That’s all from me today. Enjoy today’s games.
Before I go, I have to shout out Georgia, my second team, for their brave performance against Turkey yesterday. Despite the 3-1 loss, they had a great deal to celebrate at their first major tournament. You could feel the roar from the crowd once their goal went in and I saw a Georgian journalist cry with happiness. That’s what football is all about.
Someone else who might be missing out on the next group game is Kai Flathmann. Never heard of him? Well, he’s a German fan whose left hand was broken by shot from the Germany striker Niclas Füllkrug during the warmup of the Germany v Scotland game. It’s not just Mbappe who bled for his country.
As for the latest on Kylian Mbappe? Saliba echoed the noises from the French Football Federation on Tuesday, whose president, Philippe Diallo, struck an upbeat tone. Mbappe, who suffered a broken nose against Austria, is expected to miss Friday’s match against the Netherlands but there is optimism he will soon return to action after avoiding surgery. The ideal scenario from here is surely France beat the Netherlands and do not need him against Poland on Tuesday.“When I saw him this morning he was feeling a bit better,” Saliba said.
The Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot, out of contract this month, insisted France can cope without their captain. “I’m not going to hide it, we definitely want him to play but looking at who we have on the bench I think we have what it takes to replace Kylian,” Rabiot said. “We have to count on the group. If he’s not there it’s going to be tougher but I trust all the great players we have on the team.”
To Paderborn, where William Saliba and Adrien Rabiot have been previewing France’s Group D meeting with the Netherlands in Leipzig on Friday evening. Didier Deschamps has been critical of the Arsenal defender – in March he said Saliba “does things I don’t like so much” – but partnered him alongside Dayot Upamecano in Les Bleus’ 1-0 win over Austria on Monday, preferring Saliba to Ibrahima Konate. Saliba played as a left-centre back, Upamecano to his right.
“I wasn’t really expecting it but when you’re called up for Euro 2024 you have to be ready for the team,” Saliba said. “I played the last friendly game before the tournament [a 0-0 draw against Canada] when we finished with a clean sheet. I’ve got a bit more confidence from the previous matches.”
Asked whether he felt he had a point to prove, the 23-year-old replied: “Of course, when I was on loan [at Nice and Marseille] I wanted to come back to Arsenal and show that I can play in this team and it was the same with the national team. I want to start games and prove that the coach can count on me. I will try to do my best when the coach needs me.”
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The Albania fans will be hoping their support can get their team over the line in the 2pm kick off today. Perhaps Turkey are the only team to better the atmosphere from Albania fans in the match against Italy in the BVB Stadion Dortmund.
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Outside of Group A, Albania and Croatia face off in Group B for a chance at redemption after opening game defeats. Croatia’s 3-0 loss against Spain was the most surprising because of their fantastic record in recent tournaments, but Albania will be equally determined to make it out of the group of death after a narrow 2-1 defeat to Italy on Saturday.
A win for Germany will secure their path into the knockout stages while a defeat for Hungary will all but guarantee their exit from the competition.
Hungary will be in for a tough test in their clash with the home nation Germany at 5pm. Nagelsmann’s side are the most efficient in the tournament. They found the net five times from an xG of 2.04 in their match against Scotland. Marco Rossi’s Hungary side only found the net once in their 3-1 loss to Switzerland on Saturday.
The Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham saga continues courtesy of Reuters latest report.
“Jude’s obviously an exceptional talent,” Foden said in a Football Association video. “He’s a leader now, I think he’s turning into a leader. I think our link-up play is good at times and I think it’s improving as well, and can keep getting better. So he’s an exciting talent and I enjoy playing with him.” While some chalked up Sunday’s performance as just a bad game for Foden, it drew criticism from some pundits.
Away from the Euros, there’s been an update in the Premier League manager merry-go-round. It looks like Steve Cooper rather than Graham Potter will take over as Leicester manager after Enzo Maresca’s move to Chelsea.
“Shaw was the only player absent from training at their Blankenhain base on Wednesday, with the remaining 25 taking part ahead of the Group C match. The left-back, who has been out with a hamstring injury since mid-February, instead continued an ‘individualised training programme elsewhere’, according to the Football Association. Shaw was on the bench against Serbia and Southgate has previously said he could be involved against Denmark” PA reports.
Hello from Frankfurt, where England play Denmark in their second match in Group C on Thursday. Gareth Southgate and Kyle Walker are due to speak to the media later but the early news is that Luke Shaw, who’s recovering from a hamstring injury, did not take part in team training this morning. The left-back did an individualised session – and that will raise big concerns over when he will be ready to play again.
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Talking of England…
Looking ahead to the day’s early kick off between Croatia and Albania, the Croatia manager Zlatko Dalic had some fighting talk for the press. “We have won three medals, England won one [more than] 50 years ago but they are a great team, we are not, we are always the dark horse. We are little but we are brave, we will fight and we have the evidence of thousands of Croats in Berlin. We are a nation that is entitled to feel proud and our results show that we are better than our perception.”
Discipline away from the pitch will also be in focus before a match that has been deemed a high security risk. Up to 20,000 Hungary fans are expected to attend and the police presence will extend to more than 2,500 officers. A range of measures will be implemented to keep large groups of opposing supporters separate.
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Germany’s blend clicked to delightful effect against Scotland. Their youngest players, the 21-year-olds Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz, scored fine goals and were given their platform by an experienced base like no other. Given their speed and verve it is a surprise to note that Germany have the highest average age at Euro 2024; it is even more of an eye-opener that, should they lift the trophy in Berlin next month, they will be the oldest European champions in the tournament’s history.
