Euro 2020
Arsenal star tipped to make surprise return after injury
Italy booked their place in the final of the European Championships with a thrilling penalty shoot-out victory over Spain on Tuesday. Spain exited the tournament despite racking up more than one million passes against an Italian team that were happy to let them have the ball. England are favourites to join them in the final, although it would be foolish to underestimate the threat posed by Denmark this evening. Saka set to start England have been tipped to make one change to their line-up for the semi-final, with Bukayo Saka replacing Jadon Sancho. The 19-year-old missed the last-eight clash against Ukraine after picking up a knock, and Sancho was hugely impressive in his absence. 🚨 England expected to make one change for tonight’s #EURO2020 SF v Denmark — Bukayo Saka set to regain...
Napoli man MOTM, Barcelona duo also impress – Italy 1-1 Spain Player Ratings
Italy reached the Euro 2020 final after a tense penalty shootout victory against Spain. Spain had the better of the early exchanges, twice creating chances to open the scoring. Mikel Oyarzabal was played through on goal by Pedri but his touch let him down, and Ferran Torres saw his shot from outside the box dribble wide. Italy got their first opportunity of the game, and it was one that they may feel they should have done better with. Emerson got in behind after a one-two with Lorenzo Insigne and squared for Ciro Immobile. Goalkeeper Unai Simon out of his goal, but neither Immobile nor Nicolo Barella were able to get a shot away. The best chance of the half came shortly afterwards. Pedri and Oyarzabal were again influential, working an opening for Dani Olmo, but the RB Leipzig man’s shot w...
England coach disses Chelsea legends, gives backing to Tottenham star
The first of the European Championship semi-finals takes place later today, with Italy facing Spain at Wembley Stadium. With COVID-19 restrictions gradually being eased, there will be 60,000 fans in attendance to watch what should be a cracking game. However, if you happen to be Italy’s manager, this isn’t a cause for celebration. We’ll get to him shortly, but let’s start our latest Euro 2020 Diary with some odd comments from an England coach. Holland gets carried away England assistant coach Steve Holland has claimed that Harry Kane is the best finisher he’s ever seen. During an interview with talkSPORT, Holland mentioned Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard as being great finishers but placed Kane ahead of them. 🗣️ “I was fortunate enough to work with Didier at Chelsea, but the...
Misfiring Chelsea star makes surprising prediction
We’re into the final week of the European Championships, which means just one thing – there are just 173 shopping days left until Christmas! However, before we start the countdown to the festive period, we need to find out who will be crowned as the Kings of Europe. We tipped Italy to win at the start of the tournament but will be happy to be proved wrong if England can get the job done. On to more important matters – let’s get stuck into our latest Euro 2020 Diary. Werner makes shock prediction Timo Werner has had a tough time of things over the past year, and things finally appear to have got on top of him. The misfiring Chelsea forward had a miserable time at Euro 2020, playing just 107 minutes in Germany’s four matches. Timo Werner says #ENG can do it! 🔊🔛#Euro2020 pic.t...
Italy vs Spain – Euro 2020 Semi-Final Preview, H2H, Team News, Players to Watch & Predicted Line-ups
Italy and Spain will go head-to-head at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday night in a mouth-watering Euro 2020 semi-final showdown. Italy’s road to redemption at Euro 2020 has seen them top Group A with all three victories and oust Austria and Belgium in the first two knockout rounds. By contrast, the Spaniards may be tired heading into this meeting after failing to negotiate their previous knockout fixtures inside the 90 minutes. Note: You can watch all Euro 2020 games via live streaming. Italy Preview Italy needed extra time to squeak through to the quarter-finals, where it took them just 45 minutes to overcome the world’s best-ranked nation Belgium and reach their first Euro semi-finals since 2012. Romelu Lukaku’s first-half penalty during Italy’s 2-1 quarter-final success saw Gli Azzurri ...
England vs Denmark – Euro 2020 Semi-Final Preview, H2H, Team News, Players to Watch & Predicted Line-ups
Following a breathtaking display against Ukraine in Rome, England return to Wembley Stadium to meet Denmark in an intriguing Euro 2020 semi-final fixture on Wednesday. England have peaked at the right time and will be looking to maintain their intimidating form against everyone’s ‘second team.’ In the meantime, Denmark’s team spirit has made them one of the most popular sides across the continent as they hope to dedicate another impressive achievement to Christian Eriksen. Note: You can watch all Euro 2020 games via live streaming. England Preview England’s most convincing performance at Euro 2020 so far came at the Stadio Olimpico last time out as they dismantled Ukraine 4-0 to reach the Euro semi-finals for the first time since 1996. The Three Lions have played their remaining four ...
