Today, England travelled to the elegant Puskás Arena in Budapest, Hungary to play their first match since the loss against Italy in the final of the European Championships. The Three Lions came into the match top of the World Cup qualifying group having won all three of their matches so far, but Hungary were a mere two points behind them in Group I.
Although a victory for England was expected, Hungary are not a team of pushovers like they have been in the past. They are well-organized and tactically sound defensively, and that can create problems for any opposition. This same Hungary team pushed France and Germany to their limits at Euro 2020(1), and they were buoyed by the addition of their most naturally talented player – attacking midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai. Don’t ask me to pronounce his name, as the trickiness of the pronunciation is mirrored by the trickiness of his feet. England would need to make sure he is marked at all times because he has the dribbling and shooting technique to trouble even the best defenses.
England took the pitch in front of a packed house in Hungary, and the atmosphere pre-kick off was mostly upbeat. England were on the ball for most of the first half though, and were clearly the better side in terms of possession, passes, and chances created. The problem was struggling to get clear shots on goal. The Hungarians deployed a 5-3-2 formation that made them incredibly difficult to break down. The other side of that though is that they had no presence in midfield and couldn’t get the ball into Szoboszlai or any of their attacking players. I don’t think England keeper Jordan Pickford even touched the ball in the first half, aside from goal kick clearances. A very stale encounter in that first half plus a very hostile atmosphere had me thinking that England may need to be satisfied with a draw today.
But England upped the tempo a little bit in the second half and Hungary struggled to keep up. Harry Kane just missed a gilt-edged chance on 50 minutes after being through on goal. It was a good save from keeper Péter Gulácsi but you feel that given Kane’s quality he should have scored. But no worries though, as Hungary were undone just 5 minutes later. West Ham midfielder Declan Rice did well to win the ball in midfield, and he played a quick pass out to Manchester City midfielder Jack Grealish on the left wing. Grealish brought the ball to edge of the area, after he which he played in fellow midfielder Mason Mount on an overlapping run towards the end line. Mount used his quickness to get to the ball and drag a cross back along the ground, directly into the path of the unmarked Raheem Sterling. Sterling had to be quick, but it was a relatively simple finish into the bottom corner with Gulácsi unable to get to it. Good team goal from England and it was 1-0. The celebrations for Sterling were marred by some poor behavior from Hungary fans in the stands, who decided it would be a good idea to throw full bottles and cups at Sterling from the stands. More on Hungary’s fans below.
The second goal came via the talismanic Kane about 8 minutes later. Sterling found himself under a bouncing ball on the right wing, and he hit it first time low and along the ground towards Kane in the middle of the box. The ball took a bounce off the foot of a Hungarian defender, which caused the ball to pop up in the air a bit. Kane was able to get his head to it with enough power to put it through the arms of Gulácsi for 2-0. Always good to see Kane on the score sheet and he atoned for his earlier miss with that header. Now that all 3 points were in the bag, you could see England relaxing a little and just seeing the game out.
That didn’t happen though, as center back and Manchester United captain Harry Maguire was next in the queue to score England’s third just 6 minutes later. The floodgates had well and truly opened, as Kane was unlucky not to get his second just before Maguire’s goal. Fellow Red Devil Luke Shaw delivered in a peach of a cross from a corner, and Maguire did well to position himself under it. He headed the ball down and towards the opposite corner, but it didn’t appear to have a ton of pace behind it. Gulácsi couldn’t get down in time to save it though, and it rolled in after taking a deflection off his arm. Good teams can score in a variety of ways, and England showed they are capable of that by finally executing a set piece. Our defenders are so big that we should be scoring more often from those.
The fourth and final nail in the coffin came on 87 minutes, and this time it was Rice both finishing the chance and somewhat creating it. Kane had just missed another chance to score, and Pickford had actually made his first real – if routine – save of the game just after that. But Grealish was involved once again as well, and this time he got an assist. Rice played the ball to Grealish on the right side of the box. Grealish then cut in from the right side using his dribbling and looked to be trying to create space for a shot. He was blocked off though by defenders so he wisely played a backwards diagonal pass back to Rice, who was positioned for a shot on the edge of the box. He passed the ball with the inside of his foot towards the goal, and it was straight at Gulácsi. He really should have done better with the save, as he seemed to drop it and the ball went under him before it went over the line. Still, poor keeping or not, you have to have the temerity to take on that strike and Rice should be credited for going for goal.
So yes, 4-0 away in a hostile atmosphere in a competitive match is about all you can ask for. England were patient in the first half, and that patience was rewarded with dominance in the second. Hungary may feel that poor keeping did them in today, but England’s first goal had nothing to do with Gulácsi. Once the first one went in, you felt the result was never in doubt. Hungary were just lacking the quality going forward today. It’s an over-simplification to blame the keeper in this case, despite his notable errors.
The behavior of too many of the fans in Budapest was very disappointing, not only due to the bottle-throwing after Sterling’s goal but they also booed when England players took the knee before kickoff to protest racism in football. Hungary’s players were very professional in this match and credit to them for showing their fans that is possible to lose with dignity and grace. But that fanbase has a reputation for poor sportsmanship and FIFA must take action to regulate this sort of thing if they are serious about stamping out hooliganism and fan violence in this sport. UEFA has already sanctioned the Hungarian Football Association and had this been a Euro qualifier the match would have been played in an empty stadium. But it seems that FIFA and UEFA don’t carry the same punishments for whatever reason. I am sick of this pigheaded behavior from supporters and it needs to stop. England fans are no exception to that, either. There are too many England fans who behave this way too, they just weren’t on TV today. It is always difficult for me to call out this behavior from other countries when England’s house isn’t fully in order.
But in terms of the match, this was a very good performance from the lads and exactly what England needed to exorcise a few of the demons lingering after the loss to Italy back in July. Coming out against decent opposition, away from home, and putting 4 past them in a span of 32 minutes is just what the doctor ordered. England were already in the driver’s seat in this group, but now World Cup qualification seems much closer despite the fact that there’s only been four of ten games played in this campaign. Hungary are probably the second-best team in the group (aside from maybe Poland) so England can take confidence from the way they handled themselves today. Composed and clinical after a potentially-frustrating first half. Man of the Match for me is Declan Rice, but a case could be made for Sterling, Grealish, or Kalvin Phillips.
England take on minnows Andorra at Wembley on Sunday. An emphatic win is expected against such a small nation. England are now 5 points clear on top of Group I.
