the anthem part. Speaking of which, the anthem of choice would be 'Ireland's Call' - the anthem that has been with the Irish rugby team for years though it was fair to say that during the anthems being sung, not much of the supporters knew the words so it was a rather awkward situation.

Despite all that though, the game would begin and both sides were quite level with each other and didn't seem to give one of the other a chance and it would remain 0-0 by the time the game reached half time. It was however only just a few minutes into the second half that McArthur would fire home what would be the only goal of the game in which Scotland would come out on top with the victory though it was a few tight game to say the least. With that, Scotland knew a result against the Germans in the next round would surely put them through to the next round while the Irish needed a victory to have any chance of going through as they would play Ukraine in their next round for anything less than that would mean an early exit for the team.

The Scotland team line-up just before their opening match with Ireland
​

As it would turn out, the Irish would despite struggling to break down Ukraine would be the first the break the deadlock in which Brady would open the scoring less than five minutes into the second half and it would only be then in the seventy-ninth minute in which McGinn would seal the three points that would give the united Ireland team their first ever victory at a major tournament a big chance to go through if results elsewhere could go their way. Meanwhile with the Scots, they would stun everyone in which despite many prediction a German victory to confirm the latter's place in the next round, Scotland would prove to be a stubborn animal that wouldn't budge and they would hang onto the draw that they knew pretty much put them through no matter what.

Now it came to the final games in which Scotland would take on Ukraine while Ireland would have to take on the Germans though both would have mixed fortunes. Ukraine were pretty much out by this point and were now playing for pride unless they could pull off a miracle. As it would turn out, the Scots would struggle to break down the tough Ukrainians until it would be a goal from Andy Robertson some twenty minutes before the end of the game in which would see them win the match and while up front the Scots had looked rather toothless but the Tartan Army were just happy to have an extended stay in France. Meanwhile, Irish hopes were hanging by a thread in which they needed to avoid defeat to be utterly sure that they would not go out.

Alas, it would only take half an hour before the Germans could break down the Irish defence to score and then go on to get the victory, though that said both the Germans and the Scots would end up tied on seven points though it would be the Germans who would win the group via goal difference with the Scots following closely behind in second. Meanwhile, the Irish would finish in third place and it would be a long and nervous wait for them to see if they would go through as one of the best third place ranked teams. To their delight, they had done just enough to squeeze through and with that they would join the rest of the Home Nations in the next round and it was a bit of history to see a united Irish team make a knockout stage for the first time. What was to happen next, no one knew...

Final results of Scotland and Ireland's group at Euro 2016

---------
​

And so here we are with Euro 2016 in which we have some major changes here in which we get not only a group stage for all four teams, but the appearance of a united Irish football team which is big change for the TL. The flag you see in the picture is the one used by the rugby team so ITTL, it is a case of a trial and test format which if it worked there then it would work for the football team. The HQ if you remember is in Belfast in the IFA is the sole association for Ireland as they got lucky due to 'grandfather' rights though the boardroom is made up by both associations and all in all it is a new world for Irish football so if you are a fan of Irish football you are in luck here and we haven't gotten to how the Irish clubs will be getting on in European football.

Now regarding the groups, both groups are pretty much the same as OTL as seen with England and Wales' group while Scotland and Ireland's group result wise is the same as OTL only with different teams here. And in case you are wondering where Poland is in all of this, they take OTL's ROI place at Euro 2016 so not much to say there. Speaking of which, the fixtures for the knockout stage:
--------
Scotland vs Switzerland

Croatia vs Portugal

Wales vs Ireland

Hungary vs Belgium

Germany vs Slovakia

Italy vs Spain

France vs Poland

England vs Iceland
---------
So who will be making it through? Find out next time!

 

[NTF aka Seb]

Scotland (p) 1-1 Switzerland
Croatia 0-1 (a.e.t.) Portugal
Wales (p) 1-1 Ireland
Hungary 0-4 Belgium
Germany 3-0 Slovakia
Italy 2-0 Spain
France 2-1 Poland
England 1-2 Iceland

 

[MatthewFirth]

Scotland vs Switzerland

Croatia vs Portugal

Wales vs Ireland

Hungary vs Belgium

Germany vs Slovakia

Italy vs Spain

France vs Poland

England vs Iceland

 

[Unknown]

My picks: Scotland, Portugal, Wales, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, and England...

