Euro 2020: The Good, The Bad and the Football! (Part II)

Even though I share Chris Gunter’s view of this tournament being a “joke of a set-up”, with some teams having the unfortunate pleasure of needing to travel ridiculous distances between games, I must admit we have been lucky to witness a first knockout round of games, which has been nothing short of quality, excitement, and lots of drama.

Wales 0-4 Denmark

The build-up to Wales’ meeting with Denmark at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam was dominated by the news that Wales would be going into the last 16 knockout tie without their ‘twelfth man’. Due to Covid-19 regulations, the Welsh supporters are banned from entering the Netherlands as the UK is not on the Dutch Government’s list of safe countries. Like Wales, Denmark also do not find themselves on the safe list; however, European Union and Schengen area residents are exempt from the entry rules and are not required to quarantine. This means that the Danish fans could avoid quarantining in Holland by spending less than 12 hours in the country. But these rules did not apply to the Welsh supporters following UK’s withdrawal from the EU. So, if Wales were already considered underdogs heading into this tie, then this would have given their opposition an added advantage before a ball was even kicked!

This Wales team are used to going into games as underdogs, so I am sure this wouldn’t have fazed them either way. But this was no ordinary Denmark team. After qualifying for the knockout stage on a wave of emotion, Denmark became every fan’s favourite ‘second team’. So, not only were Wales going into this tie without their fans, but they were also going into a tie, where if you weren’t Welsh then you were an honourary Dane for the 90min.?

This game was always going to be about emotion. In fact, any opposition that faces the Danes at any stage of this tournament will be facing a team high on emotion. So much has been talked about since Denmark endured a difficult opener against Finland at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, in which Christian Eriksen suffered a cardiac arrest. The timing of the Inter Milan midfielder being discharged from hospital after a successful operation to fit a defibrillator implant could not have come at a worse time for Wales. The news of Eriksen’s positive recovery was always going to impact his international teammates – and just look at the performance and result!

Wales started brightly with Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey and Daniel James all taking the game to Denmark. But faded badly, especially after the opening goal from Kasper Dolberg in the 27th minute. The early pressure counted for nothing as Theo Delaney and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, with help from Chelsea’s Champions League winner, the irreplaceable Andreas Christensen, began to dominate the midfield. Having lost the midfield battle, Wales were rocking with large gaps beginning to appear in their defence every time Denmark came forward. Wales were fortunate to reach the half-time interval only a single goal down. But immediately after the restart, a Neco Williams’ misjudged clearance fell straight to man-of-the-match, Kasper Dolberg, who made no mistake in doubling both his and Denmark’s lead.

As Wales chased to get back in the game, further gaps appeared at the back, but the floodgates did not open as the game suggested. It took Denmark until the 88th minute to seal their passage into the quarter finals, with Joakim Maehle, who had tormented Wales all evening, deservedly getting himself amongst the goals. The fun didn’t stop there for the Danes, who went on to score four goals in consecutive games. Although Martin Braithwaite was made to wait before his goal was awarded by VAR having initially been ruled out for offside.

Wales were compelled to further misery before the night was out, after substitute Harry Wilson was given his marching orders in the dying minutes of the match following a wild tackle on Joakim Maehle.

The Danes, in the absence of the recovering Christian Eriksen, became the first side to reach the last eight of Euro 2020. Whereas Wales had now lost consecutive major tournament matches for the first time in their history.

Italy 2-1 Austria (AET)

Italy survived a scare against Austria – who were playing in their maiden knockout game in the European Championships – to set up a mouthwatering quarter-final clash against the much-fancied Belgium. However, this was not a straightforward victory for the Azzuri. Following a frantic 90min, extra-time was needed to decide which team would progress to the next round.

After playing all their group games in front of their fans in Rome, the players would have been forgiven to think that they never left home, with the Italian fans massively outnumbering their Austrian counterparts to effectively turn Wembley into Italian turf. And after impressive performances during the group stage, the stage was set for the Azzuri to put on a show for their fans.

After leapfrogging Ukraine to eventually finishing runners-up of Group C, Austria gave a more spirited account of themselves. This was the first time they had made it out of the group stage at the Euros, which was an achievement in itself.

