Preview

Jun

2024

Preview: Spain vs. Italy

Of all the names to have been drawn out together for this summer’s European Championship, none were more heavily laden with history – both ancient and recent – than Spain and Italy, two of the heavyweights of international football. But have they moved beyond tiki-taka versus catenaccio, or with a place in the next round looming, might they be tempted to revert to stereotype?

By Ian King

“Spain beat Croatia 3-0 with 47% possession” feels like a group of contradictions all bunched together, but Luis de la Fuente has rebuilt his team and they blew their opponents away in the space of just eighteen first half minutes in their opening match. This may be a tournament too far for an ageing Croatia team, but with three goals and three different goalscorers, Spain had little to complain about.

“Italy concede the fastest goal in the history of the Euros against Albania” feels somewhat cognitively dissonant too, but that’s what happened as a result of Federico Di Marco throwing the ball straight to Nedim Bajrami twenty seconds into their opening game in Dortmund. They recovered to win 2-1, but this wasn’t the solid start that we might have expected from the holders of the competition.

The history books offer some degree of hope to both teams. On the one hand, Spain have only lost twice against Italy since 2011. But both of those defeats came when it mattered; in the Round of 16 at Euro 2016 and 4-2 on penalties in the semi-finals at Wembley three years ago. Neither of these are particularly good omens for Spain.

But if the Croatia game offered evidence of anything, it was that reports of Spain not having a ‘goalscorer’ may have been somewhat overstated. They pulled three out of the bag in that match. But Italy looked less certain against Albania. Just as Luis De La Fuente has done with Spain, Luciano Spalletti has reshaped Italy; they just didn’t seem to be quite so far down the road towards renewal as Spain looked in their opening match.

Both of these teams should still progress through to the next stage with a degree of comfort. But both would also delight in taking some degree of that comfort away from a very long standing rival. Both have changed their styles considerably of late, but muscle memory can be a powerful impulse. This time, tournament management might just edge out throwing caution to the wind.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Jun

2024

Preview: Denmark vs. England

Both Denmark and England enter their Group C match in a slightly uneasy state of mind. Neither were especially impressive in their opening matches against Slovenia and Serbia, respectively, though England did at least manage to get through their match with all three points and a clean sheet.

By Ian King

Indeed, their performances seemed to somewhat mirror each other. Both started positively, and scored a narrative-laden goal within twenty minutes after spells of fresh, attacking football. But both seemed to run out of steam, and the only difference between the two teams was Serbia didn’t take their one big chance, while Slovenia did.

There is further reason to believe that this could be an extremely tight game. Three years ago, these two met in the semi-final of this competition at Wembley and it took an extra-time rebound from a saved penalty kick to separate them. England won on that occasion, but only by an extremely narrow margin, and on home territory.

And it can hardly be said that Denmark don’t have a history of upsetting England in this very competition. In October 1983, with Euro ‘84 only featuring eight teams, an Allan Simonsen penalty at Wembley knocked England out. It was, with the benefit of hindsight, one of the first flowerings of the great Denmark team of the mid-1980s.

But that was forty years ago, and on the evidence of their opening match there’s not much ‘great’ about Denmark’s class of ‘24. Unable to build upon the platform that Christian Eriksen’s goal had given them against Slovenia, they were stung with a sucker punch. Rasmus Højlund seemed to be all heat and no light, and he needs to be a greater source of Denmark goals than he has of late.

Jude Bellingham remains the lightning rod around which hopes English are gathered, and there was little against Serbia to suggest that he can’t come good on that implied promise. There should also be better to come from Harry Kane; England’s attacking options generally remain strong, Phil Foden notwithstanding.

But the midfield didn’t work out against Serbia, and crowbarring Foden into the team didn’t seem to do anyone any favours. Fix that conundrum and get better service to Kane, and England are capable of much better, though the defence remains an obvious concern. It’s difficult to see similar room for improvement in Denmark, but history shows us they’re plenty capable of causing a surprise.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Jun

2024

Preview: Slovenia vs. Serbia

The curious psychology of tournament football means that group positions are often deceptive after one round of fixtures. Serbia are bottom of Group C but had plenty of positives to take from their narrow defeat to England, while Slovenia are in third due to their yellow card count and yet will have been satisfied to take a deserved point from their game with Denmark.

