Bordeaux, France 2nd July 2016: There are slow-burning, tactical battles, and there is Germany versus Italy in the quarterfinals of EURO 2016 on Saturday in Bordeaux, France.
With Germany boss Joachim Loew throwing out a tactical surprise of his own prior to kickoff — the Germans elected to match Antonio Conte’s five-man backline with a five-man defensive unit of their own, complete with lots of high, aggressive pressing — the game played out just as you might have expected: disjointed play featuring lots of fouls and few genuine scoring chances in the opening 60 minutes.
In the end, it took nine rounds of hilariously bad penalty kicks for Germany to come out on top and book their place in the semifinals, where they’ll face the winner of Sunday’s fourth and final quarterfinal, between the tournament hosts, France, and the tournament darlings, Iceland.
Mario Gomez, somewhat surprisingly, proved himself Germany’s best player on the day, with the majority of Germany’s success in the final third coming via the Fiorentina striker. It was the much-maligned Gomez who did yeoman’s work during the build-up to Mesut Ozil’s opening goal in the 65th minute.
After a quick one-two at midfield, Gomez broke down the left flank and held the ball up exceptionally, which allowed everyone else to join in on the attack. Gomez played a simple through ball fro Jonas Hector into the penalty area, and though Hector’s cross was deflected, it fell to Ozil at the top of the six-yard box, and the Arsenal playmaker made no mistake with his first-time finish.
Italy equalized 13 minutes later, though, when Jerome Boateng handled the ball inside the penalty area, and did so with his arms and hands raised above his head in an attempt to show the referee he wasn’t committing a foul with his body, only to commit a shocking handball violation. Leonardo Bonucci stepped up and converted the ensuing penalty with ease.
Back on level terms, the remainder of regular time and all of extra time played out predictably once again. The penalty shootout was a comedy of horrifically taken spot-kicks, from Simone Zaza’s twinkle-toes run-up; to Thomas Mueller’s weakly hit, center-third strike; to Ozil’s clanger off the post; to Graziano Pelle‘s slow-roller wide of the post; to Bastian Schweinsteiger‘s space-bound rocket ship. Hector hit the clinching spot kick, following the failure of Matteo Darmiam, to seal Germany’s place in the semis.
Football Soccer – Wales v Belgium – EURO 2016 – Quarter Final – Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France – 1/7/16 Wales’ Wayne Hennessey celebrates at the end of the game REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol Livepic
Lille, France 1st July 2016: Wales produced a stunning upset to reach the Euro 2016 semi-finals after Hal Robson-Kanu’s superbly fashioned goal and Sam Vokes’s late header secured a 3-1 comeback win over Belgium on Friday to set up a clash with Portugal.
Robson-Kanu left three Belgium players for dead with a ‘Cruyff’ turn and calmly stroked the ball home to put Wales ahead in the second half, while substitute Vokes’s header ensured they reached their first major tournament semi-final.
It was a crushing blow for heavy favourites Belgium, who had taken the lead in the 13th minute when Radja Nainggolan rifled a shot into the top corner from distance only for Wales captain Ashley Williams to level with a header from a corner.
“I said before we kicked the ball today, we’re not here to enjoy it, we are here to compete,” Wales manager Chris Coleman said. “Don’t be afraid to have dreams. Four years ago I was as far away from this as you could imagine. I’ve had more failures than successes but I’m not afraid to fail. We deserve this.”
Wales, playing in their first quarter-final since losing to Brazil in the 1958 World Cup, next have a match that sees the world’s two most expensive players face each other in Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo and his Real Madrid team mate Gareth Bale.
Coleman’s side, however, will have to do without their inspirational midfielder Aaron Ramsey, who picked up a booking that has ruled him out of the semi-final in Lyon on Wednesday.
Football Soccer – Poland v Portugal – EURO 2016 – Quarter Final – Stade Velodrome, Marseille, France – 30/6/16 Portugal’s Renato Sanches scores their first goal REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach
Stade Velodrome, France 30th June 2016: Portugal reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 by beating Poland 5-3 on penalties after the two sides drew 1-1 after extra time on Thursday.
Jakub Blaszczykowski failed to convert Poland’s fourth penalty, which was saved by Rui Patricio, as Portugal earned a semi-final against either Wales or Belgium in Lyon on Wednesday.