The first half was a demonstration of the gulf in quality between the two sides. But for all their creativity and industry, Austria remained in the tie, with the scores still level at the half-time interval.

Half-time came at a good time for the Austrians, with the Italians in full ascendancy. The break allowed Austria to curb Italy’s rhythm, who for all their good work in the first half, had suddenly become sloppy and sluggish all over the pitch following the restart. It could have been a lot worse for Italy, who were grateful to VAR for disallowing Marko Arnautovic’s headed opener.

Italy had already demonstrated the depth of their squad against Wales in the final group stage game when they pretty much replaced every outfield player and still ran riot against Wales. It was their superior squad depth, which had to come to the fore again, with substitutes Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina coming off the bench to save the day for Italy.

Austria eventually found a way past Gianluigi Donnarumma, and along the way dented the chance for this current crop of Italian players to match an old-standing Italian record of not conceding in 12 matches. Following a flurry of Austria openings, Sasa Kalajdzic finally struck late with his head to set up a nervy finale.

Netherlands 0-2 Czech Republic

After three out of three wins and topping the table in Group C – and being the leading scorers in the opening three games - The Netherlands had raised enough eyebrows to become fancied by some to go far in the tournament. But that was before the Czechs came to town!

This was the pair’s first meeting since October 2015, when the Dutch were beaten 3-2 in a Euro 2016 qualifier – to make matters worse, the Dutch had lost both their games to the Czechs in that qualifying round, so the omens weren’t in their favour from the start! Taken that into consideration, was this really the upset everyone made it out to be?

Prior to this game, the Czech Republic had only won one of their previous seven games at major tournaments, and they certainly started like a team who held such a record. The Dutch had started the brighter of the two sides, with early chances falling to Matthijs De Ligt, Memphis Depay, and Denzel Dumfries – all failing to trouble the score line!

The Czech Republic remained in the tie, and by the interval it was actually them who had had the better of the chances, and a bit more of a killer instinct in front of goal and they could have had a deserved lead.

Donyell Malen was the next Dutch player to fall victim to complacency, when in the 52nd minute he cut through the Czech defence and was clean through on goal, with just Tomas Vaclik to beat. But was denied brilliantly by the goalkeeper as he sought to round him.

As such was the reprieve for the Czech team, within 60 seconds of that miss from Malen, the tie turned on its head when Matthijs De Ligt was caught on the wrong side of Thomas Schick and was forced to scoop the ball with his hand, clearly preventing a goal scoring opportunity. The referee had initially cautioned the defender, but Sergei Karasev was advised by VAR, Stuart Attwell to upgrade the booking to a red.

Here’s an interesting fact, The Netherlands have now been shown four red cards at the Euros, with all four of these coming against the Czech Republic – two against the Czechoslovakia in 1976 and the other two against the Czech Republic in 2004 and 2020.

The Czechs had already started to control large parts of the game prior to Matthijs De Ligt’s sending off. And now with the advantage of the extra man were finding a lot of space in the attacking areas. And the feeling was that the first Czech goal wasn’t too far away. They really had the Dutch on the ropes and deservedly took the lead in the 68th minute through former Chelsea player, Tomas Kalas, who rose highest at the far post to head back a free-kick across goal for man-of-the-match, Tomas Holes to head in from close range. This really was nothing more than the Czechs had deserved! Holes then turned provider for Thomas Schick to make the game safe 10 minutes from time.

Man of the match, Tomas Holes became the first Czech player to both score and assist in a single match at the European Championships since both Jan Koller and Milan Baros last achieved the same feat also against the Netherlands at Euro 2004.

Despite the strong start, a string of poor past performances returned to haunt the Dutch, making them the first big nation to exit Euro 2020.

Belgium 1-0 Portugal

After what us fans have endured over the past 18-months or so, we can be forgiven for believing that we have deserved the quality of football that has been on show for us in the tournament so far, especially with what has been witnessed in the round of last 16. We have been blessed with fast paced action, have had lots of goals, own goals, red cards, goalkeeping blunders, we’ve literally had the full works. It is fair to say the teams have done well to keep the neutral entertained. And if you said to me that there would be one game that failed to live up to the expectations of the tournament thus far, then I would have thought you were kidding me by saying it would involve the current European champions, Portugal and the pretenders with their ‘golden era’, Belgium…But there just had to be one!

