Jonathan Liew's Blog, page 25
July 4, 2024
Rüdiger’s treatment a damning representation of modern Germany | Jonathan Liew
Defender should be able to count on a nation behind him but far-right nationalism reflects society’s ingrained racism
Antonio Rüdiger was eight years old the first time he had to ask his father what the N-word meant, because the kids at school were using it. He remembers running over to an old white lady in his neighbourhood, offering to help carry her shopping bags, and seeing the look of pure terror in her eyes. He remembers growing up playing football on the concrete pitches of Berlin, and being told he didn’t belong there, to go back to Africa.
But these were the bad old days. The dark ages. A more benighted era of Germany society. And of course, Rüdiger is now a star of the German national team in a home European Championship, their best player in the 2-0 win over Denmark last Saturday and the key to Friday’s quarter-final against Spain. Times have changed. Attitudes, surely, have shifted.
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July 2, 2024
Guler the thriller turns killer to conduct Turkey’s greatest night in generation | Jonathan Liew
Real Madrid teenager embraced pressure of the occasion to orchestrate team’s raucous knockout win against Austria
It’s the 59th minute of the game. There’s a corner to be taken, and Arda Guler strolls over to take it. As he approaches the section of the stadium where Austria’s noisiest fans are gathered, the confetti is unleashed: a hailstorm of beer cups flying at him, near him, on him. The rain, heavy all night, has swelled to an epic peak. Turkey lead 1-0. Guler stands alone, raising an arm to the deluge, not drowning but waving.
And of course, we knew all about Guler already. We all saw the long-range goal against Georgia, saw his late-season bloom at Real Madrid, saw the breathless tributes from teammates and coaches, followed the origin story of this precocious left-footed teenager all the way from his childhood at Fenerbahce. We knew what he could do with a football. What we didn’t know – what nobody yet knew – was when he could do it.
Continue reading...July 1, 2024
Star man Saka’s consistent brilliance makes him rock for England and Southgate | Jonathan Liew
Played out of position against Slovakia, made to survive on his wits, the winger proved Mr Dependable once again
Declan Rice is the guy who has to break the news. It’s a good choice. Instinctively Rice feels like the kind of guy who you want breaking bad news. Rice in a veterinarian’s coat, clipboard under his arm, explaining that they tried everything they could, but Jimmy Chew just didn’t make it. Rice’s voice on a crackly wireless, informing us with a heavy heart that we are now at war with Siam. And here – less gravely – with his arm around Bukayo Saka, letting him know that he is now England’s left-back.
“I don’t think putting me out of position is the solution,” Saka said last week when the zany suggestion was put to him that he might be the man to fill the cosmic event horizon on England’s left side. Sucks for you, Bukayo! The man in the M&S polo shirt reckons differently. And so as Rice explains the situation, you can glimpse a certain grotesque bemusement in Saka’s expression, the look of a man finally having the ending of the film Saltburn described to him.
Continue reading...June 30, 2024
England keep the faith and Jude Bellingham conjures a late miracle | Jonathan Liew
With fans leaving the stadium and England 20 points behind in the polls, the Real Madrid star stepped in
I keep thinking about the guys who left early. You could see them sliding out of their seats, shuffling down the concourses, tutting and harrumphing all the way to the deserted tram terminus. Thinking uncharitable thoughts about Gareth Southgate, Gelsenkirchen, life in general. Looking forward to a smooth return journey and a glass of one of the Ruhr region’s frothier brews. And then, suddenly, hearing a noise over their shoulders, and realising with a deathly chill that they screwed up.
And before we all point and laugh, how many England fans – here, at home, out, wherever – were mentally taking their first step on the same journey of dissociation and detachment? How many of us, at some point during that game, spiritually checked out of the England football team as an entity? If sticking with a team is essentially an act of pure faith, yoking your time and happiness to forces beyond control or understanding, then on what basis, as the ball sails out of play for an England throw in the 94th minute, could that faith be remotely justified?
Continue reading...June 29, 2024
Luciano Spalletti finds many reasons for Italy’s defeat at hands of Switzerland
“I have the responsibility for what’s happened,” Luciano Spalletti announced after Italy’s European Championship exit. A commendable sentiment, albeit one slightly occluded by the rest of his speech, in which he blamed, in order: the heat, his players’ efforts in training, his lack of preparation time, the lack of physicality in footballers being produced by the Italian system, injuries, the ease of Inter’s Serie A title win, the weight of expectation and a newspaper that gave one of his players a 4/10 rating.
It really was the most extraordinary outpouring of vibes and analysis from the mercurial national coach, and in all fairness to Spalletti most of his observations – which he admitted could be seen as “clutching at straws and looking for excuses” – were not wide of the mark. “The responsibility is always mine,” he reiterated. “There’s no blame to everyone. I want to stress this. I want to thank the players for having brought me here.”
Continue reading...Switzerland outclass Italy to reach last eight and end the torment for Spalletti
In hindsight – and really, only in hindsight – this was how it was always going to end. We still believed, and they still believed, because this was Italy, and for all their foibles and frailties, that name and that crown still count for something. But scarcely can a crown have weighed more heavily. The defending champions are out, and most crushingly they barely threw a punch in the process.
By the end, perhaps the most damning indictment of Luciano Spalletti’s team was that it didn’t even feel like a shock. Switzerland were not just better but braver, not just quicker but slicker, squeezing Italy’s weak spots with a sadistic relish, Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas with the goals either side of half-time. Italy were overwhelmed for the first hour of this game, and by the last half-hour, when they were finally able to string a few passes together, who cared?
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
Mosquitoes have been beaten, now reality bites for anxious Germany
Hosts ponder whether to start Füllkrug up front with potential for a stormy night against unfancied Denmark
First, the insects. There has been an infestation of mosquitoes at Germany’s training camp in Herzogenaurach in Bavaria, one that has claimed numerous victims, with a fortnight of humid weather rendering the squad’s outdoor viewing garden – which sits right next to a forest – almost unusable in the evenings. “I have already been bitten two or three times,” the striker Maximilian Beier admitted. “But if that’s the biggest problem, then fine …”
Then, the thunder. The DWD, Germany’s equivalent of the Met Office, is warning of severe thunderstorms, torrential rain, large hailstones, hurricane-force winds and perhaps even tornadoes across the west of the country on Saturday: perfectly timed to coincide with the crunch last-16 clash against Denmark in Dortmund.
Continue reading...June 26, 2024
England under Gareth Southgate: rampant individualism and a saviour complex | Jonathan Liew
Manager has become used to the trappings of office and players are in a comfort zone. Where has the sense of fun gone?
Nice to see your own fans throwing beer cups at you. And to be fair, not all England fans were hurling sud-soaked projectiles at Gareth Southgate as he strode towards them at full time in Cologne. Let’s not paint the whole fanbase with the same brush. Some of them were making “wanker” signs. Some were booing. Some were giving him the thumbs down. Most had already left to catch the tram. So, you know, got to appreciate the nuances there.
As for Southgate, there was a kind of sarcasm in his calm applause, like a cyclist applauding the motorist who has just sent him flying into the kerb. In a way it was a gesture loaded with sacrificial defiance, a trial of character and duty: the father of the nation nobly bearing your hate, your insults and your refundable plasticware.
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