After 13 straight days of Euro group play, fans can finally take a moment to catch their breath. Over 3,240 minutes of soccer were played in the group stage and now it’s time for the Round of 16. Before moving on, it’s worth looking back at the worst Euro teams from the group stage that left us disappointed.
Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne go together in Belgium's attack like peanut butter and jelly coming together to make the most timeless of sandwiches. They've built their impressive careers at separate clubs, but when they come together with Belgium there's little opponents can do to stop them. Having so much success between them, the two obviously had to create a celebratory handshake to go with it.
After three months of bold predictions, shifting power rankings and in-depth sleuthing on who could possibly make the final 18-player USWNT Olympic roster, it’s safe to say that was all a waste of time.
England has finished top of Euro 2020 Group D with a 1-0 victory over the Czech Republic on Tuesday night at Wembley. That result means that the Three Lions will host the Group F runner-up next Tuesday in London. That’ll almost certainly be one of France, Germany or Portugal.
If France beats Portugal and Germany beats Hungary tomorrow, it’s Germany. Can England prevail?
Manchester City has officially started going after last season's Premier League leader in goals and assists, Harry Kane. Even though Tottenham doesn't want to move on from Kane, the 27-year-old has reportedly expressed his wishes to be gone. Man City reportedly sent Spurs an original offer of around $140 million guaranteed with an opportunity to swap players.
With two matchdays already complete, England's footballing template has been executed perfectly so far at Euro 2020.
First: infinite pre-tournament hype, especially in connection to a burgeoning young star — in this case, Phil Foden. Then, earn some decent results in the group stage without looking overly encouraging on the pitch. Finally, get through to the next round, provide some hope, then lose in heartbreaking fashion late in the game or on penalties.
It's a pattern so often repeated that any England fan worth his salt has put it to memory.
On Monday, an unreal 90 minutes unfolded that will be remembered by Danish fans forever. For Denmark to finish second in Euro 2020 Group B, the Danes needed a victory against Russia, Belgium to defeat Finland and some help on goal differential.
Belgium did its part against Finland in St. Petersburg.
La selección nacional de Venezuela llegó a esta Copa América muy herida. Desde semanas atrás, se sabía que no iban a poder contar, por lesión, con sus seis (sí, medio equipo) mejores jugadores para la doble fecha de Eliminatorias al Mundial, previo a la Copa América. Estos jugadores eran Salomón Rondón, Yangel Herrera, Yeferson Soteldo, Yordan Osorio, Darwin Machís y Jhon Murillo.
ESPN’s coverage of Euro 2020 has been good so far. However, it's almost unsettling how much less laughter there is after spending the last few months with Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards on CBS Sports.
Richards is now part of the BBC’s coverage of the tournament (as well as Alex Scott) and providing some excellent viral moments.
MICAH RICHARDS MADE GARY LINEKER SPEECHLESS pic.twitter.com/l0pQF0pr9t
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)