Prague steels itself for England’s fans, Ireland may have a new hero in Aaron Connolly and Scotland are desperate to find goalsIn what looks certain to resemble the world’s most unedifying stag party, an estimated 6,000 England fans will descend on Prague to watch Gareth Southgate’s team take on the Czech Republic. Unsurprisingly designated as a “high risk” fixture, this Friday night game will attract no shortage of thirsty visitors to the Czech capital, hellbent on making a weekend of it in a city renowned for the cheapness of its beer and myriad other nocturnal delights. Scheduled to kick off at 8.45pm local time, when more patriotic fans will have had all day to occupy the city’s Old Town Square,...
Germany v Netherlands should be another belter, Chad make their return and will Brighton’s Mac Allister play for Argentina?Before October 2018, the Netherlands had not kicked a ball in anger against Germany for six years. When the teams walk out for the Group C qualifier in Hamburg, it will be the fourth time the fierce rivals have faced each other in 11 months. Not that neutrals should be complaining. There have been 12 goals in the two Nations League matches and one Euro 2020 qualifier that have been played since – and some scintillating football. Nico Schulz’s 90th-minute strike for Germany sealed a 3-2 victory in a pulsating qualifier at the Johan Cruyff Arena in March that left the Dutch...
Two long nights in Portugal gave me a new-found respect for pitchside reporters and an extra-time craving for a bananaIt’s the 90th minute. Cristiano Ronaldo, on a hat‑trick, cuts inside his man and whacks it in the corner of the net to seal Portgual’s 3-1 win against Switzerland in the Nations League. I am reporting pitchside for the Australian TV network Optus Sport. What an honour, to witness the second greatest player of the modern era shine so brightly in front of his adoring home support.Except I don’t see it. As Ronaldo strikes the ball, I am sprinting down five flights of concrete steps. There is a lot of concrete in Porto’s stadium and I am surrounded by it. A...
Sterling, in his 58th game of the season, and teammates look jaded against Swiss – they should have been on the beachOn a soporific summer’s day in Guimarães one word reverberated in the mind like a mantra. Why? Why were England playing in one of the more pointless matches in international football history, when they should have been on the beach? Why were they also forced to play extra-time in a third-place playoff rather than going straight to penalties? And why – given all that puff and manpower – did Uefa not even deign them with a medal ceremony? Instead England’s bronze medals were given to them in a bag in their changing room afterwards.That tells you a lot about...
The Manchester United forward may have pushed his case ahead of Sterling as a poor Switzerland were beaten 1-0There were times when, at best, this felt like a persuasive argument for all things Nations League. Uefa’s brainchild at least provides a competitive edge at a time of year when international friendlies are prone to drift, while ring-rusty players attempt to summon some rhythm before the glut of second-half replacements disrupts the tempo still further.Gareth Southgate must have surveyed the scene at the interval and, Danny Rose’s energy and the odd flash of incision from Marcus Rashford aside, wondered if this whole exercise had any discernible merit. The realist in him saw it coming, of course. He knew he had picked...