Euro 2020(1) Semifinal Day 1 – Italy Edge Spain on Penalties, Plus England-Denmark Preview

I did pick Italy to win yesterday, but I did not think it would be as close as it was. Indeed, Spain did an excellent job today against the Italians in terms of disrupting their normal tactics, but Italy showed a real resiliency as the match wore on.

The first half was goalless but based on possession and chances created, you would say that Spain were the better side. They took a page out of Italy’s book and decided to incorporate more pressing into their normal possession-based tactics. Spain played the same as they always do when they were on the ball, which is to spring some passes together in midfield and eventually move the ball up to the edge of the box. They tried to work several openings free in the first half, with attacking midfielder Dani Olmo looking very lively. His dribbling and passing was causing the Italians problems, but they always managed to get a final block in.

The most notable aspect of their press though was when they went at Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. He normally likes to play it short to one of his defenders when it comes to clearing the ball or taking a goal kick, but he could not do that today due to Spain’s forwards playing tight to the defenders. That forced Donnarumma into longer passes up the pitch, something he clearly was not comfortable doing today. Spain fashioned several half-chances using this method of pressing, but while they did not score this also prevented Italy from growing into the game and creating their own chances.

I have to say that in the first half, the epic battle in the midfield was won by Spain. Sergio Busquets and Pedri were dominating the middle, and Spain manager Luis Enrique deployed midfielder Koke (CO-kay) to man- mark Italian midfield general Marco Veratti. When Veratti is allowed time on the ball he can play some devastating passes to his teammates, but with Koke constantly harassing him, he never really found time on the ball to makes those passes. The same could be said for Italy’s defensive midfielder Jorginho. When he was on the ball, Busquets and others were always on him quickly so he could not find an outlet pass. This resulted in Spain winning possession much more frequently than Italy would have liked.

Despite Spain being the better team, the Italians went ahead on the hour mark after a now-familiar error in the Spanish defense. Italy hit them on a counter-attack, and a slick backheel from striker Ciro Immobile found Federico Chiesa on the left-sided edge of the penalty box. Spain didn’t have many men back and failed to clear the pass. Chiesa launched a shot at goal, and it found the top corner of the net. The positioning of the defenders and the angle of the shot did not give Chiesa a lot to aim for, but he put the ball probably in the one place it stood a chance of going in. Misery for Spain as they had been the better team. With a 1-0 lead fairly late on in the game, I figured the Italians would shithouse the rest of the match and escape with the win.

All credit to Spain though, as they kept fighting and created several good chances in an effort to equalize. Mikel Oyarzabal was guilty of missing a gilt-edged chance when he missed making contact with a cross by a matter of centimeters. Spain were rewarded for their efforts though 20 minutes later when Olmo found himself in a good position with the ball on the edge of the Italian penalty box. He played a lovely 1-2 with substitute striker Alvaro Morata, who exorcised some of his earlier tournament demons by finishing along the ground from close range. No chance for Donnarumma, and we had ourselves a semifinal.

There weren’t many further chances in normal time, and it ended 1-1 after 90 minutes. The same pattern of play continued in extra time, with Spain probably being the better of the two sides but stalwart Italian defending kept them out. It was just incredibly crowded in the box every time Spain got close, and that made it very difficult to have time for a shot. Italy sometimes broke out and attempted to hit Spain on the counter, but some tired legs and timely challenges from Spain kept it 1-1. Penalties were needed.

Football is such a fickle sport, and penalties are the most fickle part. Both sides missed their first respective penalty, with Olmo and substitute Manuel Locatelli both missing. That would be the last penalty the Italians would miss though. It stayed tied until Morata stepped up on the 3rd penalty for Spain and hit a rather tame effort low and to Donnarumma’s left. Donnarumma made the correct choice with his dive, and he saved Morata’s effort. Jorginho then took the decisive fourth penalty, and he showed some real ice in his veins by calmly sending Spain keeper Unai Simon the wrong way with his shot. The Italians stormed the field having won, and Spain were left to wonder what could have been.

Commiserations to Spain. They were the better team on the day, but Italy has been the best team this tournament. Italy showed an ability to adapt today that only elite-level teams have. They completely changed their usual tactics and still managed to execute the game plan almost to perfection. That’s very difficult to do in the middle of a tournament. They deserve a lot of credit, with manager Roberto Mancini deserving in particular. You have to feel also that a lack of finishing, both today and throughout the tournament, was a major problem for the Spanish. Morata did well to finish his chance, but they had several other opportunities to score today that they did not cash-in on. I do hope that the idiots on social media do not blame Morata for this loss. It’s not on him, at least not solely. Yes he should have done better with his penalty, but this is a team sport. Spain could have helped him out a lot more today by scoring other chances, and had they done so penalties might not have even been necessary.

Italy will play in the Euro 2020(1) final at Wembley next Sunday, July 11. They await the winner of England/Denmark. Whoever they play, it will be very difficult to beat them. They don’t quit, they have a lot of talent, and they know how to manage different scenarios well.

England vs. Denmark – Preview

Noon (PDT) at Wembley tomorrow. 60,000 fans are expected to fill Wembley to 3/4 capacity and the atmosphere should be electric.

Denmark

Denmark came into the semis as the lowest-ranked remaining team, but they don’t care about that. Not at all. England have played against more talented teams this tournament, but I am not sure we have played a team quite like Denmark so far. That is not to say they are without talent – indeed they have players who ply their trades in the top divisions across Europe, including the Premier League. What I mean is that this is a team that truly believes it is a team of destiny, and it’s hard to argue against that point. Yes they lost their two opening group games, but they have shown a resilience and team spirit in this tournament that vastly makes up for their lack of superstar talent. This is a team on a “Cinderella run” in every sense of the phrase. They are playing for Christian Eriksen, and that kind of motivation is impossible to duplicate. Denmark actually won the Euros back in 1992 and they were a “Cinderella” team back then as well, but they haven’t really come close to winning it again since then. This is the most unified and determined team left at this tournament, and that unity and determination gives them a strong sense of confidence in themselves.

It could be argued that the Danes have had an “easy” path so far, seeing off Wales in the Round of 16 and then the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. That take is slightly disrespectful to those two other countries, but when you consider that the Swiss had to beat France and England had to beat Germany, you get the sense that the draw has been kinder to them than to other teams. The last time the Danes lost was to Belgium in the group stage, a team with an actual degree of quality about them. Yes the Danes scored first but they conceded two after that as they were not capable of dealing with the technical abilities of Kevin De Bruyne. Sometimes, an overwhelming amount of talent is really the only thing that can beat a stubborn defensive unit.

The Danes do have some talented attacking players, and I think tomorrow they will use their speedier players to try and break out quickly and hit England on the counter-attack. I don’t think they have the talent in midfield to hold possession against England for long spells, so the counter and opportunities from set pieces will be key. They scored four in a knockout match earlier this tournament in the Round of 16 against Wales, so they are capable of getting goals when they need to.

Players to Watch: Youseff Poulsen, Mikkel Damsgaard, Joakim Mæhle, Kasper Dolberg, Simon Kjær, Kasper Schmeichel 

Side note on Schmeichel: he is a Premier League winning goalkeeper with Leicester City and is the son of one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time: Peter Schmeichel. It was Peter who helped the Danes to glory in 1992, and now his son is trying to do the same thing! It’s a great story, and while Kasper is probably not quite as good as his father, he definitely has the ability to morph into a brick wall on a given day. Harry Maguire and probably a few other England players will be fully aware of his talents, having played both with and against him. Kasper perhaps was a tad braggadocios today by making jokes about the phrase “it’s coming home” in his media interview, and I hope England players saw that. People in the media or online coming with banter is one thing, but it’s completely different when an opposition player is saying something. Perhaps could serve as a motivation to England’s forwards. Speaking of!

England

England, both the team and that nation, are positively rocking right now. The match against Ukraine was the best I have seen this team play in a tournament probably ever. We hadn’t scored 4 goals in a tournament knockout match since 1966, and we will have a distinct home advantage at Wembley. 95+% of the fans in attendance will be supporting England, and I expect every single one of them to be in full throat for all 90 minutes.

Given that the best way to beat Denmark appears to be to overwhelm them with attacking talent, I suggest England does that very thing. Manager Gareth Southgate doesn’t need to change the lineup much or if at all, as the most important thing will be an aggressive approach. The entire game plan can be summed up in one two words: aggression, ruthlessness. We need to come out and be ruthless from the get-go, and if we can score another early goal it will get us a long way to the final. The longer it stays 0-0, the more confident Denmark will feel. We need to be on the ball, dribbling with the ball, and making forward runs. When we are not on the ball, I would like to see England constantly haranguing the Danes and trying to win the ball high up the pitch. No matter who is on the pitch for us, they need to be playing with unrelenting aggression and ruthlessness. Even if the Danes can withstand it for the first 45 minutes, they will eventually tire. Once again, you can expect England’s depth of talent on the bench to factor in heavily if things are not going our way.

