That’s all from me in this EURO 2024 newsblog. Head over to the Georgia v Czech Republic minute-by-minute for the team news.
Here’s a piece about Germany’s next generation of players from Philipp Lahm.
A reflection what Germany hosting the Euros means for Barney Ronay.
Germany is warm and rich in detail. Germany is wealthy and comfortable. And of course, Germany is also, to me, terrifying.
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A different opinion on Xavi Simons’ disallowed goal from Kári Tulinius. “I agree with you that Maignan would never have saved Simmons’ shot. However, whether a goalkeeper would’ve been successful isn’t something that referees consider, but whether the goalkeeper was impeded in making an attempt to reach the ball. Dumfries was clearly in his way. To paraphrase Futurama, the decision was correct, the worst kind of correct. But it was an absolute travesty that it took nearly three minutes for VAR to make the call.”
You may be right, Kári. I guess, I look at things from a player’s perspective rather than a referee’s. After waiting so long for VAR calls in the Premier League, I wonder if it’s a coincidence that the decision was made by English officials.
The Belgium defender Jan Vertonghen spoke to the press after the Slovakia loss. “Romania are not to be underestimated but I thought we had a good plan against Slovakia and I’m confident on Saturday that will also be the case.”
Romania are no slouches though as they thrashed Ukraine 3-0. Nicolae Stanciu’s opener is one of the goals of the tournament so far.
Romania take the lead! ⚽
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 17, 2024
What a BELTER from Nicolae Stanciu 🚀👏#BBCEuros #Euro2024 #ROUUKR pic.twitter.com/TR8fjvOyB2
Belgium play Romania in the last game of the day at 8pm. A win for Belgium is crucial after a shock defeat to Slovakia in their opening game.
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Arda Guler broke Cristiano Ronaldo’s record as the youngest player to score on their Euros debut by curling a fabulous effort into the top corner against Georgia. The Turkish Messi could face the Portuguese veteran today. I’m not sure who will come out on top but I know who scored the better debut goal.
Arda Guler is the first teenager to score on his Euros debut since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2004 🤝#Euro2024 pic.twitter.com/j1Nmh5mtra
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 18, 2024
Turkey play Portugal in the second fixture of the day at 5pm. It should be a close match as both teams won their opening Group F games. Turkey displayed their attacking flair in their 3-1 win while Portugal managed to grind out a 2-1 win in stoppage time.
Chelsea are closing in on an agreement to sign Aston Villa’s teenage forward Omari Kellyman for around £19m. The 18-year-old is rated as a top prospect at Villa Park and has come up in talks between the clubs over deals for Ian Maatsen, Jhon Duran and Conor Gallagher. Maatsen, the Chelsea and Netherlands left-back, is closing in on a £37.5m move to Villa, who are also interested in signing Gallagher.
Chelsea’s move for Duran, the 20-year-old forward, has stalled but they are pushing
ahead with their pursuit of Kellyman. The attacker will need to undergo a medical and agree personal terms before heading to Stamford Bridge.
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Turning our attention back to the transfer window, there’s more activity from Chelsea this summer.
Czech Republic also punched above their weight in a 2-1 defeat to a Portugal side viewed by many as one of the favourites to win the competition. Lukas Provod’s long range effort added to the list of goals scored from outside of the box in this year’s competition.
Lukas Provod adds to the list of #Euro2024 beauties 🤩#PORCZE pic.twitter.com/B53SrCVcnW
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 18, 2024
Georgia won the hearts of many in their opening game despite losing 3-1 to Turkey. They showed tremendous courage at their first European Championship and gave Turkey a run for their money when they equalised in the first half.
Georgia face Czech Republic in the day’s opening game at 2pm.
I’m sure everyone’s had ample opportunity to analyse and overanalyse England’s performance in the 1-1 draw with Denmark. Let’s turn our attention instead to today’s fixtures.
One of the main problems is the level of expectation and pressure we put on the England players. Declan Rice said as much in a report by Reuters. “We are all so desperate to win, to be leaders, to go out there and give people memories for lifetimes, and sometimes I maybe feel like we put too much pressure on ourselves where we could just go out there and let it just take care of ourselves … I think there is probably more pressure now from the outside just because of the seasons some of our players have had.”
Jonathan Liew can explain England’s problems better than I can.
This is not good news after England’s dreadful performance against Denmark. We may have to endure another 90 minutes of Kieran Trippier cutting in on his right foot to pass to Phil Foden playing in the false left wing role.
Hello from England’s training session - Luke Shaw is once again the only player not involved. He’s doing an individualised session and it is increasingly hard to see the left-back being involved against Slovenia on Tuesday.
Anyway, let’s head back to Germany for the latest Euros updates.
But these days the managerial merry-go-round is more exciting than the transfers involving players. Craig Bellamy could be the latest manager to make a move as Wales look for a replacement after sacking Rob Page.
The women’s game has also been busy with 124 deals completed in Europe’s top five leagues.
Away from the Euros, there’s already been a great deal of transfer activity in Europe’s top five leagues with 248 deals completed in the men’s transfer window.
Didier Deschamps team will hope to welcome Mbappé back for their final group game against Poland. He had to sit the Netherlands game out because of his broken nose but he’ll be eager to help his country convert the types of chances they wasted yesterday.
France had the better chances with Antoine Griezmann missing a number of golden opportunities, including this one.
