THE Euro 2016 group stages ended with a bang as England just about dodged a Cristiano Ronaldo showdown and late goals have been the story of the tournament.
Iceland’s late winner against Austria meant the Three Lions will take on the smallest nation in the competition for a spot in the last eight.
A video of some brilliant Icelandic commentary has been doing the rounds since but let’s just hope they aren’t as cheerful on Monday night.
With more spots in the knockout rounds and the emergence of some of the ‘weaker’ sides at the tournament, late goals have been plentiful meaning betting in play has been a minefield.
The most important for England was of course Daniel Sturridge’s last-gasp winner against Wales but Roy Hodgson’s men had been on the receiving end in the first game against Russia.
Despite having chance after chance, the Russians, who were little threat in the first 90 minutes of the match, equalised in stoppage time and that ultimately led England to finishing second in the group and leaving us in the tougher side of the draw.
Jamie Vardy and Sturridge have given the side something different since their introductions against Wales and Vardy could well be the ace up Hodgson’s sleeve.
If you do fancy England to go all the way, or any other of the home nations for that matter, you can check out prices for particular games with Euro 2016 odds for betting at William Hill site.
Joint-favourites France, of course, needed the mercurial Dimitri Payet to bail them out on opening night against Romania.
Had the West Ham man not netted his stunning strike in the 89th minute, who knows how the French would have reacted under increasing pressure from the home crowd?
As we enter the knockout stages of Euro 2016, games will be as tight, if not more so, than in the group stages.
In-play betting is such a big thing for punters now that finding value in these games may be hard. Whatever the results, it looks as if we’re in for a thrilling few weeks of football.