Denmark’s defense has been “good enough” this whole tournament. They’re doing enough to win matches, but I do not think Denmark will be able to keep England at bay for 90 minutes. They have conceded at least 1 goal in every match they’ve played in so far except for one. England were dangerous from both set pieces and open play in the match against Ukraine, and we have proven to be exceptionally efficient at crossing the ball over the top. Most of our goals this tournament have come from crosses over the top. The wingers and full backs, in particular Luke Shaw, have been nothing short of incredible.

We are the first team in the history of the Euros not to concede a goal in their first five matches. Jordan Pickford looks locked to win the Golden Gloves for fewest goals conceded. The back line communicates well with each other and we have the athleticism at the back to keep up with anyone. As good as we are at heading the ball in for goals, we are equally as good at heading them away from goal when defending. Denmark’s best chances for a goal will probably come from set pieces, so alertness and concentration will be vital when those inevitably happen.

This match is England’s to lose. Having said that, it would be very English of us to come this far and do this well only to falter in the semis. I must say though, it feels different this time. I hope that line doesn’t come back to bit me in the ass, but it really does. The draw has been somewhat kind to us as well after beating Germany, and we must take advantage. The stars will not align like this for England again.

Players to Watch: Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, Jadon Sancho, Shaw, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Marcus Rashford, Mason Mount

No prediction because of course not, I’m not stupid.

Euro 2020(1) – Quarterfinals Day 2 – Danish Delight and England Dominance!

The second matchday of quarterfinals saw Denmark take on Czech Republic in Baku, Azerbaijan while England were drawn against Ukraine in Rome, Italy in the night fixture.

Once again, this post is primarily going to be about England. I will not apologize.

Denmark vs. Czech Republic

I won’t dwell on this too much but I must note that I hated the location this match was played in. Azerbaijan isn’t even in Europe geographically but because the country paid UEFA a lot of money and has loose COVID restrictions, they got to host a European Championships quarterfinal. Never mind the extra travel for the teams, a poor atmosphere for fans, or the warmer temperatures; there’s money to be made! Greedy bastards.

As for the match itself, Denmark controlled the first half by a considerable margin and are still clearly playing like a team possessed. They have some talent in their side but what’s really pushing them through is the desire to play well for Christian Eriksen, their still-sidelined teammate that gave the world quite a scare when he collapsed on the pitch in the opening match.

Denmark scored from a corner in the opening 5 minutes when defensive midfielder Thomas Delaney found himself unmarked and headed past Czech goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik from about 14 yards out. The header was a low bouncer with power on it that look easy to stop for a keeper but I can assure you they are probably among the hardest shots to stop. The rest of the half was the Czechs trying to keep possession and the Danes hitting them on the counter attack. They looked dangerous every time the ball broke their way, and the Danes also did well to win it high up the pitch and create chances that way. The Danes second was a real work of art, primarily the final pass from left back Joakim Mæhle. He hit an absolutely delicious cross with the outside of his right foot into the box, which was inch-perfect for striker Kasper Dolberg to redirect into the back of the net with his shin. Good technique on the finish from Dolberg to be sure, but the pass from Mæhle might be the assist of the tournament. It is so hard to cross the ball accurately while running, and even harder to do it with the outside of your foot. It was truly sublime and the Danes were in cruise control going into the break.

The Czechs tapped the brakes on the Danes though and firmly took them out of cruise control when Patrik Schick added to his impressive tally this tournament when he redirected a cross past Danish keeper Kasper Schmeichel. It was early in the half and it was precisely what the Czechs needed to get back into the match. But all that fluidity and endeavor shown by the Czechs evaporated after the goal. The Danes collected themselves a bit and started possessing the ball more, and for the remaining 40 minutes or so both sides really only fashioned a few half-chances at most. Stoic defending from the Danes, and a lack of creativity from the Czechs. Perhaps fatigue was a factor in the heat of Baku.

Denmark won 2-1 and advanced to their first Euro semifinal since 1992. Truly a remarkable achievement and they deserve all the cred it for it. They await the winner of England/Ukraine.

England vs. Ukraine

Much like the aforementioned Danes, Czechs, and the Swiss yesterday, Ukraine are a team that plays better than the sum of their parts. They only have 2-3 standout players, but they have a strong sense of unity and they seem to really enjoy playing spoiler against bigger teams. I do think the Ukrainians have the ability to score via players like winger Oleksandr Zinchenko and midfielder Andriy Yarmolenko, so they will need to be contained by the English defense. I think there are questions about the Ukrainian defense though, and I want to see England use our forwards to run at them and create openings at the back. I think Raheem Sterling will once again heavily feature, as it was his dribbling that led to a goal against Germany. I’d like to see him on the right wing though, instead of on the left, though. Seems more effective from the right.

England interestingly reverted to a 4-2-3-1, a big change from the 3-4-3 they used to beat Germany. Jadon Sancho finally got the start England fans have been clamoring for, but Jack Grealish was curiously absent from the starting lineup. Its clear that manager Gareth Southgate likes to use him as an impact substitute. There was also a start in midfield for Mason Mount, who also started the first match against Croatia but hasn’t featured since due to a positive COVID test. The lineup was still somewhat conservative, but so far that approach has worked for England, even if it isn’t the most entertaining. I (and many others) want to criticize the approach from Southgate more, but he’s bought himself some room to operate in with the win over Germany. Our bench is much deeper than Ukraine’s anyway, so I expected some key substitutions to be made if things weren’t going our way. Sterling started on the left wing again, so Southgate didn’t listen to me on that one.

But he should not listen to me at all, because England came out and scored in the 4th minute after a delightful pass from Sterling (who was on the left, lol) found a run from Kane into the penalty box. He beat Ukrainian keeper Heorhiy Bushchan to the loose ball and toe-poked it up and over his outstretched leg. Great pass, great run, great finish. Sometimes it really is that simple. It was a nightmare start for Ukraine but an absolute dream for Kane and England.

England created a few more good chances in the first half, notably from Declan Rice and Harry Maguire, but failed to score them. Ukraine grew into the game a little bit and had a good spell of possession later on, but failed to create a real grade-A chance. There were just one or two poor giveaways in midfield by England and keeper Jordan Pickford was required to make a decent save at his near post from Ukrainian striker Roman Yaremchuk. It was a save he should make every time, but it was still moderately concerning that he had to make such a save.

England went into halftime 1-0 up though, despite cooling off a little after the red hot start. I was generally pleased, but I wanted a second goal fairly early on to really kill off the match. Ukraine were starting to believe in themselves a little as the half wore on and I wanted that optimism smothered as soon as possible. I got exactly what I wanted 2 minutes in when Kane won a free kick in the left channel for England. Manchester United’s Luke Shaw stepped up to take the free kick, and he found the massive head of club teammate Maguire at the far post. Maguire headed the pass back across the keeper and into the opposite corner for 2-0. A goal crafted on the Carrington training ground in Manchester! An absolutely thumping header too!

England were probably home and dry after that, but they didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal at all. If anything, they pressed down harder. A scant four minutes later, Mount brought the ball forward from midfield and played it to Sterling. Sterling was closed off by defenders but that created space for Shaw, who was on an overlapping run behind him. Sterling backheeled it to Shaw who knocked in another lovely cross with a first time hit, and he hit Kane straight in the forehead with it. Kane nodded the ball down and through the legs of Bushchan for 3-0. It was a close range finish for Kane but he still did very well to get the ball down with enough power to get it through the keeper’s legs. I had to pinch myself at 3-0 because it didn’t feel real.

Kane went close to a third goal and a fourth for England just after the hour mark with a very sweet hit on the volley, but he had to settle for a fine save from Bushchan. The angle and distance of the shot truly would have been a spectacular goal, but again the keeper was equal to it. The resulting corner was the source of England’s 4th goal, though. Mount took the corner as four English players flashed down towards the goal, and the first man to it was defensive midfielder and substitute Jordan Henderson. He got clean contact on it after losing his man and it was a simple redirection of the pass into the far corner after that. Poor marking from a probably now-jaded Ukraine and the keeper had no chance. Well done to Henderson for getting his first ever England goal! The quarterfinal of a major tournament is a great time to get it.

