The Draw Day- Ukraine misses out as they shared points with Belgium, Slovakia and Romania advance to Knockouts

June 27, 2024- It was a sight to see in Frankfurt as the Romanian fans marched towards Deutsche Bank Park to support their team as they outnumbered their Slovak counterparts. Although the match was a draw, both teams qualified for the Round of 16. Slovakia opened the scoring in the 24th minute when Ondrej Duda headed the ball into goal, unmarked by Romanian defenders. In the 34th minute, Slovak defender David Hancko fouled Ianis Hagi inside the box, and as a result, Romania's Razvan Marin converted a goal from the spot and leveled the score. It looked like both teams settled a mutual understanding on drawing the match, as the other match in the group between Belgium and Ukraine also resulted in a goalless draw. Ukraine were knocked out as they were placed fourth with the same points but a smaller goal difference. Whereas Romania topped the group, Belgium finished second, followed by Slovakia.

Romanian players celebrating with fans.

The Belgium team showed yet another subpar performance in this tournament. A question arises about Romelu Lukaku's ability to perform in bigger matches. Domenico Tedesco also had to make his defense more compact and fast, as they will face France in their Round of 16 matchup. Overall, Group E was an unexpected one, with many seeing Belgium as the group toppers, followed by Ukraine, but Romania emerged as dark horses, whereas Slovakia gave a formidable performance by beating Belgium.

Belgium's Kevin De Bruyne (Blue) controlling the ball.

Final Results

Slovakia          Romania

1          -          1

Belgium          Ukraine

0          -          0

By Sarthak Khode

Contact- sarthakkhode@gmail.com

Switzerland advances to knockouts by sharing points with Germany, Hungary beat Scotland after Varga's collapse

June 24, 2024-  The third matchday kicks off with Group A fixtures, with hosts Germany against Switzerland and Hungary taking on Scotland. Both matches kicked off at the same time in Frankfurt and Stuttgart, respectively. The scoreline would have been 1-0 in favor of Germany as Robert Andrich opened the scoring from outside the box with a perfect strike in the 17th minute, but the goal didn't count as Jamal Musiala fouled the Swiss defender just before the goal. Switzerland took an early lead as Dan Ndoye braced a perfect one-touch goal, beating Manuel Neuer in the 28th minute. Germany dominated the match, but despite creating clear chances, they lacked finishing ability. During the 70th minute, Florian Wirtz gave a well-constructed pass to Maximilian Beier, but Switzerland's Manuel Akanji blocked it superbly. Germany leveled the score during the second minute of stoppage time when Niklas Fullkrug headed the ball into goal. Both teams qualified for the Round of 16, with Germany being the group toppers and Switzerland finishing second.

Niklas Fullkrug (No. 9) scores the equalizer in 90+2th Minute.

At MHP Arena in Stuttgart, Hungary faced Scotland, and both teams were competing to steal the third spot in the group, as the four best third-placed teams will advance to knockouts from six groups. Scotland started aggressively but were unable to create chances and shots; on the other hand, Hungary faced difficulty regaining possession but created constant threats in Scotland's box. In the 74th minute, Hungarian striker Barnabas Varga was injured as Scottish keeper Angus Gunn was trying to clear the ball. The game was halted for five to six minutes, then resumed with Martin Adam as his replacement. Kevin Csoboth came from the Hungarian bench during the 86th minute and scored the latest goal in European Championship history in the 90+10th minute after a pass from POTM Roland Sallai. Scotland missed yet another opportunity to qualify for the Euro knockout stages. Though Hungary won the match, they have to hope that other results go their way. As they are currently placed third in the rankings of all six third-placed teams, the best four teams will advance to the Round of 16. As Varga has suffered from various facial fractures and ruled out of the rest of tournament, Marco Rossi's side had to find a replacement for the injured forward, who was the only goal scorer for them before this match. 

 

Kevin Csoboth with his teammates celebrating his goal.

