Arsenal youngster was everywhere against Czech Republic as Gareth Southgate’s side sealed top spot in Group DA curious thing happened on Tuesday night. England played a European Championship game at Wembley and it was – and I had to look this word up, so apologies if the meaning isn’t quite right – enjoyable. People sang and cheered. The national stadium, so often a theatre of irritations, felt happy and alive. England shuffled diffidently – and not without a few alarms – into the round of 16. And on a night when Jordan Henderson and Harry Maguire made their returns, England’s leader on the field was a 19-year-old from west London with five caps to his name. Related: England beat Czech...
The throttle must be revved and talent expressed by Gareth Southgate, because it is also the way to winThere is an odd, rather overlooked detail about the recent progress of the England football team. Gareth Southgate has picked 10 different full-back combinations for England’s last 11 internationals. Yes, really. Ten!This has been a giddy two-year journey through James-Shaw, Walker-Trippier, Godfrey-Shaw, Alexander-Arnold-Trippier, Walker-Chilwell, Walker-Shaw, James-Chilwell, Walker-Trippier, Trippier-Chilwell, James-Saka, and James-Maitland Niles. It is a tale of faff, vacillation (and unavailability) that has culminated in the baffling gambit of selecting four different full-backs for the opening two group games of Euro 2020. One question presents itself: why? Related: Raheem Sterling shuts out the noise and takes positives from Southgate | David Hytner...
Returning midfielder added A-list class to the tournament’s standout team as they secured top spot against WalesWell, that was tense. Kind of. On a gruelling afternoon in Rome Wales qualified for the last 16 of Euro 2020. Thanks to the vagaries of the format they did so through a shifting fog of almost-drama, a whirl of semi-excitement, as Group A did its best to conjure some genuine final-round tension out of Uefa’s self-own of a 24-team Euros.Not that anyone in red cared. It is now two out of two for Wales: two European Championships and two knockout-stage runs, a wonderful achievement for this high-craft, brilliantly likable generation of players and for the caretaker manager, Robert Page. Related: Matteo Pessina ensures...
A Denmark fan recounts how it all unfolded – and what a country united in support of its team thinks of UefaA week ago Denmark’s Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch during the Euro 2020 game against Finland, having suffered a cardiac arrest. His heart had stopped beating and, according to the Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen, he “was gone”. This is the story about the heroes of Copenhagen and how Eriksen’s life was saved – and what it meant for the nation.5pm GMT, Saturday 12 June – the excitement After a year’s delay because of Covid-19, 13,790 extremely excited Denmark and Finland supporters are in the national team’s stadium, Parken. I am not one of the lucky ones so...
The wing-back has taken a circuitous route to the top but excelled in his side’s crucial Euro 2020 win over Portugal When Robin Gosens was a young man he wanted to be a police officer, just like his grandfather. However, he was told by one regional office that his legs were too different in height to make it so he ended up pursuing plan B instead: a career as a professional footballer.The German police force’s loss has been the Nationalmannschaft’s gain. On Saturday night Gosens was instrumental as Germany rediscovered their form and beat Portugal 4-2 to make an interesting Group F even more interesting. Related: Spain v Poland: Euro 2020 – live! Continue reading...