4-0 after 63 minutes. I couldn’t believe it. Completely blown away by the performance and there was still almost half an hour left. The only thing to ensure now was the maintaining of the clean sheet. England have not conceded a goal at Euro 2020(1) yet and the professional thing to do would be to keep it that way. Pickford’s first truly challenging save of the match was in the 74th minute when the ball fell to Ukrainian defender Yevhenii Makarenko, who struck the ball with power towards the goal. Pickford got his hands up to parry it away, but it was an awkward save from fierce strike. One or two more half chances were created by both sides after that, but all the real action was done. Ukraine were spent physically and mentally towards the end and England didn’t really press in attack any further. A lot of substitutions were made late on in the second half as well by Southgate in order to protect the players on yellow cards from suspension. Kane was also taken off to a standing ovation from England fans in attendance at Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

As someone who has been watching England for over 20 years, I can tell you that England have not traditionally made it look this easy. This was dominance in a tournament I haven’t seem from this team since…ever? Sure, we usually beat minnow teams like Andorra or San Marino 4-0, 5-0, etc., but those are usually qualifiers or friendlies that aren’t nearly as important as games like this one. Put bluntly, ever since 1966 England have been choke artists. Choking in the big moments with a level of consistency that should not be physically possible. Always had loads of talent, almost always had a half-decent manager, but we could just never put it all together when it mattered most. That happened today though. England looked like a well-oiled machine for most of the match, and we ran the opposition ragged. It’s a very unfamiliar experience for England fans, but a nonetheless positive one.

It is true that Ukraine didn’t play well, and that they are not the most talented opposition England have faced so far, but they set up with a back 5 from the outset of the match and were clearly intent on defending well as a unit and then hitting on the counter. But England blew that plan to pieces with the early goal from Kane. Completely shattered them for the next 20 minutes after that. Then, just when they were starting to recover and grow into the game a a little, we destroyed them again with the early goal in the 2nd half from Maguire. It was over at 2-0, and England just poured it on from there. It was ruthless, and I loved it.

Respect to the Ukrainian players and manager/legend Andriy Shevchenko, but England were just better today through and through. Of course, this was only a quarterfinal and the tournament is not over. England now advance to only the third Euro semifinal in their history and the first one since 1996. Also of note is that this is now three semifinals in a row for England – World Cup 2018, Nations League 2019, and now Euro 2020(1). They will play Denmark at Wembley Stadium in London next Wednesday. I will do a separate preview of that massive fixture and the other semifinal between Spain and Italy beforehand.

Semifinals are set! One of these four remaining teams will win Euro 2020(1)! All remaining matches are at Wembley!

Italy vs. Spain (July 6, noon PDT)

England vs. Denmark (July 7, noon PDT)

Euro 2020(1) Quarterfinals – Two Tense Matches on Day 1

A few days off were needed for travel purposes, but the Euro 2020(1) quarterfinals got underway today with the first two games. Next two are tomorrow. All 8 of the remaining teams went in to the weekend knowing they were only three matches away from European glory. Spain took on Switzerland in St. Petersburg, Russia before the heavyweight fight between Italy and Belgium in Munich, Germany.

Spain vs. Switzerland

The Spanish were favorites coming into this match, as they boasted a lot more talent than the Swiss and are in a very rich vein of form. They have scored 10 goals in their past two matches, which is always impressive at a tournament. The Swiss however will not be afraid of anyone, having already slain the Goliath known as France. Importantly however, their captain and best midfielder Granit Xhaka was suspended due to yellow card accumulation. With Xhaka out, I thought the task just might be a tad too tall for the Swiss today.

It was clear from the outset what each team’s strategy was. The Spanish started out with their traditional possession-based game and the Swiss were quite content to let them have the ball a bit. The Swiss pressed on occasion and were trying to force the Spanish into mistakes high-up the pitch. That’s not a bad strategy as Spain can be prone to mistakes at the back, but it all went to hell for the Swiss less than 10 minutes in when Spain left back Jordi Alba fired a shot from a loose ball into the Swiss penalty area. The shot was somewhat hopeful and speculative, but it was effective nonetheless as it was redirected into the Swiss goal past keeper Yann Sommer on accident by defensive midfielder Denis Zakaria. Alba was credited with the goal initially by UEFA but they later changed it to an own-goal from Zakaria, which was probably harsh on Zakaria as Alba’s shot appeared to be on target. In any event, it was unlucky for the Swiss.

The rest of the half passed mostly without incident. Somewhat tepid, to be honest. Switzerland were again unlucky to see starting forward Breel Embolo go off after 20 minutes with a hamstring injury, and Spain were guilty of wasting a good chance that resulted from a free header by left back Cesar Azpilicueta. Aside from that though, not much else happened in the first half.

The second half started in similar fashion to the first, not a lot between the two sides. The Swiss were starting to ask more questions of the Spanish defense though, and Zakaria was again unlucky to see his header go just wide from a corner. The Swiss had an excellent chance come via midfielder Steven Zuber who forced a fine save from a tight angle by Spanish keeper Unai Simon.

The Swiss got their equalizer however just five minutes after that shot across the bow via Xherdan Shaqiri, a man affectionately known as “The Cube” by supporters due to his box-like physique. Two Spanish defenders (Pau Torres and Aymeric Laporte) both went for the same ball and their collision resulted in a loose ball that was pounced on by Swiss midfielder Remo Freuler. Freuler did well to find Shaqiri a few yards to his left, and The Cube made no mistake with a finish along the ground and off the inside of the left-hand post. The Swiss had fought back again, despite not really looking like doing so for good portions of the match.

Freuler found himself in the center of things again a few minutes later, but this time for negative reasons. He went into a tackle with both feet and his feet lifted off the ground, and made some very harsh contact with the Spanish player on the ball. English referee Michael Oliver went straight into his pocket and produced a red card. Upon review it was a rash tackle, and while you don’t always get a red card for such a challenge, it is very risky to try and tackle with both feet. You are inviting danger when you do that, and Freuler was punished for it.

Spain went into the ascendency after that due to the Swiss being down a man, but they could not make the most of their advantage and failed to score another in normal time. Extra time would be needed, which was a significant disadvantage for the tiring Swiss players. Having to play another 30 minutes with 10 men whilst having already played a full 90 is positively exhausting. However, again, Spain could not take advantage, despite some excellent chances falling to striker Gerard Moreno.

Penalties came and it was evident the fatigue being felt by the Swiss players. Spain missed two penalties themselves, but the Swiss could only convert one of them. Simon made two fine saves for sure, but I saw some very tired penalties from the Swiss. They were either hit too soft or blazed over the bar, because when fatigue sets in to the legs it is very difficult to maintain your technique and control when striking the ball. Perhaps if all 11 men had played until the end it would have ended differently, but of course now we’ll never know.

Credit to the Spanish for converting their penalties, but I would be very concerned about the semifinal if I was a Spaniard. The theme of poor finishing and defensive mistakes continued today, and against a more talented side they could have easily lost.

Spain advance to the semifinals at Wembley in midweek, where they await the winner of Belgium and Italy.

Belgium vs. Italy

Loads of talking points for this match, as it probably is the most intriguing fixture of the quarterfinals. Italy have the history of winning basically everything at major tournaments, although up until this tournament started there were questions concerning inexperience among this current batch of Italian players. They’ve done well this tournament, but their previous match against Austria caused some concerns among supporters about their ability to kill of teams effectively.

The Belgians come in with their current “Golden Generation” of players that are absolutely desperate to win the first major trophy for their country of any kind. Center forward Romelu Lukaku was in excellent form, but the major concern for Belgium was the fitness of star players Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard. Both of them are carrying injuries, but De Bruyne in particular is key to Belgian success at this tournament. As I have said before, there are serious arguments for De Bruyne being labelled as the best attacking midfielder in the world. De Bruyne did play in this match but Hazard did not.

Two great managers here too – Roberto Mancini for Italy and Roberto Martinez for Belgium. Interestingly, the last time these two managers faced off it was during an FA Cup final at Wembley, with Martinez’s Wigan Athletic pulling a shock upset over Mancini’s Manchester City.

The match was a little slow to start things off, with neither side really threatening the other in the first 10 minutes. Italy had the ball in the back of the Belgian net on 12 minutes though after a free kick found center back Giorgio Chiellini for a tap in, but after a VAR check the goal was correctly disallowed for offside. Chiellini was about a foot ahead of the ball when it came off his fellow defender Leonardo Bonucci. The tempo of the match did increase after that though, as Belgium knew they were given a let off. Romelu Lukaku did well to force a save from Gianluigi Donnarumma low to his right after good work from De Bruyne on a counter-attack. Gauging how this match would go from that point, it was likely that the team that made the fewest mistakes would go on to win. These teams were simply too evenly matched to call it one way or another. Good for the neutral of course, but nerve-wracking for supporters of the two countries.

You could call this fixture a chess match given all the tactical switching and formation changes by both teams throughout the opening half, but people tend to think of chess matches as boring and this game was anything but. End-to-end play that felt at times more like basketball than footie. The pace and energy from both teams was absolutely relentless.

