And on such nostalgic reverie, we’re wrapping up this liveblog for the day, as red-hot present-day action is about to unfold.
Keep two browsers open, one for Sweden v Poland with Daniel Harris:
And have your other one logged into Slovakia v Spain with Barry Glendenning:
And thanks for your attention, comments and tweets. Enjoy tonight’s games. Bye.
“Recalling your reader’s exotic euro stadia of yesteryear, with air horns blaring, there are two that stick in my mind,” writes Italo Cerullo from deepest Somerset. “Coincidentally – bearing in mind Hungary’s clash with the Germans today – the first was the Nep Stadion, Budapest. Trevor Brooking scored a cracker at the Nep for England against Hungary, one weekday afternoon in 1981. His crisp shot from the edge of the box rose high into the top corner. The ball actually lodged bizarrely between the post and the traditional European-style stanchion of the era. Barry Davies was mightily impressed in commentary. Or was it Mottie?
“The other was the Stadio Comunale, Turin, European Championships 1980. In a depressing harbinger of the decade to come, rowdy England fans on dodgy euro-terracing were mercilessly tear-gassed by the Italian Carabinieri, after Ray Wilkins had equalised with a lovey volley against eventual finalists Belgium. A few days later, Tardelli scored a late cushioned-volley winner for Italy against England at the same ground. The air horns did blare, especially in my Italian household in Hastings.”
This is the stuff:
Orban pulls out of trip to Munich for Euro 2020 match
Please try to rein in your disappointment everyone, Orban’s giving tonight a swerve:
Here’s Munich city hall, flagged up for the occasion:
Updated
A bit of Croatia reaction. The strength of their performance last night against Scotland surprised a few people, I think, given their recent form and pallid opening performances. But last night’s win lifted some pressure on Zlatko Dalic, their manager.
“It will be a lot easier now but we must keep our feet on the ground and avoid getting euphoric after one good match,” Dalic told a media conference at Croatia’s Rovinj camp on Wednesday. “We have to learn from the three group matches because the opening two were poor. We have to forget the good game against the Scots because we don’t want to stop here.
“We have a very strong roster, we haven’t had one like that in a while. But I can’t please everyone. It’s normal that players left out of the first eleven are not thrilled, I’d be disappointed if they were. The substitutes can add energy and change the course of a game at any time. But there are no rifts within the squad, all those rumours are untrue because the players understand that no one is above the team …
“Our confidence has grown now that we have achieved our primary goal of advancing past the group stage. We’ll take it one game at a time now but we believe that we are entitled to think big,” added the 54-year-old coach.”
Croatia could face any of Sweden, Spain, Slovakia or Poland next. And suddenly, you’d fancy them to reach the quarter-finals.
In other international football news, there’s a Mo Salah club v country saga lingering around the Olympics. This in from PA:
Egyptian Football Association president Ahmed Megahed claims Mohamed Salah will push Liverpool to allow him to play in the Olympics despite the club turning down their request for him to be released.
With the forward set to be on duty at the African Nations Cup in January it is understood the club are unwilling to sanction another absence - especially during such a pivotal period in pre-season.
The Olympics in Tokyo run from July 22 until August 7, a week before the start of the Premier League campaign, and Liverpool do not view it as being in their best interests to allow the 29-year-old to attend.
Under FIFA rules clubs are under no obligation to release their players for the Olympics.
Megahed said Salah would make one last appeal to be allowed to join up as one of their three over-age players allowed in the squad.
“I do not want to say that it is impossible for Salah to participate in the Olympics, but it is difficult,” he told Egyptian broadcaster ONTimeSport.
‘Salah agreed to lead the Olympic team during the last camp of the Egyptian team.
“We contacted Liverpool to allow Salah to join the Olympic team, and they said they were waiting for the approval of the technical staff.
“In the end, Liverpool refused the request because they do not want to lose the player at the beginning of the season, as well as next January with the Africa Cup of Nations, which will keep him from participating in the English Premier League matches.
“We spoke with Salah again, and he told us that he will make a new attempt with the technical staff of his team, to resolve the matter, and within the next two days he will find a way.”
Apologies for the change of sport, but things are hotting up on the final day of the World Test Championship final, with India losing quick wickets and New Zealand scenting victory. Follow it here.