 

[jmmcb94]

Scotland, Portugal, Wales, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France and, yep, Iceland to progress.

 

[EvilJam]

Very cool

 

[QTXAdsy]

Chapter 95
Swiss Rolled
​

Though Scotland might have had a rather uneventful time in Brazil two years ago (unless you were a certain Leigh Griffiths who was still viewed as the scourge of the Dutch after all these years) their manager Gordon Strachan was feeling good about his nation's chances on going all the way if one was to look at the path to the final. If they were to get pass a Swiss team in which many in Scotland felt they could beat then they would face either face a Croatia that they knew they could beat or even face yet another encounter with their recent nemesis' in Portugal though that Portuguese team was not the same as before as they had left many unimpressed in the group in which they had only just barely made their way out of the group stage thanks to being one of the best ranked third place teams despite never having won a game yet in the tournament and did look like a team that surely Scotland could take down.

Strachan might have been thinking way too far ahead but he couldn't help but realise that there was a outside chance that if Scotland could reach the last four then there a slim chance it could be all British final in which also sharing their path was Wales and Ireland to play in the last sixteen (incidentally they were to play later on in the day following Scotland's game with the Swiss) which meant at least one of them would go through to face either Hungary or Belgium in the last eight though it was likely that the latter would be in the last eight to face either the Welsh or Irish. If in the situation that those two stunned the Belgians then they would face Scotland for a place in the final.

A dream prospect by all accounts but even that might be dwarfed by another dream scenario in which on the far side of the side was England and if they were to win all their remaining games then they would be in the final in which could be Scotland; a situation that while mouth-watering was sadly very much highly unlikely to happen in which England's performances at Euro 2016 had left much to be desired and there was no chance that Scotland would get past the Swiss, never mind reach the final. It's unknown if many of the Tartan Army had all those crazy scenarios in their heads but they had more important matters to deal with such as this game. The match was to be played in the city of Saint-Étienne and while many Scots had made the trip out to central France, there were more Swiss supporters there due to the close geographic distance near Switzerland, that being said, having a big crowd cheering you on never quite worked unless you had belief in yourselves.

Some Swiss fans before the game with Scotland
​

If anyone had been wanting to watch the game from the British Isles then it is more than likely in which during the build-up, highlights of that famous game between the two nations at Euro '96 (twentieth anniversary of that tournament coincidently enough) was being played constantly to the point were there was a sense of the Scots being hypocrites as they had often accused English broadcasters always wanting to bring up famous England matches over the years from 1966, 1990, that 5-1 thrashing of the Germans in 2001and Gascoigne's wonder goal against Scotland which just so happened to be also at Euro '96; now the Scottish media in their own build up to the rematch with the Swiss had shown themselves to be no better than the English and it would be foolish to simply write off the Swiss like that.

Indeed, they themselves had been in a group with the hosts France along with Romania and Albania in which the Swiss had finished a respectable second and even had held the hosts to a 0-0 draw so it did prove that they had character to really challenge the Scots compared to what had happened in England twenty years ago. The players in that Scotland team - most of them were the same team that payed out there in Brazil - pretty much knew what to do to take on opponents and it was hoped that the Swiss would roll over, no pun intended though speaking of which if those constant showing of those highlights weren't bad enough, so too were the jokes. The amount of jokes regarding Swiss rolls and of the team being yodelling hillbillies in the Scottish press had not only been done to death but sometimes bordered on being offensive.

All of which was sadly similar to that of what the English press would whip a nation up on such stuff and now the Scottish media who had often accused their southern neighbours of doing such stuff and ended up doing the exact same. Certainly not the Scottish press' finniest moment for sure. That all said, Scotland would start the game off pretty promisingly with a great effort from Steven Fletcher hitting the crossbar after just three minutes of play and had it been just a little bit lower, Scotland would have taken an early lead. The poor Swiss looked unsettled as Scotland went on the attack and for some of those with long memories would realise that the game looked like it was going to be a one-sided affair like at Euro '96 in which Scotland battered the Swiss then and some of the Swiss fans there might've felt that lightning would strike twice.