The Italians broke the deadlock on 31 minutes via midfielder Nicolo Barella after a poor giveaway by Belgian defender Thomas Vermaelen. The ball fell to the dangerous playmaker Marco Veratti who played in Barella, and he made no mistake with his finish over the top of Belgian keeper Thibault Courtois. Italy were even more energized by their goal and were able to grab another one from winger Lorenzo Insigne 12 minutes later. The first Italian goal was good, but the second one was a work of art from Insigne. He carried the ball about 50 yards, slaloming past a Belgian defender before shooting from the edge of the box. He got a lot of curl on the ball and the pace of it gave Courtois no chance to save. Truly breathtaking and a candidate for goal of the tournament.

The drama of the first half was not over though, as a penalty was awarded to Belgium just two minutes later in stoppage time. Teenage Belgian winger Jeremy Doku did well to beat his marker with pace in the left channel, and he went down inside the box after a shove in the back. The penalty was probably soft by most standards and the Italians were strenuously complaining, but VAR checked and the penalty stood. It’s a bit rich for Italians to complain about players going down too easily anyway, when they are the ones historically known as egregious divers. Lukaku stepped up to the spot and coolly put the ball past Donnarumma after sending him the wrong way.

The chaos continued in the second half, with both sides fashioning good chances but neither being able to finish them. Both Lukaku and Insigne were on fire and there were times when neither defense could get near those two players. There were more injuries and fouls in the second half as well, which wasn’t surprising given the effort and energy being put in by the players. The stoppages were really just temporary lulls in this hurricane of a match.

But the onus was on the Belgians to find an equalizer, and the Italians made subs that indicated they were going more defensive for the final 15 minutes or so, including switching to a back-5. They battened down the hatches and simply let Belgium come at them. It should be pointed out that as the game went on the Italians were engaging in what I like to call “shithousery”, meaning they were doing everything and anything to slow down the game without being penalized for it. They were taking their time with injuries, fouls, substitutions, and just generally wasting as much time as possible. While these Italians might play more attractive football than in the past, they clearly have not forgotten their traditional methods of gamesmanship mastered by their predecessors. I don’t like it as a tactic, but of course every team does it in matches of great importance.

The Belgians just couldn’t fashion another solid chance against the impregnable Italian back line, and the whistle finally blew. Italy held on to win despite a valiant effort from Belgium.

Italy will play Spain on Tuesday, July 6 at Wembley.

Tomorrow

Czech Republic vs. Denmark (9 am PDT)

England vs. Ukraine (Noon PDT)

I like England’s chances against Ukraine but they are a team with nothing to lose. No side should be taken lightly at this point. If a team makes the quarterfinals of a major tournament, that team is there for a reason.

Euro 2020(1) Round of 16, Day 2 – We Finally Have an Upset!

The next two knockout matches happened today in the Round of 16 at Euro 2020(1). Netherlands took on Czech Republic in Budapest, Hungary and there was a highly enticing matchup between Belgium and Portugal in Sevilla, Spain.

Netherlands vs. Czech Republic

The Dutch came into this match as group winners and appeared to be in great scoring form. They tallied 8 goals in the group stage and won all 3 matches despite some worries in defense. They were favored over the Czechs probably due to the amount of talent they have in attack, including players like Memphis Depay, Georgino Wijnaldum, and Denzel Dumfries. They have pace and quickness that I thought would very much trouble the Czech back line.

The Czechs came in having placed 3rd in Group D, and despite that finish they have showed flashes of footballing competence, primarily from striker Patrik Schick. He has the goal of the tournament already with his 50 yard chip vs. Scotland, and the Czechs may have surprised a few with their team displays thus far. Much like Austria yesterday, what they lack in superstar talent they make up for in team unity, discipline, and tactical nous.

Despite a lively start from the Dutch and the Czechs growing into the game a little later, the first half ended scoreless. Each side had crafted the occasional half-chance here and there, but the ball was frequently changing possession in midfield while both sides attempted to stamp some degree of authority on the game. You felt that the second half would be much more intense as the two sides tried to find a winner.

And the second half was really where this game changed. About 10 minutes after the restart, Dutch defender Matthijs De Ligt was adjudged to have handled the ball just outside his own penalty area. The ref issued a yellow card at first, but after a VAR check the foul was upgraded to a red card. There was no penalty due to the handball being outside the penalty box, but the Dutch did suffer the consequence of having to play the last 35 minutes or so with only 10 men. The red card was certainly controversial, but it did appear that Shick would have had a clear goal scoring opportunity if not for the handball. Further, while it’s not 100% clear if De Ligt intentionally handled the ball, he has to be aware as a professional footballer that using your hand for any reason is always a bad idea and should be avoided at all costs. It was an awkward situation for De Ligt to deal with, but had he simply fallen on the ball there’s a good chance he would have won possession or at least a foul for his team. Instead though, he was off and the Dutch had to sacrifice an attacking player to shore up the defense. To add insult to injury, De Ligt is arguably the best defensive player in the Netherlands squad. Losing him was very much a double-whammy.

The red card really emboldened the Czechs and they became the more dominant side fairly quickly. There are talented players in this side, and they showed that by scoring the opener that really put the Dutch on the back foot. A cross from the right corner was over hit, but retrieved by Czech defender Tomas Kalas and played back into the box. The ball went over one Czech head but fellow defender Tomas Holes (pronounced HO-lesh) was at the back post to nod the Czechs in front. It was a very impressive header and a good cross back in, but again there were questions as to what the Dutch defense was doing. Holes was basically unmarked and was able to use his position to generate power on his header. Ecstasy for the Czechs, misery for the Dutch.

The Dutch then pushed for an equalizer due to not having any other choice, but that is always risky when you are a man down. They had plenty of possession in the closing minutes but the Czech defense shut them down time and time again. The Czechs then broke quickly and Schick got his 4th goal of the tournament after a fairly simple cross in to his feet from the left side. He hit the ball in stride and glided it past Dutch keeper Maarten Stekelenburg at his near post. Even though there was about 10 minutes left still, you felt that the Dutch were done. They couldn’t break down the Czech defense or put them consistently under pressure, and all credit to the Czechs for taking advantage of having an extra man.

This is by far the biggest upset of the tournament so far, and it’s what the tournament was crying out for. De Ligt blamed himself entirely for the loss, but he’s being a tad harsh on himself. Yes the red card changed everything, but the Dutch response to it was also lacking. The Dutch were being looked at by some as a contender to win the whole thing after their performance in the group stage, but today they were undone by a well-organized and disciplined team. Such is the beauty and agony of football – sometimes the team with the best players loses and that is precisely what happened today. Schick is now joint top-scorer at this tournament and who is to say that the Czechs can’t continue winning? This victory will galvanize them and do wonders for their self-confidence and belief. Well done to them!

The Czechs will travel to Azerbaijan for a quarterfinal matchup with Denmark.

Belgium vs. Portugal

This matchup is one of those that makes football fans salivate. Both teams are loaded with superstars, and both teams are probably among the favorites to win the tournament. Portugal are reigning European champions and boast the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, and Ruben Dias among their ranks. There are some question marks about Portugal’s tactical set up on occasion, but again they have more than enough talent to go win this thing.

Belgium have traditionally been underperformers at major tournaments, and while their window to win a first major international trophy with this current “Golden Generation” is slowly closing, it’s still cracked open a bit. They will be relying on all-world talents like Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, and Eden Hazard to go and get them some goals. De Bruyne in particular is, for me, the best attacking midfielder in the world right now.

The first 30 minutes or so were pretty tentative, perhaps even spilling over into the category of testy. Neither side’s attack really got going at first, and the match had the feel of a heavyweight title bout where neither fighter wants to make a mistake early on. Both defenses were highly organized and defending well. Many attacks from both sides simply just petered out when it came time for the final pass or final move to create a chance. Ronaldo did well to test Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois with a dipping free kick from about 25 yards on the right side and striker Diogo Jota should have done better from close range shortly after that.

Belgium however opened the scoring about 3 minutes before half time when the ball fell to Thorgan Hazard (Eden’s younger brother) on the edge of the penalty area about 20 yards from goal. He took a touch to get the ball onto his right foot, and then lashed an almighty shot towards Rui Patricio in the Portuguese goal. The strike swerved in the air and wrong-footed Patricio, and he could not recover to get over to the ball until it was already in the back of his net. Not many expected Thorgan to get a goal, but with that strike he showed that it’s not just his older brother that can score goals in that family. At halftime, it was 1-0 and Belgium were buoyant.

The Portuguese knew they would need a swift response having gone down just before the half. Bruno and wunderkind Joao Felix were brought on by Portugal for more power in attack, and indeed they began to see more of the ball in the Belgian half of the pitch. Belgium held strong though and Portuguese attacks repeatedly came to nothing. The tension grew throughout the match as well, with players pushing and shoving each other after fouls. Somewhat frustratingly for neutral viewers, the Portuguese were hitting the deck every time the Belgians challenged for the ball in an effort to win free kicks. To be fair, some of the challenges were heavy and worthy of fouls, but no one wants to watch the players on their team fall over anytime the opposition is near them. It is part of the game, but its cynical and negative.