I apologize for the tardiness of this blog but it’s been a very emotional 24-48 hours since the final penalty was taken in the match. The loss of course is one thing, but then there was the resulting fallout from it as well. I think it’s probably best to discuss the match itself first and then go over the shitstorm that happened afterwards.
The atmosphere at Wembley on Sunday pre-match was electric, and it must be said that the overall vibe was a positive one. There had been some skirmishes with some idiot England fans trying to get into Wembley without tickets, but again those were minor when compared with the overwhelming majority of fans who were there to have a good time. Choruses of “Sweet Caroline” rung out around the ground in the lead up to kick off, as England fans celebrated their first men’s final in 55 years.
And things went from a reserved frenzy to a raucous celebration just 2 minutes into the match when left wingback Luke Shaw was found in the box by a cross from fellow wingback Kieran Trippier the right hand side. He hit it towards the Italian goal and keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma could not get to it as it crept in just inside the left-hand post. It was clear from the outset that Italy’s initial tactical set up was all wrong. They had come out in their usual 4-3-3, while England manager Gareth Southgate had changed his formation again and set up England in a 3-4-3. Shaw and Trippier were overwhelming them in the space on the wings, and the Italians could not figure out how to mark them with a back 4. Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips were also dictating the possession and tempo in the middle of the park, and for the entire rest of the first half Italy looked rather toothless. Italy forward Federico Chiesa put a shot just wide of Jordan Pickford’s goal after a long run with the ball, but that was Italy’s best chance. The one negative from the first half is that England did not score a second goal, but the way the match was going you figured there would be an opportunity for another one.
But Italy manager Roberto Mancini is no stranger to adversity, and he made some key changes that really swung things back in Italy’s favor. He took off ineffective striker Ciro Immobile and brought on attacking midfielder Federico Bernadeschi, which immediately gave the Italians more fluidity in attack. Along with the urgency of knowing they needed a goal and fresher legs in midfield, Italy really pressed England for about a 10-15 minute spell in the early second half. They were unfortunately rewarded for their efforts after they won a corner, which was tapped in to the back of the England net by center back Leonardo Bonucci after a mad scramble in the box. England failed to clear the ball and Bonucci was in the right place at the right time to make England pay. Sometimes, that’s all you need.
Italy continued their dominant spell for another 10 minutes or so but could not find a second goal. England had a little more possession in the final 10-15 minutes, but solid Italian defending and closing down in midfield prevented England from mounting a serious attack. Southgate had indeed brought on help in the forms of Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish, and Bukayo Saka, but I felt that those subs were too little and too late (more on that below). In the end no more goals were scored and extra time would be needed.
Extra time in a major final is nothing new of course, but I was worried about our fatigue levels given the lack of substitutions. I thought that Mancini had done a better job of getting his tired players off the field, even if one or two of them were necessary changes due to injury. I was more than relieved to see Chiesa go off injured late in the second half. I don’t wish injury on any player, but he had been tormenting England all match and was Italy’s best attacking player on the day.
Italy dominated the first 15 minutes of extra time, but England fought back a little in the second 15 minutes with some better possession and movement around the box. Center back John Stones barely missed getting his head on a cross from Shaw, but there were no serious attempts on the goal. There was a moment where I thought defender Giorgio Chiellini would be sent off for a foul on Saka, but the referee only showed a yellow. I felt it probably should have been a red given the egregious manner in which Chiellini grabbed Saka’s shirt color and yanked it back, but I am not sure how much of a difference it would have made that late on in the match anyway. The referee definitely let a lot of contact go in this match and generally tried to let both teams play. That is fine when it helps your team and it’s what the neutrals would be happy to see, but it’s maddening when it cuts against your team.
Forwards Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were indeed subbed on, but only with about two minutes to go in extra time. I was happy to see those two come on, but it was far too late for them to get involved in the match. Penalties loomed and a nation held it’s breath. Once penalties were confirmed, I was trying to be optimistic. This group of players beat Colombia in a World Cup elimination game on penalties in 2018, so they knew how to win one this way. Higher stakes this time of course and England do have a long history of penalty failures before that, but there was reason for a degree of optimism going into the pens.
I won’t go through it kick by kick because most people saw what happened and it’s too painful to type out anyway, but Italy won 3-2 after a save from Donnarumma on Saka with the fifth and final penalty. Rashford and Sancho missed penalties as well, with Harrys Kane and Maguire converting theirs. Pickford produced two fine saves to keep England in it, but Saka’s penalty was too low and lacked power. Donarumma was the hero on the day, and Italy were crowned European Champions. I turned the stream off and walked away for a bit. I was absolutely crushed, and you could tell Saka, Rashford, and Sancho all felt horribly too. I think it is fair to say that having a 19 year old take the fifth penalty, which is often a decisive one, was an error in judgment from Southgate.
But that was not his biggest error on the day. Saka and Sancho hitting a weak penalties and Rashford missing altogether were also not the main reasons for the loss. Penalties are a crap shoot and anything can happen when the match gets to that point. The principle reasons for the loss were not killing off Italy when we had them on the ropes in the first half, and then failing to respond quickly enough to their tactical changes in the second half. Mancini did not play a perfect match tactically, but his adaptability and willingness to take risks was what won his side their first European title since 1968. He saw that what he set out with wasn’t working, so he took a gamble or two and it paid off. Of course, it does become easier to gamble when you have the defense that Italy has. The center back pairing of Bonucci and Chiellini is world class, simple as. They were excellent at keeping Kane and Raheem Sterling at bay for all 120 minutes. Those two have been England’s best attacking players all tournament, but they were largely anonymous for most of the match.
If England are to win a trophy with this current crop of players, Southgate must be willing to be more adventurous when the time is right. Yes, the conservative approach got us through the first six games, but in a final sometimes you have to take risks and go for the goal. I do not trust England on penalties and we should never try to play for penalties. We were not explicitly doing that in the final, but Southgate was unwilling to change things despite conceding a goal that looked like it was coming for at least 7 or 8 minutes. Sancho and Rashford should have been brought on in normal time, not 2 minutes before penalties. Grealish should have been brought on before the 70th minute. There should have been some kind of tactical plan for more outlet passes from the back to relieve the pressure the Italians were pouring on the back line in the lead up to their goal. The goal may have still come anyway, but England would have been much more suited to getting a second one if he had been less rigid in his approach.
So yes, to lose a major final at home like that is heartbreaking. It’s not an enjoyable experience in any way. But what was even more heartbreaking was the response to it from fans, the media, and even the British government.