Germany are hoping to continue their bright start to the tournament in their match against Hungary this evening. The German manager Julian Nagelsmann said “the mood in our camp is excellent and the connection between the younger and older players is really good.”
Germany v Scotland set the tone for an exciting run of games at this year’s tournament. It’s also generated some quirky statistics. After Germany’s 5-1 triumph, each of the net six games had as many or fewer goals than the previous game. Does that make sense? The Knowledge probably explains it, and other pub quiz facts, better than I can.
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We might see a start for the Brighton midfielder Billy Gilmour after he was noticeably absent from Scotland’s starting XI in their 5-1 defeat to Germany.
“It is impossible to answer,” Clarke said when asked whether not picking Gilmour from the start felt like an error. “In a 5-1 game where we were never in the game, is one player going to make that amount of difference.
“Maybe by talking about Billy in that context we are just putting too much pressure on him. If he is selected for the next game, let him go into it with a clear head. It is difficult. You can say what you want and I can say that I don’t think it made a difference. You can say: ‘Yes it did make a difference,’ and we will never know.”
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The Scotland fullback Andy Robertson says it’s time for the team to show everyone what they are capable of.
Asked if the Swiss clash is a time for action rather than words, Robertson said: “I could sit and talk all night but it won’t make a difference. It’s easy to talk before or after a game but not so easy to go out and do it. That’s what we need to do, we need action.
The Scotland manager Steve Clarke kept his cards close to his chest in an interview with the BBC last night. “I think maybe it would be better this time not to speak too much and put the action on the pitch and show everyone what we can do … You’ve got to bounce back and show what you’re made of in the next game and that’s what we aim to do … My emotions are fine. I’m just looking forward to the game. I’m looking forward to seeing my players play as well as they can play.”
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Looking forward to today’s games, Scotland need to recover from their 5-1 defeat to Germany to keep their EURO 2024 dream alive.
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The semi-automated offside technology was particularly effective in yesterday’s games. Goals from Kenan Yildiz and Diogo Jota were ruled out expeditiously after players strayed marginally offside in the build up. I’m looking forward to seeing the technology used in the Premier League.
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The Czech Republic manager Ivan Hasek spoke to the press after his side’s defeat. “Obviously we are disappointed to concede a goal this late in the game but we need to keep our heads high. We need to get better because this was not a perfect game for us … We wanted to be much higher on the pitch but they dominated and pushed us very deep in our half. When we got the ball we wanted to go forward and attack but some bad passes made it possible for them to dominate again. Losing the balls was our biggest mistake” Reuters reports.
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Portugal’s last minute substitutes, Pedro and Neto Francisco Conceição, linked up in stoppage time to clinch victory over a tough Czech Republic team.
FRANCISCO CONCEICAO WINS IT FOR PORTUGAL 🤯#Euro2024 #PORCZE pic.twitter.com/iC0CGf6FWj
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 18, 2024
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Player of the match Vitinha spoke to the press after Portugal’s victory. “Fortunately, we equalised and we believed until the end we could turn the match around … We need to do better but this was the first game. Everybody was enthusiastic but sometimes we were a bit hasty” Reuters reports.
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Portugal got off to a winning start in the evening’s other game with a hard fought 2-1 win over Czech Republic. Check out Jonathan Liew’s report from the Leipzig Stadium.
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While everyone is rightly raving about Guler, I think Mert Mulder had the pick of the bunch in yesterday evening’s game. As a fullback, he has no right hitting a ball like that!
Mert Muldur will not hit a better volley in his entire career! 🤩
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 18, 2024
A goal of the tournament contender?!#BBCEuros #Euro2024 #TURGEO pic.twitter.com/5bTegbuaXC
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“Arda has a gift,” Ancelotti said, but it was only seen in glimpses. Now the European Championship may be the introduction everyone else needs too, a chance to enjoy more of Guler, an opportunity for him to announce the arrival he imagined coming sooner.
Arda Guler a.k.a the Turkish Messi broke Cristiano Ronaldo’s record to become the the youngest player to score on their European Championship debut with an absolute peach. Take look at his goal in all its glory.
"The Turkish Messi."
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) June 18, 2024
Arda Guler has arrived 👏#Euro2024 pic.twitter.com/tY5prjqWNg
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In case you missed the game of the tournament yesterday or need a recap, we’ve got you covered with Sid Lowe’s match report from the BVB Stadion Dortmund.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to today’s Euro 2024 live blog!
As each team has only played one game so far, it’s probably too early for a review. But that’s not going to stop me providing you with one anyway.
So far Germany have looked the side to beat, thumping Scotland 5-1, while the other usual suspects, with the exception of Spain in their 3-0 win over Croatia, have made harder work of their opening fixtures. There have been some absolute screamers since last Friday – thank you Nicolae Stanciu. Yet the goals of the tournament came yesterday as Turkey beat Georgia 3-1 in the game of the tournament so far.
If the first round of fixtures are anything to go by, we’re in for a treat today. There are three games: Croatia v Albania at 2pm, Germany v Hungary at 5pm and Scotland v Switzerland at 8pm. Each team will have something to prove with Steve Clarke’s Scotland side especially keen to bounce back from a disappointing first game.
Keep refreshing this page for the latest updates and email me for a chance to have your say.
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