The best chances for Portugal came with about 10 minutes left when a cross came in from a corner that was headed at the goal from point blank range by Dias. Unfortunately for him, the header was straight at Courtois and he parried it with his fists. He got a ton of power on the header, and if he managed to hit it anywhere else but straight forward it would have been an equalizer. Portugal left back Raphael Guerreiro was then unlucky to hit the base of the post with a shot from distance. They pumped cross after cross into the box, but they were all met by a Belgian head. They tried to play through the middle on the ground, but again Belgium always managed to get someone in the way.

All credit to the Belgian back line, in particular the center backs Thomas Vermaelen and Toby Alderweireld. They are getting long in the tooth but their experience cannot be discounted, as evidenced by their positioning and tackling today. Those two dealt with everything that came at them and did so fairly convincingly as well. Everyone knew Belgium could score, but the age of Vermaelen and Alderweireld led many to speculate that they couldn’t keep pace defensively. Having a confident center back pairing is always good, but especially so in tournament play. Indeed, defensive prowess is primarily how Portugal won Euro 2016.

But the defending champions are out now! Time to get some new blood in there if you ask me. Belgium have never won a major trophy as a team before, and they showed today they can beat another heavyweight if need be.

Belgium will take on Italy in yet another mouth-watering fixture next Friday in Munich.

Tomorrow

Croatia vs. Spain (9 am PDT)

France vs. Switzerland (Noon PDT)

Euro 2020(1) – Round of 16, First Matches

The knockout stages of Euro 2020(1) got underway today and the first two games featured Denmark vs. Wales in Amsterdam, followed by Italy vs. Austria at Wembley in London.

Denmark Brush Aside Wales

On paper this was an intriguing matchup. Neither side is a traditional “powerhouse” in terms of population or tradition of winning big trophies, but I figured that meant the match would be fairly open and both teams would really go for it. Wales have two and half superstars in Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, and Manchester United’s own Daniel James. Denmark don’t really have much in terms of star players but a look at the team sheet shows a team that is perhaps more talented collectively. They have several good to very good players, while the Welsh are decidedly average outside of the aforementioned superstars.

One factor in play here today that is not normally as influential was the emotional component. Major tournaments are always emotionally draining at the knockout stage, but Denmark have the “advantage” of playing for their stricken teammate Christian Eriksen. He was released from the hospital in Copenhagen a few days ago but there’s no indication of when (or if) he will play again. The rest of the team have been galvanized by the adversity and today showed a unity that is rare to find among national sides that don’t spend a lot of time playing together. Every neutral was a fan of Denmark today.

And indeed it was Denmark that were the better side throughout this match. Wales had a good spell in the first 10 minutes or so of each half, but for the other 70 minutes it was all Denmark. They were better in possession, better in attack, and better on defense. The scoring was opened via a fine strike from Kasper Dolberg from about 19 yards out midway through the first half. It was only 1-0 at halftime though and you knew that Wales had a chance because of players like Bale and Ramsey. Those two only need one moment of magic, one chance, to find an equalizer.

However, the Danish defense and midfield were excellent at marking those two and keeping them from getting involved. Bale is most effective when he can receive the ball in space and use his dribbling to create openings, but that simply didn’t happen today. When not in possession, Wales looked rather uncreative and lacked ideas on how to beat the Danes. I don’t think I even heard the commentators say the names “Bale” or “Ramsey” for large portions of the match.

Some very poor defending lead to a second Danish goal and a second for Dolberg. A cross was played in from the Danish right side, and Welsh substitute defender Neco Williams panicking a little and heading the ball back across the face of his own goal. The ball fell to Dolberg and he slotted home for a second after he dug the ball out of his feet. Good play for the Danish for the first one, but bad play by Wales for the second. At 2-0 you felt it was mostly over, and despite a Welsh push later in the half the only result was a 3rd goal for Denmark, this time scored by Joakim Maehle. At 3-0 it was well and truly over, but that did not dissuade the Danish and they went and got a 4th via Martin Braithwaite in stoppage time. Braithwaite was offside for me but in this situation it doesn’t really matter. There was also a Welsh player sent off, but again it matters little in terms of the result.

Wales did well to get out of their group but they were definitely second best today. They can perhaps feel hard done by due to some questionable refereeing decisions, but you can’t blame the ref for a team not creating chances. They need help in the center of the park in terms of providing service in to Bale and Ramsey that simply wasn’t there today. Credit to the Danes for being organized and playing for a bigger purpose simply than just winning matches. I didn’t think the Danes would make it this far without Eriksen (their best player), but they have more than made up for his absence with the victories over Russia in the group stage and this victory in the Round of 16.

The Danes may just end up being the “Cinderella” team of this tournament. They play the winner of Netherlands and Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.

Italy Squeaks By Austria

Italy have been the best team at the tournament so far, winning all their group matches by multiple goals while simultaneously not conceding any. They love attacking down their left side when going forward, and are anchored by two excellent center backs in defense, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini. Both of them are very old, but despite their collective age of 70+ they are incredibly tough to break down. While this Italian team lacks a lot of the superstars of old, they make up for it with tactics. They are managed by former Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini, and indeed he has them playing very much like a Premier League side and not like the Italian sides of old. The Italians traditionally won with patient build-up play and possession, but this Italian team succeeds with aggressive pressing and winning the ball back as soon as it is lost. They had not really played against opposition with real quality until today though.

Austria are always somewhat of a wild card at these tournaments. Before Euro 2016, many fans and pundits had them as a dark horse candidate to win the tournament, but they crashed out at the group stage. This time around no one is expecting a lot from them, but they’ve gone and done better than they did five years ago by reaching the Euro knockouts for the first time in their history. They have superstars of their own in utility-man David Alaba and forward Marko Arnautovic, but there are question marks about the midfield for them. A lot of the creative duties tend to fall on Alaba when he isn’t in defense, and they don’t have many more creative players like him. Where to play Alaba has been a big headache for Austrian manager Franco Foda. Alaba can play almost anywhere on the pitch, but there is only one of him at the end of the day and he can’t be everywhere at once no matter how hard he tries.

As expected, Italy dominated the first 45 minutes and clearly looked like the side that was going to score. Austria defended just well enough though and kept Italy out. The Azzuri’s best chance was a quality Ciro Immobile strike from distance that hit the post. Austria didn’t create much for themselves either, but keeping Italy from scoring has proven to be difficult to do this tournament so credit to them for doing so. The second half was much different as Italy did not really create much going forward, despite having a lot of possession in Austria’s half of the pitch. It then became Austria who were asking more questions of the previously impervious Italian defense, and they definitely caused some problems for Italy with their physical play.

Arnautovic had the ball in the back of the net on 66 minutes after a counter attack and a find headed pass from Alaba, but the Austrian celebrations were cut short due to the offside flag. VAR did a check however and it did appear that Arnautovic was maybe a foot ahead of the last Italian defender just before he nodded past Italian keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma. Italy were saved by the linesman but should have took that passage of play as a warning shot. For the rest of normal time however, they did not. It ended 0-0 after 90 minutes which meant that another 30 minutes of additional time would need to be played.

Mancini made some key substitutions just before the additional time started, bringing on Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina. Italy has a strong bench and he knew some kind of change was needed in order to jump start his lethargic team. Chiesa rewarded him 5 minutes later by scoring the first goal of the match from a tight angle. A cross came in from left back (and probably Man of the Match) Leonardo Spinazzola that found Chiesa in space on the right hand side, and after some good control in the box he lashed home past the Austrian keeper. Pessina got Italy’s 2nd about 10 minutes later. A cross once again came in from the left hand side and Austria failed to clear it. The ball was knocked into the path of Pessina by Italian defender Francesco Acerbi, and Pessina did well to finish from the left side. At 2-0 with only 15 minutes left in extra time, it seemed over.

Austria didn’t think it was over though, as they got a goal back from a corner six minutes before the end of the match. It was a poor goal to concede really and a bit of a clusterfuck defensively from the Italian point of view, but credit to Austrian forward Sasa Kalajdzic for sticking his head out there and getting contact. Corners usually don’t result in goals, but they can be vital for a team that doesn’t get the lion’s share of the possession. There was a tense finish to the match, but Austria never really created another solid opportunity and Italy saw the match out to the finish, winning 2-1. Austria’s goal was the first one conceded by Italy in over 12 matches.

Italy got the job done in the end, but they showed today that they are mortal. They can indeed be beaten, which didn’t seem likely before today. If you can defend from crosses and don’t mind playing a little bit on the back foot, you can frustrate them and eventually they’ll stop creating so many chances. You will need to score a goal of your own though. Austria found a formula to win today, and had they executed even slightly better Italy may have gone out.