 

Final Results 

Germany          Switzerland 

1          -          1

Hungary          Scotland

1         -          0

By Sarthak Khode 

Contact- sarthakkhode@gmail.com

Copa America starts today as Argentina takes on Canada

June 21, 2024- South America's biggest football tournament will kick off from today in United States as Argentina face Canada in inaugural match at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. As cup holders Argentina will start their campaign as favorites whereas Canada will be also supported by huge chunk of fans in United States. USA will host this mega tournament second time after 2016 when they hosted the centennial edition of the tournament. The competition will feature sixteen teams across America's with ten being from South America whereas six teams are from North America qualified via qualifiers. Fourteen venues will host matches with Final being at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on 14 July.

Apart from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay will also start as title contenders. With Luis Suarez, Uruguay have an well established attack with Darwin Nunez and Facu Pellistri on the flanks, whereas Brazil are without star players like Neymar and Richarlison due to injuries. Many legends like Angel di Maria, Claudio Bravo will play last time in their national colors in any major tournament. 

By Sarthak Khode

Contact- sarthakkhode@gmail.com

Croatia's frustrating draw against Albania, Germany cruises to knockouts as they beat Hungary

June 19, 2024- The first match of the second matchday of Euro 2024 was between Croatia and Albania at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg. The match was full of excitement as Albania held Croatia to a draw after a stoppage-time goal by Klaus Gjasula. This match was vital for Croatia to advance into the knockout stages, but they lost their momentum in the start when Albania took advantage of the poor defense of Croatia and Qazim Laci scored a header in the goal during the 11th minute. In the second half, Zlatko Dalic's men were pressing Albania effectively, as birthday boy Andrej Kramaric leveled the score with an easy finish in the 74th minute, showing that they are 'not done' yet. Croatia took the lead in the 76th minute, as the tradition of own goals in this tournament was continued by Albania's Klaus Gjasula. The match ended with a top-class finish by Klaus Gjasula during the 90+5th minute after Croatia's Josip Sutalo's poor clearance. Both teams shared points as the match was held at a draw. Croatia's unsatisfactory performance persists due to their heavy reliance on their midfield trio and the absence of young players who bring speed and flexibility to the game. As of now, Croatia have to win their last game against Italy to keep hope for knockouts, as they are at the bottom of Group B, whereas Albania are sitting in third place, and gave a very strong answer to experts who termed them the 'Punching Bag' of the group. 

Albanian players after their comeback draw against Croatia

The second match of the day at MHP Arena in Stuttgart was between hosts Germany and Hungary. The match was quite exciting in terms of its quality. Germany beat Hungary to become the first nation in this edition of Euro 2024 to qualify for the round of 16. In one of the tournament's fast-paced encounters, Germany was constantly creating chances in the Hungarian box. During the 22nd minute, an unneeded attempt to clear the ball by Hungary's Willi Orban resulted in a goal for Germany, as Ilkay Gundogan wasted no time passing the ball to Jamal Musiala, who netted it easily. Hungary also created opportunities, but the tight defense of Germany couldn't let the ball into the goal. In the 26th minute, Hungary was awarded a free kick, and Dominik Szoboszlai curled the ball perfectly, but the safe hands of Manuel Neuer didn't let the ball inside his post. During the second half, Germany held most of the possession, and as Hungary was struggling to get the ball out of the half, the sublime passing of Germany doubled their lead as Mittelstadt delivered a through ball to unmarked Gundogan inside the box, who put the ball safely into the goal. Germany won the match and now sits comfortably at the top of their group. On the other hand, Hungary will have to sort out their plans to qualify for the knockouts, as they are last in the group. 

Germany's captain Ilkay Gundogan celebrating
after scoring goal

Final Results

Croatia     -     Albania

2        -         2

Germany     -      Hungary

2         -         0

Report by Sarthak Khode

Contact- sarthakkhode@gmail.com

Turkey's hard fought victory over Georgia, Portugal scraped a narrow win against Czechs

