Rousseau

Next up, Zlatan!

I think we all expect Spain to be better because of the perception around them, but in fact many teams know how to set up against them now. Czech's were quite solid -- as I suspect most teams will be against Spain -- with Spain only getting their goal 4 minutes before the end.

Yes, Bearman, you were one of three that got full points this game, along with rbr and dB! Latest table: IFRAME Not Available. Direct Link to Spreadsheet.

We've got a few decent games today. Spain enter the action with a match against Czech Republic. While the Czech's may not have the star names of old, they have some decent players, like Cech, Darida, Rosicky, Necid etc. Not the highest scoring team, but they did well to win their qualifying group that included Netherlands, Iceland and Turkey -- the latter two have both qualified too. Spain are Spain; an abundance of quality, but perhaps not at the same level as a few years ago. We have the entrance of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, as Ireland take on Sweden. Both are distinctly average sides, but Zlatan is most certainly the best player on show. There is never a dull moment with Zlatan. Zlatan Facts: [tweet]742024431179026433[/tweet] [tweet]734392778147418112[/tweet] [tweet]731877076429619202[/tweet] [tweet]702975301232496640[/tweet] [tweet]599614510819897345[/tweet] And, finally, a tasty tie between Belgium and Italy. It looks to be quite an even contest. Belgium have an unreal squad of players, and Italy are always a solid threat -- although perhaps don't have the squad they once did.

Turkey-Croatia was a low scoring game, with a almost 50/50 split between those that got the result wrong and correct. Trublusince1982 was the only one to get full points! The Poland-N. Ireland game seemed to stump us, with the majority correctly predicting the result, but none correctly predicting the score -- Northern Ireland were perhaps more defensively sound than we expected. The Germany-Ukraine game, in contrast, saw everyone bar one correctly predicting the German win, with 9 correctly predicting the correct score. Latest table: IFRAME Not Available. Direct Link to Spreadsheet.

12 of us got a Correct Result, but only Trublusince1982 got a Correct Score gaining full points! Latest standings: IFRAME Not Available. Direct Link to Spreadsheet.

Yes, you're the only one! 6 of us wanting another Croatia goal. Ahh... FT, 0-1.

I'm really enjoying listening to Slaven Bilic. What a guy! Interesting talk about the way in which Croatia produces youngsters. Croatia only has 4.5 million population, yet produce good, technical players on a regular basis. The current squad is really quite impressive. Slaven is suggesting it's because they are playing regularly in the Croatian Premier League at a very young age, so they have over 100 appearances by the time they are 21. 4.5 million is similar to Scotland, so perhaps someone should be taking notice?

I'm looking forward to seeing Croatia; I quite fancy them as a dark-horse.

Thanks blueflag! Embedding the spreadsheet directly is sooo much easier.

Albania-Switzerland was a high scoring series of predictions, with all but 3 predicting correctly. Germinal, Whosthedado, buster., trublusince1982 and myself getting a correct score. Wales-Slovakia was low scoring, with all predicting incorrectly apart from compo, BEARGER and Whosthedado correctly predicting the correct result. No one correctly predicted the score!? England-Russia was low scoring for the majority, but a few gaining full points. BEARGER and Bearman correctly predicted a draw, but not the correct score. rbr, Little General, Whosthedado, Yorkshire Bear and Germinal correctly predicted the score to gain full points. I concur with Blueflag: I hope Whosthedado's been placing side bets, because you've correctly predicted the result 4 times out of 4, and correctly predicted the score 3 times out of 4!! Sorry Craig, but the Mrs is having a shocker! The table as it stands: IFRAME Not Available. Direct Link to Spreadsheet.

There are a few of you in the same position!

Oh no! It's 1-1! Wales look really under pressure now.

Slovakia seem a little route-one, which is strange with someone like Weiss in the side. I must admit, I'm enjoying the Ref's attitude thus far in the tournament: they are letting 50/50's go quite often which is allowing the games to flow more.

1-0 Wales! Bale free-kick!

It's a tricky one. I did, but it is dependent on Bale and the service to him.

Slovakia just missed a sitter -- cleared off the line! Don't know how it stayed out!?

Wales and Slovakia just kicked-off. Vladimir Weiss on show for Slovakia. I've not seen much of Weiss, but I've noticed he was the top of the assist chart in Qualifying. Bale plays for Wales.

-1 for being a smart arse. [TABLE=width: 300] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]Player[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]P[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]CR[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]CS[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]Pts[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]Whosthedado[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]8[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]Germinal[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]7[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]Rousseau[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]1[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]5[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]buster.[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]1[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]5[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]trublusince1982[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]1[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]5[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]compo[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]1[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]1[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]4[/TD][/TR] [/TABLE]

I'll post a proper table tomorrow after the other games, but thus far it's: [TABLE=width: 300] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]Player[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]P[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]CR[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]CS[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]Pts[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]Whosthedado[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]8[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]Germinal[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]8[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]Rousseau[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]1[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]5[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]buster.[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]1[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]5[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]trublusince1982[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]1[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]5[/TD][/TR] [TR][TD=class: xl65, width: 64, align: center]compo[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]2[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]1[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]1[/TD][TD=class: xl66, width: 64, align: center]4[/TD][/TR] [/TABLE] The rest are on 2 points, with Little General on 1, and SBS and Mrs Craig on 0... Sorry Craig.

4 lovely prediction league points! Likewise Whosthedado and Germinal who've already got 4 in the first game! And trublu and buster. FT 0-1.

Albania down to 10-men after their captain makes a last-ditch block with the arm, but still only 0-1 down. Switzerland just smacked the post from the resulting free-kick.

Everybody wants a Limited Edition Gersnet Polo shirt! Mrs Craig has been added to the roster. What are her predictions?

I was a little disappointed with the friendly way in which the players greeted each other in the tunnel, but the fans are really amping up the tension with several players being booed and some hard tackles already. My 0-1 prediction looks tame, as it looks like there will be several goals. The Swiss look good. Both look shaky at the back.

I would like to know the context of this comment, but yes, he should be doing his talking on the pitch.