Italy will play the winner of tomorrow’s mouth-watering Belgium vs. Portugal fixture in the quarterfinals. No matter which team they play, it will easily be their toughest test of the tournament. They should definitely still be considered among the favorites to win the whole thing, but some kinks in the armor were on display today.

Tomorrow

Netherlands vs. Czech Republic (9 am PDT)

Belgium vs. Portugal (Noon PDT)

Euro 2020(1) Group Stage Roundup

The group stage of the tournament is now over and its time for the real business to begin – the knockout stages. The mini-league format in the first round is entertaining to be sure, but now the mantra is “win or go home.” We start with the Round of 16. The top 2 teams from each group progress, plus the 4 best 3rd place teams to round out the field.

Group A:

Winners – Italy

Runners up – Wales

Third place – Switzerland

Eliminated – Turkey

Group B:

Winners – Belgium

Runners up – Denmark

Eliminated – Finland and Russia

Group C:

Winners – Netherlands

Runners Up – Austria

Third place – Ukraine

Eliminated – North Macedonia

Group D:

Winners – England

Runners up – Croatia

Third place – Czech Republic

Eliminated – Scotland

Group E:

Winners – Sweden

Runners up – Spain

Eliminated – Slovakia and Poland

Group F:

Winners – France

Runners up – Germany

Third place – Portugal

Eliminated – Hungary

Round of 16 Matchups:

Wales vs. Denmark (Sat June 26)

Italy vs. Austria (Sat June. 26)

Netherlands vs. Czech Republic (Sun June 27)

Belgium vs. Portugal (Sun June 27)

France vs. Switzerland (Mon June 28)

Spain vs. Croatia (Mon June 28)

England vs. Germany (Tues June 29)

Sweden vs. Ukraine (Tues June 29)

The final group matches just ended and it was an exhilarating final day. Portugal and Germany almost went out at different stages, and Hungary almost pulled off the shock of the tournament. They were ten minutes away from winning before the Germans equalized and sent them home.

Commiserations to all teams eliminated, and congrats to all teams that have advanced so far. I won’t do a full breakdown of each match right now, but I may do once the round starts. There are some positively mouth-watering fixtures to look forward to, and I hope one of the smaller teams (Wales, Austria, Ukraine) go on a deep run. Makes the tournament more fascinating and entertaining. Somewhat sadly, there haven’t been many major upsets or surprising teams thus far. Maybe Sweden winning their group over Spain constitutes somewhat of a surprise, but that was certainly not unimaginable going in to this tournament.

There has been some great football so far but also some crap football. Let’s hope for more attacking intent and goals going forward!

England Advance to the Round of 16 as Group D Winners After Victory Over Czech Republic

England played their final group match of Euro 2020(1) today at Wembley against Czech Republic. The Czechs came into the match as group leaders, so England knew this team would not roll over for them. Their side featured co-top scorer at the Euros in Patrik Schick, and they have a good amount of experience in the side. England and Czech Republic were both already through to the Round of 16 due to Belgium defeating Finland yesterday, so while there wasn’t that much importance behind the match it was important for seeding purposes going forward. An England group win also meant that the next match would be at Wembley and England would not need to travel to Copenhagen for the next match.

England made a few changes from the side that sputtered to a rather dismal draw with Scotland on Friday. Bukayo Saka and Jack Grealish were included from the outset, with Phil Foden dropped to the bench on a yellow card. Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell were not included either due to being in COVID protocols. So while some of the changes were made out of necessity, I was in strong support of Saka and Grealish being on from the start. Still not sure what Jadon Sancho has to do to get into this team, but we’ll come back to him later.

Just like in the past two matches, England got off to a very fast start and had the Czechs under pressure from the get-go. Grealish was excellent in possession, and Saka was making all kinds of runs forward that the Czechs didn’t know how to deal with. The only goal came in the 12th minute via Raheem Sterling, who had just missed a very good chance off the post early on. The ball was retrieved by Grealish on the left wing and he clipped a looping cross over the top back towards the goal. The ball was too high for Saka but Sterling was in an excellent position behind him, and he nodded in for 1-0. I was calling for Sterling’s head after his lackluster performance in the Scotland match, but he rewarded England manager Gareth Southgate’s faith in him today by scoring his second of the tournament. Harry Kane then forced a very fine save from Czech keeper Tomas Vaclik after wriggling his way into the box. Kane was frustrated by the save, but he was much better today than he was against Scotland as well.

The Czechs grew into the game a little bit after the early England dominance though and created a few chances via set pieces and some haphazard (if ultimately effective) England defending. West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek went closest for the Czechs, just barely missing the left post with a shot from about 13 yards out. England have been defensively sound so far but there were some nerves present today, especially in the first half. A better side may have cashed in on those nerves and lack of decision making, but the Czechs did not. I was happy to see Manchester United captain Harry Maguire back in the team today after a long injury layoff, and while Tyrone Mings has been more than capable of deputizing in his absence, Maguire is probably England’s best defensive player and you want his leadership on the pitch. I think the defense will only improve as Maguire settles in.

The second half was nowhere near as entertaining as the first, as England seemed content to defend and didn’t really create much until late on. Jordan Henderson came on for Declan Rice at the start of the second, and the Czechs made some attack-minded changes as well. Despite not scoring again, England never really looked threatened. The Czechs weren’t as effective in the second half from set pieces, and they do not have the talent to consistently create chances against England from open play. I remember England keeper Jordan Pickford not really being tested, aside from some routine catches and clearances. Henderson was somewhat unlucky to not get his second after his short-range effort was deemed to be offside after some good work in the box from fellow substitute Marcus Rashford to create the chance. This one wasn’t close though – Henderson was at least a yard offside when he poked it home. England then managed the game out and were able to secure all 3 points without too much ado.

So what’s next? Unclear right now, as the final group matches will all be played tomorrow. England play next Tuesday night at Wembley, but that’s all we know for sure at this point. Usually, winning your group is supposed to result in an easier matchup in the next round. That is the proverbial carrot at the end of the stick that theoretically motivates teams to go out and win their group. This time though, England will face the runners-up from Group F, which unfortunately contains the likes of France, Portugal, and Germany. All three of those teams are football powerhouses and will present a major challenge to England. The big teams usually don’t meet at tournaments like these until the quarterfinals or later, but this time around it’s worked out that they will. Some have complained about the tournament format as a result, but I don’t really agree with that too much. You’ll have to play a tough team at some point in any major tournament, and if you want to be the best you have to beat the best. No point in shying away from it just because it’s in an earlier round than we may have wanted.

The objective today was to gain some momentum back going into the knockout stages. Positive performances lift the fans, the players, and the manager; and I think we achieved that to an extent today. The second half was mostly dull but England can build on their good play from the first half. It was important to restore a bit of excitement around the team for the fans, and the dynamic attacking play today in the first half helped to do that.

But, I still don’t think England have played their best game yet at this tournament. This is partly due to the fact that we still haven’t figured out our best attacking formation. Kane was better today, but still hasn’t scored. Sterling has scored (and is our only scorer so far), but he goes missing for big portions of games. Rashford did ok today but he’s looked off the pace for awhile now due to injury and fatigue. Sancho finally got on the pitch at the end, but didn’t really have time to impact the game. Indeed, England’s best attackers today were not forwards, as Grealish is an attacking midfielder and Saka is a winger. It doesn’t matter who scores of course as long as someone does, but the lack of goals is a concern going forward. It is still unknown how we will do against better opposition. Southgate has a selection headache or three coming up, as several players have put in good performances thus far. But as the old saying goes, a selection problem is a “good problem” to have.

All of the questions present now will be answered next Tuesday, though. England will watch the Group F matches tomorrow with great interest and will have a week to prepare for whoever ends up 2nd in that group. There is the added bonus of not having to fly to another city to play. Yes we will have to play a tough team, but the circumstances could not be much better for England to do so.

Man of the Match: Bukayo Saka

England Struggle to a Goalless Draw Against Scotland

One of the most anticipated matches of the group stage at Euro 2020(1) is also the oldest – England and Scotland played the first ever international association football (soccer) match back in 1872. The two sides are the most familiar and fiercest of foes, having now played each other for the 115th time. The last time England played Scotland in a tournament though was Euro 96, with England winning 2-0. This fixture is loaded with British history and usually provides a very entertaining spectacle.

The thing about Scotland is that how they play against all other countries is not how they play against England. They’re not a side loaded with talent, certainly not when compared with the depth England has. But that doesn’t matter to Scotland. They know they aren’t as talented as us. But they play against England like absolute devils. They work their socks off for all 90 minutes and they never quit. The Scots have a bit of a “little brother” complex when it comes to England and there is a nothing a little brother enjoys more than beating his big brother. They knew going in that if they stayed defensively organized and harassed England when off the ball, they had a chance to win or at least draw.

