Euro 2016: Winners and Losers from Friday's Qualifiers
An entertaining evening of Euro 2016 qualifiers threw up its usual doses of elation, joy, misery and surprise—and not in even portions, either.
Wales conquered Belgium 1-0 in Cardiff to go top of Group B by three points and put one foot in the finals, while Iceland did the same by defeating Czech Republic 2-1 in Reykjavik. Italy drew 1-1 with Croatia in the evening's other prime tie.
Here, B/R picks its winners and losers from the action.
Loser: Robin van Persie, the Netherlands
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Often, when a player can't find form or fortune at club level, he can use the national side to escape reality. It's a tonic players such as Radamel Falcao have used over the last few years to keep themselves sane.
But for Robin van Persie, it's going wrong on every level. Not only are there mutterings of his leaving Manchester United, per the Daily Star, but his international career could be in jeopardy, too.
As Dutch football writer Elko Born noted, patience must be wearing thin with him; he's failed to impact in a positive way of late, and his replacement in the Netherlands' 2-0 win over Latvia, Georginio Wijnaldum, scored inside 60 seconds of coming on.
Winner: Gareth Bale, Wales
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Gareth Bale scored his fifth goal of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, and the relief on his face was plain to see.
It's been a difficult season for him at Real Madrid, as the capital press has made him a scapegoat of sorts at times. But this, a goal for his country in such critical circumstances, could be the reawakening of a beast.
Spurred on by the goal and the confidence it brought, Bale ran at Belgium's hesitant defence and caused them all sorts of issues. Radja Nainggolan, the man who made an error to gift Bale his goalscoring chance, shrunk from superlative to shocking in the space of five minutes.
Loser: Marc Wilmots, Belgium
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As fantastic as Wales were in their 1-0 defeat of Belgium—and they truly were wonderful; blocking, harassing, doggedly defending and then taking their one big chance—the Red Devils were extremely underwhelming.
What's more, this isn't a new development.
Marc Wilmots should be under serious pressure after another flat performance. His side have never really clicked under his stewardship, and he's failed to get the best out of an absurdly talented team over the last three years.
There was once a time where Wilmots' calming nature, in addition to his genuine World Cup pedigree, was the moulding gel Belgium badly craved. Now, it feels as though they've outgrown him by several degrees.
The Red Devils will qualify for Euro 2016 with ease, but as the tournament creeps closer, the football association might just ponder a change. They'll be expected to challenge for the trophy in France in 2016, but the performances aren't stacking up.
Winner: Kolbeinn Sigthorsson and Iceland
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Kolbeinn Sigthorsson scored a 76th-minute winner in Iceland's critical 2-1 victory over Czech Republic in Reykjavik on Friday. The victory lifts the northern European nation onto 15 points and sees them leapfrog the team they beat.
Iceland came oh-so close to qualifying for the FIFA World Cup 2014, losing the play-off to Croatia, and their topping of Group A after six games proves they've continued to build, improve and progress.
Meanwhile, Sigthorsson's personal tally for his country stands at 29 games, 17 goals. Not bad.
Loser: 'Naive' Italy
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"I think we put in a good performance with character and courage. I am happy, but we know there’s work to be done," manager Antonio Conte told Rai Sport (h/t Football Italia) after Italy's 1-1 draw with Croatia.
That's the nice way of putting it, at least.
Italy met a strong Croatia side in an empty stadium in Split—a punishment for a previous racial incident—and sans Luka Modric, Croatia's best player. Yet Italy still failed to win and even had to ask Gianluigi Buffon to save an early penalty from Mario Mandzukic after Davide Astori's blunder.
Conte went on to describe his side as "naive," and again, that's the nice way of putting it. Stephan El Shaarawy scored a legitimate goal early on, but the referee didn't give it; as the Azzurri players protested and complained, the Vatreni played to the whistle, surged down the other end and Mandzukic netted.