By Ian King

The result of all this is that, after two narrow games in the lowest scoring group in the first round of fixtures, there’s a feeling that anything could happen in the last four. Both were tight, low scoring and featured few chances. And next up, Serbia and Slovenia have to deal with each other.

Against England, Serbia were defensively strong and physical in midfield, but stodgy in attacking positions. They only really troubled Jordan Pickford once, from distance through Dušan Vlahović, with eight minutes left. It was their only shot on target of the night, and against an England defence that is undoubtedly that team’s weakest link, that’s not a very impressive return.

Having said that, Slovenia only went one better against Denmark, though they did score and grab a point thanks to Erik Janža’s equaliser, scored with thirteen minutes to play. Christian Eriksen’s first half goal, in his first match in the finals of this competition since his cardiac arrest in Copenhagen three years earlier, was so laden with narrative that Slovenia almost seemed to melt into the background until they popped up with an equaliser which popped much of the fairytale narrative that was being prepared by writers everywhere.

The history between the two teams is scant. In the same qualification group for Euro 2012, they drew 1-1 in Belgrade while Slovenia won 1-0 in the return match in Ljubljana. In the Nations League in 2022, Serbia won 4-1 while the return match finished in a 2-2 draw, but they’ve been nothing if not inconsistent these last couple of years, having failed to secure the same result twice successively since the last World Cup.

Slovenia didn’t qualify for that, but they’ve only lost once since the start of 2023 and are now seven games unbeaten. Benjamin Šeško, upon whom so many of their hopes rest, did look impressive against Denmark. But what they can take from this game may come down to which Serbia team turn up. The team that gave England such a tough night could also cause Slovenia problems.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Jun

2024

Preview: Scotland vs. Switzerland

Scotland’s wait for a first win at a major tournament since Euro 1996 was extended a little further after they were soundly beaten by Germany in Euro 2024’s opening fixture last Friday.

By Nathan Evans

Steve Clarke’s side struggled from the off in Munich, conceding twice in the opening 20 minutes of the game before defender Ryan Porteous was dismissed for a reckless challenge on İlkay Gündoğan which resulted in a penalty.

Kai Havertz dispatched the resulting spot kick before Niclas Füllkrug and Emre Can rounded off the hosts’ scoring either side of an Antonio Rüdiger own goal, which proved the only bright spot for the Scottish, who failed to muster a shot on target of their own at the Allianz Arena.

As such, following that reality check, this second match against Switzerland now assumes even more importance as defeat here, coupled with their current goal difference, could potentially end any chance of progression to the knockout rounds of the competition.

But there are a few significant omens that could come into play for Andy Robertson and his teammates, not least the fact that their last major tournament victory came against the Swiss with a 1-0 success at Villa Park in 1996. They can additionally hold onto the hope that they’ve also not lost back-to-back competitive fixtures since September 2021.

Despite that however, the Swiss start as favourites with the bookmakers to back up their 3-1 victory over Hungary with another victory here.

Not only was that just the fourth win that Switzerland have ever taken at the European Championships, from 19 attempts, but it further extended their fantastic recent form which has now seen them lose just one of their last 15 international outings since a 6-1 loss to Portugal back in December 2022.

Much of that form has been built on Swiss coach Murat Yakin’s use of experienced players, especially as three of his regulars in Ricardo Rodriguez, Xherdan Shaqiri and Granit Xhaka all have over 110 caps to their name, though their opening match potentially provided the story of the Euros so far, in a different manner.

That’s because Yakin gave 27-year-old forward Kwadko Duah just his second international start, a move that paid off after twelve minutes as he struck the opener versus Hungary. As such, he’ll remain as their player to watch as they look to effectively seal qualification to the knockout rounds by claiming another win against Scotland.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Jun

2024

Preview: Germany vs. Hungary

It’s fair to say that Germany’s Euro 2024 opener against Scotland couldn’t have gone much better as they cruised to a 5-1 victory in Munich.