Within minutes of England being eliminated, hate speech and vile racist attacks came pouring in from supposed England “supporters” on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. I won’t repeat what was said but suffice it to say that it was just some of the nastiest things one could say to another person. Rashford, Sancho, and Saka got most of the attacks and many (false) correlations were made between the race of those players and their ability to take penalties. There was even an Australian newspaper that ran a later-retracted headline about England’s Black players missing while the white players scored. A mural of Rashford in south Manchester was also defaced with racist language and symbols.
It’s fucking disgusting. That’s all there is to it. You would have thought that by the year 2021 we would be done with the farcical concept of racism, but the reality is that it has only gotten worse in recent years. It definitely seems to be worse at the least, due to the fact that every idiot with a pair of thumbs can express his/her asinine opinion and share it with the world instantaneously. Social media platforms claim they are trying to fight back against hate speech online, but that’s a hydra that is difficult to slay. As soon as you shut down one idiot, two more pop up elsewhere. It should be no wonder why England players took a knee before the kickoff of every match at this tournament to protest against racism. It is clearly still needed.
England fans already had a reputation before this tournament as being rowdy and block-headed, and we’ve done ourselves no favors with all this idiocy. Immediately after the wave of racist nonsense came in, another of wave of hatred pervaded the internet in response. This time though it was a different set of people calling out the racism of our supporters and generally lampooning England as a nation. It was hard to see that as an anti-racist England supporter, but a lot of it was justified. This country does have a problem with racism and it must be addressed. If it takes national embarrassment to get that done, then so be it.
I am no sociologist and I do not know how to fix the problem entirely, but one thing that would help immensely is if UK politicians like Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Priti Patel stopped stoking the fires of discrimination among their constituents. Politicians like those two were elected on nationalist/exclusionist principles, and in the past they frequently targeted dark-skinned immigrants as being the source of many of the UK’s problems when pushing for Brexit. Both Johnson and Patel were quick to condemn the racism from social media, but that was a very hypocritical position to take when it’s primarily those two and their party responsible for a good portion of the racism in the first place. England center back Tyrone Mings was correct to point that out, and his tweet response to Patel went viral almost instantly. You cannot claim to be against racism when you’ve spent the last several years subversively promoting it!
But in the darkest hour for England, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Kane, a white man and England’s captain, posted a condemnation of racism on his social media that provided me a sense of relief in it’s strongly-worded tone. Kane is normally somewhat tepid and lukewarm on issues that don’t directly involve football, but the message of “we don’t want you” re: racist supporters was unequivocal and it was the exact message needed. I echo his words now: if you are racist, you are not an England supporter and we don’t want you.
I was further emboldened by the response of Rashford and the support for him on social media. As toxic as some people were, the real England fans showed up to support the lad when he was being attacked. Rashford admitted his penalty wasn’t good enough, but he refused to apologize for being a Black man and of course he shouldn’t have to. Rashford is 1000x the man any of the racists are. He’s spent the past 1-2 years feeding schoolchildren and funding literacy programs. He even went toe-to-toe with PM Johnson himself when it came to school meals during the pandemic. He has donated roughly £20m to charities in the past year, which is more than his entire net worth. He was recognized for his services by the Crown as well, who awarded him an MBE. Rashford is the shining example, but many England players have made great contributions to the communities they grew up in.
The support for the statements of Rashford and Kane was overwhelmingly positive. For every idiot racist sounding off, there was 10 more people in full support of everything these lads have done and are doing for this country. It was absolutely vital that they got some support from English people, as that has not always been the case in the past, even for extremely popular (white) players like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney. Becks was hung in effigy outside pubs in London after his red card against Argentina in 1998, and Rooney was the target of threats and personal attacks after his own red card against Portugal in 2006. Yes England lost in disappointing fashion, but the cycle of attacking our players when they don’t perform for England seems to be breaking. We need to be encouraging these players and helping them remain positive. Having them terrified of playing for England will not result in success. Toxicity only breeds more toxicity.
This team’s run to the final captivated and united the nation, for the most part. We played well for long stretches in the final as well, and for 60+ minutes we were European Champions. I could not be more proud of them and the manager, and that sentiment is shared by many. In many ways, this whole incident showed both the very best and very worst of social media. You had the vile racism at first, but the swift condemnation in response to all of it was nothing short of positive. Even the normally-alarmist British tabloids were mostly supportive of the lads post-match.
The damage to Rashford’s mural was covered with messages of support written on bits of paper and England flags, and earlier today the street artist who initially did the mural was out there repairing it.
If we want England to have any degree of success over the next 10-15 years, we have to continue showing support like this. If the players are able to put their club tribalism aside and play for one another, then so can the average fan. This tournament and the subsequent fallout I think created a strong bond among these England players; a brotherhood of sorts. They know they’re good and they know they can do well at tournaments, and if they can get through this level of fallout they can get through anything. All we need to do as England fans is keep supporting them and they will eventually bring us another trophy. Getting to the final was a huge step in the right direction and I think there will only be more growth as the team grows and matures. Many of our players this tournament were still very young, including Rashford, Sancho, Saka, and Jude Bellingham. They are only going to get better. If they know England fans are going to be behind them even if they lose a close match, that will only make success more likely.
This England team under Southgate might be the one to bring us success on the pitch, which is why I titled this post as “It’s Not Coming Home (This Time)”. We will have more chances to win with this group, as we have shown that we can play with anybody. Reaching the semis in 2018 and a final in 2020(1) is already the best I have seen England do in my lifetime. At this tournament we beat the Germans, scored four in a knockout match, and went to our first major final in 55 years. More importantly, their efforts off the pitch may end up being a catalyst for real societal change in the UK as well. Mark my words – these players will make history one way or another.
Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone who read these blog posts during the Euros. My readers are of the utmost importance to me and I hope it was informative and entertaining for you all. It truly was a great tournament marred only by the actions of a small amount of knuckle-draggers.
I shall now be taking a few weeks off from the blog as there is a lull in competitive football matches in late July/early August. United’s pre-season gets underway soon, but I’ll do a full season preview for that once the Premier League is closer to returning.
Network: ESPN for Americans (unfortunate as ESPN has been sub-par with their coverage for me)
Now that we have the basics out of the way, let’s dive into this epic match and try to glean some sense of what could happen. I am happy that this is the final matchup, as Italy an England have been inarguably the two best teams this tournament. Both are defensively very sturdy and both have a generous amount of attacking talent as well. England have conceded only one goal so far this tournament, and the Italians have only conceded three. Italy has had England’s number at tournaments in recent years, knocking us out in 2012 and beating us in the World Cup group stage in 2014. England will be looking to buck that trend and win their first major trophy in 55 years. Italy have won the Euros before but not recently, with their best result in the last 20 years or so coming in 2012 when they lost in the final to Spain.
