Tag Archives: Euro 2020
Euro 2020 The Final – England v Italy
So we are close to concluding the 2020 tournament that is being held a year late. Is football coming home or will Italy being say arrivederci with the trophy in their hand luggage? After 50 matches (and 50 blog posts) we are finally at match 51. England & Italy are in a frenzy, Gazza will […]
Euro 2020 Rest Day 7 – Non Qualifiers Greece
Greece shocked the world when they won Euro 2004, beating Portugal in the final in their own backyard. Unsurprisingly that has been the pinnacle of their achievements in international football since, though they have qualified for tournaments since. I love Greece, most especially the islands. Blue skies, azure sea and wonderful food. I’m dreaming now! […]
Euro 2020 Rest Day 5 – Non Qualifiers – Azerbaijan
Yes Azerbaijan were in the European competition but failed to qualify. Indeed Baku was a host city for a few games. A long way to go for a game of football. Baku has some weird & wonderful architecture as the gallery below will testify.
Euro 2020 Rest Day 4 – Non Qualifiers – Luxembourg & Liechtenstein
Luxembourg & Liechtenstein used to be the smallest nations to compete in the Euros that has now expanded to 55 countries. Formed in 1954, UEFA originally consisted of 29 nations. The break ups of the Soviet Union & Yugoslavia expanded the competitor list from 2 to 18 alone (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, […]
Euro 2020 Quarter Final 4 – Ukraine v England
The big one for this Englishman takes place in Rome tonight. Ukraine Lviv is a very agreeable small city in the west of Ukraine, close to the Polish border. We travelled there on a marathon 27-hour train journey from Sevastopol via Simferopol in the Crimea in 2011. It was actually to be a venue city […]
Euro 2020 Quarter Final 3 – Czech Republic v Denmark
The second set of QFs start all the way east in Baku. Czech Republic I have been to Prague nine times, on my own, with friends, with my parents, with a touring jazz band, for business meetings (mixed with leisure) and of course with Mrs Wilbur. I have arrived by train (from Budapest), by coach […]
Euro Match Day 17 – Ukraine v Sweden
The final match of the round of 16 takes place in Glasgow. Ukraine The ex-nuclear submarine base in Balaclava in the Crimea was such a secret that the town of Balaclava did not appear on maps and even the families of engineers, scientists & technicians who worked there had no idea that the base existed! […]
Euro 2020 Match Day 16 – Croatia v Spain
Copenhagen plays host to the first last 16 tie of the day. Croatia On my 2015 Balkans train tour we found ourselves in Ploce. Having left the delights of Split we were hoping for another version of the same to wile away a couple of hours before catching a train to Sarajevo. Instead we found […]
Euro 2020 Match Day 15 – Netherlands v Czech Republic
The last 16 tie takes place in Budapest. 55 ‘European nations’ entered initially including ex-Soviets like Armenia & Kazakhstan, the four UK countries, Israel for political reasons and bizarrely in my opinion Faroe Islands and Gibraltar. What next, Jersey & Yorkshire? Czech Republic I first visited Prague in 1992 when it was part of Czechoslovakia, […]
Euro 2020 Match Day 15 – Belgium v Portugal
This is a match of heavyweights in Seville with both nations amongst the favourites. Belgium The Manneken Pis is the symbol of Brussels and like the Mermaid in Copenhagen and The Mona Lisa in Paris you might be left scratching your head wondering what all the fuss is about. That doesn’t stop crowds of people […]
Wilbur's Travels 