Poland raced into the lead in the second minute when Kamil Grosicki burst down the left and crossed into the middle where Robert Lewandowski sidefooted the ball into the net for his first goal of the competition.
Renato Sanches, 18, and starting an international for the first time, leveled for Portugal after 33 minutes, collecting Nani’s backheeled pass and firing past Lukasz Fabianski from the edge of the penalty area.
Football Soccer – Germany v Slovakia – EURO 2016 – Round of 16 – Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, France – 26/6/16 Germany’s Bastian Schweinsteiger in action REUTERS/
France, 28th June 2016: Hosts France, world champions Germany,Portugal and Italy.Belgium are beginning to meet expectations.
Then there are the surprise stories. Cristiano Ronaldo claimed Iceland were “not going to do anything in the competition.” Well, they sure showed him. Poland have reached the quarter-finals for the first time in their history as well. So have Wales. Who would have thought they would be the last Brits standing?
Poland v Portugal – Thursday June 30,
It makes for an exciting week ahead and it kicks off with Poland taking on Portugal inMarseille on Thursday night. Both needed extra-time to get this far. Both then have had the same time to recover. Even though Portugal have still yet to win in 90 minutes, they look in better nick.
The Poles faded after half-time against Switzerland. Maybe their nerves got to them as well. Adam Nawalka didn’t help by resisting the temptation to go to his bench until 10 minutes into extra-time. That said, the Poles have been solid – the only goal they have conceded at the tournament so far was Xherdan Shaqiri’s entry into the Goal of the Tournament competition. Without the ball, Poland should keep it close.
With it, Robert Lewandowski has gone 643 minutes without a goal and is carrying a metatarsal injury. Alek Milik, his strike partner, has missed some glaring opportunities and has an ankle knock. A lot will depend on their fitness – if they are healthy then Poland still have another level to go to. This team has created a lot of chances and quality chances as well. It should only be a matter of time before they take them.
Portugal looked better after the introductions of the dynamic and anarchic Renato Sanchesagainst Croatia. Fernando Santos must start him in my opinion. Generally their play has been pretty, but also ponderous and predictable. Cristiano Ronaldo was quiet until Ricardo Quaresma followed up his rebound and scored to knock Croatia out. I’m still picking Poland to qualify
Wales v Belgium – Friday July 1
Next up is Wales’ reunion with Belgium in Lille. These two nations know each other well – they were in the same qualifying group for Euro 2016 and while Belgium came out top of the pile, Wales went undefeated against their higher ranked opponents. Gareth Bale won the game for them in Cardiff following a stalemate in Brussels, and Wales have had a day longer to prepare for this encounter and are under no pressure whatsoever. They are in the quarter-finals of a major tournament for the first time since 1958 and, as such, are have exceeded expectations. There is nothing to lose.
The same cannot be said for Belgium and their golden generation, however. They have impressed since their curtain-raiser defeat to Italy, bouncing back with three wins in a row, scoring eight goals without reply. Eden Hazard looked fantastic against Hungary. But I still think there is justification for taking Wales on the Double Chance market Renaissance man Thomas Vermaelen is suspended and Belgium are less of a team than Chris Coleman’s outfit.
Germany v Italy – Saturday July 2
The main event, however, comes on Saturday night in Bordeaux. Germany-Italy is a game worthy of a final. It is a tournament classic. The Germans were at their fluid best against Slovakia, and manager Jogi Löw has also figured out his best XI. One Mario has been swapped for another up front and Germany look more dangerous with Gomez, a proper centre-forward, than Götze, a false nine. His combination play with Thomas Müller is far better.
Strangely Müller has never scored at the Euros. He has missed Miroslav Klose and Philipp Lahm, but looks better for Gomez’s promotion and that of Bayern Munich teammate Joshua Kimmich at right-back, who has got forward more on the overlap than Benedikt Höwedes.
Italy, meanwhile, continue to astound. They have made those pundits who wrote this squad off as the worst that the Azzurri have sent to a tournament in more than half a century look very foolish indeed. But that assessment still stands and only makes the job Conte has done all the more impressive. We’ll perhaps only appreciate just how much Antonio Conte has got this group of players, particularly those in midfield and attack, to surpass themselves once he is at Chelsea. He has maximised the minimum. Squeezing everything out of his players. It has been a triumph of coaching and team building.
