Day 8 Recap

Men- Portugal vs. Norway- 5-1 Portugal. Group C, with a history of being a crazy group, lives up to that history. Portugal destroyed Norway in every aspect of the game. Now we have Scotland, Germany, Portugal, Norway, and possibly even Poland in the mix to make it out. Italy can't seem to put anything together to get a win. Early on, it didn't look like Portugal would do any damage in the group, but now it's clear they are no joke. Norway, however continued its rapid decent down the group. They played so well against Germany, and it's a shame they can't continue that success. No team is this group is guaranteed to make it out. This coming weekend will be a must-watch weekend for every game in this group. It makes my head hurt just trying to figure out which teams will make it out.

Youth- Ukraine vs. Canada- 3-0 Ukraine.

Men- Northern Ireland vs. Greece- 5-1 Northern Ireland. NI is normally a defensive team, relying on 1 or 2 goals to win games. Greece is normally a defensive team as well, and prides itself on making it very hard for strikers to get a shot off on net. This game was anything but normal. Greece was noticeably less fired up for this game than their games against Ireland and Jamaica. Northern Ireland was surprisingly offensive, putting two quick goals in the net. Greece became very deflated, and seemed to come to terms with the fact they won't make it through to the playoffs. Northern Ireland definitely still has a chance, but must rely on Jamaica losing to both ROI and Canada. They'll have to beat Canada as well. Greece, while playing valiantly in their first two games, lacked the intensity in this one, but hopefully we'll see them exit the tournament with a strong showing in their last game.

Men- Laos vs. Saudi Arabia- 2-1 Laos. Laos was put the test by arguably the strongest team in their group(besides them). Laos played very well, and are a lock for first in their group. They didn't dominate the game, but they certainly looked like the better team. Leading 1-0 most of the game, they put in a second goal in the middle of the last half. Saudi Arabia was able to get one back soon after, and was really putting on the pressure at the end. Still, Laos deserved the win and got it.