June 19, 2024 - Finally, matchday one of the Euro 24 comes to an end, with Portugal and Turkey winning their matches. The first match of the day was between debutants Georgia and seasoned Turkey at Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund. Turkey was seen as a clear favorite, but they had to fight very hard against determined Georgians. From the start, Turkey was holding possession very firmly in Georgia's half, and as a result, Mert Müldür braced a beautiful volley after the ball was being deflected from Georgia's defender in the 25th minute. Georgia shifted gears, and as a result, Georges Mikautadze capitalized on the pass by Giorgi Kochorashvili in the 32nd minute. The score-line would have been different as the goal by Turkey's Kenan Yildiz in the 27th minute was disallowed due to offside. During the second half, Turkey created many chances as Georgian defenders left so many spaces, and man marking was also not quite accurate. In the 65th minute, Arda Güler scored a marvelous screamer out of the box and gave a sigh of relief to Turkey fans. At last, the cherry on top was provided by Muhammed Aktürkoğlu during the last minute of the match, as Georgia's keeper Mamardashvili has no chance to save it. Georgia also created many chances, two of them hitting the post, but the overall competition between these two teams was of cream level as both teams were playing top class football, and eventually Turkey won convincingly and is now in the driving seat of Group F, which includes Portugal and the Czech Republic too. Georgia's performance was also commendable, they had shown grit at this level and have the capability for an upset in their next matches.

Turkey Players celebrating with their fans.

The second match of the day was between the two joint-highest scorers of the previous Euro 2020 edition, Portugal's Ronaldo and Czech boy Patrick Schick. Portugal dominated the game as they held 78 % possession and created eight shots on target compared to Czech's only one shot on target, which was converted precisely to a goal by Lukas Provod in the 62nd minute, which gave the Czech Republic a much-wanted lead, but they couldn't hold their lead as an own goal by Robin Hranac in the 69th minute leveled the score. In the second minute of stoppage time, Francisco Conceição scored an easy goal to take three important points from their opening match. The performance by Portugal was not up to par, but at the end, they collected a scratchy win over the Czechs. Roberto Martinez, head coach of Portugal, had to change their tactics as the positioning of Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva was not effective, and the experienced midfield of Turkey can expose their loopholes in the upcoming match. 

Francisco Conceição after his decisive goal.

Final Results

Turkey     Georgia

3     -     1

Portugal     Czech Republic

2      -      1

Report by Sarthak Khode

Contact- sarthakkhode@gmail.com

Romania dominates Ukraine, whereas Slovakia stunned Belgium

June 18, 2024- Matchday one of Euro 2024 has not come with as many surprises as we thought, until today during Group E fixtures. First, between Romania and Ukraine, everybody saw Ukraine as favorites, whereas in the second match of the day at Frankfurt Arena, experts and people were hoping for an easy win for the Red Devils. The coach of the Slovakian team also expressed his views during the press conference, stating that "we will be satisfied with our performance even if we draw the match." But before Slovakia's hard-fought win, there was one more upset for war-torn Ukraine as they were thrashed by Romania, the team with no big names but whose cohesiveness, determination, and hunger for victory guaranteed them top place in Group E after the first matchday. Although the pressing from the Ukrainians was so high that Romania's ball possession was only 28% compared to Ukraine's 72%, the shot accuracy was higher by Tricolorii, thanks to the goals by Nicolae Stanciu, Razvan Marin, and Denis Dragus. 

Romanian player celebrating their victory

Whereas during the second match of the day, the Red Devils were playing without veteran center-back Jan Vertonghen due to fitness issues. From the start, Belgium showed aggressive intent by holding possession and creating chances. But due to miscoordination in Belgium's backline, Ivan Schranz converted the opportunity very well and delivered the ball into the goal during the seventh minute of the game. Many chances were created by Belgium, but the dull finishing touches took the game away from them. Credit should also be given to Slovakia's defense, which was led by experienced Milan Skriniar, who, with his men, marked the personnel accurately and cleared many chances. Belgium's luck was also not with them, as two goals were disallowed due to offside. At last, Slovakia registered their first ever win against Belgium, and they also ended the fifteen-game undefeated streak of the Red Devils, who lost their last match against Morocco during the group stage of the 2022 World Cup. After that disastrous campaign, Domenico Tedesco took over as coach and transformed it into a winning machine, but now that it seems like fuel is empty or very low in their tank, they had to refuel to reach knockouts. 

Ivan Schranz celebrating his goal against Belgium

Final Results

Romania     Ukraine

3     -     0

Belgium     Slovakia

0     -     1

Report by Sarthak Khode

Contact- sarthakkhode@gmail.com