Not long to go now folks! We’re around an hour away from the start of the quarter-finals at the European Championships.
It’s the ‘tough half of the draw’ this evening as Spain face Switzerland, while Italy go head-to-head with Belgium.
On Saturday we’ve got Czech Republic against Denmark and England versus Ukraine. Or, as most of the English media would have you believe, England are playing and no one else.
Ahead of the action, we’ve dug out three stories that have caught our attention for our latest Euro 2020 Diary.
Arsenal warned off Locatelli
‘I’m not a manager, but it’s not something I would do if I was in Mikel Arteta’s shoes.’ Nigel Winterburn there, telling the current Arsenal boss not to sign Manuel Locatelli.
The 23-year-old has been superb at Euro 2020, sparking talk that he could complete a £35 million move to the Gunners at the end of the tournament.
‘Huge risk’ – #AFC sent strong Euro 2020 transfer warning. https://t.co/sGflSgWRpA
— football.london (@Football_LDN) July 2, 2021
Winterburn’s coaching career amounts to a failed sixth-month stint as part of the backroom staff at Blackburn Rovers.
On that basis, he’s probably not the best person to be chatting about Arsenal’s transfer strategy.
Mourinho hammers Pogba
Former Chelsea and Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has been great to listen to on talkSPORT during Euro 2020.
His brutal assessment of France’s shock defeat against Switzerland was joyous, with Paul Pogba clearly in his sights.
🇫🇷 “They have to blame themselves.”
👎 “The way they were celebrating the third goal, I didn’t like!”
🕺 “They were dancing here and dancing there with 20 minutes to go.”
Jose Mourinho believes #FRA were the architects of their own downfall at #EURO2020 after losing to #SUI pic.twitter.com/ZetBCnn2Ba
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) July 1, 2021
Mourinho hasn’t been alone in criticising the United midfielder, with Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane getting stuck into him on ITV earlier this week.
No doubt Graeme Souness will be sat somewhere with a smug grin on his face as more pundits jump on the bandwagon. They can’t all be wrong Mr Pogba.
England set for feeding frenzy
‘Takeaways are coming home as England fans prepare for Euro 2020 quarter-final.’
There probably hasn’t been a more ‘English’ headline during the tournament than this cracker from the Guardian today.
Takeaways are coming home as England fans prepare for Euro 2020 quarter-final https://t.co/oQKrMtGV1x
— The Guardian (@guardian) July 2, 2021
While some of Europe’s finest athletes will battle for a place in the Euro 2020 semi-finals, England fans will be trying to crash the ordering systems at JustEat and Deliveroo.
Factor in the amount of beer that is likely to be consumed, and there will be plenty of sore heads on Sunday morning if England defeat Ukraine.
Read: Euro 2020 Fixtures & Results – Full Euro 2020 Schedule & Dates.
