And then there was four. Now only Spain, France, England and Netherlands remain.
I choose the right team to go through in all quarter-final fixtures, albeit not necessarily with
the right scoreline.
It’s certainly not going to be one of the historic tournaments that we will remember in years
to come. With the exception of Spain who are firing on all cylinders, every other team has
seemingly grinded out the results without putting in convincing performances. Take France,
for instance, who have made it to the semi-finals having not yet scored from open play.
In knock-out football, anything can happen. Who have we predicted to be in the final on
Sunday in Berlin?
Spain vs France (20:00 BST, 9 July)
Spain have been the most complete side in this Euros.
They’ve scored 11 goals and conceded just two goals in five games so far this tournament.
Spain secured their spot in the last four with a last minute extra-time goal from Mikel
Merino against hosts Germany. The hosts were their toughest opponents they’ve faced so
far and put in a resilient performance in defence; with seven blocked shots and a further
five out of 23 on target.
For this semi-final clash, they will be without defenders Dani Carvajal and Robin Le Normand
who both serve a one match suspension. Spain will also be without Pedri who was forced to
come off early in the first-half against Germany with an injury.
Opponents France continue to be underwhelming this summer. It’s the first time since Euro
2012 that they failed to win their group stage. France fought a tough win against Austria
before drawing with Poland and Netherlands. They beat Belgium courtesy of a deflected
shot from Muriel off Vertonghen in the 85 th minute before defeating Portugal 5-3 on
penalties.
I think this will be a cagey game just like Spain’s quarter-final against Germany but once
again they have enough pedigree up front to get the job done.
Prediction: Spain 1-0 France
Netherlands vs England (20:00 BST, 10 July)
England’s journey has been rather favourable so far, the Netherlands will be a step-up in
opponents but you’d expect that in the last four.
The cogs are turning for England, with performances getting better each game, though for
the sake of England’s population it would be great if this was done inside 90 minutes, not by
extra-time and penalties!
Netherlands have performed in a similar manner to England. Ronald Koeman’s side qualified
for the knock-outs as one of the better third-place sides before winning 3-0 over Romania
and coming from behind to beat Turkey 2-1 last time out.
Cody Gakpo has been a major threat on the left wing so far this tournament and is currently
joint top-scorer with three goals; whilst Xavi Simons and Memphis Depay have also been
creative in front of goal.
Luke Shaw made his first appearance of the tournament off the bench against Switzerland
and instantly added balance on the left hand side. Marc Guehi will be back following a one
match suspension. Both should start on Wednesday night.
This is going to be a tight fixture. Southgate’s defence looks stern but the attackers aren’t
clinical in front of goal up the other end of the pitch, and we have looked vulnerable at
times when opponents are on the counter-attack. Netherlands have looked slow coming out
of defence whilst their midfield has not yet controlled the middle of the park. They can put
pressure on opponents when delivering crosses into the box and have also struck from
distance several times too.
I’m feeling confident England can get another win. If we keep saying it’s coming home, then
one day it might come true!
Prediction: Netherlands 1-2 England
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