Wales qualify top of group B

Well, I thought that Wales would turn over Russia but this was total annihilation from Chris Coleman’s team. Wales absolutely purred throughout the evening and the result flattered Russia – who were as predicted diabolical.

Quite how England failed to beat them is a mystery given how negative they are. Overall a great end to a bizarre group where nothing obeyed the laws of transitivity. England on the other hand again had the majority of the game, but failed to put Slovakia away.

Wales fans shielding their eyes from the sun in Toulouse

Wales v Russia

Before the nerves of qualifying from Group B could even settle, Wales found themselves 1-0 up from a fantastic goal from Caerphilly’s finest – Aaron Ramsey. From that point Wales never looked back and Russia looked like they’d been knocked out in the first round. Before you knew it it was 2-0 thanks to a rare foray into the box from Neil Taylor – courtesy of Gareth Bale. In the second half Bale finished it off with a superbly timed run and a calm finish to cue pandemonium in Toulouse. Hats of to Wales and Chris Coleman – incredible.

For Russia, their next competitive games will be in Russia in the 2018 World Cup – they have an extremely long path to travel before then – as they were the worst team I have seen in a long time.

Slovakia v England

With the early goals from Wales, England’s qualification from Group B wasn’t really doubt, but they spurned a golden opportunity to finish top of the group. On the night, the six changes proved too much and England failed to click in the final third and the delivery was always off. The full-back changes didn’t deliver the same level of quality, I wasn’t aware Wilshere was even playing until the 40th minute, Henderson is a poor man’s Milner (and that is saying something). Despite the quality upfront, they didn’t control midfield.

If anything, at least this clarifies what the England team should be going forward. Disappointing, but still through – much better than Brazil 2014!

Results and Leaderboard

Back to the competition, tonight saw the conclusion of Round 3, where we crown Dean Goold with our yellow cap with an impressive 11.5 points. That see’s Dean up into second place behind Russ Pearce who has battled back into first. Third is David Matthewson. Don’t forget your picks for Round 4…