No team other than Italy has put in two outstanding performances at the Euros so far. History is on their side this weekend. Germany have never beaten Italy at a major tournament. They lost the 1982 World Cup final, the 2006 semi-final at home and another semi-final at the Euros four years ago when Löw was out-coached by Cesare Prandelli. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he was out-coached again, this time by Conte. At times the Germans have looked satisfied, lacking the intensity they showed at the World Cup in Brazil. The same can’t be said of Italy.Back them to go through.
Iceland v France – Sunday July 3
Last but not least we turn to Iceland-France in Paris. Surely this is where the fairytale ends for Iceland, right? Like Wales – in fact, more so – they are under no pressure. Whatever happens at the Stade de France, Lars Lagerback and his player will be given a heroes welcome in Reykjavik. Apparently they will receive the Icelandic equivalent of a knighthood.
France by contrast have often looked uncomfortable as hosts. They have shown signs of stage-fright. The exchange still has them down as favourites but so far I have not found Didier Deschamps‘ side entirely convincing. They conceded against Romania, only beat Albania in stoppage time and should have perhaps been 2-0 down against Ireland at half-time in the Round of 16.
The defence looks a weak point. Patrice Evra and Paul Pogba have given away silly penalties and Deschamps often hasn’t helped with his team selections. If he plays 4-3-3 on Sunday, it must include a ball-playing midfield player like Yohan Cabaye. If he goes 4-2-3-1Antoine Griezmann must play off Olivier Giroud and not out-wide. Griezmann has played through the middle all season for Atletico.
France must also get their approach right. They can’t already think that they are in the semis. They underestimated Greece in 2004 and went home with their tails between their legs. If they take Iceland lightly, then they will suffer the same humiliation as England. The French should progress but I think the semi-finals is where their tournament will end. Back them to be eliminated in the next round.
PARIS: UEFA formally opened a disciplinary case against the Croatian soccer federation on Saturday for racism and fan disorder at a European Championship match.
Play was stopped for several minutes late in Croatia’s 2-2 draw with the Czech Republic in Saint-Etienne on Friday when firecrackers and lit flares were thrown on the field from one end of the stadium where its fans were sitting.
Croatia fans then fought among themselves as players appealed for calm.
UEFA’s anti-discrimination monitors said Saturday they also reported hearing fans sing far-right songs and displaying offensive banners at the stadium.
UEFA said the charges against Croatia related to racist behavior, crowd disturbances, throwing of objects on the field, and setting off fireworks.
The Croatian federation faces at least a five-figure fine when UEFA’s disciplinary panel judges the case on Monday.
It is the second round of charges involving Croatia fans in France. UEFA charged the federation over flares being lit and a fan running on the field to celebrate a goal with Croatia players in a 1-0 win over Turkey last Sunday. That case will be judged on July 21.
Croatia has a track record of disruptive fans at the European Championship.
The national team has a faction of fans with far-right views, and also groups who are protesting against the widely unpopular national soccer body led by former Croatia great Davor Suker.
“This deserves zero tolerance,” Suker said in a statement on the federation’s website. “Croatian Football Federation is doing its job, and I call upon government institutions to do theirs. We’ll ask French police for help. “
All three Croatia games at Euro 2012 were also delayed because of flares and fireworks being thrown on the field.
Then, UEFA fined the federation a total of $170,000 for a series of incidents including racial insults aimed at Italy forward Mario Balotelli, a fan running on the field, and fans’ offensive chants and banners.
UEFA already deducted a point from Croatia in Euro 2016 qualifying when fans created a swastika image on the field before a home qualifying match in Split.
The Italy game, and a subsequent qualifier against Bulgaria, were played in empty stadiums as punishment from UEFA for fans using far-right chants and banners.
In separate cases, FIFA has already barred fans from attending the first two of Croatia’s five 2018 World Cup home qualifying matches in Zagreb in September and November.
PARIS: UEFA formally opened a disciplinary case against the Croatian soccer federation on Saturday for racism and fan disorder at a European Championship match.
eworldsports.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.