The end of the group stage at a major international tournament is always a bittersweet moment. No longer are we treated to a feast of two-to-four matches per day, but with the knockout rounds beginning you’re left with the best teams going head-to-head in win-or-go-home matches. With that in mind, here are The18’s Euro 2020 Round of 16 predictions for the eight matches we can’t wait to watch.
The European Championship is entering its knockout phase and the following is an overview of the remaining 16 teams:
AUSTRIA
Los goles son goles. Sean de chilena, de cabeza o de rodilla. Cristiano Ronaldo los ha hecho de todas formas, pero por alguna razón hay un grupo de personas que trata de invalidar sus logros porque muchas de esas conquistas han sido de penal. Hasta lo llaman Penaldo.
Obviamente, es una insensatez.
Lo relevante es que mientras sus críticos pierden el tiempo en boberías, Cristiano Ronaldo hoy ante Francia marcó dos goles y consiguió convertirse en el máximo goleador masculino a nivel de selecciones, igualando al iraní Ali Daei, con 109 conquistas.
Wipe the sweat off your palms, Portugal fans, your team survived the group stage.
The rematch of the Euro 2016 final between Portugal and France proved infinitely more entertaining five years later. Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a brace with two kicks from the penalty spot to tie the men’s all-time international scoring record and confirm Portugal’s place in the knockout stages.
Cristiano Ronaldo had never scored against France in six competitions, then came a gift. Well, Danilo Pereira won’t think it was a gift, if he remembers it at all. Pereira was waylaid by keeper Hugo Lloris, setting up the Ronaldo goal vs France from the spot.
Portugal and France traded penalty kicks to go into halftime time tied on Wednesday in Budapest. Ronaldo opened the scoring in the 30th minute, with Karim Benzema equalizing just before halftime. Both also scored in the second half of the 2-2 draw.
El Arena Púskas ha propiciado la atmósfera más efervescente en la fase de grupos de la Euro. Sin restricciones de público, los partidos de Hungría han tenido en las tribunas a 60 mil fans, generando un efecto visual colorido y llamativo. Sin embargo, con el pasar de los días, también ha quedado en evidencia un lado bastante oscuro: la intolerancia de un grupo importante de aficionados.
Alemania se recuperó de su derrota inicial ante Francia, venciendo este sábado a Portugal por 4-2 y manteniendo intactas sus esperanzas de seguir avanzando en la Euro 2020. La gran figura del encuentro fue Robin Gosens, lateral de Atalanta, quien de paso logró perpetrar una dulce venganza personal hacia Cristiano Ronaldo.
This is the Germany we’ve grown to expect. This was not the Germany Portugal wanted to run into at Euro 2020. Robin Gosens — not Cristiano Ronaldo — was the star man in Saturday’s critical Group F clash, setting up two goals and scoring once to help Germany thrash Portugal 4-2 in Munich.
Few in the history of the game have had the desire to score possessed by Cristiano Ronaldo. Unfortunately for the Portugal captain, his defense his currently scoring more than him against Germany.
Ronaldo’s early goal was erased by a pair of own goals as Germany led 2-1 at the half of their enthralling Group F match on Saturday. Germany went on to win 4-2.
Week 1 of 4 of Euro 2020 brought plenty of goal-mouth action, but also some disappointing performances — especially from some tournament favorites.
While we're only just starting the second matchday of the group stage, it is never too early to make some broad and definitive conclusions about the action that has taken place thus far.
Here are the biggest things I noticed from the opening week of the Euros.
The pre-tourney favorites have been underwhelming — except for Italy (and maybe Belgium)