Scotland kept pressing and looked like a team that had been freed from the shackles from what their performances in the group stage had been anything to go by and looked deadly going forward. The second attempt at goal for the Scots came in the eighth minute when Sommer had to quickly react to keep a shot from Robert Snodgrass, however he would punch it away and accidently right into the path of Shaun Maloney who fired in on the rebound and gave Scotland a much deserved lead. Even though Switzerland played at the last World Cup alongside the Scots despite losing out in the last sixteen, it is hard to tell if the Swiss have the experience as Scotland are flying in this game and in the nineteenth minute, Snodgrass nearly curls in a wonderful shot which lands on the roof of the net.

Happy scenes as Scotland take an early lead
​

By now twenty minutes have passed and despite the Scots holding a slim lead, they have by that point amassed ten shots with four of them being on target and with the way they are playing, one wouldn't really put it past the Scots to add more to their tally and looking to have a repeat of that same game twenty years ago. However the Swiss aren't quite looking to roll over just yet as in the twenty-third minute, Shaqiri manages to get a shot on target from really out of nowhere but his shot is stopped by the hands of David Marshall who up at this point has had very little to do other than act as a spectator in this game. The next five minutes of the game prove to be best period of the Swiss as they keep a hold of the ball and do a lot to try and frustrate the Scots and make them lose their momentum.

While this would have happened with Scottish teams in the past, this team is different from their experience and as soon as soon as Scotland get back on the ball, they carry on their relentless waves of attacks on the Swiss. Then in the thirty-fourth minute, Snodgrass makes a brilliant run into the box and nutmegs the ball through the legs of Xhaka in which Leigh Griffiths pounces on the attack to quickly get the ball and blast home an absolute screamer of a shot that bends into the left of the goal and now puts Scotland two goals in front and are not only running away with this game, but have totally deserved it. For Griffiths, it is something of a moment of redemption for him following his antics in Brazil two years ago and Strachan could be seen from the bench with a large grin on his face that really says it all.

For him, everything has gone to plan and even the Tartan Army can't quite believe how well things have gone for them as this all seems too good to be true. Are the Swiss about to make a brutal exit from Euro 2016? It is not going well if your a Swiss supporter and it is hard to say if Scotland are actually that good or if the Swiss simply turned up and expected to win...how foolish if that's what they thought regarding the latter. Scotland try to even go further by stretching their lead in the thirty-seventh minute when John McGinn tries to take an ambitious volley himself but instead the ball only succeeds going high up into the terrace behind goal. As a matter of fact by now the Swiss game plan, or if there was any, has fallen apart and it seems that every Scottish player wants to try and add their name to scoresheet.

Some happy members of the Tartan Army watch on
​

Then in the forty-second minute if things couldn't get worse for the Swiss, they do. Scotland win a corner kick and from it, the ball briefly bounces in the air from one of the players into the box until it finds the head of Snodgrass who simply bangs it in and he runs off to celebrate that he has helped get Scotland 3-0 in front before the break. The poor Swiss have been destroyed - long before the game has even ended - and woefully underestimating the Scots and the only sound that can be heard in the ground are from the ecstatic Tartan Army who are not only chanting happily at how things have gone, but even looking on their phones to try and get tickets for the Quarter-final game in Marseille with perhaps the only question being not a case of how many more goals they'll be scoring but who they would be facing.

The Scots do hold off their attacks and the first half ends 3-0 and the body language in either team really shows how either side are feeling with the Scots happily walking off knowing that the game is pretty much concluded while the Swiss look like a team that has been left utterly traumatized at what has happened to them with some of their supporters already leaving the stadium in disgust. It has been an outstanding performance by Scotland - probably their best performance seen at a tournament in many years - and who seem more than worthy of reaching the Quarter-finals . However as the second half starts and perhaps being sorry for their opponents, Scotland don't score again in the second half and neither does a demoralised Switzerland who limp up to hang onto that 3-0 score line in which they do avoid a Germany 7 - Brazil 1 humiliation but the damage had long since been done and the fact the game ended in the same fashion as it was twenty years ago.