I think that overall this is going to be a very tense match and I don’t anticipate a lot of goals being scored. The final match of a major tournament is almost always a very defensive affair anyway, and that will continue this time around due to the defensive structure of both teams. Both teams are built on not losing first and foremost. I think both managers Gareth Southgate and Roberto Mancini would be happy sacrificing some attacking play if it means there is more security in front of their respective nets.
Italy
This squad is talented and has a very deep bench. Italy will be the toughest team that England has played so far this tournament, but that’s how tournament football is supposed to be played. It is not supposed to be easier as it goes along. That being said, while this Italian team is very good, they are not invincible. There are ways to get at them.
I have spent some time in the past few days looking at portions of replays from Italy’s matches so far this tournament, and the main thing I noticed is that this team punishes mistakes. If you misplace a pass or spend too long on the ball, Italy will be on you and looking to win the ball. Several of their goals in the group stage and in the knockouts came from simply being opportunistic and jumping on other teams when they spent too much inside their own half. They hunt the ball like a frenzied sharks who can smell blood. I think they will spend at least some time pressing England if/when we decide to try and play it out from the back.
But that’s not the only way they can win. Like any good side, this Italy team can beat you in a number of different ways. They have also looked incredibly proficient on the counter-attack when needed, and they can also do the traditional possession-based tactics when looking to break down a stubborn defense. Marco Veratti is the traditional midfield “general” who has that magic ability to find the right pass at the right time. Under Mancini that possession-based approach has dwindled somewhat though, as he seems to favor more aggressive and direct tactics. Their match against Spain proved that they are capable of winning without a lot of possession. Typically, when on the ball, Italy are doing their best to run at you. When off the ball, they are doing their damnedest to get the ball back. Mancini’s deft application of the 4-3-3 allows Italy to be aggressive in that manner and the 4-3-3 is expected again from them tomorrow.
Winger/forwards Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Chiesa are going to be the main goal scoring threats for Italy tomorrow. Insigne has dazzled at the tournament with his dribbling, and he scored an absolute stunner that ended up being the winner against Belgium. He cannot be allowed any space on the edge of the box, as he is capable of scoring from distance or finding a deadly pass that unlocks the defense. That goes for every Italian forward or midfielder, as they can all shoot from the edge of the box. Much like Raheem Sterling, Insigne’s runs at defense tends to pull defenders out of position, which creates openings for other attackers (usually from midfield) to run into. I do not know if England will double mark him, but it should at least be considered.
Chiesa is slightly different in that he is not really known for long bursts of pace and dribbling. Unlike Insigne, he is not going to run 40 yards with the ball and then try to get a shot off. Where Chiesa excels is in tight spaces at short distances with the ball at his feet. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player with his ability to get shots off from seemingly-impossible angles and create a goal from nothing. His goal against Spain was just such a goal. He spent a few seconds in the Spanish box wriggling and turning around, so much so that you thought the chance for a goal was gone. But his coordination and balance are such that he was able to get a shot off with not a lot net to aim at, and he still found the far corner. He also cannot be allowed to operate undeterred on the right side of the Italian attack. If he and Insigne are finding time and space on the ball, it’s going to be a long night for England.
The Italians also have the size to be dangerous from set pieces, but they also have conceded from a set piece too. Austria’s only goal against them was a simple header from a corner. They were just switched off at the back and the first Austrian player the ball came to simply headed it down and low. I don’t think the Italians will be that switched off again on Sunday, but all it takes is a moment of carelessness. You can expect stalwart center backs Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini to make a big impact from set pieces, whether it be attacking or defending. Those two have been rock-solid this tournament at the back and they will again be charged with organizing everything in defense.
The absence of left back Leonardo Spinazzola will once again be sorely missed for Italy. He was having an electrifying tournament before succumbing to an ACL tear, and in several of their matches he was the main attacking threat. His combination play with Insigne was borderline unstoppable at times, and while Emerson has been a solid deputy in his absence, Emerson’s decision making in the box leaves a lot to be desired. He can dribble and cross like Spinazzola, but he doesn’t always know when to do one versus the other. England’s right back and right winger will be happy that Spinazzola will not be playing.
Unmentioned Notable Players: Manuel Locatelli, Nicolo Barella, and (Olympic gold medalist in diving) Ciro Immobile
England
Southgate deployed England in a 4-2-3-1 against Denmark, which was perhaps a tad conservative but obviously nonetheless effective. Aside from a 20 or so minute spell in the first half, Denmark had little attacking play and did not create many chances. The best thing about the Denmark match from a tactical perspective was England’s response to going a goal down. Up until the semifinal England had not been behind in the entire tournament, but very importantly they were only down for a grand total of 9 minutes before equalizing. I wanted to see how this team would respond to going a goal down, and I am happy we don’t have to run that experiment against the Italians. When they have a lead, they rarely give it up.
I think the 4-2-3-1 will be used again in an effort to neutralize the midfield against Italy. Declan Rice will be charged with getting himself in the middle of the passing lanes, and if I was Southgate I would utilize Kalvin Phillips to man-mark Veratti. Spain provided somewhat of a blueprint on how to slow down Italy, and a big part of it was using Koke to constantly harass and harangue Veratti so that he has no time on the ball. When he as time to play a pass, he can hurt you. When he doesn’t, he becomes largely anonymous and ineffective. Phillips looked a little leggy at times against Denmark, but I think he will find some success in sticking to Veratti. He is a tenacious midfielder and is proficient at closing down the player on the ball. If we make Veratti consistently pass it backwards, that is a victory.
In attack, I think almost everything is going to go through Sterling and Harry Kane. Those two are on fire for England right now and in excellent form. Actually, Sterling only plays well after I insult him repeatedly, so I am going to get that out of the way now. Sterling makes poor decisions, he loses the ball too much, and he can’t consistently finish to save his life. Now that I’ve said that, he’ll go and score a hat-trick just to prove me wrong.
There is a degree of mystery as to who will play on the right wing for England, and also who will be in the “number 10” attacking midfield role behind Kane. As for the right wing, both Bukayo Saka and Jadon Sancho have had good tournaments playing there. Saka created England’s first goal against Denmark and Sancho was a key player in the win over Ukraine. Both offer pace, dribbling, and attacking intent. Whoever is played, they need to be eager to make diagonal runs between the left back and left center back. I’d generally like to see England’s forwards making runs in behind and also being quick to get the ball into the box. As good as Bonucci and Chiellini are, they have a combined age of 70 and as a result they are not fast players. We may not be able to out-position them or out-muscle them, but we can certainly out-pace them. For that reason, the counter-attack may be an effective tool against them as well.