Another big chance goes begging for France.. 😬#BBCEuros #Euro2024 pic.twitter.com/CfQVKpZR39
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 21, 2024
Deschamps raised his eyebrows at the interruption’s length, feeling the case was “a no brainer”. Unsurprisingly Ronald Koeman’s take cast a different hue. “I personally think the goal should have stood,” he said. “I think Dumfries is offside, that’s true. But he isn’t disturbing the goalkeeper, and when that doesn’t happen it’s a legal goal in my opinion. And you need five minutes [sic] to check it because it’s so difficult? I don’t understand it.”
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The big talking point was Xavi Simons’ goal being ruled out because Daniel Dumfries was standing next to the keeper in an offside position. Simons seemed close to tears as he was made to wait an awfully long time before a decision was made. Chalking off the goal seemed harsh as Dumfries wasn’t stood in Mike Maignan’s eye line and it seemed unlikely the France goalkeeper would have saved the shot anyway.
The Dutch think they have taken the lead but after a lengthy VAR check from the English officials, the goal is ruled out.❌
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 21, 2024
What did you make of it? #BBCEuros #Euro2024 #NEDFRA pic.twitter.com/spedGxVOjW
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In the other Group D game last night, the Netherlands and France drew 0-0.
Austria’s win has sent Poland (who played without Robert Lewandowski until the 58th minute) home. The 3-1 victory has also set up a mouthwatering last round of fixtures in Group D as Ralf Rangnick’s side will compete with France and the Netherlands to secure a place in the last 16.
Player of the match, Chrisoph Baumgartner, spoke to the press after the game. “People start to think big quite quickly but as a team we knew how to assess the situation. We know if we reach our maximum we can beat a lot of nations.”
Austria were on the front foot for most of the match as they pressed Poland high up the pitch and aimed to make forward passes every time they won the ball back. Christoph Baumgartner, in particular, impressed in the middle of the park because of his ability to receive the ball on the half-turn and his composure when slotting it past Wojciech Szczesny to give Austria a 2-1 lead on 66 minutes. As collective, Austria look like they can give any team a good game.
Marko Arnautovic with the dummy, Christoph Baumgartner with the finish.
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 21, 2024
Lovely. #BBCEuros #Euro2024 #POLAUT pic.twitter.com/xNdS40XGrb
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It seemed apt that after his Austria side ignited their hopes of reaching the last 16, Ralf Rangnick – famed for imposing a high-pressing style across the Red Bull group – plumped for an energy drink, pouring himself a glass in his post-match press conference. A well-earned victory provides hope of qualifying from Group D when they meet the Netherlands here on Tuesday.
In the other big game of the day, Austria beat Poland 3-1.
I think I know the answer already, but should we all follow Unai Simón and “focus on football … and leave politics to other people and organisations”?
The game itself seemed rather peaceful when viewed in the context of the tournament. We’ve already heard chants about the killing of Serbians by Croatia and Albania fans and we’ve listened to Kylian Mbappé and Marcus Thuram’s criticisms of France’s National Rally party.
The game was always likely to be overshadowed by the political context … when the draw was made no game seemed as politically charged as this. When the nationalist Robert Fico became prime minister of Slovakia last year, he vowed to reduce aid to its eastern neighbour while pursuing a policy of greater alignment with Hungary, whose prime minister, Viktor Orban, has been the most overtly pro-Vladimir Putin voice among EU leaders. Fico’s ally Peter Pellegrini was elected as president in April. Last month, Fico was shot twice at close range while meeting the public in Handlova, about 120 miles north-east of the capital, Bratislava. Police arrested Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old poet who has spoken openly of his opposition to Fico’s attempts to curtail the freedom of the press, to downgrade anticorruption bodies and to reduce support for Ukraine.
Roman Yaremchuk was reduced to tears after bringing the ball down beautifully and poking it past the onrushing keeper. Ukraine’s first win in a major tournament since EURO 2020 means so much to Ukraine’s players and fans because of everything that’s happened outside of football in the last couple of years.
Ukraine beat Slovakia 2-1 thanks to this touch and finish by Roman Yaremchuk. What a beauty!
Comeback complete for Ukraine 🇺🇦✅
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 21, 2024
Substitute Roman Yaremchuk's strike puts them ahead! ⚽🙌#BBCEuros #Euro2024 #SVKUKR pic.twitter.com/4FR8LzUizC
After the 3-0 defeat by Romania, Ukraine needed that. “Today there was a different spirit,” said their coach, Serhiy Rebrov. “They showed the spirit of Ukraine on the pitch and deserved this win. It was an important win for our players, our country and our supporters.” Yet for a long time, his side seemed anxious, as though overawed by their obligation. “We needed our mental strength today,” said the midfielder Mykola Shaparenko.
In case you couldn’t persuade your boss to give you a two-hour break to watch the big game, here’s a summary of what happened in the Slovakia v Ukraine match on Friday.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to this EURO 2024 newsblog.
Another day, another round of matches. So far the games between the lower ranked teams have been more exciting, at least in terms of goals, than those between the tournament’s favourites.
Take yesterday’s match between the Netherlands and France. It took a good 60 minutes for either team to kick into gear, and even then the biggest talking point was Xavi Simons’ disallowed goal.
On paper, that was the match of the day but I much preferred watching Austria dismantle Poland in the other Group D game. Austria’s attacking play was impressive and the win should give them confidence going into their final group match against the Netherlands.
So, let’s see what today has in store as Georgia face Czech Republic, Turkey go up against Portugal and Belgium play Romania. Keep refreshing this page for updates and share you thoughts via X.
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