October 7, 2024

Valley Post

Read Latest News on Sports, Business, Entertainment, Blogs and Opinions from leading columnists.

The three lost items a day

The three lost items a day

The program of matches on the third day of the European Championship 2024 is also rich in a total of three matches. At 16:00 we have the premiere of Group 4 with Poland – Netherlands in Hamburg and then Group 3 takes the baton with matches Slovenia – Denmark and Serbia – England in Stuttgart and Gelsenkirchen respectively.

There is no doubt that Group Four is one of the strongest groups in this year’s tournament, as it consists of two major European powers, such as France and the Netherlands, and two significant teams, such as Poland and Austria.

Poland qualified for its fifth consecutive Euro in the final stage, but was never able to go beyond the quarter-finals, while in the previous tournament it was unable to achieve victory over Slovakia (1-2) and Spain (1-1). And Sweden (2-3).

It is noteworthy that she started her qualifying campaign with Fernando Santos sitting on the bench. After five matches, the Polish Federation replaced the experienced Portuguese coach with Michal Probies, who eventually led Poland to Germany via the UEFA Nations League qualifiers. In the final match in Cardiff, Poland beat Wales 5-4 on penalties, and the hero was goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who saved Dan James’ fifth penalty kick.

Despite a heroic qualification, Euro 2024 does not bode well for Bruegges, with Arkadiusz Milik and Robert Lewandowski struggling with injuries. The former has been ruled out permanently, while the Barcelona star and Poland’s all-time top scorer with 82 goals in 150 games will almost certainly miss the premiership.

See also  Real Madrid 2-0 Atalanta: All the stages, goals and trophy presentation of the European Super Cup

The question mark is who will fill Leyva’s void, between Karol Sviderski (Verona, former PAOK player), Adam Buksa (Antalyaspor) and Krzysztof Piatek (Basaksehir).

The Netherlands also suffered losses, after the exclusion of valuable midfield duo Teon Koopmeineers and Frankie de Jong. However, Ronald Koeman has an abundance of good options in almost every position, with world-class players such as Van Dijk (Liverpool), Ake (Manchester City), Dumfries (Inter Milan), Huckpo (Liverpool) and of course Simons (Leipzig). , and it is only a matter of time before he is transferred to one of the English Premier League teams.

However, the Netherlands are always one of the teams you can count on to go far. Let’s not forget that in the World Cup finals in Qatar, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the world champions, Argentina, on penalties. It must also be taken into account that Koeman has very fond memories of German stadiums, where in 1988 he was part of the Dutch team that won the European Cup. If we add to all of the above the excellent tradition of the Oranei against Poland, in which they are unbeaten in 12 consecutive matches (7-5-0), the Ace is naturally the favourite.

Looks at Cisco

A historic moment for Slovenia, which returns to the Euro finals for the first time in 24 years. Naturally, the matches in Slovenia will also have a strong interest for Panathinaiki, as three Greens players, Adam Cerin, Andrag Sporar and Benjamin Verbeek, have been included in their squad.

The team’s leader, without a doubt, is Atletico Madrid’s goalkeeper, Jan Oblak, while it is very important, primarily for psychological reasons, the return of Josip Ilicic, a versatile player (36 years old), who has previously played for the team. Fiorentina and Atalanta.

On the other hand, Denmark will play in the European Championship finals for the tenth time. In 2021, despite starting the tournament in the worst possible way, with Christian Eriksen’s heart attack and losing to Finland, they managed to reach the semi-finals, eventually losing there to England in extra time.

The 1992 European champions now begin the knockout stages with minimal ambition. After all, we are talking about a team with a certain quality in its roster and players competing in the top 5 European leagues (11 in the English Premier League, 5 in the Bundesliga, and 2 each in La Liga and Serie A).

However, the premiere with Slovenia may hide flaws in Kasper Hollmand’s group. It is also noted that the two teams played in the same qualifying group and obtained exactly the same points (22). Better, then, to avoid the point and ask for a final goal from new Slovenian football star Benjamin Sisko.

Many liken the 21-year-old striker to Haaland, as he also enjoyed great success at Salzburg. This year, of course, he showed his skills in the Bundesliga as well. In his first season in the Leipzig shirt, he proved that he is one of the biggest projects in Europe at the present time, and he even scored in the last seven matches in the German League.

See also  Barcelona 3-4: A stunning turnaround in the turnaround that also defeated... VAR

Football is coming home

The most interesting match on Sunday is definitely Serbia and England. In another tournament, the Three Lions team became the favorite, and everyone is waiting to see how they will perform against the talented and unpredictable Serbia team.

England, previous Euro finalists, have a 10-7-1 record in their last 18 matches in the final stage of the European Championship, penalty proceedings aside. Of course, the bottom line for the English is that they are still searching for their first European title.

With the central slogan “Football is coming home” and with the leading trio of Bellingham (Best Player in the Spanish League), Foden (Best Player in the Premier League), and Kane (Golden Boot) aiming to reach the end of the road again, and that means the final in Berlin.

After all, for Gareth Southgate, who has led his country’s representative group since 2016, this year’s event may be his last chance for something big. As he himself said, if he doesn’t succeed in leading England to the top of Europe, it will be very difficult for him to be on the bench the next day as well.

However,… Serbia Greeks Mladenovic (Panathinaikos), Zivkovic (PAOK), Gassinovic (AIK), and Maksimovic (from Panathinaikos player of the new season) have the character (Tadic, Mitrovic, Vlahovic, Kostic) and the madness of the game. To look competitive and lead the game to the goal/goal.