Going into the match, England were on 3 points and 2nd in Group D on goal difference behind Czech Republic, with the Scots still on zero points due to losing to the aforementioned Czechs. Scotland losing would have all but eliminated them, while a win for England would have mathematically ensured their passage to the Round of 16. The atmosphere at Wembley at kickoff was electric and emotional, even though there was only 22,500 people inside due to COVID restrictions. Fans are so important to this sport and I’m glad that at least a percentage were able to attend. This fixture without fans would be dismal.

I really thought England would win. I really did. Our team has so much talent and depth in it that I didn’t think Scotland would be able to hang with us for 90 minutes. I figured they would tire out and England would be able to take advantage of physical/mental mistakes. What I should have factored in more heavily however was England’s never-ceasing ability to shoot themselves in the foot and make things way more difficult than they need to be.

I am disappointed with the players and I will come back to them later, but manager Gareth Southgate needs to be blamed first. He played another conservative formation and his substitutions were mostly nonsensical. For one, I don’t think we needed two defensive midfielders against Scotland. Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips did a good job today at stopping Scottish attacks when they came, but neither of them are creative going forward. Why not just play Rice and/or Phillips and then add another attacking midfielder in front of him? Scotland had 8-9 men behind the ball for most of the match, using their 5-3-2 to great effect. Southgate had to have known that was going to happen, so why not add more creativity going forward from the get-go? Just because this formation worked against Croatia does not mean it will work against Scotland. They are two very different teams.

The lack of creativity against a stiff Scottish defense was the theme of the whole match. England had two good chances in the opening 20 minutes, with John Stones hitting the post despite having a free header from a corner and Mason Mount scuffing wide from close range. Scotland striker Che Adams forced a fine save from England keeper Jordan Pickford, but aside from those chances I don’t recall either team being very close to scoring. There was a lot of congestion in the midfield, and England at times seemed perfectly content to pass it around near the center circle.

Southgate was correct to bring on Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford as England searched for a goal, but the players he took off didn’t make sense. Grealish came on for Phil Foden, which is perhaps understandable from a positional standpoint but Foden had actually done relatively well. He wasn’t amazing, but he was having a better day than several others. Rashford came on later for Harry Kane, which also didn’t really make sense either. Kane wasn’t playing well it’s true and needed to be off, but Rashford is not the same kind of striker as Kane. Rashford is way faster than Kane but perhaps not as strong on the ball, and as a result he is more effective on the left or right wing rather than in the dead center. The biggest mystery however centers on why Raheem Sterling wasn’t taken off when he was the worst player on the pitch for England today. Lost possession, dribbles going nowhere, not making runs into the box, nothing. Jadon Sancho (who never came on today) should have been in his place from the beginning. Also, Southgate, you have 5 substitutions. If you want to win this match, why not use all 5? My theory is that at a certain point late on he made the conscious decision to play for a draw, and I don’t like that. Some are speculating that he played for the draw to try and finish 2nd in the group and therefore perhaps get an easier draw in the Round of 16, but I don’t really buy any of that. I think he got his tactics wrong, his subs wrong, and he was lucky Scotland didn’t steal a victory.

As mentioned above though, Southgate’s tactics and subs were only part of the problem. I have never seen a more lazy, lethargic, and overall toothless effort from England players in such a big game. This is a major tournament against our biggest geographical rival, show some fucking determination! Show some grit! There was no one actively trying to get behind the Scots defense today, and no one consistently making runs at their back line. No one really seemed interested in pressing them and forcing Scotland’s less-talented players into mistakes either. The defense and defensive midfield were fine today mostly, but the attackers were completely anonymous. We are in need of a shake-up and someone needs to give those lads a swift kick up the rear end. Very disappointed. Yes Southgate did them no favors, but it doesn’t matter what your tactics are if the forward players just stand on the edge of the 18 yard box like clueless statues.

England will need to be much improved for the match on Tuesday against the Czechs. We are still in good position to get out of Group D, but we will need a victory to proceed as group winners. Croatia and Scotland can both still progress as well, but either side would need a victory to do so. I want Sancho, Rashford, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin to start. The regular starters need a message sent to them that they will be dropped if they play poorly, in particular Kane and Sterling. If Sterling starts again it will be hard to continue having faith in Southgate as manager, for me.

Scotland and their manager Steve Clarke do deserve some credit for having an effective game plan and executing it well. Billy Gilmour, Lyndon Dykes, and Scott McTominay all played very well for them. They shut down England’s attacking options and caused a fair few concerning moments going forward. Well done, I suppose. But none of that should have mattered in my opinion. If England had half a clue as to what they were doing, they would have won today.

England Secure Victory Over Croatia Plus Other Early Headlines from Euro 2020(1)

It’s been an interesting tournament so far, even if there haven’t been many major surprises. Italy strolled to victory over Turkey in Rome in the opening match, Belgium steamrolled Russia, and Wales managed to earn themselves a draw against Switzerland. Lots of football left in the tournament of course, but both Italy and Belgium have shown so far that they have the talent to win the whole thing. I was impressed with Italy’s aggressive tactics and ruthlessness in particular.

The big headline though is not really football-related, sadly. The match between Denmark and Finland was delayed yesterday after star Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch as a throw-in was being played towards him. It’s always scary when someone goes down unchallenged, and this incident truly had people holding their breath. The medical staff were on the field instantly though and appeared to be administering CPR to Eriksen while his teammates formed a shield of bodies around Eriksen and the trainers. Positively harrowing. It came out today that Eriksen (only 29) suffered a heart attack on the pitch and they had to revive him quickly. Indeed, he was described as being “gone” briefly before resuscitation started. Thanks to the quick response of the medical staff in Copenhagen Eriksen appears like he is going to survive, but there are questions as to whether he ever plays again. Tributes from superstars across the globe have been pouring in, and everyone in the footballing world just wants to see him healthy again. It’s unclear at this time what caused it, but this should be a reminder for everyone to check their heart health. If a 29 year old professional athlete can have a cardiac arrest, anyone can. The match was resumed after the Danish players ensured Eriksen was safe in hospital, and even though they lost 1-0 they should still be credited for going out and finishing the match. Not sure I could do the same, from an emotional standpoint.

We tend to forget that football is a game, and that no trophy is as valuable as a human life. All credit and praise to the medical team on the pitch and the medical professionals who cared for Eriksen at the hospital.

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England took on Croatia today at a sun-drenched and sweltering (by English standards) Wembley Stadium in west London early this morning America-time. The first match of the Euros has traditionally been difficult for England, having never won the opening group match at this tournament. The task did not appear to be any easier today, given that Croatia are probably the 2nd-best team Group D talent-wise. Players such as Ivan Perisic, Ante Rebic, Luka Modric, Mateo Kovavic, and Marcelo Brozovic all have a wealth of experience at the international level; even if they are all getting a bit long in the tooth.

Despite a somewhat conservative lineup from England manager Gareth Southgate, they dominated the first 20 minutes of this match and created several good chances. Phil Foden was unlucky to see his shot hit the post, and newer addition Kalvin Phillips had a stinging shot saved by Croatia keeper Dominik Livakovic. The intensity died down a little after that opening period though, with no real chances created by either side up to halftime.

The opener came somewhat against the run of play early in the second half when Phillips made a charging run forward that created confusion in Croatia’s defense. His run into the middle left a gigantic hole for forward Raheem Sterling to run into behind him, and the pass to him from Phillips into the box was perfect. Sterling hit it low and with power, and Livakovic could only get a weak touch on it that failed to keep the ball out. There was a huge sigh of relief from the roughly 2/3rds capacity crowd inside Wembley, and joyous celebrations for the England players. England had looked slow and sluggish to start the second, so to get a goal like that was absolutely crucial. The goal will do wonders for Sterling as well, as he had been low on confidence coming into this tournament. Getting him back into goal scoring form will be nothing but beneficial for the English attack.

I would like to applaud the midfielders today, in particular Phillips and Declan Rice. Both of them were excellent defensively today, as they caused the normally fluid Croatian midfield to sputter. Captain and Mr. Croatia Luka Modric is usually an expert at finding passes that unlock defenses, but there was simply no way through for Croatia. They struggled to create opportunities the whole match and didn’t really put any kind of sustained pressure on England keeper Jordan Pickford. The passing lanes that are normally there simply were not. Credit to England’s players of course, but Croatian fans will be feeling disappointed. I didn’t feel any sense of urgency from Croatia, even after they went down 1-0. Everything was slow and deliberate from them, and they seemed content to just pass it around in midfield when in possession. Modric was running around everywhere like he normally does, but Perisic, Rebic, and Kovacic all had poor games by their standards. No creativity going forward for Croatia today.