By Nathan Evans

Not only did that scoreline do a lot to promote the hosts into the discussion around potential tournament winner after just one performance alongside France and England in particular, but the win also acted as both the biggest by a host nation in their opening match at a European Championship, as well as their own biggest victory ever at the EUROs.

Much had been spoken beforehand about how this Germany squad was weaker than usual on paper, but it seems that manager Julian Nagelsmann has masterminded the perfect balance of youth and experience which showed on matchday one.

Youngsters Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala stole the show in attack, both getting on the scoresheet and proving dangerous for the Scottish backline throughout, whilst Kai Havertz, Niclas Füllkrug and Emre Can also struck as ten-man Scotland proved no match for Die Mannschaft.

Next up is Hungary, who themselves already have their collective backs against the wall after they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Switzerland on Saturday. Not only was the result not what Dominik Szoboszlai and co. were hoping for, but their overall performance left a lot to be desired in Cologne.

That was particularly evident in the first half as they headed into the break two goals down due to some lacklustre defending which failed to stop the Swiss from easily cutting through their backline. Despite a second half goal from Barnabas Varga which renewed confidence as Hungary played much better, Switzerland’s Breel Embolo sealed the match on the break with a clever lobbed finish in injury time.

That leaves Marco Rossi’s side in the unenviably position of likely needing to get something from this second match against Germany in order to qualify for the knockout rounds. He’ll need to act quickly on the training ground to try and raise his side’s morale in particular, as despite losing just one of their 16 internationals heading into the tournament, they fell well short when it finally mattered in their Euro 2024 opener.

If there’s a silver lining to be found ahead of this clash with Germany though, it’s that of late, the Hungarians have proved tough to beat for the host nation. That’s been particularly evident on German soil too as Hungary have lost just one of the last six such meetings which still leaves them relatively well-placed to cause a much needed upset in this latest clash.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Jun

2024

Preview: Croatia vs. Albania

Croatia arrived at Euro 2024 with many admirers but were left frustrated as they opened up their Group B account with a 3-0 defeat to Spain in which they struggled in front of goal.

By Nathan Evans

Despite becoming the first side in 136 competitive matches (since the final of Euro 2008!) to hold more possession than Spain in a game, Zlatko Dalić’s side were frustratingly lacklustre in attack as they were carved open by their opposition with ruthless efficiency at the other end of the pitch.

The scoreline will have come as a shock for Croatian fans, who prior to this summer’s tournament had seen their side win six internationals in succession, a run that was bookended by an impressive 2-1 win over Portugal in their final warm-up outing.

Those six matches had also seen Luka Modrić’s side concede just three goals in total, so a massive reset in terms of personnel or tactical changes ahead of this must win match versus Albania should not be expected.

Instead, only small tweaks are likely to be seen, as in truth, Croatia should still get the better of their opposition in this outing, even despite their woeful performance on matchday one.

With no prior head-to-head results as this is the first competitive match between the two sides, a look at the Croats recent results against similar ranked nations could instead provide plenty of positivity for Dalić’s side.

Not since a 1-0 defeat to Iceland all the way back in June 2017 have Croatia been defeated by a side lower in the current FIFA rankings than Albania, who occupy 66^th spot at present. Since then, Croatia have spent much of their time well within the top ten ranked sides in international football and have enjoyed massive success at major tournaments even in spite of their small population.

That’s a good omen then ahead of this match, as too is the fact that not since Euro 1996 have they lost back-to-back matches at the same major tournament.

Albania did show fight, spirit and plenty of quality in their opener against Italy though which will come as concern for their much favoured opposition. In that match, Nedim Bajrami struck the fastest goal in European Championship history after just 23 seconds but ultimately, Italy’s overall quality proved too much for the Balkan state.

A response is now needed as another defeat here would likely signal the end of their Euro 2024 journey, and finding the same form that saw them score exactly three goals in both of their final two warm-up friendlies could go a long way to remedying their situation.