Kane’s role in attack will also be interesting. He’s a natural goal-scorer of course, but against Denmark he was also the principle playmaker. Mason Mount was the designated number 10 attacking mid against Denmark, but Kane was in his spot so often it seemed like Mount was playing a different position. Kane has been known to drop back off the forward line into the space in front of the center backs when he plays for Tottenham, and because he can shoot from distance the center backs are required to run out at him and close him down. This pulls the defenders out of position and makes it even easier for speedy wingers to get in behind. I expect Italy to deploy defensive midfielder Jorginho to try and keep Kane from receiving the ball, or at the least to prevent him from turning and running with it. Kane is deadly in the box of course, but it seems he is just as deadly with the ball at his feet and other attackers running ahead of him. I doubt he starts as the number 10 tomorrow but he will undoubtedly make his way to that position if he is not seeing enough of the ball.
Another tactic England should take from Spain’s playbook is using the press against Italy. It’s true they’re incredible at pressing others, but they looked a little shaky when Spain pressed them, particularly when Italy were trying to build from the back. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma is an excellent shot-stopper and he commands the penalty area well, but he looked shaky (at the least) when asked to hoof the ball up the pitch towards his forwards. Like many modern keepers, he likes to play short passes to his defenders which enables his team to build up attacks through possession more easily. Blasting the ball 60 yards gets it away from your goal, but it has the risk of being more easily collected by the opposition. That’s exactly what the Spanish made him do. When Donnarumma was on the ball, Spain’s forwards got right up on the defenders he would normally pass to. That made it too risky to pass to them, and left him with the option of clearing it long, which he did rather unconvincingly at times. I counted at least two average-to-good chances created that way for Spain. Hopefully England are more clinical in their finishing.
England rode their luck to a degree against Denmark, but you cannot rely on luck to win a final. Maybe you get some and hey it’s great when you do, but it cannot be relied upon. England will need to be very focused defensively and clinical when their opportunities to score arrive. It is almost certain that England will have at least 1-2 good chances to score, and they must take them. The Italians have proven to be very opportunistic this tournament, and England will have to be the same way. England themselves have been fairly mistake-free so far, one or two questionable clearances from keeper Jordan Pickford aside. We cannot afford to make a wary pass in midfield or under-hit a back pass from defense, because if we do the Italians will make us pay. England do not have to be perfect to win this match, but we do have to be damn well close to perfect.
Unmentioned Notable Players: Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire, Jack Grealish. Phil Foden is unfortunately a doubt to play after suffering a foot injury in training. He would be a loss, but not as big a loss as Spinazzola is for Italy.
Referee/Shithousery
Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers will be holding the whistle tomorrow and he will have to be on his toes indeed. The referee should ideally be a non-factor in every match, but I have a feeling that he will be called into action repeatedly tomorrow. England won a penalty off a “dive” in their last match, while the Italians have spent generations perfecting the art of selling fouls to win free kicks/penalties. If the Italians get a lead in the second half they will certainly employ that element of gamesmanship to get them over the line. VAR will also have an influence on the match, even though ideally it should not. Prepare yourself for shithousery on a level never seen before and the resulting controversy, because it’s going to happen. There will be cries for a penalty if either team’s defense even so much as breathes on the attacking player.
Final Thoughts
Too close to call this one, and even if it wasn’t I still wouldn’t venture to guess. It seems that overall most neutrals are rooting for Italy, and for a wide variety of reasons. A lot of people didn’t like that England beat Denmark on a soft penalty, a lot of people think our supporters are arrogant, and some even go as far as to root against England due to its bloody colonial history. All of that is mostly nonsense. Denmark got at least two decisions in their favor against us, our supporters have no foundation to be arrogant given that we’ve won naff-all in 50+ years, and if you’re going to be mad at England’s colonialism you should also be pretty mad about Italy’s. My point is that all this hatred towards England is largely unfounded and frankly I don’t get it.
Two incidents I will not stand for however is the harassment of opposition fans/players on social media, and the use of a laser pointer on the face of Danish keeper Kasper Schmeichel in the run-up to Kane’s penalty. The first of those is immoral and the latter is outright dangerous. I want to win, but I don’t want to win because the fans are enabling cheating.
Everything else is fair game though. Boo the Italian national anthem. Sing songs about how they dive more frequently than submarines. Show them what true gamesmanship is by crying for fouls and waste time by rolling around on the ground. Take forever to do substitutions if we have the lead, etc. I don’t care anymore. You don’t beat Italy or win finals by being gentlemanly about the rules. It’s time to give them a taste of their own shithousing medicine. If the occasion calls for us to be villains, then villains we shall be.
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.
Two giants of European football will face off tomorrow at Wembley Stadium in London (noon PDT), and it truly is a marquee matchup between Italy and Spain. These two teams have played each other many times in this tournament, with the Italians being victorious in the Round of 16 at Euro 2016 and the Spanish prevailing in the final of Euro 2012. As alluded to, both these teams have won World Cups and both have won the Euros. Spain have three European titles (1964, 2008, 2012) while the Italians have only one (1968), but Italy has several more World Cups. No matter which you slice it, fans of both of these teams have high expectations whenever their national sides are on the pitch.
Italy
The Italians have probably been the best team at this tournament so far, dominating in the group stages and taking down a stubborn Austria side in the Round of 16. The victory over Belgium in the quarterfinals is what really sold me on this particular Italian team though. Yes they are talented, coached well, and did well against weaker opposition; but Belgium was the first real stiff test for them at this tournament and they did just enough to advance. That match was entertaining in the first half but dreadfully boring in the second, but I think that was done on purpose. The Italians had the lead, and they have a very stout defense anchored by long-tenured center backs Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini. What those two lack in athleticism they more than make up for in positioning, strength, and tactical nous. It is very difficult to get in behind them, as Belgium and other teams have found out. The structure of the team is built on the resilient back line, and so far it has worked for Italian manager Roberto Mancini.
When off the ball, the Italians are on the prowl like a pack of wild dogs. Their tactics are based on pressing high up the pitch to force the opposition into mistakes, and when they are on the ball and looking to score they run directly at defenses. Italy are traditionally a team that likes to create chances through slow build up play, but Mancini has thrown tradition out the window. These aggressive tactics can be risky, but it works when you have speedy players and a solid back line. They also have the depth of talent needed to keep using these tactics late into matches when the opposition is tiring. Mancini has however kept alive the tradition of Italian shithousery (diving, moaning for fouls, time wasting), and that makes them very effective at running out the clock. If Italy has a lead with 10 or so minutes left, look for them all to start falling over like they’ve been shot every time the other team’s players go near them. Not being cynical because it’s part of the sport and everyone is guilty of it to a degree, but that is what they will do if they’re trying to protect a lead.
