Spain
1 from Portugal, 1 from France, 2 from Netherlands – Euro 2020 Best XI of Round 3
The group stage has come to an end, and now we have to endure two whole days without Euro 2020 action. How will we cope? At least the groups ended on a cracker, with several exceptional performances from the final round of fixtures. Here is our best XI from round three of Euro 2020. Lukas Hradecky (GK) – It feels a bit bizarre to include someone who scored an own goal, but here we are. Hradecky kept Finland in the game for as long as possible, producing several excellent stops to keep Belgium out before being cruelly robbed of his clean sheet. Nelson Semedo (RB) – The selection of right-backs from the latest round of fixtures was somewhat slim, but Nelson Semedo gets in for a solid performance. He got a lot of criticism for his performance against Germany, and many feared that it...
Spain vs Poland – Euro 2020 Group E Preview, H2H, Team News, Players to Watch & Predicted Line-ups
Spain and Poland go head-to-head at the Estadio de La Cartuja in the second round of the Euro 2020 group stage fixtures on Saturday night. The Spaniards exchanged a record-breaking 830 passes in their Euro 2020 curtain-raiser but failed to find the back of the net against Sweden. Despite a sluggish start to their Euro 2020 journey, Poland will be looking to dwell on their impressive major tournament record on Spanish soil. They suffered just one loss in eight matches in Spain (W3, D3) en route to finishing third at the 1982 World Cup. Note: You can watch all Euro 2020 games via live streaming. Spain Preview Despite setting a European Championships record for having 81.1% possession of the ball against Sweden, Spain could only manage a bore draw in their Group E opener. The Spaniards h...
Chelsea set to meet £60 million exit clause for Euro 2020 sensation
Chelsea are reportedly ready to meet the release clause in the race to snap up a Liverpool and Arsenal target who is currently turning heads at Euro 2020. Alexander Isak is the name making the headlines, with the forward turning in two outstanding performances in Sweden’s draw with Spain and the win over Slovakia. Isak was a constant threat against a fancied Spanish outfit on Monday night, while he was Man of the Match as the Swedes virtually booked a last-16 spot with a narrow victory on Friday. The striker scored 17 goals for Real Sociedad last season and was named the Young Player of the Season in Spain. And according to Spanish newspaper AS, Blues boss Thomas Tuchel wants Chelsea to snap up the 21-year-old. However, to do that any suitor would have to pay Isak’s £60million (€70m) exit ...
Summer Series: Super Falcons return to base
The Nigerian delegation to the just concluded Four-Nation invitational tournament tagged Summer Series which took place in Houston and Austin in Texas, United States, have arrived the country. The 10 home-based Super Falcons players, three assistant coaches, Ann Chiejine, Wemimo Mathew and Auwal Makwalla (Goalkeepers Trainer) as well as backroom staff arrived Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, Friday. Others in the entourage are two Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Board Members and Chairperson, NFF Women’s Football Committee, Hon. Huliyat Ayo Omidiran. Earlier, foreign-based Falcons players especially those who are resident in U.S left the team’s Fairmont Hotel in Austin a day after Nigeria lost 2-0 to USWNT in the Summer Series finale on Wednesday night which was 2 am in Nig...
Manchester United identify Alexander Isak as Erling Braut Haaland alternative
Manchester United have identified Alexander Isak as an alternative target to Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland this summer, The Star reports. The Red Devils recently committed Edinson Cavani to a new contract, but they are still searching for a quality young striker to add to their ranks. They have been heavily linked with Dortmund, but a deal appears unlikely with the Bundesliga outfit having no plans to sanction his sale. Haaland has a release clause worth £68 million in his contract, but that does not become active until the end of the 2021/22 campaign. It is now reported that the club have a ‘Plan B’, and could look to swoop for the services of Isak, who is currently contracted with Real Sociedad. Isak had another promising season with Sociedad last term, registering 17 goals an...
Sergio Ramos to leave Real Madrid this summer
Real Madrid have confirmed that club captain Sergio Ramos will leave this summer. Ramos, 35, is out of contract at Real this summer, and had been expected to sign a new deal. The centre-back’s usual summer transfer dalliances with the likes of Manchester United have usually been a smokescreen to negotiate better terms at the Bernabeu. However, this time Ramos is officially on the lookout for a new club, with the defender leaving the team he has been with since 2005. Ramos arrived at the Bernabeu 16 years ago following a switch from Sevilla and went on to have a glittering career. He won five La Liga titles, four Champions League crowns as well as the Copa Del Rey twice. It was during his time in the Spanish capital that he also won the 2010 World Cup with Spain along with back-to-back Euro...
