Do you know who is a liar? Garfield. Yes the lasagne eating cat is an absolute liar as he always told us that Mondays were rubbish. Well this Monday was an absolute belter.
The tone was set as we started the day with plenty of drama and goals as Croatia took on Spain. This one looked like it could be a potential standout and it didn’t disappoint.
We started the proceedings with yet another comedy own goal from a goalkeeping mistake. Unai Simon failed to deal with a back pass and watched as the ball bounced over his foot and into the corner of the net. Listen, I think goalkeepers at all levels have conceded this goal at some point so I did have a tinge of sympathy for him, after I stopped laughing of course.
It was now up to Spain to show they have what it takes to respond and get back into the game and in fairness it was a pretty good response. Pablo Sarabia Smashed home an equaliser before half time and the Croats lead only last 18 minutes.
Into the second half it looked like Spain had turned the corner and put the tie to bed when Cesar Azpilicueta headed Spain in front just before the hour and Ferran Torres added a third with less than 15 minutes to go to surely settle it.
Credit to Croatia as they never gave up and set up a smashing finish when Mislav Orsic managed to just bundled the ball over the line after a good fashioned stramash in the six yard box. Then a stunning head two minutes into added on time from Mario Pasali sent the game to extra time.
Unfortunately, Croatia couldn’t keep their momentum going and Spain finally put the game to bed with two goals in the first period of extra time through Alvaro Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal.
They are such a good side to watch Croatia, really hard to dislike. Technically they are superb and can give just about anyone a game. They have the spirit and character to do the gritty side of the game too. Just a truly fun team to watch. They will be missed.
As for Spain, what can you say about them? They recovered from a pretty horrendous opening game and have scored 11 goals in their last three. You wouldn’t have them up there to win the the thing though would you? Maybe we should start reconsidering that.
Well then, to France vs Switzerland. What do you even say about this game? I have just finished watching it and I am absolutely exhausted. This was one of those matches that just confirms why we love this game so much.
To start with, Switzerland were excellent in the first half and through deserved the lead when Haris Seferovic headed them in front after just 15 minutes. France simply failed to turn up but you were expecting a reaction after the break.
But what if the reaction came too late? It certainly looked like that might be the case when Switzerland were awarded a penalty. Ricardo Rodríguez Stepped up to put his team 2-0 up and Hugo Lloris saved. Four minutes later, France would be in front.
Karim Benzema with a stunning touch at the edge of the box to create the chance for himself and when they were just staring 2-0 in the face, France were now level. But not for long, another two minutes passed and Benzema is free at the back post and France now lead 2-1. Unbelievable.
Much like Spain earlier on, it looked like France had found their rhythm and had wrapped things up with a stunning goal form Paul Pogba. Not sure what to make about the celebration but after you score a goal like that you can do what you want I suppose. And besides, it wasn’t like France were going to lose the game and make him look really silly after that…right?
With nine minutes to go, France were looking comfortable and Switzerland were rapidly approaching the exit door. Hope was found when Seforvic headed home his second after a Kevin Mbabu cross, not the Rangers connection we were wanting in this game (Hi Ced) but we will take it.
It looked like the Swis might be robbed of their moment when a late equaliser was ruled to be narrowly offside. However, Mario Gavranovic grabbed his opportunity and his last minute goal sent us to extra time.
There were a few decent chances for France in extra time, but let’s be honest, we were all hoping for penalties. Our wish was granted and this game was to be decided by a penalty shootout.
Nine perfect penalties were taken as Kylian Mbappe stepped up to take the tenth and keep France in the tournament. Surely not him, he wasn’t going to be the one that missed? He was. Yan Sommer pulled off the save and after doing a David Marshall (the other one) esq check he ran off celebrating with teammates.
France are out.
The favourites, the world champions are done. All credit to the Swis tonight though, because they deserved this. I described them as last 16 fodder and I’ll happily hold my hands up tonight and say I was wrong.
Before I go. If you have any friends who missed tonight to watch tennis or, God forbid, Love Island make sure they know all about it. What a night, football eh?
