Football
sport
Share
Group E guide: If Ireland were a club side who would they be?
Published 14:42 13 Jun 2016 BST
Share
Published 14:42 13 Jun 2016 BST
Weak link: Playing Jan Verthongan and Toby Alderweireld, two of the Premier League's best central defenders out of position at full-back is the best we've got. If they are to have a successful tournament, it'll most likely be in spite of their tactically questionable coach Marc Wilmots.
What they hope will happen: Their golden generation will find some consistency and win the competition.
What will happen: Disjointed performances, redeemed by moments of individual brilliance before a quarter-final exit to Germany,
If they were a club side: Paris Saint-Germain. A squad packed full of individual quality who come up short when it counts and led by a tactically dubious coach.
Weak link: Graziano Pelle will start up front. Let's hope the game against Ireland isn't the one game in 12 when he scores.
What they hope will happen: They grind their way to the latter stages of the competition.
What will happen: They won't crash out in the group stages, as they did in the 2014 World Cup, but won't make the final, as they did in Euro 2012. A respectable last-eight appearance seems possible, despite their limitations.
If they were a club side: AC Milan. They used to have squad of household names, but are now a pale imitation of their past teams.
What they hope will happen: Beat Sweden, draw with Italy and get out of the group, thus exercising the demons of four years ago and taking their chances in the knock-out stages.
What will happen: We're optimists, so we're going to refer you to the above sentence.
If they were a club side: O'Neill's Leicester City in the late 1990s. Direct and hard working with a sprinkling of quality, they possess no star players, but have a great team spirit and are capable of causing an upset.
Weak link: Sweden's two man central midfield, featuring 33 year old Kim Kallstrom, could, and hopefully will, be overrun by Ireland's energetic midfield trio.
What they hope will happen: Zlatan's swansong sees them through the group stages and they go from there.
What will happen: A narrow loss to Ireland will be followed by a draw with Italy and a loss to Belgium.
If they were a club side: West Brom... If Zlatan played for West Brom.
Brought to you by Three. #MakeHistory
Football
Football
Football
Quiz: Can you guess these iconic 2000’s World Cup players
Legends galore! The World Cup is thriving! The 2026 North-American edition of the tournament has kicked off and we all have World Cup fever. New legends are set to be born this summer, but can you name some iconic players from the noughties? Let us know how you get on and best of luck!
Football
2 days ago
Quiz: Name all 25 of these obscure 2014 World Cup players
Take a trip back in time… It’s time to cast your mind back to the glorious days of the 2014 Brazil World Cup. Away from the emergence of Neymar Jr, and La Selecao’s heartbreak (7-1) in Belo Horizonte, this tournament was populated by a series of lesser known — but never lesser important — players. […]
Football
3 days ago
Football
Cork City star scores one of the most bizarre solo-goals you’ll ever see
Football
