Jonathan Wilson's Blog, page 27
June 30, 2024
Euro 2024: Spain 4-1 Georgia – as it happened
Spain overcome conceding their first goal at the 2024 Euros to beat Georgia and set up a quarter-final against host Germany
I’d love to hear from you. If you have read one of my blogs before you’ll know I love a bit of snack chat. But let’s do something a bit different. What food would your favourite player be? For example would Toni Kroos be a spaghetti bolognese, always dependable but tasty? Let me know via email or X (@rendellx).
As we are in knockout football territory there is a possibility of the match heading to penalties if it remains a draw after extra time. But how do Spain and Georgia fair in penalties? We have a guide that tells you everything you need to know:
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France’s paradox: Kylian Mbappé is the reason for Deschamps’ caution
Forward is at his best coming off the flank, but this may cause an imbalance in the side as they take on Belgium
When some teams are dull and unimpressive, it is because they are dull and unimpressive. When France are dull and unimpressive, it is because they are managing the tournament. With a World Cup triumph, plus defeats in another World Cup final and a European Championship final under his belt as head coach, Didier Deschamps has earned that sympathy.
Portugal’s success at Euro 2016 and France’s at the 2018 World Cup are the examples on which Gareth Southgate has to a large degree based his philosophy. Keep it tight, reduce as much as possible the possibility of the opposition scoring and rely on the excellence of the forward players to win the margins. Deschamps clearly learned a lot under Marcelo Lippi at Juventus, but in his approach to tournaments he follows Aimé Jacquet, under whom he captained France to the World Cup in 1998.
Continue reading...June 29, 2024
England could still become serious Euro challengers but there is plenty to fix | Jonathan Wilson
The incoherence and panic that gripped lethargic players against Denmark shows their problems are deep-rooted
Italy won the World Cup in 1982 and Portugal the Euros in 2016 after drawing all three games in the initial group. Spain in 2010 and Argentina in 2022 both began their World Cup-winning campaigns with defeat. This year, Ivory Coast lost group games 1-0 to Nigeria and 4-0 to Equatorial Guinea, qualified for the last 16 only because Ghana conceded twice in injury time against Mozambique and still went on to win the Africa Cup of Nations.
Only Brazil, in 2002, have won seven games out of seven at a major tournament. It is possible for a team that has begun poorly to win it. But just because something is possible, doesn’t mean that’s how you should do things. Tournaments are short; average teams sometimes can be mysteriously energised. England haven’t ticked a box by getting in a couple of bad performances when it didn’t really matter. Planning tends to win out over shrugging and hoping for the best.
Continue reading...Euro 2024: Belgium apologise for Mbappé video as last-16 ties set to begin – as it happened
Belgium apologise for social media video as England report all 26 players train ahead of the last 16
England defender Kieran Trippier is an injury doubt for their last 16 match against Slovakia on Sunday, according to Sky Sports.
He has a calf issue that he has been carrying through the end of the season. Trippier started all three of England’s group matches.
Continue reading...Euro 2024: all 26 England players train, hosts Germany ready for last 16 – live
England defender Kieran Trippier is an injury doubt for their last 16 match against Slovakia on Sunday, according to Sky Sports.
He has a calf issue that he has been carrying through the end of the season. Trippier started all three of England’s group matches.
Continue reading...June 28, 2024
Euro 2024 last 16: tie-by-tie analysis
The first knockout stage has several intriguing matches, including Spain against Georgia and France v Belgium
Italy are unbeaten against Switzerland in 11 games stretching back to qualifying for the 1994 World Cup but they look vulnerable here. They were worryingly open against both Albania and Spain and the switch to a back three against Croatia only seemed to make them flatter going forward. In goal Gianluigi Donnarumma has had a fine tournament, but a lack of creativity and the absence of a top-class centre-forward are major issues.
Continue reading...June 26, 2024
Belgium coach angry at team’s traffic delay and fans shining laser pens
The Belgium head coach, Domenico Tedesco, condemned the local organisation after a 0-0 draw against Ukraine on Wednesday, a result which secured qualification for a tie against France in the last 16.
“We arrived at the stadium in circumstances I never saw before,” Tedesco said. “It took one hour to come from the hotel with a police escort. The road was completely free, but they slowed down to 20-25km/h. Every traffic light was red. I had two minutes to make a preparation talk and we had to reduce the warmup. It’s unbelievable, unbelievable, unbelievable …”
Continue reading...Belgium booed despite edging through as Ukraine receive heroes’ farewell
At one end of the ground, one team stood, exhausted, in the penalty area in front of their fans and were warmly applauded. At the other, their opponents could barely approach the box before being driven back by the fury of their support. The oddity was, it was Ukraine who had gone out who were celebrated, and Belgium who had gone through who were booed and jeered to such an extent that Kevin De Bruyne told the players to go to the dressing room.
In the end, Ukraine just didn’t have the energy or the guile. They will feel unfortunate to have been eliminated from the Euros having picked up four points, the same as every other side in the group, more than Denmark who qualified in second and various third-placed teams. But in the final minutes, when it became apparent that they would need a goal after all, they had nothing.
Continue reading...June 25, 2024
‘The war affects us every day’: Ukraine feel burden of lifting spirits at home
Veteran midfielder Taras Stepanenko knows his team carry a responsibility beyond the pitch as they face Belgium
Taras Stepanenko used to be the great hope of Ukrainian football. Perhaps he lacked a little pace, but he read the game superbly and was a fine passer of the ball. Most of all, he had an assurance, an aura of quality that made him stand out. When he joined Shakhtar Donetsk from Metalurh Zaporizhzhya shortly before his 21st birthday, the route to a major western European club seemed clear. Fourteen years later, a lot has happened, but he is still there.
He has won 11 Ukrainian league titles and eight cups, but he has only ever played 262 minutes in the knockout stage of the Champions League. There used to be a sense of Stepanenko as an unfulfilled talent, but loyalty has an additional value in Ukraine these days. It may be his achievements with Ukraine at this Euros have a significance that reverberate far beyond anything he has achieved at club level.
Continue reading...June 23, 2024
Scotland team’s unheroic failure ends fans’ noisy, sozzled party
Germany’s bar-holders will miss the tartan army of supporters, few will miss Steve Clarke’s side’s football
Some day, perhaps, the run will end. Some day Scotland will make it out of the group at a major tournament. But not yet, not this year. They earned a single point, failed to have a shot on target in three of the six halves of football they played in Germany, and scored just twice, one of them a freakish own goal that was gifted to them. Brewers and bar-holders will miss their fans, but few will miss their football.
Scottish sorrow comes in catalogues. Some of their previous 11 group-stage exits have been the result of just not being that good. Some have been the result of underperformance on the biggest stage. And some, the sweetest, have carried the air of gallant failure. The most celebrated – 1978, Archie Gemmill, Ally MacLeod, the Dutch and all that – was a large helping of the third of those on a bed of the second.
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