England-Germany history will count for little
European powerhouses set to renew rivalry in last-16 clash • Forsberg fit to boost Sweden vs Ukraine
While all the reminders of past encounters, penalty shoot-outs and “curses” ahead of England’s last-16 meeting with Germany resonate with many, for those who will play at Wembley on Tuesday it is ancient – and largely irrelevant – history.
England has lost to Germany in their last three knockout meetings at major tournaments, in 1990, 1996 and 2010, with the first two coming after penalty shoot-outs in the semifinals being particularly painful.
Gareth Southgate, the England manager, famously missed the crucial spot kick in the Euro 96 loss, but 12 members of his squad were not even born at that time and the oldest member of his squad, Kyle Walker, was only six.
“I don’t really think about the past, whatever has happened has happened – the only thing we can do is be in the present,” said England winger Raheem Sterling, who has scored both of his team’s goals in the tournament so far.
“I don’t really get caught up in the rivalry at all,” he added. “At the end of the day we’re going to play football and the objective is to win and for me it’s to score.”
Full-back Kieran Trippier was a little cheekier in his positive take on a question about the history of the fixture.
“As you look back down the years on games against Germany, the one that stands out to me was when we won 5-1 in Germany itself,” he said.
That game, a World Cup qualifier in 2001, with Michael Owen scoring a hattrick in Munich, proved to be a false dawn and there is a fear among some England followers that the excitement around Southgate’s crop of talented young players may end in similar disappointment.
Certainly, England has yet to sparkle in this tournament. A pair of 1-0 wins over Croatia and the Czech Republic and a draw with Scotland were enough to secure progress but hardly set the pulses racing.
For all the hype around this last-16 encounter, this has not looked like a vintage German team either. The Germans were unimpressive in their opening loss to France and were six minutes from defeat against Hungary and an exit from the tournament in their final group game.
In between, though, was one of the best displays anyone has produced in Euro 2020 – a 4-2 thrashing of defending champion Portugal, a performance that Southgate and his staff will be studying closely.
The England manager has yet to settle on a starting line-up and faces some key decisions about his creative players with Jack Grealish pushing for a start, Phil Foden
hoping for a recall and Mason Mount possibly in contention when he comes out of isolation after coming into contact with Scottish player Billy Gilmour who tested positive for COVID-19.
Germany coach Joachim Loew, who stands down after this tournament, had looked to rejuvenate his squad after its disappointment in the World Cup in 2018, but there is still an experienced core to his team.
The midfield pairing of Ilkay Gundogan, who won the Premier League with Manchester City and Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos will look to dictate the rhythm and tempo with Bayern Munich’s Thomas Mueller operating in front of them.
England has never won a knockout match at the Euros in 90 minutes – four of its games have gone to penalties, with England progressing only once, against Spain at Wembley at Euro 96.
Meanwhile, Sweden’s free-scoring winger Emil Forsberg has declared himself fit and ready to go for Tuesday’s last-16 clash with Ukraine.
Forsberg has netted three times for the rock-solid Swedes, who opened with a scoreless draw against Spain before edging Slovakia 1-0 thanks to Forsberg’s penalty and finishing with a dramatic 3-2 win over Poland in which he scored twice.
Having played in sweltering conditions in Seville, Spain and St. Petersburg, Russia, Forsberg skipped training on Saturday.
“My status is good. I trained fully today, it was more just a precaution yesterday, so there are no problems,” he told a news conference on Sunday.
Starting out on the left wing but often moved inside into a playmaking role, Forsberg’s goals have been key to Sweden’s success, and coach Janne Andersson will face his usual selection headache as he picks two of Alexander Isak, Robin Quaison and Marcus Berg to start up front.
The Swedes will face a fired-up Ukraine side led by Andriy Shevchenko that is receiving a great deal of support from high places after a win over North Macedonia and losses to Netherlands and Austria took them through as the third-place team.
“For the first time in history, the Ukrainian national soccer team has moved past the group stage at the European championship and reached the playoffs! It seems like soccer has repaid us a debt for all the times it
has been unfair to us,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Instagram.
“Our guys have the chance to prove that we’ve just been warming up this whole time. I’m sure the round of 16 will show us the real, great soccer we are all used to. We believe in you! We believe in the team! We believe in Ukraine!” he added.
