Heading into the tournament England were the heavy favorites to win Group B, with their tiny neighbor Wales being seen as a dark horse. There were some who doubted Wales though, with many thinking they were just Gareth Bale and 10 other players. After England’s last minute win over Wales last week, England were in the driver seat to win the group. However, with the 24 team format, four points could be enough to get a third place team through, meaning a draw would be all Slovakia needed. Slovakia came out playing for a draw and England were unable to break them down, sending Wales to the top of the group.
1) Biggest winner: Wales
Wales hadn’t qualified for a major tournament in over 50 years so not many expected them to get out of the group stage when they finally did. The fact that the four best third place teams would go through gave them some hope, but no one expected them to top the group. Yet that’s exactly what happened, coming into their final match with three points, Wales strolled to an easy 3-0 win, and with England and Slovakia playing to a 0-0 draw, Wales comes out with the top spot in Group B.
2) Standout performer: Gareth Bale (Wales)
I only have so many eyes so once Wales had their game in the balance my attention was mainly focused on England and Slovakia. That game had zero standout performers, so we’re giving it to Gareth Bale after he scored his first goal from open play. The goal also has made him the leading scorer in the tournament, meaning he’ll be taking a lot of bragging rights over Cristiano Ronaldo back to the Real Madrid dressing room.
3) Biggest loser: Famous people
If you haven’t heard by now, whenever Aaron Ramsey scores, it seems that a famous person dies within the next three days. Famous people should be on high alert over the next few days as Ramsey netted the first goal for Wales today.
4) Best tweet
Two tweets today, both about Wales.
One man team? #Wales now have four different scorers in #EURO2016 #Ymlaen #Cymru
— Wyre Davies (@WyreDavies) June 20, 2016
https://twitter.com/davisjsn/status/744989709198303232
5) Biggest surprise: England making six changes and falling flat
It was a little bit surprising that Roy Hodgson dropped nearly every Spurs player in his team, except Eric Dier, and replaced them with nearly every Liverpool player as well as every player who might blow out a hamstring at any moment. It wasn’t surprising that the team he picked fell flat on their face. Going into the tournament we knew England’s strength was their first XI, but after that, their reserves left a lot to be desired. When Roy decided to start most of his reserves, the result was pretty predictable.
6) Worst moment: Every England set piece
England’s team is made up entirely of professional football players who play in the English Premier League, one of the best and most competitive leagues in the world. Therefore you would think one of the guys on the team would know how to deliver a set piece. That wasn’t the case though as it seemed like every England set piece went straight into the first defender.
7) Best goal: Neil Taylor (Wales)
Left back Neil Taylor was simply the last piece of the puzzle. Taylor specifically didn’t do anything tremendous on the goal but this was a great team goal. One of those goals that starts from good defending at the back, moves quickly through the midfield and then gets a killer final ball before the finish.
8) Tuesday’s games
The action continues Tuesday as we wrap up both Group C and D. It starts at noon when Germany take on Northern Ireland in Paris (ESPN), and the Ukraine battle Poland at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille (ESPN2). Then at three, Group D concludes with Spain vs. Croatia in Bordeaux (ESPN) and the Czech Republic vs. Turkey from Lens (ESPN2).