Tottenham star shines, joy for Maguire and Hendo – time to recap a wondrous night
England hammered Ukraine 4-0 in Rome to reach the last four of a major tournament for the second campaign in a row, setting up a semi-final clash at Wembley Stadium against Denmark. A brace from Harry Kane and headers from both Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson sealed a resounding victory over the Ukrainians, while the Three Lions’ defence remains unbreached across all five games they have played at Euro 2020. Coming into the game, England manager Gareth Southgate handed Jadon Sancho a first start at the tournament The tricky winger looked to have made an immediate impact as he went down in the box after just three minutes, but the penalty claims were waved away by German referee Felix Byrch. Just 30 seconds later, the Three Lions made their presence felt and took the lead against an oppo...
Everton star deserves praise, Dortmund player shows class,
The final four for the European Championships is now known, with Denmark and England joining Spain and Italy in the semi-finals yesterday. The Danes have enjoyed an emotional run to this stage of the competition, and will not make it easy for the Three Lions on Wednesday. As for England, their display against Ukraine bristled with attacking intent and they will never have a better chance of winning a major trophy. We make no apologies for being a little biased today by making our latest Euro 2020 Diary England themed. Bellingham shows his class Professional footballers often get a bad rap – ‘forgotten their roots’ and ‘too big for their boots’ are amongst the criticisms aimed at players. With that in mind, it was fantastic to see Jude Bellingham seek out a group of Birmingham City fans and...
Serie A full-backs impress again, Tottenham and Chelsea men also perform – Czech Republic 1-2 Denmark Player Ratings
Denmark defeated Czech Republic 2-1 in an eventful quarter-final in Baku on Saturday. The Danes made the perfect start to the game, taking the lead in the fifth minute. Jens Stryger Larsen’s corner found Thomas Delaney unmarked ten yards out, and he planted his header into the bottom corner. They looked to extend their lead and twice came close in the next ten minutes. First, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg floated a beautiful through ball over the top for Mikkel Damsgaard, but he couldn’t finish when through on goal. Then Delaney found himself in another good position from a Stryger Larsen cross, but the Borussia Dortmund midfielder couldn’t direct his effort on target. But it wasn’t all one-way traffic. Petr Sevcik volleyed over the crossbar from inside the box, and Kasper Schmeichel was forced in...
Former Arsenal star fluffs his lines as £90 million man flops
The first two European Championship quarter-finals didn’t disappoint, with Spain and Italy progressing after two entertaining matches. Spain defeated Switzerland on penalties in the opening fixture, while Italy deservedly defeated over-hyped Belgium in the second game. Ahead of the remaining two quarter-finals, we take a look at a few Euro 2020 talking points from the last 24 hours. Keown fluffs his lines If you’ve been following this column during the tournament, you will know that we’ve not been overly enamoured with some of the co-commentators and pundits. Robbie Savage? Biased. Danny Murphy? Lousy. Jermaine Jenas? Terrible. After last night’s games, we have another addition to the list – Martin Keown. Keown” “its been the game of the tournament” LOL. and he gets paid for this? Best tea...
Tactical Analysis: How Italy outclassed Belgium in the Euros
The 16th edition of the European Championships continued to deliver football and entertainment of the highest order as we entered the quarterfinal stage, and the biggest clash of the last-eight featured Belgium and Italy, who squared off in the Allianz Arena in Munich. Both sides had exited in the quarterfinals in Euro 2016, but one of their fates was set to change here. Belgium had a couple of key players including Eden Hazard out due to injury, while Italy were fit and firing as Roberto Mancini had a winning formula working brilliantly even before the group stage started. After a hard-fought 90 minutes, Italy emerged 2-1 winners thanks to a couple of very good finishes in the first half. In this analysis, we will take a look at how Roberto Mancini’s side were able to beat the Belgians, a...
‘What a player’: Some Chelsea fans praise ‘masterclass’ performance of €40m-rated star
A selection of Chelsea fans on Twitter heaped praise on midfielder Jorginho, who produced a sublime midfield display during Italy’s 2-1 win over Belgium at Euro 2020. The Azzurri booked their spot in the last four of the tournament with goals from Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Insigne. Romelu Lukaku scored from the spot for Belgium. Jorginho was one of the many standout performers for the Azzurri on the night. He was splendid with his distribution with 71 of his 72 attempted passes completed. The 29-year-old also won five ground duels, and lost possession on just three occasions. Some of the Blues supporters were delighted with his near flawless performance for the national team, and here are a few reactions on Twitter. The last time Jorginho lost a game with Italy was in 2018 vs Portugal. A ...
