Euro 2021 Round of 16 Scores: Day 4
England 2, Germany 0 - For a very long time, the Germans always seemed to torment the English in football. The last time that England earned a meaningful win against Germany was back in the World Cup Final in 1966, when England earned their sole major tournament title. Back then, there were still two different German nations, because those were the days of the Iron Curtain.
Since then, the Germans have become a dominant force in international football, winning numerous major tournament titles. England, meanwhile, never seem to go as far as Germany, and always seem to be watching on the sidelines when Germany is competing for some major title. When they have met in head-to-head competition, Germany always seems to get the better of them.
But all of that changed recently, and it culminated with England's incredible win against Germany yesterday in the round of 16 at the Euro tournament.
The game was nodded up in a scoreless tie throughout the first half and well into the second half. But that was when the fireworks started, and the crowd erupted.
It began with a brilliant goal by Raheem Sterling in the 75th minute to give the home team the 1-0 lead, quite late in the game.
Not much later, Germany's Thomas Müller missed in what seemed to be a sure breakaway goal. He fell to his knees, devastated. The star of the 2014 World Cup championship team usually does not miss those kinds of sure things, but he did in this game. Germany never recovered.
Finally, Harry Kane got a beautiful header in the 86th minute, which was effectively the clincher, amidst wild celebrations at Wembley.
England finally knocked off the Germans in a major tournament. This marks the second straight international tournament where the English National Team has gone farther than the German National team, and this time, they outright did it by beating the Germans, and earning it the hard way.
Now, England will take on Ukraine on July 3rd. England, who were semifinalists in the 2018 World Cup, is now considered the favorite to reach the final on their side of the draw, and one of the favorites to win it all.
Ukraine 2, Sweden 1 - I actually watched this game live. And let me tell you, it was one of the most admittedly boring games that I remember seeing. Literally, I was struggling to stay awake, watching both teams play with an overabundance of caution.
It did not start out that way, though. Oleksandr Zinchenko broke through first for Ukraine, scoring a stunning goal in the 27th minute that gave the upstart Ukrainian side the 1-0 lead.
The Swedes remained calm and struck back, however. Emil Forsberg struck back with a tying goal for Sweden in the 43rd minute, and the game was tied at halftime.
That was when the game seemed to slow down, and became dull. It seemed like both teams would just pass the ball, maintaining possession but not trying to create any real scoring chances, content to try and go into extra time. Then, the first extra time seemed like more of the same, and the game felt like it was headed to a shootout.
But then something strange happened. In the 99th minute, Sweden's Marcus Danielson went for a ball but his high kick hit Ukraine's Artem Besedin. His knee seemed to bend in a very disturbing and unnatural way. It was brutal to watch, and earned Danielson a red card. Rarely can I remember seeing a red card that seemed more deserved, frankly.
If there was a turning point, that was it. Both teams had seemed content to play it safe, to not take chances and wait for the shootout. After the first extra time session ended, however, the Ukrainians took a different, more aggressive approach, feeling that they now had a chance to win the game outright with the man advantage.
They had some good opportunities, but it seemed like they just could not convert. Indeed, it still felt like this game was destined for an inevitable shootout.
Then, out of nowhere, seemingly, Artem Dovbyk scored on a tremendous header in the first minute of extra time in the overtime session, virtually guaranteeing Ukraine the win. Indeed, time ran out on the Swedes, and the Ukrainian side earned their first ever win in elimination round in the nation's football history.
What a win! What a dramatic way to win it!
England could potentially make it to the final, and perhaps even win it. I'd say they've looked better in the last few years than they have in some time. Here are my predictions for the quarterfinals: Spain won't make the same mistakes Les Bleus did, and shouldn't have too much difficulty disposing of Switzerland. Italy will deliver what could almost be considered an upset victory over an impressive Belgian team. And England isn't going to let the Ukraine spoil their party. As for Denmark versus the Czech Republic, that's the toughest of the four to predict. The Czechs just ousted the Dutch, which is an impressive feat. But the Danes look poised to make a deep run and overcome their very sluggish start in the wake of the emotional shock surrounding what happened to Christian Eriksen. So I'll say Denmark will eke out a victory. In the semis, I'm going to say Spain over Italy and England over Denmark. Then I think England will shock the world by defeating La Roja at Wembley Stadium. Time will tell how prophetic or laughably inaccurate these predictions turn out to be.
ReplyDeleteActually, I more or less agree with those predictions, although I hope that Belgium actually beats Italy, and even Spain. It would be nice for a small country like that to finally shine as brightly as they are capable of doing.
DeleteYeah, it would be cool to see Les Diables Rouges go all the way, and I wouldn't put it past them. But I don't need to tell you that taking on a talented Italian team hungry for redemption is a very tough assignment. Should be a good game regardless of the outcome.
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