Here’s Ewan Murray with a morning-after analysis of Scotland’s defeat, how they were up against it as soon as they messed up the Czech Republic game, desperately need more up front, but shouldn’t be too despondent.
Spurs ‘made dizzying offer’ to Julen Lopetegui:
More news from Daniel Levy’s hapless summer of swiping right. PA is reporting that they went in strong for the Sevilla manager Lopetegui but he was happy enough in Andulusia, for some reason:
Sevilla president Jose Castro says Tottenham made a “dizzying” offer to Julen Lopetegui to become their new head coach, but he is happy at the Spanish club …
In an interview with Spanish radio station Cadena SER, which was published on Sevilla’s official website, Castro said: “Julen rang me and told me. He said he’d received offers he’d not listened to in addition to a dizzying one from Tottenham.
“But he said he doesn’t forget things and that he is very motivated here. We believed and believe in him, giving him a two-year contract extension, and I’m sure he will bring much more to the club.
“You see his ability and leadership every day. Some coaches are more driven by economic factors but Julen is very clear that he is happy here and he even said it would be very difficult to find a better place to work than here.”
Has anyone here had an approach from Spurs yet this summer? Get in touch if so. Am beginning to feel left out.
Continuing our archive footage ransack of previous tournament meetings between today’s combatants, here’s the only previous tournament finals meeting of Poland and Sweden, at the 1974 World Cup in Stuttgart, in the second group stage, that they had then. Poland won 1-0 en route to finishing third in the whole tournament.
“I am sick and tired of watching these boneless ghouls dress themselves in progressive language and symbols while sucking the substance from the very causes they’re supposedly championing,” emails Richard Robinson. “Gay rights isn’t political? Tell that to the thousands who died of AIDS in the early 1980s while Reagan pretended the disease didn’t exist. Tell that to the homosexuals in Nazi concentration camps who were denied liberation in 1945 because being gay was still a crime in Allied eyes. And tell that to Justin Fashanu.”
Thanks John. Just picking over that Uefa statement some more, it would appear that the logic here is that making a pro-equality statement in general is a good and noble thing, but making a pro-equality statement in response to an actual and existing injustice is bad and to be avoided. So, “we oppose bigotry until confronted by concrete examples of it, whereupon we sit on our hands.” Or is there some diplomatic nuance I’m missing here?
Right, handing back for Tom now as the buildup to today’s games continues.
Norwich sign the goalkeeper Angus Gunn from Southampton. He returns to the club where he started his career and spent time on loan from Manchester City. Perhaps in tribute to father Bryan Gunn, he can now grow a ponytail.
Gunn 🤝 Norwich City. It's a family thing!#WelcomeHomeAngus 🏠 pic.twitter.com/i68gKtTrzB
— Norwich City FC (@NorwichCityFC) June 23, 2021
The greatest living Englishman has been speaking.
Lengthy thread from captain Andy Robertson after Scotland exited the Euros.
Where to even start?! I suppose the first thing to do is to say that we are sorry for falling short in the end. We desperately wanted to make even more history but we didn’t quite get there and it hurts. To captain this country and these boys means the world to me and the feeling I’ve had leading them out in a tournament is impossible to describe! What matters now is that we do all that we can to ensure that this is the start of a wonderful journey rather than the end. We want more. We want to qualify for more tournaments and we want to make the people of this magnificent country even prouder!
We will give everything we have to make this a reality. Scotland it’s been a pleasure.
Where to even start?! I suppose the first thing to do is to say that we are sorry for falling short in the end. We desperately wanted to make even more history but we didn’t quite get there and it hurts. pic.twitter.com/Oh9N1FyHuU
— Andy Robertson (@andrewrobertso5) June 23, 2021
Judging by this, Uefa’s continuing head-in-sand approach continues to backfire.
That Uefa text in full.
Today, UEFA is proud to wear the colours of the rainbow. It is a symbol that embodies our core values, promoting everything that we believe in - a more just and egalitarian society, tolerant of everyone, regardless of their background, belief or gender.
