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Olympic Games 2020 Football Squads: A complete list of all 16 men’s football teams
The men’s football tournament at this summer’s Olympic Games is set to kick-off on July 22, with 16 participating nations allowed to select 22 players. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the participants can use 22 players instead of the usual 18. Players on the teams must be born on or after January 1, 1997, with the addition of three overage players. Let’s see the list of the confirmed squads. Suggested Article: Olympic Football 2020: Schedule, Odds & Live Streaming. Group A France Goalkeepers: Paul Bernardoni (Angers), Stefan Bajic (Saint-Etienne), Dimitry Bertaud (Montpellier). Defenders: Melvin Bard (Lyon), Anthony Caci (Strasbourg), Ismael Doukoure (Valenciennes), Pierre Kalulu (AC Milan), Clement Michelin (Lens), Timothee Pembele (Paris Saint-Germ...
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...
Former Everton boss calls Richarlison to discuss possible Real Madrid move
New Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti has been in contact with Richarlison, a player he is eager to reunite with in Spain this summer. Ancelotti was hired by Real Madrid in June as he opted to leave Everton to return to his former club on a contract that runs through 2024. The Italian boss is now interested in bringing one of Everton’s stars to Madrid with him, as he has held conversations with Richarlison over that possibility. Goal can confirm that a call between Ancelotti and Richarlison happened recently, with the forward currently on duty with Brazil for Copa America. Ancelotti is eager to bring him to the Bernabeu, but any potential talks are in the early stages. Still, the conversation between the two could evolve into an offer for Everton to consider in the coming weeks. The Braz...
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 ...
Bundesliga man shines, Barcelona and Liverpool players impress – Spain 1-1 Switzerland Player Ratings
Spain qualified for the semi-finals of Euro 2020 following a penalty shootout against Switzerland. Spain had the better of the opening exchanges and took advantage of their dominance in the eighth minute. Jordi Alba struck a shot from range which deflected kindly into the top corner off the right boot of Denis Zakaria. It was later ruled as an own goal. There wasn’t a whole lot of first-half action outside of the goal. Cesar Azpilicueta headed straight into the arms of Yann Sommer, and Manuel Akanji and Nico Elvedi both missed the target from Xherdan Shaqiri corners. The whistle went with Luis Enrique’s men 1-0 up. They had enjoyed 71% possession but only managed three attempts to Switzerland’s four. The Swiss came out in the second half fighting for the equaliser. Zakaria almost atoned fo...
Euro 2020 Predictions: England, Denmark, Spain and Italy to progress to the semifinals
After a thrilling set of last 16 ties, the Euro 2020 quarter-finals are upon us. We could be in for another exhilarating round of fixtures. With giants such as France, Germany, Portugal and Netherlands all eliminated, the tournament is wide open. All of the remaining eight will know that there is a huge opportunity to get some silverware in the cabinet. Here are our predictions for the quarter-finals. Switzerland vs Spain Morata got his first goal of the summer in extra time Having looked down and out against France, Switzerland pulled off the shock of the tournament by coming back and defeating the world champions on penalties. Spain’s game against Croatia was equally as thrilling. They were 3-1 up going into the closing stages but conceded twice late on to go to extra time before hitting...
2 England, 1 Belgium, 2 Switzerland – Best XI from the round of 16
As the group stages came to a close, the knockout rounds of Euro 2020 begun, and the round of 16 certainly didn’t disappoint. We’ve had everything you could possibly want. Penalty shootouts, giant killings, last gasp winners, eight-goal thrillers, screamers, VAR drama – it’s what we live for as football fans. Here are our picks for the best XI from the round of 16. Jordan Pickford (GK) – England’s goalkeeper position has been the subject of debate for a while now, with many of the fans preferring the likes of Nick Pope and Dean Henderson over the Everton stopper. However, Gareth Southgate stuck with Pickford and has been rewarded for his faith. Against Germany, the 27-year-old was on top of his game, making crucial saves to deny Timo Werner and Kai Havertz at 0-0. Cesar Azpilicueta (R...