Players to Watch: Bonucci, Chiellini, Lorenzo Insigne, Marco Veratti, Manuel Locatelli, Federico Chiesa, Ciro Immobile
Notably absent is left back Leonardo Spinazzola. He tore his ACL in the match against Belgium, and it’s a shame he can’t play anymore because he’s been absolutely electric down Italy’s left hand side. Pace, dribbling, crosses, it’s all been magic and his loss is a huge one.
Spain
Spain are a much more curious team. They’re certainly talented of course and have a manager in Luis Enrique who has won a ton of trophies at the club level, but they have been somewhat inconsistent this tournament. They struggled to two draws in their opening two group matches against Sweden and Slovakia, but then came alive and scored 10 goals in the next two games against Russia and Croatia. In their quarterfinal match with Switzerland though they were back to struggling in attack and needed penalties to finally put away the Swiss. The inconsistency of their form and whether or not they can create quality chances will be two large concerns for Spain. Which team is going to show up?
One positive for Spain is that they do not have to worry about the Italians putting 10 men behind the ball and parking the proverbial bus in front of their own net. Italy will come at them for large portions of the match, and that will inevitably leave gaps in midfield that Spain can potentially work the ball into with their passing game. Spain’s tactics are based entirely on short and medium passes that enable them to more easily retain possession. Possession of the ball is the foundation of their tactics, the logic being that the less the other team has the ball, the less likely they are to score. Spain do not take many chances with the ball when it comes to passing the ball forward, but they are very good at passing it around the edge of the box and trying to create gaps in defenses that way. It worked wonderfully well from 2008-2012 when Spain won 3 major trophies, but a lack of cutting edge at the center forward position in recent years has frequently been Spain’s undoing. After all, you don’t win a match by possessing the ball more. You win by scoring more, and when your strikers are in poor form, all the possession in the world doesn’t really matter.
This match will be won by whichever side wins the passing/pressing cat-and-mouse game. Will the Spanish be able to pass the ball around the press effectively, or will Italy be all over them and cause them to make mistakes? The Spanish have been prone to defensive breakdowns and mistakes this tournament, most notably against Croatia and Switzerland. They will need to be at their very best in order to beat Italy. Concentration will be vital. The mental aspect of the game is so important and never gets talked about, really. It doesn’t matter what your tactics are as a manager if your players lose concentration in key moments and fail to execute.
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!
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.
The last two Round of 16 matches took place today in London and Glasgow, Scotland respectively. England took on bitter rivals Germany, while Sweden and Ukraine dueled in the later fixture.
Spoiler alert: this post is going to mostly be about England lol
England vs. Germany
I didn’t sleep well last night because I was thinking about this match and all the things that could possibly happen. Hundreds of talking points were flashing through my mind and they still are right now. Germany has traditionally dominated England at major tournaments, and even though they were sub-par in the group stage they still boast an insane amount of talent. England were doing alright coming in to the match, having won the group but didn’t really amaze anyone in the process. Defending very well, but not really creating a lot going forward.
England manager Gareth Southgate has received criticism for his conservative and defense-minded line-ups this tournament, but he apparently doesn’t mind them that much because he did the exact same thing today. I myself even questioned how wise it was to leave some of England’s best attacking players on the bench against a big nation like Germany. Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips were in a double-pivot in front of a back 3, with Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, and Bukayo Saka in attack. Wingbacks Kieran Trippier and Luke Shaw were also out there to help with both defense and attack depending on if we had the ball or not. The Germans, with manager Joachim Löw in charge of what could be his final match (retirement), lined up in their familiar 3-5-2 similar to England. It was expected that they would use their in-form wingbacks to win the ball high up the pitch and create overloads in the channels, which would then be used to get in behind England’s defense.
The first half swung back and forth in terms of momentum, with the Germans dominating the opening 10 minutes or so. Midfielder Leon Goretzka was through on goal at one point early-ish on and Rice was forced to foul him in a very dangerous area. Fortunately the resulting free kick came to nothing, but Rice was booked for his actions. England created a chance or two themselves from Sterling and center back Harry Maguire, forcing saves from the ridiculously talented German keeper Manuel Neuer. England keeper Jordan Pickford was forced into a fine save of his own in the first half as well, doing well to get low enough to stop German forward Timo Werner’s shot from a tight angle. In all honesty, that was probably the best chance overall for either side, arguably until Kane was denied a shooting chance in first half stoppage time by the outstretched leg of German center back Mats Hummels. Kane was clean through after the ball fell to him, but Hummels was in the right position to clear it. Both sides had some chances, but it was 0-0 at the half.
Pickford was called into action early into the second half again, this time jumping up high to get a fist on a scorcher of a shot from German winger/forward Kai Havertz. It really was a fantastic shot from Havertz and it would have gone in if not for an even more fasntastic save. Pickford isn’t tall by goalkeeper standards, but his vertical jump and reflexes are fantastic. Things were rather dull after that for a little bit, though. Both teams kept losing possession in midfield and as time crept closer to the end the dreaded prospect of penalties loomed larger and larger.
But then the moment came. An absolutely wonderful moment. Attacking midfielder Jack Grealish had been subbed on for Saka, and his creativity was vital in the buildup. In the 75th minute, Sterling went on a run towards the German defense and passed it off to Grealish on the left side of the box, right near the edge. Shaw was in a forward position for really the first time all match, and Grealish played a diagonal pass to him. Shaw ran forward with the ball, while Sterling (now in the box) took a step backwards to make sure he was onside. Shaw played a cross towards Sterling and Kane, and Sterling was able to get his right boot on it and push England into a 1-0 lead. He did a quick check for the offside flag, but it was down. The celebrations were absolutely mad. I am going to remember this goal and this moment for the rest of my life.
With it being 1-0 after 75 minutes and the Germans not really creating much, there was a feeling that this could finally be our day. Sterling almost went from hero to villain though a few minutes later after his lazy back pass was intercepted by Havertz and then played quickly to the legendary German forward Thomas Muller. Muller has been a goal scoring machine in the past, and even though he is not as quick as he used to be he is the last player you want to see on a breakaway. Defenders Kyle Walker and John Stones were after him with Pickford charging straight at him, but Muller got a clean shot away though that really looked like it was going in. It miraculously bounced harmlessly wide of Pickford’s goal though, and Sterling’s blushes were spared. Sometimes you need a bit of luck to win games like this, and it’s about bloody time we got some.