Some people have interpreted UEFA’s decision to turn down the city of Munich’s request to illuminate the Munich stadium in rainbow colours for a Euro 2020 match as ‘political’. On the contrary, the request itself was political, linked to the Hungarian football team’s presence in the stadium for this evening’s match with Germany. For UEFA, the rainbow is not a political symbol, but a sign of our firm commitment to a more diverse and inclusive society.
See absolute guff here. An object lesson in how to make things more complicated for yourself by attempting to style it out.
— UEFA (@UEFA) June 23, 2021
Right, I’m off for some lunch and I’ll leave you in the accomplished hands of John Brewin.
And here’s some lunchtime reading in the form of today’s Fiver, on Scotland boogieing no more
Police officer guilty of manslaughter of Dalian Atkinson
Some breaking news: PC Benjamin Monk has been found guilty of the manslaughter of the former Aston Villa and Sheffield Wednesday striker Dalian Atkinson.
Paul Doyle has written about Atkinson’s career here:
You’ll be wanting the latest Golden Boot standings, to settle/start/prolong arguments:
EU: Uefa has 'no excuse' for blocking rainbow protest
The EU has had its say on yesterday’s big story. AP reports this:
European Commission vice-president Margaritis Schinas can’t find “any reasonable excuse” for Uefa to reject host city Munich’s plans to display rainbow colours during a match between Germany and Hungary at the European Championship, he said Wednesday.
Uefa said it understood the city’s intention to send a message to promote diversity and inclusion but stressed that it was “a politically and religiously neutral organization” after it denied the application to have the stadium illuminated in support of LGBT rights.
“Yes, I find it very difficult to understand what Uefa is trying to do by going against this initiative of the Munich city council,” Schinas said during a news conference ahead of Wednesday’s match. “Frankly, I do not find any reasonable excuse for that.”
Schinas said he was even more surprised by the decision since the governing body of European soccer has previously supported campaigns for inclusion and against racism. “They supported all the good causes. And all of a sudden, they make an issue out of this,” he said.
Uefa, which has the final say as tournament organizer, said it had to decline the request from Munich because of its political context — “a message aiming at a decision taken by the Hungarian national parliament.”
Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter’s application to Uefa made clear the city wanted to protest a law passed by Hungarian lawmakers last week that prohibits sharing with minors any content portraying homosexuality or sex reassignment. The law was denounced as anti-LGBT discrimination by human rights groups.
“Watching the France Portugal 1984 clip I am surprised to hear so many trumpets,” writes AozRoon BTL. “Almost vuvuzelalike. And what a great game!”
That was the thing about watching games from abroad back then: stadiums looked distinct, sounded distinct, and much more exotic, of which perpetual air-horning was a key feature. There’s no real sense with Euro 2020’s stadiums that you know where they are. As a stadium nerd and nostalgist, I do slightly miss the days when eastern European grounds, for instance, were great hulking concrete slabs, adorned with huge imposing floodlight pylons.
You want some serious Germany v Hungary nostalgia? Get a load of the magnificent Magyars’ 8-3 win in 1954 then. Hungary scored 17 (seventeen) goals in their first two matches of that tournament.
And here’s West Germany’s revenge in the final:
Another transfer tidbit: Norwich have re-signed the goalkeeper Angus Gunn from Southampton on a four-year deal. Gunn is the son of former Norwich keeper Bryan of course.
Updated
“The odd one out among those Spanish headlines was, of course, Mundo Deportivo with its insouciant preference for Jordi Alba transfer tittle-tattle over the national team’s travails,” writes Charles Antaki. “Not surprising, given its Catalan base, and especially its FC Barcelona boosterism. And if you think that’s a bit partisan, wait till you see the front page of Sport, where you have to use a microscope to find any mention of la selección whatsoever.”
Yep, the relationship between Spain’s domestic football culture and its national team is complicated in places, and fascinating. I seem to recall Phil Ball’s excellent 2001 history, Morbo, being very good on this. Though it was of course written before the national side’s golden age.
Updated
Austria coach: it 'makes no sense' to stage Italy game at Wembley
It was always inevitable that the unwieldy hosting structure of Euro 2020 would spark grievances and complaints, particularly under varying pandemic restrictions and particularly when it came to the knockout stages. Austria’s coach, Franco Foda, wants their tie with Italy switched because of Britain’s quarantine requirements. This from Reuters:
It “makes no sense” for Austria’s clash with Italy in the last 16 of Euro 2020 on Saturday to be held in London as neither side’s fans can fly there, the Alpine nation’s coach said in remarks published on Wednesday, suggesting a change of venue.