For all the anticipation in the build up to the clash, there was little in the way of excitement, with Thorgan Hazard’s stunning opener being the solitary moment of sheer brilliance – within a game packed with some of the most entertaining superstars on the planet in recent history.

To say this game was dire, would be putting it politely, very politely indeed. Even on their way to lifting The Henri Delaunay Trophy in 2016, Portugal very rarely had fans off their seats. And just as they have done in this latest edition of the tournament, back in 2016 they also just about managed to scrape through the group stage as one of the best third-placed teams. But where they lack in entertainment, they certainly make up for in being one of the only ten countries to have won the European Championships. Which speaks a lot about this current crop of players!?

Belgium had made five changes to their side from the 2-0 defeat of Finland. With Martinez recalling the likes of Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Thomas Meunier to their defence, as well as Youri Tielemans and Thorgan Hazard to their midfield.??

It is fair to say that neither Romelu Lukaku nor Cristiano Ronaldo were going to be remembered for this game. Belgium lacked their usual polished composure in possession and Lukaku struggled to breakdown Portugal, who was well marshalled by Ruben Dias and Pepe. Although Fernando Santos’ side were happy to stroke the ball around cautiously, whilst waiting for openings, I have never seen Ronaldo be such a peripheral figure in a competitive game.

Portugal brought on the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Joao Felix and Andre Silva in hope that it would spark them back into the game. For the final 30 minutes it was all one-way traffic, but Portugal just couldn’t find a way through. But credit where credit is due, and Belgium’s experienced defence, a combination of Thomas Vermaelen, Jan Vertonghen, and Toby Alderweireld, deserve a mention. Even with all being in their mid-30s, they ensured that Portugal’s late flurry would be in vain.

This was Belgium’s first win against Portugal since September 1989, when they won 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier – ending a run of five meetings without a victory against them.

Croatia 3-5 Spain (AET)

Spain finally realised that Euro 2020 had begun, evident in their demolition of Slovakia in the final round of the group stage. The pressure was on them to deliver, as they needed the win to ensure passage into the round of last 16.

On paper, this was already looking like a mouthwatering tie. Croatia – runners-up at the World Cup three years ago – had also found their feet and would have fancied themselves to have made it into the quarter-finals.

Croatia would have expected Spain to have dominated possession, and after starting the brighter of the two teams, it wasn’t the first time at this tournament that Spain failed to capitalize on their early dominance. In comical fashion, they shot themselves in the foot with Unai Simón misjudging a Pedri back pass which gifted Croatia with a bizarre own goal – the nineth of the tournament – and an unexpected early lead – completely against the run of play. I have great sympathy towards Unai Simón. Pedri didn’t just subtly pass the ball back to his goalkeeper, he really put some zip into it. The replays clearly show the revelations of spin on the pass. I’m sure it would have made Shane Warne proud.

Falling behind to Croatia, didn’t really change the Spanish team’s rhythm. And they showed great character to fight back as nothing had happened. It came as no surprise that it didn’t too long before they were level through Pablo Sarabia (38).

Luis Enrique’s side appeared to have been home and dry following further goals from Cesar Azpilicueta - scoring his first international goal for Spain – and Ferran Torres (76), to leave the La Roja in a commanding position at 3-1 going into the final stages of the match. However, inspiring late substitutions from Croatia sparked them into life and took the game to Spain. Spain was rattled when Mislav Orsic pulled a goal back with a close-range effort that was shown to have crossed the line following a goalmouth scramble, to setup an epic finale. Croatia was now in the ascendancy, and Spain were barely hanging on by their fingernails. The pressure finally caved in, when deep into injury-time, former Chelsea player, Mario Pasalic broke Spanish hearts to send the tie into extra-time, sparking wild Croatia celebrations from the players, staff and fans alike.

Croatia now looked the likeliest to go on and win the tie in extra-time, as they piled on pressure early in the first period of extra-time. Unai Simón had bounced back strongly from his early blunder to make outstanding saves to keep his side in the tie.