Speaking of which, the score line does make many of the Tartan Army suspect that it could be a sign in which not only has the score line remained the same like then but then Scotland had gone all the way to the final and maybe that result was likely a sign of things to come? On a more sorry note unfortunately, the Scottish tabloid press got more carried away in which there wasn't a paper that didn't have the term 'Swiss Rolled' in either the headline or the description in which the arrogance of some of these papers was rather embarrassing to say the least to the point that if you weren't Scottish, you'd likely wanted the team to fail just out of what the Scottish press had now ended up becoming much like their English brethren in terms of hyping up their team's chances in which was all a sad state of affairs indeed.

A sorry looking Swiss team a full time following their 3-0 defeat at the hands of Scotland
​

As it turned out later on that day, Scotland would at least be joined by another Home Nation team when Wales and Ireland played each other for a place in the last eight. As it turned out, Wales would come as 1-0 winners though sadly it was all thanks to an Irish own goal that sent the Welsh through though despite that, it was the first time a united Irish team had made it to the knockout stage of a major tournament and it was fair to say that for their time playing in a tournament, they could go home with their heads held high and now they focused their sights on qualifying for the World Cup in two years time in which they hoped to create more history of having a united Ireland team take part at a World Cup. And for England in their game with Iceland? Well, as they say regarding that match, the less said the better...

---------
​

Another update for Euro 2016 and this is largely the same result as what we got in the old TL with some added bits of detail and tweaking though gives a mention for the other Home Nations. I didn't decide to do them as they are pretty much the same in which TTL's Wales/Ireland game is frankly the same as OTL Wales/Northern Ireland game so no real change here other than you have players from the south taking part. And yes...we had to mention the English loss to Iceland, too iconic not to include and to prove that this TL isn't going to be a British wank fest for the Home Nations!

But as always, the fixture list for the last eight:
--------
Scotland vs Portugal

Wales vs Belgium

Germany vs Italy

France vs Iceland
---------
So who will be marching onwards then? Find out next time and one more thing, feel free to check out on my new Beatles TL that I'm working on if you are a fan of the Fab Four!

 

[Unknown]

My picks: Scotland, Belgium, Italy, and France...

 

[MatthewFirth]

Scotland vs Portugal

Wales vs Belgium

Germany vs Italy

France vs Iceland

 

[jmmcb94]

Shame to lose Shaqiri's goal; no clean sheet for Scotland would be worth it for that!

Anyway, Scotland, Wales, Germany and France to reach the semis.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Chapter 96
Tantrum
​

Even as Scotland were about to face what had become a new rival for them in recent years being Portugal for the Quarter-Finals, that honestly hadn't been the main subject for the Tartan Army for their attention. Instead, it was about England or rather the lack of their rivals in the last eight with them and Wales. What had happened in England's game with Iceland would prove to be one of the biggest shocks or humiliations depending on who you ask ever to be seen at the European Championships in which despite the Three Lions going a goal up on Iceland, the latter would shock everyone by turning it around and going 2-1 up and a lacklustre England just seemed so utterly hopeless in breaking them down and Iceland would go on to hold on to a shock victory to dump a sorry England team out of the competition and see manager Roy Hodgson being sacked.

England had become a laughing stock though in truth it was rather unfair on Iceland as they more than deserved to get that far in which given that they had gotten out of group featuring Portugal, Hungary and Austria and who so happened to have prevented the Dutch from qualifying for Euro 2016 so in truth them actually pulling a result like that wasn't really much of a surprise in the grand scheme of things. That wasn't though in the eyes of the English who couldn't believe that a team that had managed to make it to the last four of the last World Cup could flop in such circumstances here though most of the English media had forgotten to mention that they had been very lucky in that last World Cup in which Argentina had ultimately shown them up and if it wasn't them, it would have been someone else.

As much as the Scottish and Welsh fans had a good laugh at England's downfall, it then all began to get annoying in which even in defeat, England was still being talked about. Regardless though, Scotland were to take on Portugal who in truth were a team that looked beatable. The interesting fact was despite the fact that Portugal had some big name players such as Ronaldo, Pepe and Nani just to name a few, the odds were surprisingly much in Scotland's favour to win this Quarter-Final and for good reason. Portugal hadn't really impressed anyone with them failing to record a win in their group with all their results being draws and if it wasn't for the best ranked third placed teams then they would have gone out long ago and their group stage performance would be more remembered for the infamous tantrum from Ronaldo during the game with Hungary and it was likely he was never going to hear the end of it, mostly from the Tartan Army who had all by this point started to see him as a perfect pantomime villain.