The 24-team tournament is being held in various countries across the continent, each with their own coronavirus travel restrictions and social-distancing rules governing how many spectators can attend matches.
Britain, where coronavirus case numbers have been rising because of the spread of the more contagious Delta variant, has a 10-day quarantine requirement for new arrivals, making it all but impossible for fans in Italy and Austria to attend the last 16 match on Saturday.
“As things stand, there will be almost no Austrian fans in the stadium - or Italian ones, either. It makes no sense to me to play in London,” national coach Franco Foda told Austria’s Kleine Zeitung newspaper.
While making the knockout stage is normal for a powerhouse like Italy, it is a first for Austria, who had never even won a match in the Euros until this tournament. Missing their side’s first appearance in the last 16 is therefore particularly upsetting for Austrian supporters.
“We ... strongly advise against travelling to the second-round match against Italy on June 26, 2021 at Wembley!” Austria’s Foreign Ministry warned on its website.
Foda urged tournament organisers UEFA to intervene.
“I hope for the fans’ sake that a solution can be found. One option would be to change the venue. I hope that as many fans as possible can join. That is my heartfelt desire,” he said.
Some domestic news from the women’s game, and more departures from managerless Manchester United: the Scotland forward Jane Ross will leave Manchester United this month upon the expiry of her contract. The 31-year-old joined United in the summer of 2019 following a season with West Ham and made 34 appearances, scoring seven goals. This follows the exit of the striker Jess Sigsworth, whose departure was announced earlier this week.
Some more ‘very positive’ England reaction from the returning Jordan Henderson, from PA:
“It is very positive,” the Liverpool captain told beIN Sports. “We have won the group. Our objective was to qualify, defensively we have looked solid with the clean sheets.
“We would like to have scored more goals, of course, but overall I think we have got to be pleased and look forward to the next round. When you get to the last 16 it is always going to be tough, always going to be a good team. We just need to be focused on ourselves, be ready and go out there and get a good result …
“I’m delighted to be back on the pitch, it has been a while,” he added. “Delighted to be back, delighted to get three points and to win the group.”
The slightly angsty Spanish mood reflected in the front pages:
Today's 🇪🇸⚽ headlines:
— The Spanish Football Podcast (@tsf_podcast) June 23, 2021
🗞️ Marca: "We trust in you"
🗞️ AS: "We have to believe"
🗞️ Mundo Deportivo: "Inter in for Alba"
🗞️ Sport: "It's on the line for La Roja"
More in the #tsfp Morning Paper Review for patrons ⬇️https://t.co/nPh9ycOlkg pic.twitter.com/V6W4c1QCNq
Time to delve BTL and as might be expected there’s the habitual split between those complaining that England are still pretty underwhelming and those complaining about people complaining that England are still pretty underwhelming:
Here’s cavelier5:
I know you should never gauge the mood of the nation using Twitter or BTL here but lordy the amount of people moaning about England is exhausting.
We’ve got through the group with the minimum of fuss, not conceded a goal, seem to have an actual viable plan of how we want to play and all with a very young squad. Of course there are some issues but that’s true for pretty much everyone in the group stages (aside from Italy it seems).
That doesn’t mean we’re going to beat which ever of France, Germany or Portugal we get in the last 16, but some have us beaten before we even consider it. All of those would really rather not have to play England at Wembley quite yet either.
I think I’m broadly in agreement with this, for what it’s worth. England have played better in this tournament than Russia 2018 for my money – they certainly didn’t beat anyone better than the two teams they’ve already beaten this year.
Updated
Our man in Bavaria, Nick Ames, seems quite taken with the mood in Munich, with Germany’s stunning improvement against Portugal putting springs in steps ahead of the match with Hungary:
And here’s a front page:
Munich paper Abendzeitung with this front page on their sport section tomorrow. A rainbow pepper and a grumpy Viktor Orban. “Stay hot, guys!” the best translation I think. 🤣 https://t.co/dKkUYhrTBH
— Archie Rhind-Tutt (@archiert1) June 22, 2021
I’ve been rightly chided for forgetting that Italy, too, haven’t conceded a goal in, like, several decades. Perhaps I’m half-living in a parallel universe in which Gareth Bale buried that second-half volley.