That being said, Albania haven’t beaten a nation inside of FIFA’s current top ten since a 1-0 friendly victory over France in June 2015, and although they’ll still be confident of causing an upset here, this match against Croatia could prove a bridge too far for Sylvinho and his team.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Jun

2024

Preview: Portugal vs. Czechia

Considering that they were the only team to qualify for this tournament with a 100% record and the wealth of talent at their disposal, that Portugal haven’t been talked up more as being potential winners of Euro 2024 is a surprise. Rúben Dias. Diogo Dalot. João Cancelo. João Palhinha. Matheus Nunes. Rúben Neves. Gonçalo Ramos. João Felíx. Rafael Leão. Diogo Jota. Pedro Neto. This team can play.

By Ian King

Their 2023 was perfect. Eight games, eight wins. They weren’t always pretty, but they put nine past Luxembourg and five past Bosnia and Herzegovina. But this year has brought a couple of defeats, against Croatia and Slovenia. Roberto Martínez is a highly experienced head coach, but he didn’t always make the right decisions with Belgium. Will he make the right ones this time around?

Three players in the squad form a level of experience that no other in the tournament can match. Rui Patricio is unlikely to start against Czechia. He’s 36 years of age. Pepe is still terrifying opposing forwards at 41 years old. And then, of course, there’s Cristiano Ronaldo.

Now 39 years old and playing at the arguably more sedate pace of the Saudi Pro League, Ronaldo scored twice in their last friendly, though these were also the first goals he’d managed for his country since scoring against Liechtenstein last November. He is the captain, and it’s just about certain that he’ll start, but whether he finishes every match may turn out to be a somewhat different question.

The Czechs suffered a late injury blow when midfielder Michal Sadílek was forced to pull out of Euro 2024 after injuring his leg by falling off a bike just over a week before the start of the tournament. It was a blot on the landscape for a team that has had a decent time of things lately, qualifying for these finals in a slightly surprising second place in the group on goal difference behind Albania, but winning all four of their friendly matches this year, albeit without playing exceptional opposition.

They certainly have enough about them to make this an uncomfortable evening for Portugal, who won this competition eight years ago but who had an unhappy time of things last time around, only winning one of their group games to qualify as a best third-placed team and then losing in the second round to… Roberto Martínez and Belgium. What goes around, comes around.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Jun

2024

Preview: Türkiye vs. Georgia

You only have to look at their actual qualification record to see the extent of the hill that Georgia have to climb in order to make a go of their major tournament debut. They won just two of their eight qualification group matches, and both of those wins came against Cyprus, who lost all eight of theirs. They weren’t just pushed out of the top two in the group by Spain and Scotland; they finished fourth, behind Norway as well.

By Ian King

Qualification came about through the Nations League, in which they won a group also featuring Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Gibraltar while dropping just two points. This put them into the play-offs for the finals of this tournament, where they beat Luxembourg 2-0 in the semi-final before beating Greece on penalty kicks following a goalless draw in Tbilisi.

Türkiye remain the Jekyll and Hyde of European international football. The last time they qualified for a World Cup Finals – now more than twenty years ago, for those among us who want to feel old – they got to the semi-finals. They did the same at the Euros in 2008. But since then all they’ve managed to do is qualify twice for this tournament, failing on both occasions to get through the group stages. Last time round they lost all three matches, to Italy, Wales and Switzerland.

They’ve had bad luck with injuries. Bournemouth’s Enes Ünal is out injured for the tournament, as are the former-Leicester defender Çağlar Söyüncü and the former-Liverpool loanee Ozan Kabak. Türkiye arrived in Germany without a win in their last five games, including a 6-1 defeat to Austria and other defeats to Poland and Hungary, though it should also be added that their last result but one was a creditable goalless draw away to Italy. But in qualifying they finished a point ahead of Croatia and five clear of third-placed Wales.

By contrast, the only teams that Georgia beat in the whole of 2023 were Mongolia, Cyprus (twice) and Thailand. The only friendly match they’ve played this year was away to Montenegro, last week. They won this, but just one preparation match may leave them looking a little undercooked. But then Türkiye can be highly unpredictable. With four points all but guaranteeing progress to the next stage of the competition as a third-placed qualifier, both teams may well feel that they need to get off to a winning start.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Jun

2024

Preview: Austria vs. France

Didier Deschamps only needs the Euros to complete his set of international trophies with France both as a player and manager. And Les Bleus are arguably the outright favourites at this tournament, but potential dark horses Austria could spoil their party at the very start.