Euro 2020: Spain boss rues missed chances but defends game plan
Spain coach Luis Enrique rued missed chances from his side in their 0-0 European Championship draw with Sweden on Monday, insisting he will not be changing his style of play despite getting off to a disappointing start in the tournament. It was a familiar story for Spain, who enjoyed 85 per cent possession in Seville, the highest figure for a team in a European Championship fixture since 1980 when Opta started recording the data. “We were by far the better team, the opposition tried to hang back, we completely controlled the game and tried to generate as many chances as possible,” Luis Enrique told a news conference. “We were up against a physically strong team. We did have the chances to win the game. What went wrong was that we did not take these chances.” The Spain coach was also keen t...
Cristiano Ronaldo is unconcerned over Juventus future
Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo insists his sole focus is on Euro 2020 and reports of interest from rival clubs are causing him no “sleepless nights”. Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juve in 2019, but the move has not worked out quite as planned. Although the Bianconeri won the Serie A title for a ninth successive season in the forward’s first campaign, they lost their crown to Inter this term and scraped Champions League qualification. Success in Europe’s premier club competition, which Ronaldo won five times with Manchester United and Madrid, continues to evade the Turin giants. A frustrating season ended with Massimiliano Allegri returning to replace Andrea Pirlo, and there has been speculation Ronaldo could follow his coach out of the door. Madrid, United and Paris Saint-Germain have...
Cristiano Ronaldo is unconcerned over Juventus future
Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo insists his sole focus is on Euro 2020 and reports of interest from rival clubs are causing him no “sleepless nights”. Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juve in 2019, but the move has not worked out quite as planned. Although the Bianconeri won the Serie A title for a ninth successive season in the forward’s first campaign, they lost their crown to Inter this term and scraped Champions League qualification. Success in Europe’s premier club competition, which Ronaldo won five times with Manchester United and Madrid, continues to evade the Turin giants. A frustrating season ended with Massimiliano Allegri returning to replace Andrea Pirlo, and there has been speculation Ronaldo could follow his coach out of the door. Madrid, United and Paris Saint-Germain have...
Barcelona starlet impresses, Man Utd man also performs well – Spain 0-0 Sweden Player Ratings
Spain and Sweden played out a rather entertaining 0-0 draw, with both sides missing big chances. Spain made a bright start to the game, and came closest to opening the scoring in the 16th minute. Koke swung in an inch-perfect cross for Dani Olmo, but the RB Leipzig man’s header was brilliantly kept out by goalkeeper Robin Olsen. Koke continued to be involved, twice finding himself in good positions. The first time he fired narrowly wide, and the second time he struck over from Olmo’s low cross. Spain’s biggest chance came seven minutes before the break. Alvaro Morata found himself clean through on goal after Marcus Danielson made a mess of a clearance, but the former Chelsea forward placed his effort wide of the target. Despite their dominance, La Furia Roja were unable to get a goal in th...
All Euro 2020 nation crests redesigned, for the modern era
National team crests are just different from their club counterparts. Both are an integral part of the team’s history, and both are definitely tattooed on many of the fans. However, in the past decade or so, most national team crests have already been updated and bought into the modern era of design. National team crests also seem to be simpler and have less elements than their club counterparts. That being said, I did find some ways to further simplify them. In some cases through minor changes without removing elements. It was also interesting to note how similar some of the crests can be to each other. For example Scotland, Netherlands & Wales all feature a roaring majestic lion or dragon. Or how Sweden and Finland, both nordic countries, feature their flags on a shield. I have tried...
COVID-19: Hard choices made by Nigeria responsible for successful impact – President Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has said the hard choices made by his administration to tackle the coronavirus pandemic ravaging the world have yielded successful impacts. The president, who addressed Nigerians in a nationwide broadcast on Saturday to mark the 2021 Democracy Day, was referring to some measures, including travel restrictions across the states of the federation and beyond, compulsory use of nose masks, hand washing protocols and other relevant protocols instituted to limit spread of the virus. Mr Buhari said; “Our response to the pandemic involved making hard choices in balancing livelihoods and public health concerns. “You are all living witnesses to how successful this has been due to a number of proactive measures put in place. Our response to COVID-19 is globally acclaimed. “...