The infamous moment in which Ronaldo had his tantrum; an image the Tartan Army would hope would happen again​

Marseille had turned into a mini Glasgow as much of the Tartan Army had taking over the southern French city and it had not been the first they had been here as not long ago it was here that Scotland had taken care of Ukraine that ultimately saw the Scots book their place in the next round though to be fair Portugal did have a sizeable support along with them too. The kick off for the game would be at nine in the evening and even though it wasn't as warm as it had been earlier in the day, it was still a hot and somewhat humid temperatures and it wasn't really comfortable conditions for those wanting to play football, then again that was what the teams of Scotland and Portugal were to do if they wanted to be in the last four of Euro 2016.

Gordon Strachan had pointed out to his team that Portugal had been very lucky and that extra winner over Croatia proved it and that seem to get the players motivated to fight on, however as the game started, their hopes looked a little bit off as Portugal came flying out from the traps. From the early part of the game right in the third minute, Portugal won a corner and from it Nani nearly got the opening goal from a header had it not been for the hands Scotland's goalkeeper and captain, Allan McGregor, for not acting quickly as he had done there. That said it wasn't quite over just yet as five minutes later, Ronaldo tried to firing an absolute monster of a volley from near the halfway line that looked like it was going in but hit the crossbar, it was a new Portugal here that looked more like how they should've played from what their fans wanted. The Scots were rocking and it was a far big contrast of how much in control they were when they played the Swiss.

It wouldn't be until the thirteenth minute when the Scots could finally make something from out of an attack in the Portuguese half as vice-captain Scott Brown would weave the ball up towards James Morrison who managed to get past the likes of Sanches and William before he tried to become the hero and score himself rather than pass it up to Steven Fletcher but sadly he would make an absolute meal of the shot as the ball went flying over the bar and into a crowd of groaning Tartan Army supporters. That Scottish defence seemed to creek with every wave of Portuguese attack and it looked like a matter of time for when the men in red were going to open the scoring. Then in the seventeenth minute, Scott Brown had to act quickly to made a challenge on Adrien which wasn't one of his best as it saw him get the first booking of the game but also saw Portugal get a free kick.

"Hold everything!" Scott Brown trying to get the team back into the game​

The free kick would fly into the box and onto the head of Ronaldo who practically dived to get his head on the ball and it would've been an amazing goal had he not put too much power on it and that the ball went well wide. The sight of him with his hands over his mouth knowing his failure to score really said a lot. Scotland had pretty much failed to lay a single glove or even finger on Portugal and this lack of good play was surely going to bite them in the backside sooner that later. No matter what though, they tried their best to keep Portugal at bay and it seemed to be the plan for the first half though that would all change in the thirty-third minute when from another Portuguese corner, Sanches would break the deadlock and give Portugal a very much deserved lead leaving the Scottish team exhausted and frustrated how things just seemed not to be going their way and many of their supporters couldn't understand how things could have changed so quickly following that Swiss result.

Over by the bench, Gordon Strachan knew a brutal team talk was needed at half time and although he didn't know how he was going to put it through to the players. That said though, the team were starting to pick up the pace a little bit as if the open goal had, oddly, seemed to settle a few nerves as if pressure off. It would though prove to be a controversial half towards the end in which in the thirty-ninth minute, Scotland are pressing forward but there would be some mad defending from Portugal in which Fletcher tried to get the ball over to the box however the ball would be handled, totally by accident of course, by Fonte inside the box who quickly booted away and although it was a very brief 'blink and you'll miss it' moment, the Scottish players and fans roared demanding the referee to act but due to incredibly bad luck the German referee had not seen it and the jeers ringing round the ground really set the atmosphere.

Such events would have been useful for VAR but alas, it was still just a few years off from that happening and it was once again yet another hard luck tale for the Scots. Scott Brown was especially enraged by this and Strachan was worried that the vice-captain might lose his head and get a sending off if he didn't control his temper, even though no one could blame Brown for his frustrations. Portugal wouldn't add to their lead thankfully but as soon as the half time whistle blew, boos rang out from the disgruntled Tartan Army support and as the players were walking off, a scuffle would break out between both teams over how much tension that was threatening to boil over and it was such a tight game with it looking like the second half likely to go either way, but who would hold their nerve...?