England fans were then given another wonderful moment to treasure when England brought the ball forward and it was played wide to Grealish on the left. He hit a beautiful cross into the box that found Kane virtually by himself, and Kane buried it past Neuer for 2-0. It was very good to see him get on the scoresheet finally at this tournament. If he finds some form, watch out! At 86 minutes, England were home and dry, if not literally due to the London rain then at least metaphorically. Utter elation. The final few minutes went by without much further incident, other than the curious substitution made by Löw to bring on midfielder/defender Emre Can when he is not primarily an attacking player. Many of the more cynical German fans are actually rather pleased that his reign as manager has now ended due to decisions such as this one. He won the World Cup with them in 2014, but they view him as “washed up” to an extent now. They sure didn’t like losing in such a fashion to England, though!
I was close to tears when the final whistle went. I started jumping around like a madman and singing songs. I video called my mother and grandparents in England and they were simultaneously crying and laughing as hysterically as I was. Have you ever had that moment where you finally triumphed over something that has repeatedly defeated you? Passing a big test, getting an ideal job, learning a new skill, etc.? Have you ever had that moment of divine satisfaction where you finally achieve the goal you’ve been trying to achieve since forever? That’s what happened today. We’ve beaten Germany before sure, but we haven’t beaten them at a major tournament since 1966, when England last won the World Cup. When we do beat them, it’s in a friendly match or in a match that doesn’t otherwise count for much. But not today though. We showed up, executed our plan, and got the victory when it mattered the most.
Southgate and his coaching staff deserve full credit for that plan and the players executed it more or less perfectly, one or two minor blemishes aside. He was a man truly on the hot seat going into this tournament and was facing the sack if England didn’t do well, but this victory is huge for him, the team, and the nation. The defensive midfield was excellent throughout, while Maguire and the other defenders repelled every cross into the box that came in. Tackles all over the place. Shaw, Rice, Phillips, Stones, Maguire, Walker, and Grealish were all phenomenal today. Sterling and Kane did well to reward the manager’s faith in them despite a rocky start to the tournament.
I think what Southgate has done is that he has created a team that’s very hard to beat and very annoying to play against. He knew our defense needed work after the 2018 World Cup exit, so he set about shoring that up first and foremost. He realized that teams that do well at major tournaments are usually the ones that defend the best. Italy in 2006, Germany in 2014, Portugal 2016, etc. Our defenders are good of course, but he has the midfield set up in a way that doesn’t allow many direct attacks straight at them. We saw this against the talented Croatian midfield too. Because teams can’t get at us through the middle along the ground, they attack us on the wings with crosses which plays to our strengths in terms of heading the ball away. Maguire is a monster of a human with a massive skull. He can head the ball away all day! As long as we defend well from set pieces, we are tough to break down and we end up frustrating the opposition.
Still all to play for though. This felt like a final but it was not the final, of course. Southgate even said that this means nothing if we don’t go win the whole thing now. Still seven other teams left in this tournament, although England now face a rather favorable draw. They knew they would play the winner of Ukraine/Sweden if they got through Germany.
Sweden vs. Ukraine
Left winger Oleksandr ZInchenko scored first for Ukraine, then Sweden equalized via striker Emil Forsberg just before half time. This scrappy and disjointed match was 1-1 at full time and extra time was needed. Sweden had defender Marcus Danielson sent off for a rash and violent tackle though in extra time, and further injuries and stoppages did not allow for much flow to the game. The hero in this match was Artem Dovbyk though, who found himself free at the very end of extra time to head home and send Ukraine, somewhat surprisingly, into the quarterfinals. Many had Sweden picked to win this match, but a failure to capitalize on chances and the red card really cost them. Well done to the Ukrainians for getting this far though. Zinchenko and Andriy Yarmalenko are truly two very talented players. Credit to their manager (and all-time goalscorer) Andriy Shevchenko for getting his men to this point when many did not have them getting out of their group.
Quarterfinal Matches
Switzerland vs. Spain, Friday 9 am PDT – St. Petersburg, Russia
Belgium vs. Italy, Friday Noon PDT – Munich, Germany
Czech Republic vs. Denmark, Saturday 9 am PDT – Baku, Azerbaijan
England vs. Ukraine – Saturday Noon PDT – Rome, Italy
Two very appetizing matches happened on the penultimate day of the Round of 16. Spain took on Croatia in Copenhagen, Denmark before France and Switzerland travelled to Bucharest, Romania for their match. What resulted from today was probably the single best day of international football I have perhaps ever seen.
Spain vs. Croatia
This match was so good and so entertaining it almost deserves its own post, but I shall try to summarize effectively. I unfortunately did not get to watch this match due to a work engagement and I’m rather perturbed about that, because this was probably the most entertaining game of the tournament so far.
Most pundits and fans probably would have picked Spain to win this match, but only a fool would have written off Croatia and the result was far from certain. Spain hit 5 goals in their last group match, but before that they were having trouble breaking down more defensive-minded teams. Croatia were runners-up at the 2018 World Cup and still sport some incredibly talented – if old – players. Whenever your team has Luka Modric in it, you have a chance to win.
What transpired was everything a neutral fan could dream for – world class talent, rookie mistakes, and 8 goals scored. Spain made all the early runs and had the better chances in the first 20 minutes, but they found themselves down 1-0 after a fairly routine back pass from the Spanish defense bounced over Spain keeper Unai Simon’s right foot and rolled into the goal. Huge error, and you normally don’t see such a massive kerfuffle at this level. It was clear that Simon took his eye off the ball as it rolled back to him and he just…missed it. I’ve been a goalkeeper at the very amateur level, and I can tell you that there’s no worse feeling in the world than letting an easy one in. Elation for the Croats, though.
That elation didn’t last too long, as Spain were soon equal via midfielder Pablo Sarabia. The ball broke kindly for him in the box and he did well to ride a challenge and lash the ball past Croatian keeper Dominik Livakovic. It was probably the fair outcome, given that Spain had dominated the game since going behind and at halftime it was 1-1.
Spain got two more later in the second half via defender Cesar Azpilicueta, and then the other came in the 76th minute from striker Ferran Torres. I bring them both up simultaneously because both goals were scored after some bad defensive errors by Croatia. Azpilicueta was unmarked for his headed goal and couldn’t miss from so close, while Torres went around his defender like he wasn’t there for his goal. At 3-1 no one would blame you for assuming that the game was over for Croatia, given their defensive issues and lack of chances created.