England will have to be more creative against other teams going forward, but we showed today that we have the right mentality when it comes to playing against teams with talent. We defended very well today and as alluded to above, we severely limited Croatia’s ability to create chances for themselves. If that was the game plan from Southgate, then it worked to perfection. It should be pointed out that England did not have to dig down too deep into the bench today, and we didn’t even need the creative talents of Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho to get a victory. When you consider that it’s Croatia, in the first match of the tournament in fairly warm weather, you feel very satisfied with a 1-0 win. England fans moaning and complaining that we aren’t creating enough need to realize that this game was always going to be close and the fact that we managed to win is huge for the team’s confidence. It doesn’t matter if you win 1-0 or 5-0, a win is a win when it comes to major tournaments. This result seems to fit what has become somewhat of a pattern for England under Southgate – it’s not pretty to watch, but he usually gets the result needed.

A very special shoutout to Borussia Dortmund midfielder Jude Bellingham, who at 17 years and 349 days became the youngest ever player to get on the pitch at the Euros. There is no denying his quality and he will be a key player for England not only at this tournament but also for the next 10-12 years. Man of the Match today though is Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips. He was excellent at breaking up Croatian attacks and also provided the assist to Sterling for the goal. Now he just needs to work on his haircut. Indeed, there are several dodgy haircuts from England players in this squad!

England next play Scotland at Wembley on Friday, 8 pm England and noon on the west coast of America. The atmosphere will be electric and Scotland will want nothing more than to beat us. God Save the Queen!

England Victorious Over Austria and Romania, Plus Your European Championships Preview

Now the the club season is over, all eyes in the football world turn to the national teams and the summer tournaments. Major tournaments that were supposed to be played last summer, like the European Championships (Euros) and the Copa America, will be played this summer now that the COVID-19 pandemic is somewhat more under control. Even though the tournament is taking place in 2021, the tournament will still be known as Euro 2020, per UEFA. It’s kind of dumb to keep the original name when the tournament was postponed a year, but that’s UEFA for you. There was probably already a ton of merchandise made in anticipation of the tournament happening last summer, and the vendors that sponsor the tournament probably didn’t want to change it and throw out all their inventory. I should probably point out that only teams from Europe can compete in the Euros, so there will be no Brazil, Argentina, or USA in this tournament. They play in the tournaments of their respective regions this summer, CONMEBOL and CONCACAF.

The Euros are normally hosted by a single nation and matches usually happen within the borders of the host country. This year is odd though in that the matches will be played in large-capacity stadiums across Europe, with the first match (Italy vs. Turkey) kicking off at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy on Friday. Wembley Stadium in London will also heavily feature in this tournament, along with stadiums in Germany, Spain, Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, and others. This was UEFA’s plan even before anyone knew about COVID-19, but the pandemic has made things even more uncertain and last-minute. Planning a major tournament is a pain in the neck even in the best of times, so I anticipate at least some matches being rescheduled due to the fluidity of the situation. This is a very big regional tournament though, second only to the World Cup in terms of team trophies in terms of importance in the minds of European fans, players, and managers. It needs to be played, it just could not be done safely last summer.

In the run-up to a major tournament, most teams play “friendlys” (exhibition) matches against other countries so they can have some practice playing with each other before the tournament begins. Friendlies can be very useful for a manager in determining his team selection and tactics for the tournament, but they are very similar to pre-season games in the NFL and NBA in the sense that you can only take away so much useful information from them. Your team might win a friendly 5-0, but if you are playing a small country like Andorra or San Marino, that 5-0 win may not mean much going into the tournament. Similarly, if you lose to a big team like France in a friendly, again it might not mean much in terms of predicting tournament results. It’s all about observing individual performances and figuring out what tactics and team selection will translate from the friendly to the tournament and what will not.

England won both of their friendlies over Austria and Romania this past week, both by a score of 1-0. Both matches were akin to watching paint dry, but there were some positives to take away. Neither Austria nor Romania are out-and-out bad teams, as both have players throughout Europe’s top-5 domestic leagues and both know how to organize themselves properly. The winning goal against Austria was a follow-up from a tight angle by winger Bukayo Saka, who scored his first ever England goal and had a very good match overall. The Austria match is a good example of the limited scope of friendlies though, as no players from Manchester City or Chelsea played in that match as it was too soon after the Champions League final and those players needed a rest. There was a stronger selection available for the match this morning against Romania, and England did play better attacking football as a result. Winger Jadon Sancho was unfortunate to hit the woodwork in the first half, but England scored thanks a to a penalty won by midfielder Jack Grealish that was converted by striker Marcus Rashford. Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson did miss a penalty later, but it did not affect the result.

Two wins is better than two losses going into a tournament of course, but we still haven’t seen the best England lineup and its unclear just how far this team will go once the tournament starts. England manager Gareth Southgate knows of course that a degree of success is expected from this tournament. He has already said that reaching the semifinals is the least he expects, and anything else would be a failure. He is right to say that, given the level of talent in this squad. We need to win a trophy with all this talent that we have, plain and simple. If we do not, it is possible that Southgate loses his job in the next year or two. We have Champions League winners throughout this team, and the depth of the squad is the strongest it has been in years. Southgate must take advantage of all this talent and figure out the best way to get the most out of his players.

What I want to see from Southgate and his men primarily though is the ability to adapt to matches and be flexible with tactics if things aren’t going our way. We found a good formula to win matches at World Cup 2018 and it worked very well early on, but it was our inability to adapt our tactics that cost us the semifinal match against Croatia. Southgate was far too rigid in that match and refused to change anything or take any risks until it was too late. We need to be able to play a variety of formations in a variety of ways. It is easier said than done of course, but if/when we get to the later stages of the tournament, it will be vital for our chances to succeed. England’s “Plan A” is solid, but we need to have just-as-solid plans B,C,D, and maybe even E as well.

England are in a tough but not overly-scary Group D with Croatia, Czech Republic, and Scotland. World Cup finalists Croatia are the main concern, but I don’t think they are quite as sharp as they were 3 years ago. World-class midfielders Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic are coming off long seasons in Spain and no one on that team is getting any younger. Put simply, they’re very good but they’re also very old. Another concern is Scotland. What they lack in outright talent they make up for in hustle and shithousery. They always play England tough due to our geographical and historical rivalry, and they love nothing more than beating us. Scotland will gladly lose every match they play, as long as they beat England. I expect them to give us everything they’ve got. Czech Republic is probably the weakest team in the group and are probably co-favorites with Scotland to finish at the bottom, but they also have several Premier League players and should not be taken lightly. I think England have a good chance to win their group, but the match against Croatia will ultimately decide who takes this group. Two teams will advance out of the group stage, but if you win the group the draw is typically easier in the knockout rounds.

Some Other Teams to Watch

Portugal are the defending European Champions, having won in 2016 thanks largely to the Herculean efforts of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo. He will be back this summer for probably one of his final pushes for another major trophy with his national team. Ronaldo will likely play next summer at the 2022 World Cup, but his days in the team are numbered. Portugal currently have a bit of a “golden generation” going on given the talent they have at almost every position such as Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, and Ruben Dias. Those players will be expected to deliver, and they are all more than capable of doing so. Interestingly, this may be the most talented Portugal team Ronaldo has ever played in, so he may not need to do as much of the heavy lifting on his own.

France are the defending World Cup champions and are in the “Group of Death” with Portugal and Germany. France are once again absolutely loaded from top to bottom, and there are also high expectations for them in their home nation. When this France teams plays as a coherent unit, there are no other teams capable of stopping them. Champions League final Man of the Match N’Golo Kante is currently the best midfielder in the world, and he will be teaming up with another superstar in Paul Pogba to try and bring home another major trophy. Striker Karim Benzema is also in the form of his life, having had a stellar year at Real Madrid. His style of play also compliments the style of their other star striker, Kylian Mbappe. If France stay healthy and don’t succumb to infighting (which appears to be a thing of the past), they will be favorites to win the whole thing.

Belgium are probably the last team with the most realistic chance of winning this tournament, aside from France, Portugal, and England. Belgium are somewhat similar to England in the sense that the talent level they have does not reflect the level of success of the team. Players such as Romelu Lukaku, Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, and Youri Tielemans have all won trophies at the club level, but they can never quite put it together at a tournament for one reason or another. They impressively beat Brazil in the quarterfinals at World Cup 2018, but then lost in the semis to the aforementioned French juggernaut. It could be a team mentality problem or a lack of depth, but whatever it is this current crop of Belgians know that their window to win a trophy is closing. Like Croatia, their star players are good but aging. Belgium face a bit of a rebuilding period once this current generation ages out of the squad, but there is no denying their quality.

Overall I am hoping for a fun tournament with lots of goals and high drama. Tournaments such as these are global advertisements for the game, and it’s good for the sport when quality football is seen by hundreds of millions.