Portugal score their opening goal in the Quarter-final

---------
​

After Strachan rallied the team at half-time to discus what to do next and try and get out of the hole they found themselves stuck in, Scotland's main plan to get back in the game was simple...don't let them score and beat them. Not the most imaginative plan for sure but one that was simple to understand. This time, Scotland were the ones coming right at Portugal and they were going all out to try and win the game and this was evident with the 4-3-3 system they were playing in and it did actually seemed to be doing some good as they were sending wave after wave of attack on the Portuguese midfield and there was one good chance in the forty-seventh minute when Steven Fletcher won a cross and attempted to follow up on it by sending in a volley but the ball would be caught by Patricio who quickly drop kicked the ball to keep the game flowing. That said, controversy wouldn't be short and it wouldn't be long when another penalty claim for Scotland happened in the fifty-third minute when Robert Snodgrass went charging on the counter down on the right in which he got right on the edge of the box before he was brought down by Fonte.

It was a tight call but the referee decided not to go for penalty despite a furious Scottish team and many fans claiming otherwise and it was about to get more murky as while the Scots thought at least a free kick might happen but oddly the referee waved for play on and one could only baffled as how Scotland weren't getting things their way. Things nearly got worse when just five minutes later, Nani while on the counter nearly doubled Portugal's lead when he made a cheeky wave round the Scottish defence and sent keeper McGregor the wrong way but thankfully the ball would go off his boot and Scotland could breath a sigh of relief, but it was all too close to call. Then after a lot of edgy play in which neither seemed willing to try and find that next goal, Scotland would break forward in the sixty-second minute and Leigh Griffiths would dash all the way over towards the penalty box and he, like Snodgrass, would be brought down on the edge of the box by Pepe. Surely this would be a penalty...

Though the referee would act on the tackle by booking Pepe...the Scottish players and supporters in the ground were stunned in which they were awarded a free kick rather than a penalty in which this one was surely more worthy of a call and the howls of jeering raining down from the terraces by the Tartan Army said it all. What on earth was this referee on? Was the game rigged to make sure Ronaldo could get into a final? The good news was that the free kick would be right on the edge of the box and Griffiths went up to take it and came up upon a red wall of bodies in front of him. When the whistle went and rather than send it over the wall, he performed an indirect free kick by crossing it over towards Steven Fletcher who banged in the shot that hit the roof of the net and finally Scotland were back in this game and how so much they had deserved it.

"Move up!" Strachan yells orders for the team to follow
​

That goal for Scotland would really put the wind up in Scotland's sails and they began to torment the Portuguese players pushing them back far more than they had before for pretty much the entire game, however what followed in the next ten minutes or so wasn't really the best part of the game as rather than either side trying to take the lead, the game descended into a bit of a farce with tempers being shown and a lot of bad challenges taking place. To know how rotten the game had gotten in that period of the game, no less than seven yellow cards were shown to Charlie Mulgrew, Darren Fletcher, Kieran Tierney, Matt Richie, William, Adrien and Nani and it looked to be a matter of time until someone would be sent off in this game; question was for whom.

Scott Brown was looking like a uncaged beast baying for blood and it became clear that the moment and all the tension in the game was getting the better of him and with him already on a yellow card, Strachan thought it would be wise to take him off in the seventy-sixth minute and replace him with Barry Bannan and Andy Robertson would be made the new vice-captain in Brown's absence. If you were to ask a Portuguese or Scottish supporter over who was doing better here then they would say their respective side was doing better, but really, it was such a tight game that really it was hard to figure out just who exactly was going to win this game. Then in the seventy-ninth minute, a moment of glory for Scotland in which they were awarded a corner kick and from that, James McArthur would leap up to get his head on the ball out of all the players in the box and he sent that ball flying down into the bottom left and with that, Scotland had suddenly turned the game on it's head!