But assumptions are not facts, and Croatia proved they have plenty of fighting spirit. Substitute winger Mislav Orsic put the cat amongst the pigeons by getting a second for Croatia in the 85th minute, and the goal galvanized his team. Croatia suddenly had a lot more energy, and Spain were holding on for dear life in the last 5-7 minutes. They couldn’t quite completely hold on though, as fellow substitute and midfielder Mario Pasalic headed home a cross from close range in the 92nd minute to send the Croatian fans into delirium. It was a stunning sequence of events and it meant that extra time would be necessary. In all honesty, striker Andrej Kramaric was unlucky not to put Croatia ahead 4-3 when his shot was blocked off the line by a defender. Spain were inches from losing this match!
But Spain once again were the stronger side to start the final 30 minutes, and this time their dominance paid dividends. The much-maligned Alvaro Morata put them ahead on 100 minutes, after he smartly controlled a high cross into the box and was able to volley it past Livakovic for number 4. I was happy for Morata, as he has been the target of a lot of criticism from the Spanish press and social media. He had missed a few of his easier chances, but converted the most difficult one at the most pivotal time. Usually when a team goes ahead in extra time they play more conservative, but Spain did not. Attacking midfielder Mikel Oyarzabal but the tie beyond all doubt when he slotted home from close range after another dangerous cross in from the right side. Croatia created some half-chances after that to keep things interesting, but Spain held on until the final whistle.
I hope I covered it all, but no written words can capture the drama and tension of this match. Just a classic, all around. Spain do seem to have defensive issues at times but 10 goals in two matches should make them feel much better about their attacking abilities. Up next, Spain will play the winner of France and Switzerland on Friday in the quarterfinals.
France vs. Switzerland
I didn’t think that this match would come anywhere close to the level of drama in the Spain match, but I was happy to be proven wrong. We got two high-scoring thrillers today, and two such games are great advertisements for this sport.
Most people expected France to brush aside the Swiss fairly easily. France are the reigning world champions and tons of articles have been written about their talent levels – Paul Pogba, Kylian Mbappe, N’golo Kante, Antoine Griezmann – all world beaters. On top of that, they have players on their bench that would probably start for any other country. Such is their strength in depth. The Swiss have some talent in the likes of Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka, but on paper France should be taking this. But no match is played on paper, and France learned that the hard way today.
Much to everyone’s surprise, the first goal came from Switzerland. France looked uncomfortable in the opening 45 minutes; perhaps even unsettled. I would tend to think they weren’t helped by their tactical set-up, though. For some reason, France manager Didier Deschamps decided to employ a back 3 instead of France’s traditional back 4. I think this led to a little bit of passiveness for France. Why make a tough pass forward from the back when you can just square it to the extra center back? They weren’t used to this set up and I think subconsciously expected the Swiss to roll over for them, however they did not. It was some excellent center forward play from Haris Seferovic that earned the Swiss their goal. He is a big, strong striker and he simply outmuscled the Frenchman marking him to get his head on a cross from the left. Sometimes football really is that simple.
It was 1-0 at halftime and France looked a little shell-shocked. You knew it wasn’t over, but they knew they would need to play much better in order to win this match. France got a little bit of luck when the second half resumed when keeper Hugo Lloris saved a penalty from left back Ricardo Rodriguez. There were questions as to why Rodriguez was taking the penalty as he is not traditionally a goal scorer, and indeed it’s somewhat of a mystery as to why Seferovic or another striker didn’t take it. VAR checked the foul and the penalty call was probably correct, but Lloris showed his own class by making the save. That save energized the French a bit and they soon started playing like how most people expected them to.
Striker Karim Benzema brought France level from close range after a slick pass from Mbappe, and he got a second one only two minutes later after he headed in a cross/shot from Griezmann. France were ahead in a matter of mere minutes, and it was during this time that they really showed what they are capable of. They can just flip a switch and all of a sudden you’re losing. Pogba got a third roughly 15 minutes later, hitting an absolutely sublime strike past Swiss keeper Yann Sommer from about 22 yards out. Pogba really can hit some amazing shots; I just wish he would score like that for Manchester United as often as he does for France!
Again, at 3-1 with roughly 10-12 minutes left, no one would blame you for assuming France had it in the bag. They didn’t play well throughout the match, but most felt that 20-30 minute spell of world-class play would probably see them through. But once again, just like Croatia earlier in the day, the Swiss were not done. Seferovic popped up again with 9 minutes to go and headed in a lovely cross from the right side from close range. He found space between the French defenders this time and was able to get good contact on it. Now only down 1, the Swiss pressed on.
Striker Mario Gavranovic was then the hero for Switzerland, doing well to beat the French defense with a dribble before sliding an equalizer past Lloris in the 90th minute. He received an excellent pass through the middle from Xhaka and went around the closest defender like he wasn’t there. As good as France were for that 20-30 minute period, they were pretty bad in the final ten minutes. No concentration, poise, or game management. I do think a bit of hubris got to them today, especially once they were winning. All credit to the Swiss though for sticking to the task and forcing extra time after being down 2.
The extra time in this match was far less eventful than the early game. Both teams were clearly very tired, and some sloppy fouls by both sides really broke up the rhythm of the play. Mbappe probably should have scored after a sublime pass from Pogba through the middle, but he delayed just a fraction too long and blazed into the side netting. France were also required to make several subs due to injury and fatigue, having to take off winger Kingsley Coman, Griezmann, and goal-scorer Benzema. No goals scored in extra time meant that a penalty shootout would decide things.
Some argue that penalties are a lottery and not really a fair way to decide close matches, and while I can understand that argument, penalties were perfectly appropriate for this back-and-forth nature of this match today. The first nine penalties – 5 by the Swiss and 4 by France – were essentially perfect. Lloris came close to saving one but the ball still slipped past him despite contact with it. The hero of the day though was Sommer, who did very well to parry out the 5th French penalty. Mbappe took that last penalty and most expected him of all people to convert it, but he struck the ball rather unconvincingly and Sommer made a good save diving to his right.
World champions and tournament favorites France are OUT! Huge upset for Switzerland, even bigger than what the Czechs did against Netherlands yesterday. Switzerland earned the privilege to take on Spain in the quarterfinals next Friday.
Man of the Match: Granit Xhaka. Got the game-tying assist and was absolutely everywhere for the Swiss today, both in defense and attack.
Tomorrow
England vs. Germany (9 am PDT)
Sweden vs. Ukraine (Noon PDT)
England really need to beat Germany now. The stars are aligning for a deep tournament run if we can just get past the Germans!
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.
4-4-2 