Like all Danes I feel proud to be represented by a team who have shown vulnerability and togetherness after their traumaI am proud to be Danish. Now more than any time before. To watch the Denmark players act the way they did, to see the way they shouldered responsibility in the heat of the moment after Christian Eriksen’s collapse and to see the way they cared for each other was incredibly admirable. It makes me proud as a Danish person but also as the captain of the women’s team. The whole country feels the same: immensely proud to be represented by these players and this team in this tournament but also in general. In that moment this tournament became bigger...
Offered a chance of redemption following the humiliation of the 2018 World Cup, the team failed to assert themselvesAn empire has fallen not once, but twice. This could have been Germany’s great reprieve, the searing statement that paved them a clear path to the final and a chance to smooth out the scars inflicted by their catastrophe at Russia 2018. Although it bore an altogether different hue to the humiliation at South Korea’s hands in Kazan, it was more painful in a certain sense: the Joachim Löw era fizzled out at an ecstatic Wembley, of all places, and the sight of a chuntering Thomas Müller stomping down the touchline after being substituted showed that ultimately there could be no quick...
Southgate’s men delivered a result to match the euphoric atmosphere of fans experiencing a rare taste of freedomThe fifth rendition of Vindaloo winds to a close. A can of lager is thrown into the air. By the time it lands with a spume of spray in among the thousands of fans congregating in Arena Square, another can has been launched skywards, and then another, and another, and another. Two hours before England play Germany, and Wembley Way is a monsoon of beer, sweat, rain, beer, songs, beer and hope.The mood is euphoric, not sour; festive, not hostile. There is the occasional lyrical tribute to the RAF but by and large the minority of German fans shuffling towards the stadium are...
All the goals Germany have conceded at Euro 2020 have come from diagonal balls into space and Raheem Sterling could be the man to exploit the weakness at Wembley“Gareth Southgate, the whole of England is with you!” Is it, though? As Southgate prepares to send his injury-free, defensively unbreached, quietly purposeful England team into the last-16 tie against Germany on Tuesday night, two things stand out.First, it is hard to recall such a talented, well-set England team approaching a tournament knockout tie so grudgingly praised in their own country. Welcome to England 2021, a place where even the football feels a little seasick right now. Related: Hitting on the counter is the smart option for England to beat Germany |...
A breathless victory over Croatia keeps Spain in the Euro 2020 reckoning but desire for more verticality is shredding nervesLuis Enrique wants Spain to be more vertical, but the problem with verticality is that it can lead to chaos. At least with the sterility of possession there is a sense of control – and against Croatia on Monday night there was none of that. But it may be that a draining win that toyed with the emotions and demanded extraordinary character was a necessary battle in the Luis Enrique revolution.Not that there was much sign of that in the first half, which began in the traditional manner. Pass, pass, pass, miss. Pass, pass, pass, miss. Then a twist: pass, pass,...