The winners will face a mouth-watering clash with either England or Germany in the quarterfinals.
Belgium show grit and discipline to beat Portugal at own game
Its back three may have a combined age of 101, but Belgium’s defense stood tall against the attacking might of Portugal as Roberto Martinez’s side proved it has the grit as well as the talent to win the European Championship.
Belgium’s 1-0 win over holder Portugal in Seville, settled by Thorgan Hazard’s firsthalf howitzer, was far from pretty as the night’s big last-16 tie largely failed to live up to its billing.
But as Portugal’s Euro 2016 winning campaign proved, you do not always have to play pulsating soccer to win a major tournament, and Belgium took a major step forward here that stands it in good stead for the rest of the tournament, especially with Italy awaiting in the quarterfinals.
Belgium’s array of attacking talent and run to the 2018 World Cup semifinals put it among the favorites for this Euros although doubters pointed to its aging defense, which looked like being its Achilles heel.
Fears the Belgians could get caught out by a record-hungry Cristiano Ronaldo were heightened when 35-year-old Thomas Vermaelen, who is seeing out an injury-stricken career in Japan, was picked at the heart of the defence along with Toby Alderweireld, 32, and Jan Vertonghen, 34.
But an outstanding team effort meant Belgium kept Portugal at bay, even with Fernando Santos’ side firing 23 shots at goal, the most of any team at the tournament without scoring.
“What you saw today was years of commitment, years of giving everything, and the commitment they have with the Red Devils is incredible,” Martinez said of his back three. “The talent they have makes the duty of defending an art. This game should be shown in the academies of Belgium of how to defend.”
While the game will be remembered for Hazard’s unstoppable thunderbolt, he also worked his socks off in defense when Belgium defended astutely in the second half.
Thorgan’s older brother Eden was also outstanding, taking the pressure off his side with the skill for which he is renowned, although there was concern he had suffered yet another injury when he limped off late in the game, after Kevin de Bruyne had been forced off with an ankle problem.
“We never lost concentration, there were difficult moments, and the way Portugal tried to get the victory until the last minute gives me a lot of satisfaction,” added Martinez. “This is what a winning team needs. We all know the talent and good football we can play, but today we showed all the other elements you have to show. As a coach I couldn’t be prouder.”
Dutch demonstrate they still lag behind the European elite
The Netherlands exited the European Championship on Sunday in a reminder that while it was making progress after years in the doldrums, it is still well off being one of the continent’s top teams.
The Dutch were eliminated in a 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic in the last-16 in Budapest which hinged on the second-half dismissal of center-back Matthijs de Ligt, in stark contrast to previous tournaments where they have been genuine contenders.
But while the calamity of the red card had a major bearing, it was overall a disappointingly limp performance from the Dutch in the searing heat on Sunday.
Only flying full-back Denzel Dumfries – their player of the tournament – upheld his growing reputation but their other stars of the previous three Euro 2020 matches failed to shine when needed most.
Striker Memphis Depay had a distinctly off day and captain Georgino Wijnaldum found himself hurried and out-pressed in the midfield.
For coach Frank de Boer it set off another round of recriminations from pundits, questioning his choices, his substitutions and his future at the helm of the team.
In a country more obsessed than most with the way its national team plays, it provoked a fiery debate and loud outcry, as it had when predecessor Louis van Gaal first dared tinker with Dutch tradition at the 2014 World Cup.
Just as Van Gaal had quelled the fury as the Dutch reached the semifinals in Brazil, so De Boer muted the debate as the Dutch won their three group games, beating Ukraine, Austria and North Macedonia with all the matches hosted in Amsterdam.
They looked to be making strides after having missed out on the last two major tournaments – the last Euros in France in 2016 and the World Cup in Russia three years ago.
But it proved a mirage for success-hungry Dutch supporters, whose side had been in a World Cup final just over a decade ago and whose expectations had been ratcheted up again.
Instead, De Boer will now have to weather a renewed storm of criticism and continued questions over his competence as he ponders whether it is worth seeing if he can qualify the side for next year’s World Cup in Qatar. (Reuters)
On TV: Euro 2020 last-16: England vs Germany (live on Sport 2 at 7 p.m.); Sweden vs Ukraine (live on Sport 2 at 10 p.m.).