The roar from the Tartan Army was deafening that might have been heard back in Glasgow given the feeling that goal gave and in some ways (if you were a Scotland fan that is) justice seemed to be delivered after some of the suspicious calls by the referee regarding the penalties. Portugal now tried to bring people forward, but perhaps the most infamous or even unintentionally hilarious part of the game came in the eighty-second minute when Ronaldo went running on the counter but was flagged offside and the star player performed a tantrum showing his frustrations of how the game was falling apart for his team, much to the delight of a now goading Tartan Army how had been hopefully that they could get under the superstar's skin.

McArthur after he scores Scotland's second
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As great as things were, Gordon Strachan was wise not to hand out the cigars just yet as Portugal were baying for blood and try and find someway to drag the game into extra-time and Scotland were now being pushed back in their own half and didn't look like they were going to score anytime soon as Portugal looked the more certain to score. Could the Scots hold on just for a little longer? As it would turn out, as much confidence they had gotten following that goal, with five minutes to go and with perhaps the pressure dawning on them of how close they were to the last four, they looked like a deer in the headlights as they just couldn't seem to get out of their half and things got a little bit more desperate when in that minute, a brutal tackle by Bannan on Nani saw the Scottish player pull something in his leg.

While he was thankfully not booked, he was limping yet called over to the bench telling them not to take him off as he believed he could carry on playing the final five minutes of the match...though that could've been another thirty minutes if Portugal scored to take the game into extra time. That nearly did happen in the eighty-ninth minute when Adrien fired in a volley that came close to goal but hit the very corner of the post and avoided Scotland to have their lead cancelled out. Oh, what a brown trouser moment that was for Scotland! To add to that though, the good news was that time was running out for Portugal in which their supporters were screaming at their team to find a goal soon otherwise they would be out. Five minutes of added time followed and more drama followed for Scotland in which in the second minute of added time, Scotland won a rare counter attack moment from Snodgrass who crossed the ball towards Griffiths who charged in to fire in what he thought would be the third for Scotland.

Oddly the moment of joy turned into confusion as the referee waved off the goal and the Scots couldn't believed at how biased this referee seem to have it in for Scotland, or was just that bad? They couldn't be too sure but the game seemed to go slow as many eyes glanced at the time and fingernails were being bitten into as Scotland were doing everything to hold off Portugal from trying to make a late, late goal. Then from all the roar and chanting in the ground, the referee finally blew for full time and Portugal were out and Scotland had for the first time in many years reached the last four of a major tournament and with this being on the anniversary of their famous Euro '96 run, some fans began to wonder if this was all the stars aligning.

Ronaldo in tears after his side is sent crashing out of Euro 2016 by Scotland
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It had not been a vintage Scottish performance and it had been one hell of a ropey one too in which Scotland nearly blew it but nonetheless they had manged to book their place in the last four and their reward for getting that far would be a mouth-watering clash with another rival, one that had captured the tournament's imagination and had caused problems for Scotland not in their qualifying group for Brazil but for many times over the years that they all knew too well about. They didn't want their French adventure to end and wanting to go all the way to the final, though that might be a little hard when you have something like Garth Bale in your team and who you would have to face off to. For now though, the Scotland players and the Tartan Army celebrated long into the night that their French adventure was going to last a little bit longer...

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And that's that, much like with the old TL, Scotland defeat Portugal here though there are a few tweaks here and there to make it better. I know butterflying Portugal's first major triumph might annoy some of you, mainly if you're Portuguese but if I'll be honest, that team at Euro 2016 was IMO one of the worst sides I ever saw winning a tournament; they were like Argentina 1990 though unlike them, Portugal would actually get a (underserved) happy ending, still, more Ronaldo tantrums is always funny to see. Couldn't get rid of that moment now, could we?

The good thing here though is that we do butterfly away that dreadful game between Poland and Portugal which I remember I was looking forward too yet was utterly bored to tears by it so here we get a somewhat more thrilling game of football. And yes, England still lose to Iceland because as I mentioned before, I didn't want to make this TL a wank fest for the Home Nations and that game is too iconic to be butterflied away so there we are, you have to get a nice balance of a win/lose ratio I'd say. So with that, here are the fixtures for the last four:
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Scotland vs Wales

Germany vs France
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So who will be getting through and how? Find out next time as Scotland and Wales perform a battle of Britain in France!

 

[Unknown]

My picks: Scotland and France...