Showing: no poster
First Sunday break of the tournament, with zero meetings scheduled for July 4. The Euro takes a break to better return with the first half, Tuesday July 6 at Wembley Stadium (London). Italy will face Spain for the revenge of the 2012 final, largely won by La Roja (4-0).
Czech Republic-Denmark (1-2) The Danes continue their astonishing journey at Euro 2021. Traumatized after the heart attack of their player Christian Eriksen at the start of the competition, the Scandinavians qualified for the semi-finals of the competition by outclassing the Czechs on Saturday at the Olympic stadium in Baku thanks to goals from Thomas Delaney and Kasper Dolberg in the first half. The awakening of the Narodni tym in the second act will not change anything: Denmark qualifies for the last four of the Euro for the first time since its surprise continental coronation in 1992.
Ukraine-England (0-4) A recital, a master class. The England team, deemed unconvincing until the finals, is asserting itself as a serious contender for the title. After his victory against Germany in the semi-finals, the selection of Gareth Southgate delivered Saturday in Rome a football lesson to the Ukrainians, completely overwhelmed when they returned from the locker room. With a Harry Kane – author of a double on Saturday – again devastating in the opposing surfaces, the Three Lions show the claws before finding Wednesday, in their London den of Wembley, Danes who will be anything but easy prey.
Euro star: Lorenzo Insigne
The eternal hope of transalpine football eventually came to fruition at just 30 years old. The Napoli player has a high level tournament, and is no stranger to the course of Italy, qualified for the last four of the competition. The 1.63m left winger is one of coach Roberto Mancini’s basic men.
The Neapolitan leprechaun scored two goals in the tournament, in the same register. The number 10 set the tone in the opening match with a curled right, to score the third goal against Turkey on June 11 (3-0). He did it again, during the shock of the quarter-finals won on July 2 against Belgium (2-1). Insigne scored Italy’s second goal in a lone left-sided raid. He dropped Tielemans off with an inside hook before wrapping his right foot, to find the top corner of a helpless Thibaut Courtois. ” I have never had so much fun in a team. I have the impression of playing with friends during the holidays ”, he said in the post-match press conference.
Meanwhile… Lewis Hamilton extends until 2023 with Mercedes
The seven-time British world champion extended his contract with Mercedes for two seasons on Saturday, July 2. He is now linked with the German team – which he joined in early 2013 – until 2023. Co-holder of the world title record (7) with Michael Schumacher, Hamilton, 36, is now at least three years old, counting the current one, to become the most sacred driver in F1 history. Maybe this season; Hamilton is second in the standings behind Dutchman Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
In the skylight: the class of Thiago Alcantara
There are sometimes individual gestures whose beauty surpasses the collective performance. The Spaniard Thiago Alcantara proved it to us on Friday, after the penalty shootout won by La Roja at the expense of Switzerland (1-1, tab 1-3). From the final whistle, the Liverpool player did not have the usual reflex to go straight to the goalkeeper who made the decisive save or the last scorer of the session (in this case Oyarzabal) to celebrate the qualification in the last square.
The number 10 preferred to go see the opposing camp, to console Ruben Vargas, in tears after his failed attempt. The Iberian also comforted the Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer, author of an XXL performance with ten saves, including seven in overtime alone. Alcantara is class on and off the pitch.
Corner of the sky (almost) blue: physical preparation at the center of criticism
The elimination of the Blues in the round of 16 against Switzerland has not finished talking. After the quarrels between the relatives of the players and the tensions seen on the lawn in Bucharest, it is now the turn of Didier Deschamps’ staff to find themselves in the eye of the storm.
Based on information from RMC Sport, some players questioned the physical preparation, considered too intense from the start of the competition. Inducted after the 2018 World Cup, physical trainer Cyril Moine should leave his post. Grégory Dupont, present at the victorious Russian World Cup, should make his return to Clairefontaine.
Didier Deschamps and Noël Le Graët must meet at the beginning of the week to draw the contours of the new staff, in view of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Volley catch: fatalistic Kevin De Bruyne
“We had too many problems to be at 100%”
Bad faith or lucid observation of failure? Once again author of a very good match on Friday July 2 against Italy, Kevin De Bruyne returned to the truncated preparation of his team, eliminated in the quarters by Italy (2-1). “We knew it would be a difficult tournament because there were a lot of elements and parameters that played against us. Eden’s wound [Hazard], timothy’s package [Castagne] from the first match, Axel [en manque de rythme]… We had too many problems to be 100%. “
And “KDB” to add to this list of misfortune, he who was uncertain for a long time for this Euro after suffering a double fracture to the nose and the orbit of the left eye in the final of the Champions League with Manchester City. “I was not 100%. I fought (…). We’ll try again next time. But, first, I will first think about fixing myself. “
Covidometer: the Euro, “super-contaminator”?
Despite concerns about contaminations due to the Delta variant, Wembley’s gauge remains at 60,000 spectators in the semi-finals and the final (after being increased from 22,500 in the group stage to 40,000 in the eighth). A decision that worries the WHO. In Finland or Scotland, the Euro has played the role of “super-contaminator”, with income supporters infected in their country. “If we wanted to seed Europe with this Delta variant, we wouldn’t do it any other way”, plagued the epidemiologist Antoine Flahault.
Our selection of articles on Euro 2021