Round of 16: Belgium v Portugal (in Seville, Spain)

[Magrat Garlick]

Kickoff 27 June, 21.00 CET/8pm BST

H2H (competitive): Belgium 3, drawn 3, Portugal 2 - first meeting in a finals tournament, Belgium has not beaten Portugal since 1989
Euro history: Belgium finalists 1980, semifinals 1972; Portugal champions 2016, finalists 2004, semifinals 3 times

Winner plays winner of Italy v Austria, in Munich, Germany

 

[DriveClub]

This is a spicy one, portugal has an advantage in defence I think but a close one to call

 

[Uppercut]

That tackle on De Bruyne is the perfect example of a foul that should definitely be a red, but currently isn’t.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

I don't dislike Lee Dixon, but he does always rather sound like he's directing mourners at a funeral.

 

[Furball]

Should be a red for Pepe.

 

[grecian]

Pepe doing Pepe things.

 

[Furball]

This ref is ****ing at it.

 

[GIMH]

Should be a red for Pepe.

Nah

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Not going far enough. Pepe should get a precautionary red in minute 1 of every match

 

[sledger]

Well that was quite fun

 

[Pothas]

Roy Keane obviously never missed the target once in his career.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Well that was quite fun

Yeah, enjoyed that. Was rooting for a late equaliser not due to any particular affiliation with Portugal, just fancied some extra time.

 

[sledger]

I wanted them to score as well, but then again, Pepe losing is always good so

 

[BoyBrumby]

Roy Keane obviously never missed the target once in his career.

Ha, quite. Renowned for his goalscoring, the mad Mick.

I'm kinda missing the unabomber/artisanal hipster twot beard he was sporting for the first round of group games though. Suited his whole mental/scary/unhinged schtick.

 

[sledger]

He's one of these people who's generally very entertaining to listen to, but one you enjoy it turning off as much as hearing from

 

[Uppercut]

I thought Belgium looked really quite poor, gave up an awful lot of chances without creating anything at all on the counter. Like an illustration of how not to manage a game you’re winning and get away with it.

But I suppose Portugal are good enough that it doesn’t matter how you beat them.

 

[DriveClub]

Portugal had couple of good chances that they should've put away especially the one earlier on which jota kicked wide

 

[Furball]

Nah

Forearm smash to the head with intent. How is that not dangerous?

 

[wpdavid]

Forearm smash to the head with intent. How is that not dangerous?

Especially when compared to the Harry Wilson foul that saw him red carded; I'm tempted to suggest that Wilson's just a softer target than Pepe. I think that Pepe's foul was also after the whistle had gone for a foul elsewhere on the pitch, so it was basically assault for it's own sake. Last night's game was fun in a sort of retro early 1980s way, and clearly the ref had completely lost control long before the final whistle. I'm not sure that Belgium deserved to win but I'm happy enough that they did. The Lukaku/Ronaldo embrace and chat at the end of the game was good to see.

 

[GIMH]

Forearm smash to the head with intent. How is that not dangerous?

I'll have to watch it again because I genuinely remember it differently.