This time it was Spain’s turn to score against the run of play. Alvaro Morata who like Harry Kane of England, has faced scrutiny from the Spanish media and fans for his glaring misses during the tournament, turned hero to fire Spain back in front (100) with an unstoppable drive. The former Chelsea man then turned provider and released substitute Dani Olmo to cross for Mikel Oyarzabal to score Spain’s fifth (103) to finally take the wind out of Croatia’s sails. While Croatia huffed and puffed, coming back from two-goals down was not going to happen twice in the same match.

This was Spain’s first knockout win at a major tournament since the 2014 World Cup.

France 3-3 Switzerland (AET) [Switzerland win 5-4 on penalties]

Was this result really as shocking as it is appears? Switzerland are currently 13th in the FIFA World Rankings. Just 8 places behind Portugal, against whom the French stuttered to a 2-2 draw in the final round of the group stages. They are just 1 place behind Germany, against whom the French needed an own goal to see them open the tournament with 3 points. And as far back as I can remember, the Swiss have always reached the finals of the major tournaments. You know exactly what you’re going to get with the Swiss, but they do pack the firepower to hurt a team when needed, as the World Champions found out last Monday.

This was by far the upset of the tournament. Heartbreak aside, France underestimated their opponents and Switzerland Manager, Vladimir Petkovi? got his tactics spot on. Both Steven Zuber and Breel Embolo were brilliant on the night. The duo troubled France on both flanks, while the latter’s physical presence was unmatched by French defenders.

Despite bowing out of the tournament and Kylian Mbappé missing the decisive penalty kick, Les Bleus should remain forever indebted to Hugo Lloris for prolonging their existence in the tournament for a little while longer. His penalty save spared Benjamin Pavard’s blushes after it was his blunder that had cost his team the penalty in the first place. The penalty save had momentarily brought France back from the brink of elimination as Karim Benzema’s quick-fire brace delayed the inevitable.?

Paul Pogba’s goal – and celebration – should have sealed Switzerland’s fate. However, late drama, first, from Kevin Mbabu whose inch perfect cross met Haris Seferovi?’s towering head for the second goal, and Granit Xhaka’s defence-splitting pass, which Mario Gavranovi? struck beautifully beyond Lloris’s outstretched hand, turned the tie on its head.

England 2-0 Germany

They have done it. The hoodoo has finally been broken. It may well have taken 55-years, but England have finally beaten their archnemesis Germany in a knockout tie at a major tournament. Not only that, but prior to Tuesday’s last 16 knockout tie, Germany had gone seven games in England without defeat. With their last defeat on England soil coming in…yes, you’ve guessed it, that infamous 1966 World Cup Final.

The attendance at Wembley on Tuesday night had been increased to 45,000. And wow, wasn’t it electric! I don’t think we’ve heard Wembley like that before, even with a full capacity crowd. You could just sense that something special was in the air.

Gareth Southgate switched his England team to a 3-4-3 formation, bringing in Kieran Trippier at right wingback. Kyle Walker, John Stones and Harry Maguire making up the back three. And Harry Kane in attack with Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka. No one could disapprove of Jack Grealish feeling a little aggrieved of being dropped to the bench following a strong performance in their last game against the Czechs.?

Germany certainly started the brighter of the two teams, with Leon Goretzka forcing Declan Rice into desperate foul and an early entry into the referee’s book. England did finally start to find a foot hole in the game, with Raheem Stirling drawing a good save from Manuel Neuer on 16 minutes.

The major talking point in the lead up to the game was captain, Harry Kane’s form. And he did very little to dispel those question marks in the early stages, in which Harry Kane had just two touches in the opening half an hour. England were failing to get Harry Kane involved, a combination of probably lacking a bit of confidence and superb defending from Mats Hummels.

Without creating any clear-cut chances, you could sense that England were in the driving seat. Both teams showed flashes of quality in front of goal, but neither goalkeeper had really been tested. The same continued following the half-time interval. The game was crying out for the introduction of Jack Grealish. Barely eight minutes since he was brought on and England were ahead.

Once again it was England’s man of the group stages, Raheem Sterling, coming to the fore to score his third and all of England’s three goals of the tournament so far. We’ve become used to over the years, seeing Raheem Sterling driving at opposing defenders for both club and country. And this was no different. He drove at the German defenders before finding Harry Kane, who moved it on quickly to Jack Grealish. The Villa man fed in Luke Shaw on the overlap, and his sublime low cross into the 6-yard box was met by a trademark finish from Raheem Sterling – and Wembley erupts!