Talking of Wales, our own Elis James sparked an entertaining Twitter thread yesterday on his country’s new and unfamiliar status going into their match against Denmark:
Wales v Denmark in Amsterdam on Saturday. I can’t believe we’re now globally recognised as the bad guys
— Elis James (@elisjames) June 21, 2021
If there’s one country that can match England for inward-focused angst and recrimination and general nagging dissatisfaction, it’s Spain. And there’s been plenty of that on the back of two maddening draws in Group E. Luis Enrique, their manager, has compared his team to a bottle of Cava. By that, he doesn’t mean something you indulge in too quickly at the start of the evening necessitating an early, groggy exit a couple of hours later, but this: “I have the feeling that this is like a bottle of cava that is about to be uncorked. As soon as we do take that cork out, as soon as we produce a complete performance and get the kind of win that gives us confidence, our best version will come out.” Sid Lowe has more here:
Is Kieran Trippier the ultimate one-international-goal wonder? Want to know more about non-league representation at tournaments? Well, The Knowledge has dropped to put your fevered minds at rest.
Let’s talk Poland v Sweden then, and Poland’s mood is much improved after their fine draw with Spain, but Sweden are the only side other than England not to have conceded yet. Marcus Christenson and Maciej Slominski preview it here:
Luuk de Jong has left the Netherlands squad due to a knee injury, with it being reported this was caused by a collision with Cody Gapko in training. The striker had made two substitute appearances in a total of 10 minutes playing time during the group stage for Frank de Boer’s team.
Luuk de Jong will leave our camp because of a knee injury.
— OnsOranje (@OnsOranje) June 23, 2021
Get well soon, @LuukdeJong9! 🧡
📝🇳🇱 https://t.co/Dq7ozH8wYf.
Looking ahead to this evening, it’s going to be a tough call what games to watch tonight, but few fixtures stir Euros memories like France v Portugal. And here’s Andy Hunter’s big-match preview:
Let’s have a blast of this classic to get us in the mood, back in dim and distant 1984, an era in which TV companies wouldn’t even bother to show every game live in a tournament if no British teams were involved, and in which Michel Platini was still considered one of the game’s forces for good.
There was also the 2000 semi, more famous for Abel Xavier’s meltdown, but another night of drama in what is still the best Euros of them all.
Some reaction from last night. Gareth Southgate reckons England are still improving and look difficult to play against (indeed, the last time England got through a group stage without conceding was 1966):
Jonathan Liew trills over Bukayo Saka:
Barney Ronay is bewitched by Jack Grealish:
Louise Taylor on Modric’s enduring magnificence and Croatia’s raging against the dying of the light:
And Ewan Murray’s report from Hampden:
Preamble
Morning everyone. And the England fans among you should be feeling a little perkier after last night’s first half against the Czech Republic, which was enough to produce the goal and win that put Gareth Southgate’s side through as group winners. Not least because a goal that involved Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish, Harry Kane and Raheem Sterling should strike several of the nation’s sweet spots at once. Saka, who plays with the flair and enterprise of a teenager and the intelligence of a 35-year-old, was a particular star, while Grealish also strutted some of the stuff that was being constantly invoked last week.
Then it all got a bit boring and we flicked over to see Scotland and, ah well. Croatia decided to properly shake off their lethargy for the first time this tournament and Steve Clarke’s men had no answer. They at least scored a fine goal, presaging a cracking little spell towards the end of the first half but it wasn’t enough. And, 23 years on from the last one, they can file this latest group-stage exit with all the others (perhaps just behind 82 and 92 and just above 78), though they played a good deal better in 2021 than in 98.
Anyway, we’ve little time to dwell and ponder when the two most intriguing groups of the tournament wrap up today, with every position in them up for grabs. Sweden, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, France, Portugal, Germany and Hungary each have it all to play for. Can’t wait, to be honest.
Anyway, stuff your ears with the latest Euro 2020 Daily and we’ll get down to business.