By Neel Shelat

Rangnick-ball’s First Major International Test

There was a lot of intrigue when Ralf Rangnick took the Austria job following their failure to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Fans and experts alike were quite curious to see how his distinct tactical approach would work in international football, and so far, it has gone supremely well.

In hindsight, it is easy to see why. The most standout elements of Rangnick’s style of play are on the defensive side of things, which are much easier to pick up in a shorter amount of time from the players’ perspective. Better yet, Austria’s squad already included the right kinds of profiles to execute his direct and pressing-intensive approach, so everything naturally fell in to place nicely. No surprise, then, that this is Rangnick’s best coaching job of his career so far, in terms of win percentage.

However, Austria are yet to play a major international tournament under Rangnick, so this will be the first time his side are tested at the biggest of stages. Second place in the group should be their realistic target, but they have a great chance to make a statement against the tournament favourites in their opener.

Deschamps Won’t Fix It If It Ain’t Broke

Didier Deschamps is the only active coach who has won the World Cup both as a player and manager. No one in the history of the game has achieved such a feat both on the global as well as continental stage, so the 55-year-old Frenchman is one tournament away from creating a record all for himself.

This could well be the year it happens as Les Bleus are widely regarded as the tournament favourites. It is tough to make an argument against that too, as they will continue to use a formula that has served them well since 2016.

Their 4-2-3-1 system will see Kylian Mbappé work his magic on the left wing off a striker, while Antoine Griezmann is given creative license in the middle. Aurélien Tchouaméni will dictate the tempo of play ahead of a solid defensive base, while someone like Adrien Rabiot will do the dirty work in midfield.

France have a proven solid system capped off with genuine superstar power, so they can easily blow away any opponent on their day.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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Jun

2024

Preview: Belgium vs. Slovakia

Few people have even mentioned Belgium when discussing the top contenders at the Euros, but they are third in the FIFA Rankings going into the tournament and seem to have all the tools to challenge for the title. A solid Slovakia side should give them a decent test to start things off.

By Neel Shelat

Can Tedesco Guide the Red Devils to Glory?

For the last decade, there has always been talk of Belgium’s golden generation in the build up to every tournament. Having failed to qualify for any major tournament between 2002 and 2012, the Red Devils did very well to reach at least the last eight at back-to-back World Cups and Euros but ultimately could not do better than their third place finish at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Some thought the 2022 World Cup was their last chance, but the players felt they were too old. Indeed, that proved to be the case as Belgium were sent packing at the end of the group stage. That might yet prove to be a blessing in disguise in the long run, though, as Roberto Martínez’s subsequent resignation paved the way for Domenico Tedesco to take over.

The 38-year-old German head coach is yet to taste defeat with the Red Devils as he led them to an invincible Euro qualifying campaign and watched them hold their own in friendlies against teams such as Germany and England.

The likes of Eden Hazard and Vincent Kompany have all long retired now, leaving just some remnants of their generation such as Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku in the squad. Tedesco has selected a good balance between exciting young talent and seasoned campaigners from around Europe to fill up the rest of the spots, so Belgium look as good as anyone, on paper at least.

Can Slovakia Adapt Without Possession?

Germany 2024 will be Slovakia’s third-consecutive Euros after initially failing to qualify for five editions of the tournament post-independence. They finished third in their group on both previous occasions, so that must be the minimum target this time.

They will likely be a little more ambitious, though, as Francesco Calzona has come in and implemented a more possession-dominant style of play in a 4-3-3 formation over the last two years. That served them well in a relatively easy qualifying group in which they only finished behind Portugal, but they will have to shower greater adaptability at the Euros.

Slovakia appear to have enough quality in the defensive department – led by PSG’s Milan Škriniar – to make the necessary adjustment, but how well they can execute will determine their fate in Germany.

(Cover image from IMAGO)

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