I must admit I was one to question his place in the 26-man squad, let alone his place in the starting XI as a consequence of his club form in the lead up to the Euros. However, now with 15 goals in his past 20 games, have we as a nation been too hard on Raheem Sterling?

Moments later Raheem Sterling very nearly went from hero to villain. It was probably the worst attempted back pass I’d eve since. From a right-wing position midway in the opposition half straight to Havertz who quickly played the ball clean through for Thomas Muller to run on towards goal. I don’t think anyone could have imagined the German legend put his finish inches wide of Jordan Pickford’s goal. To say it was a let off would be an understatement. If ever there was a warning that one goal may not be enough, then that was it. That missed opportunity probably left the Germans as dejected as much as it gave the English the added motivation to finish the job.

Four minutes from time, England capitalised to put the result beyond doubt. Again, it was Grealish involved, but it was a moment of pure ecstasy for the England captain. Harry Kane was perfectly placed to head home Grealish’s cross and open his account at Euro 2020.

Kane’s goal took his tally of goals in major tournaments for England to seven – just two behind Alan Shearer, and three behind the record of ten held by Gary Linekar.

The win endorsed Gareth Southgate’s pragmatic and patient approach, now having kept a clean sheet in all five games so far, instilling hope that the Three Lions may well be lifting The Henri Delaunay Trophy in front of the Wembley crowd after all.??

Sweden 1-2 Ukraine

Ukraine’s Cinderella story saw them just about scrape through into the last 16 round as the worst of the four third-placed teams.

The only other time Ukraine managed to find their way out of their group, was at the World Cup in Germany 2006, Ukraine needed a dogged display to see them through at the expense of Switzerland. A 0-0 draw had forced the match in extra-time and with the deadlock unable to be broken by either side, the match was decided by penalties, with Ukraine triumphing 3-0 to setup a quarter-final clash with the mighty Azzuri.

If you thought this last 16 round tie was going to be any different, then think again. After taking an early lead, mid-way through the first half via Manchester City’s Oleksandr Zinchenko, Ukraine was pegged back by Sweden just minutes before the half-time break through yet another Emil Forsberg strike – his fourth goal in as many games at Euro 2020.

The match became incredibly stretched as the game went on, and as tiredness crept into the players’ legs, their discipline went out of the window. Between them they conceded 18 fouls, and also shared 4 yellow cards. As the match entered extra-time, you could say Marcus Danielsson’s 99th minute straight red card for a dangerous tackle on Artem Besedin sealed Sweden’s fate.

Following a lackluster extra-time period from both sides, Sweden may be forgiven for thinking they had done enough to send the tie to penalties. Just as it seemed like Ukraine’s quarter-final fate would once again be decided by penalties, Artem Dovbyk stepped off the bench to shatter Swedish hearts with literally the final kick of the game.

After topping a group that included recent World Champions, Spain, and being drawn in what many would consider as the favourable side of the draw. Sweden will be disappointed by their exit at the hands of lowly-minnows, Ukraine. Even though this was the first time since 2004 that they had qualified from their group at a major tournament, this will still be felt more of an opportunity missed out on, rather than achievement that needs celebrating.

Andriy Shevchenko’s reward for their stunning victory against Sweden is a mouthwatering quarter-final clash against England in Rome. His Ukraine team will be looking to avenge their 1-0 defeat from Euro 2012 – the only other meeting between these two nations at a major tournament – which saw the Ukraine eliminated from the tournament at the group stage. It could all have been so different had Ukraine’s equaliser not been incorrectly ruled out. After replays showed that ball had cleared the line before John Terry’s intervention.

Final Thoughts

This round of 16 has more than lived up to its billing; great football, great goals, compromising situations, and plenty of drama. For me, the France versus Switzerland tie just edged the thriller between Croatia and Spain as my favourite game of the round. Whereas it wasn’t difficult a decision to award the Belgium and Portugal game the wooden spoon. Being an England fan, I look forward to our quarter-final tie against the Ukraine – hopefully the Three Lions can do the job for us in Rome!