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Tag: Euro 2020

  • Lewandowski deny Spain first Euro 2020 win

    Lewandowski deny Spain first Euro 2020 win

    Robert Lewandowski scored his first goal of Euro 2020 as Poland held Spain to keep alive their hopes of reaching the knockouts.

    Poland knew that a defeat would mean they could not progress from Group E and they fell behind towards the end of the first half when Alvaro Morata’s close-range finish was given by VAR after initially being ruled out for offside.

    But Lewandowski, who had struggled to make an impact in Poland’s opening-game defeat to Slovakia, equalised early in the second half when he thumped home a header.

    Spain had the chance to retake the lead soon after with a penalty, awarded by referee Daniele Orsato after he had checked a challenge on Gerard Moreno on the pitchside monitor, but Moreno compounded to slam his effort against the post before Morata sent the follow-up wide.

    Manchester City forward Ferran Torres headed wide as Spain pushed in the closing stages, while Morata was denied from point-blank range by Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny late on.

    But too often their play was predictable and lacking in urgency and the draw means the three-time European champions are still without a win at Euro 2020 after they were held to a goalless draw by Sweden in their opener.

    Spain are third in Group E with two points, with Slovakia second on three and Sweden top with four. Luis Enrique’s side play Slovakia in their final group game on Wednesday while Poland take on Sweden at the same time.

  • Euro 2020: Barca player rescues France to deny fans Euro shock

    Euro 2020: Barca player rescues France to deny fans Euro shock

    Antoine Griezmann rescued a point for France and denied Hungary one of the big European Championship shocks in front of a raucous 60,000 crowd in Budapest.

    Attila Fiola fired Hungary into the lead just before the break as he held off the French defence to slot home after a one-two with Roland Sallai.

    The goal was met by one of the loudest celebrations football has heard since March 2020 – or even before then – as the Puskas Arena went wild.

    Fiola banged a pitchside reporter’s table and knocked items off before he and his team-mates embraced some of the fans in the front row.

    World champions France, tipped by many as the tournament favourites, had dominated the first half, with Kylian Mbappe in lively form again, before that goal.

    Les Bleus were not impressive, although they did come back in the second half.

    First, substitute Ousmane Dembele hit the post – and then his Barcelona team-mate Griezmann equalised.

    Mbappe ran onto Hugo Lloris’ huge kick down the field before laying it off – with the aid of a slight deflection – for Griezmann to slot home from eight yards.

    The atmosphere was electric, but neither side could find a winner.

    There was almost late drama when Presnel Kimpembe appeared to be fouled in the box by Sallai – but France were not given a penalty – and Raphael Varane headed wide with the last touch.

    France, on four points, have probably done enough to reach the last 16 from Group F – although it is not guaranteed yet – and Hungary have kept their qualification hopes alive.

  • Praise rains down on Chelsea midfielder after Euro performance

    Praise rains down on Chelsea midfielder after Euro performance

    Chelsea midfielder Billy Gilmour is being praised after his performance for Scotland in their 0-0 draw with Euro opponents England.

    In his first Scotland start, the Chelsea youngster was the “best player on the pitch” according to Graeme Souness, a man who knows a thing or two about being a midfielder.

    His composure on the ball, range of passing and tenacity left Scotland fans applauding him off the pitch after 76 minutes.

    “My God… right up there,” Scotland captain Andy Robertson said when asked about Gilmour’s performance. “Nothing fazes him. He can have as many caps as he wants for Scotland.”

    Manager Steve Clarke was also impressed, if not shocked at the Ayrshireman’s talent.

    “We knew before we put him in he can play, it’s just getting the right moment. Tonight was his big moment and he took it and no-one was surprised by it, certainly not in our camp,” he said.

    Gilmour won the ball back eight times, more than any player on the pitch. It was a complete midfield performance, and one that Souness said England could have done with.

    “They need a Billy Gilmour,” he said on ITV. “They need a maestro. The best player on the pitch. Never gives the ball away which is fabulous for a midfielder.”

  • Euro 2020: Mourinho names two Scotland players to upset England

    Euro 2020: Mourinho names two Scotland players to upset England

    Jose Mourinho says Scotland need their players to produce a five-star performance for a chance to upset England today.

    Writing for The Sun, Mourinho said: “You must believe Scotland’s mentality can make their team much better than the sum of its parts — but England are much, much better.

    “Scotland are based on their three best players — Kieran Tierney, Andy Robertson and Scott McTominay.

    “And without Tierney against the Czech Republic, they were reduced to two top-quality players.

    “I would expect more from John McGinn and Stuart Armstrong, they are good Premier League players.

    “Scotland, though, are a team with a good mentality but without real talent, especially in attack.

    “I was surprised with Scotland against the Czechs in the way they really struggled to build their game. The quality wasn’t high.

    “Their spirit will be doubled at Wembley but England just have to approach the game in a serious way and win.”

  • Euro 2020: 2 penalties saved as Ukraine defeat North Macedonia

    Euro 2020: 2 penalties saved as Ukraine defeat North Macedonia

    Ukraine bounced back from their opening defeat at Euro 2020 as they held on to beat tournament debutants North Macedonia in an entertaining encounter in Bucharest.

    Having fought back from two goals down before ultimately losing 3-2 to the Netherlands on Sunday, Andriy Shevchenko’s side ended a run of six successive European Championship defeats to remain in contention in Group C.

    Captain Andriy Yarmolenko capitalised on poor defending from a corner after 28 minutes, before the West Ham forward’s pass set up Roman Yaremchuk, who slotted neatly into the bottom corner five minutes later.

    Leeds United’s Ezgjan Alioski followed up his own saved penalty to hand a much-improved North Macedonia a second-half lifeline, but they could not find an equaliser despite goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski saving Ruslan Malinovskiy’s penalty in the closing stages.