‘Phenomenal’, ‘Truly deserves’: Some Chelsea fans praise international display of £145,000-a-week star
A selection of Chelsea fans on Twitter heaped praise on Cesar Azpilicueta following his sublime performance during Spain’s 5-3 win over Croatia at Euro 2020. The Blues captain started the second game running for La Roja. He produced a solid all-round play capped with a brilliant headed goal. Azpilicueta gave La Roja the lead (2-1) in the 57th minute of the round of 16 clash. It was his first-ever goal for the national team in what was his 27th cap. The experienced right-back also made a terrific goal-line clearance when Spain were leading 3-1, but Croatia quickly scored off the rebound. Croatia made a stunning comeback from two goals down to make it 3-3, but they were eventually beaten 5-3 after the game went to extra-time. Azpilicueta had an impressive performance as he won six of his 10 ...
‘He can give much more’ – former Arsenal star hammers 28-year-old
Well, that was fun, wasn’t it? Two games, 14 goals, a penalty shoot-out and France dumped out of the European Championships in hilarious circumstances. Spain kicked off proceedings by beating Croatia after extra time in a game where defending appeared to be a forgotten art. France then did what France do best by imploding against a Switzerland team that they had criminally underestimated. Over in the ITV studio, former Arsenal and France star Patrick Vieira was not a happy camper. Vieira hammers Pogba Paul Pogba. All the talent in the world, but frustrating beyond belief. Scores a great goal to put his side 3-1 up and celebrates with a one minute dance – a great way to wind up the opposition. Played lots of brilliant passes? Absolutely. Failed miserably to be defensively disciplined? Total...
Euro 2020: Spain eliminate Croatia in eight-goal thriller
Spain held off a remarkable Croatian fightback to win 5-3 in a pulsating Euro 2020 last 16 knockout match on Monday thanks to goals from Alvaro Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal in extra time. The three-times European champions will now face either France or Switzerland on July 2 in St. Petersburg Spain and Croatia were drawing 3-3 after normal time, with the goals starting when goalkeeper Unai Simon failed disastrously to control a simple back-pass to give Croatia a shock 1-0 lead. Spain looked like they had made amends with goals from Pablo Sarabia, Cesar Azpilicueta and Ferran Torres to go 3-1 up, until Mislav Orsic scored in the 85th minute and Mario Pasalic netted two minutes into stoppage time to level for Croatia. Spain’s goals in extra time came after Simon had made a point blank save to ...
Man City man stars, Barcelona and Juventus players also impress – Croatia 3-5 Spain Player Ratings
Spain progressed to the quarter-finals of Euro 2020 following an exhilarating clash with Croatia on Monday. Spain had the better of the opening stages, creating two excellent chances to take go ahead. The first came when Pedri slipped a ball through to Koke, but his finish was too close to Dominik Livakovic in goal. Soon afterwards, Ferran Torres swung in an inch-perfect cross for Alvaro Morata at the back post. However, the forward’s header was blocked by Domagoj Vida when he really ought to have scored. Spain were made to rue their missed chances in comical fashion just moments later. Pedri overhit a backpass to Unai Simon, who failed to control the ball and allowed it in for 1-0. It was the ninth own goal of the tournament – as many as every other European Championships combined. It was...
Manchester United man leads Euro 2020 Best XI while Ronaldo leads from the front
The Euro 2020 group stages have come to a close, and it’s just a short wait before the knockout rounds begin. The opening two weeks of action have been nothing short of enthralling. We’ve seen some incredible goals, great drama, and an inexplicable amount of own goals. What’s not to love? Here is our best XI from the group stage. Lukas Hradecky (GK) – Hradecky can count himself unlucky to be going home early, having put in some excellent performances in the last three games. He kicked off his tournament with a crucial penalty save in the 1-0 win over Denmark and followed this up with another good performance in the 1-0 defeat against Russia. His final game was impressive but ended in heartbreak. He made several brilliant stops to keep Belgium at bay but scored an unlucky own goal to s...
