The knockout round starts today, but a group of golf-mad football fans claim to already know the Euro 2020 Quarter Finals line-up – after predicting the scores with “putting penalties”.
And it’s bad news for Welsh football fans.
Craig Fox and friends from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, have played a series of penalty shootouts with their putters on an adjustable Zen Green Stage to recreate the eight forthcoming matches in the Euro 2020s knockout round.
Everything was filmed, and the results are being released on TikTok match-by-match with the hashtag #PuttingPenalties by @zen.golf. On Instagram, the matches can be seen on @zengolfmechanic which is hosted by golf coach Marcus Bell.
Denmark v Wales, which takes place for real in Amsterdam later today, can be seen on TikTok now. Spoiler alert: the Danes will triumph 1-0, according to Fox and his friends.
“With Paul the octopus no longer with us, we dreamt up the #PuttingPenalties game to predict results instead” he said. “Sorry Welsh football fans – it could be a tough watch later today!”
The #PuttingPenalties result of today’s second match, Italy v Austria, will be released later this morning.
In #PuttingPenalties, golfers go head-to-head with five putts, staged two paces from the hole. The first putt is straight, followed by left-to-right break, right-to-left break, straight uphill, and straight downhill.
If the scores are tied after five, golfers play sudden-death at one pace further back.
“Because the Zen Green Stage can change slopes within seconds, each match took just a couple of minutes and the pressure is actually scary” said Fox.
“We’re hoping that golfers around the world will now enjoy #PuttingPenalties for themselves!”
See www.zengreenstage.com to discover more about the Zen Green Stage.