The 1/8 finals of the European Championship ended in Germany football, which resulted in the selection of eight quarter-finalists who continue to fight for the trophy. Sports sums up the results of the first stage of the playoffs, recalling the failure of the Italian champions, the catastrophic bad luck of Cristiano Ronaldo and the salvation of the British, who equalized the score in the match with Slovakia a minute before the end of the match.
Who goes next
- SWITZERLANDcreated the main sensation of the last four days by sending home a disastrous Italian team. In Berlin, the winners of Euro 2020 conceded two unanswered goals and, without doing anything to save them, resigned as champions.
- GERMANYfiddled with the Danes for a long time, but still (despite the “flood” at the stadium) broke the resistance of the bronze medalists of the last championship thanks to goals from Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala (2:0).
- < strong>ENGLANDalmost repeated the fate of Italy: the founders of football managed to miss the Slovaks and were literally a minute away from disaster… Jude Bellingham came to the rescue: the Real Madrid midfielder scored while falling over himself, and in extra time the final score unlucky Harry Kane set the score – 2:1.
- SPAINdefeated Georgia with a score of 4:1, although they suffered against the “crusaders” in the first half. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Georges Mikautadze and goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, who caught courage, did not cope with the undefeated Furia Roja, but are leaving the tournament as triumphants.
- FRANCEmet with Belgium, and this confrontation was rightfully considered the loudest poster of the 1/8 finals. In fact, it turned out to be a rather boring spectacle with a minimal number of hits on target, poor play by Kylian Mbappe and unlucky Romelu Lukaku… And, of course, an own goal at the end of the meeting, which saved the “tri-colors” from extra time.
- PORTUGALsuffered in the match with the Slovenians. The main anti-hero of the match was Ronaldo, who was unable to score from the penalty spot and decide everything before the penalty series. Fortunately for the captain, goalkeeper Diogo Costa lit up the post-match lottery and gave Portugal the quarter-finals (0:0, 3:0 on penalties).
- TO THE NETHERLANDSThe debut of the match against the Romanians, who sensationally came out of the group in first place, was not easy. But then the “orange” turned on at full speed – Cody Gakpo and Donyell Malen (double) sent Ronald Koeman’s team to the quarter finals. The Netherlands have not been there, by the way, since 2008. Who did they play with, remember?
- TURKEY,considered the underdog in the least interesting pair of 1/8 finals, unexpectedly beat the Austrians. Moreover, the favorites conceded in the first minute, and were knocked down in the 59th minute. Merih Demiral scored a double – Austria was able to respond with only one goal scored and a dangerous shot at the end, which was parried by goalkeeper Mert Günok.
All pairs of the 1/4 finals of Euro 2024 July 5 (Friday), 19:00*/Stuttgart
- SPAIN – GERMANY
July 5, 22:00/Hamburg
- PORTUGAL – FRANCE
July 6 (Saturday), 19:00/Düsseldorf
- ENGLAND – SWITZERLAND
July 6, 22:00/Berlin
- NETHERLANDS – TURKEY
* hereinafter – Moscow time.
* * *We've sorted out the results. Let's move on to the most discussed events of the 1/8 finals.
The worst Italy in recent years No one understood what Luciano Spalletti's team played at Euro 2024. However, one thing is clear: after missing out on the Qatari World Cup and hopeless matches against the Spaniards and the Swiss, the Squadra Azzurra will face a big restructuring. Which, however, will be entrusted to the ex-coach of Zenit: the management decided not to fire Spalletti from the national team.
Or maybe Italy simply became a victim of a “statistical” curse, like Spain and Portugal? Indeed, since 2016, when the tournament was expanded to 24 participants (previously there were 16), the current champion invariably flies out in the 1/8 finals. Moreover, losing dry.
Drama Cristiano In the sixth (record) Euro, the Portuguese failed to score in four matches. On Monday, he missed not only free kicks: at the end of the first additional fifteen minutes, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner also missed a penalty, losing the duel to Slovenian goalkeeper Jan Oblak. The failure shocked the captain. He barely held out until the break, and then burst into tears in the arms of his teammates.
But in the penalty shootout, Ronaldo was accurate. Having converted his shot, the star forward clasped his palms in front of him, as if apologizing to the fans for the terrible match.
Ronaldo was saved by the impenetrable goalkeeper Cristiano made a mistake, but in the camp of the Portuguese national team there was a new superhero who did not let Slovenia take advantage of the weakness of the famous “seven”. Diogo Costa came to the fore: in the final minutes of extra time, he parried Benyamin Sheshko's shot after going one-on-one, and in the penalty shootout he simply turned on God mode. Three hits – three successful saves! This has never happened in the history of the Euro.
But it was at the World Cup. At the 2006 World Cup (which also took place in Germany), Ukrainian Alexander Shovkovsky performed miracles.
De Bruyne was offended by the journalist. After the defeat from the French, the captain had to take the rap for the Red Devils. A journalist asked Kevin De Bruyne at the post-match press conference: “How does it feel when your 'golden generation' never made it to the final?” What exactly pissed off the Belgian? De Bruyne called for attention to the “golden generations” of other leading teams and walked away from the media.
The microphones were either “stupid” or “stupid”. A scandal could not be avoided.
Doesn't nature have bad weather? Precipitation ruined Saturday's match between the Germans and the Danes. Chief referee Michael Oliver, with the score 0:0, took the teams into the stands in the 36th minute out of fear for the lives of the players. Rain and hail tested the strength of the arena in Dortmund, and the gloomy sky was pierced by lightning… The television picture, meanwhile, captured fans frolicking under streams of water pouring from the sky (and the roof that could not withstand the pressure).
The match did not have to be rescheduled. The bad weather subsided slightly, allowing the confrontation to resume 23 minutes after the suspension.
Bellingham TimePerhaps We saw the most beautiful goal of Euro 2024 so far on Sunday.
And how important it is! By the 95th minute of the match against Slovakia, England was “burning” 0:1. The ball did not want to fly into the opponent’s goal, the shameful relegation from the championship of the Old World was getting closer… But everyone was saved by the newly crowned Champions League winner Jude Bellingham. In a fall over himself, the young star equalized the score and dashed Slovakia's hopes for a sensation.
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