    Georgi Bushchan was strong in the final stages between the posts for Ukraine as they held on for the three points. The result leaves North Macedonia on the brink of elimination.

    Ukraine meet Austria and North Macedonia face the Netherlands in the final round of Group C games, with both matches taking place on Monday at 17:00.

  • We can win Euro 2020 – Italy coach

    We can win Euro 2020 – Italy coach

    Italy boss Roberto Mancini believes his side can go on to win Euro 2020.

    The Azzurri have followed up their opening game win over Turkey with a 3-0 success over Switzerland in Rome, booking their place in the Round of 16.

    The Italians have now gone ten straight games without conceding a goal, while their frontline looked in fine form against the Swiss.

    Mancini said, per Sky Sports: “In the European Championship there’s France, Portugal and Belgium – one of those are world champions, another are European champions and the other are the number one ranked side in the world.

    “These are teams who have been built over a number of years and it’s only natural they are further along than us but everything can happen in football, you shouldn’t take anything for granted.

    “Every match is difficult, you always have to go out there and play. I’ve been fortunate in that I have had some very good players who like playing the game, they enjoy being out there and like taking risks.

    “The players are the ones who deserve the credit. I try to explain my thought process and there is still a long way to go.”

  • Euro 2020: Italy becomes first team to reach last 16

    Euro 2020: Italy becomes first team to reach last 16

    In-form Italy became the first team to reach the knockout stage of the European Championship with another impressive Group A showing in victory over Switzerland.

    Roberto Mancini’s side thumped Turkey on the opening day of the tournament and made it back-to-back 3-0 wins courtesy of another sprightly performance in Rome.

    Sassuolo midfielder Manuel Locatelli scored twice, first by finishing off a move he started by tapping in from Domenico Berardi’s darting run and cutback.

    Italy’s passing and pressing was far superior to their opponents and Locatelli’s fizzing strike from the edge of the area underlined their control of the contest.

    Lazio striker Ciro Immobile’s long-range drive, which squirmed under goalkeeper Yann Sommer, completed a comprehensive victory late on.

    Switzerland barely threatened an Italian backline that has now gone 10 games without conceding in all competitions, a run approaching 1,000 minutes.

  • UEFA ban Austria player at Euro 2020

    UEFA ban Austria player at Euro 2020

    Austria forward Marko Arnautovic has been banned for one game by UEFA for insulting another player in Sunday’s Euro 2020 win over North Macedonia.

    Arnautovic, who has Serbian heritage, had to be restrained by captain David Alaba as he celebrated his late goal.

    Arnautovic appeared to direct comments at opponents Egzon Bejtulai and Gjanni Alioski, who have Albanian roots.

    Arnautovic responded after the match by saying he he is “not a racist”.

    The 32-year-old was found guilty of misconduct, with Uefa not considering his actions to be discriminatory.

    Arnautovic, who was born in Austria and has a Serbian father, apologised for his goal celebration in a post on Instagram.

    He wrote: “There were some heated words yesterday in the emotions of the game for which I would like to apologise, especially to my friends from North Macedonia and Albania.

    “I would like to say one thing very clearly: I am not a racist.

    “I have friends in almost every country and I stand for diversity. Everyone who knows me is aware of that.”

    Serbia does not recognise the independence of its former province Kosovo, while there is historic tension between Serbia and North Macedonia.

    Austria’s next game is against the Netherlands at the Johan Cruyff arena on Thursday, while North Macedonia face Ukraine.

  • Euro 2020: Wales can’t just rely on me – Bale

    Euro 2020: Wales can’t just rely on me – Bale

    Real Madrid attacker Gareth Bale is fed-up with the focus being on him during Wales’ Euros campaign.

    Bale also indicated that his Wales teammates will do what it takes to win games as a team and do not put their egos ahead of the group.

    “Of course, I have the experience of playing in big games and hostile games,” said Bale.

    “But it’s not about me stepping up, it’s about the team stepping up. Everyone always go on about individual performances – individual this and that, who scores and who does what.

    “But the most important thing is we work hard collectively as a team, we attack and we deliver together. I’ve said it all through my Wales career, whether I’m scoring or not, that it doesn’t matter who scores.

    “Everyone’s too driven by this individual performance thing when you can’t do anything without your team-mates. We’re just purely focused on doing everything as a team together.”

    Wales face Turkey at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan, where the local fans are expected to support the Turkish team, but Bale will not intimidated by a possible hostile atmosphere.

    “I think it’s good to be playing in front of big crowds,” added Bale.

    “It will be nice to have that atmosphere at the stadium and get back to a bit of normality. Obviously we’d prefer to be playing in front of 34,000 Wales fans, but it’s not meant to be.

    “If anything, it kind of spurs us on to be a bit more ruthless on the pitch, and hopefully we can keep them silent.”

  • Euro 2020: Pogba defends Rudiger over biting allegation

    Euro 2020: Pogba defends Rudiger over biting allegation

    Manchester United star Paul Pogba has claimed Antonio Rudiger “nibbled” him during France’s win against Germany but does not want the defender to be banned over the incident.

    The two players battled it out as France defeated Germany 1-0 in their opening group game of Euro 2020.

    An own goal from Mats Hummels settled the game.

    During the clash, video footage showed an incident where Rudiger appeared to try and bite Pogba in the back during a physical altercation.

    “With Tony, we are friends,” said Pogba post-game.

    “This was nothing big. I think you saw the TV pictures, this is all over, this belongs to the past, I’m not crying for yellow or red cards for such actions.

    “He nibbled, I think, a little bit on me, but we’ve known each other for a long time.

    “He hasn’t received any card, I think it’s better like this. I don’t want him to be suspended because of such a situation. At the end of the match we hugged each other and that’s it.”