IIHF World Championship: Kirk holds key to Team GB survival bid

LIAM KIRK will be the man to watch as Team GB attempt to survive at the top level in the ice hockey World Championship - again.

Held in Czech Republic until 26 May, Great Britain skaters will compete against the best teams in the world for the fourth time in five years.

That in itself is a remarkable feat considering Team GB had languished in the lower divisions for exactly a quarter of a century between 1994 and 2019.

The first breakthrough in this new era actually came in 2017 before Kirk had made his debut back when Britain beat Croatia (4-2), Estonia (5-1), Lithuania (5-2), Netherlands (14-0), and Japan (4-0) to gain promotion from the third tier.

One year later, like London buses, a second successive gold medal arrived after victories against Slovenia (3-1), Poland (5-3) and Italy (4-3) set up a tie on the last night against hosts Hungary, from which Britain needed to force overtime for at least a point.

Trailing 3-2 with 15 seconds of regular time remaining, Robert Farmer scrambled in an equaliser - and, for good measure, GB then won the shootout after a goalless period of overtime.

In 2019, Team GB at times endured a tough baptism of fire in the top division in Slovakia, suffering notable thrashings against the hosts (1-7), Canada (0-8) and Denmark (0-9).

But France were also without a win ahead of what became a decider in the final round of preliminary fixtures.

A tight opening period was shaded by Team GB. In the second period, though, the tie shifted decidedly in favour of the French as, devastatingly, they scored three times in four minutes and one second of play.

Two of the goals came just six seconds apart - and a previously even game had taken on a very uneven score.

Yet, remarkably, the British team kept their nerve, and began to dominate. First, Robert Dowd finished neatly from a pass by Ben O'Connor - then, three minutes later, Hammond reduced the lead down to one after O'Connor's shot had been parried.

By then, the momentum switch was obvious - and, with 14 minutes still to go, Farmer found another vital goal in his locker.

Neither team could find a winner in regulation time - but, in overtime, skipper Jonathan Phillips held off some close attention down the left and found Ben Davies in front of the net.

Davies made no mistake - and Team GB were going to Switzerland in 2020 - or so they thought.

Instead, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived putting the whole planet, and not just the ice hockey world, on hold.

The effects were still being felt in 2021, of course - and GB were able to play in the World Championship without fear of being relegated with all of the lower divisions cancelled.

As a matter of fact, though, Britain would have stayed up in any case with their 4-3 win over Belarus - and they had improved notably on their 2019 performance, scoring more goals and conceding far fewer.

In particular, Kirk starred throughout, scoring seven goals which, along with his two assists, led to him being named among the tournament all-star players.

However, the spectre of relegation returned in 2022 - and Britain entered the Championship with a forward line truly ravaged by injury.

Kirk, Hammond and Ollie Betteridge were all ruled out - so it was no surprise that Britain could not stand the heat as they slumped to the bottom of the overall top division standings following seven defeats out of seven,  six of them coming in regular time.

Nevertheless, Pete Russell's men refused to feel too sorry for themselves - and, had the advantage of home ice for the Division 1A campaign at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham in spring last year.

There, they regained their seat at the very top table by beating South Korea (4-0), Poland (5-4 in overtime), Lithuania (3-0), Romania (7-0), and - in a decider - Italy (5-3).

Mere survival again is the order of the day this time then - and frankly those hopes will be placed heavily upon the talented young shoulders of Kirk.

The 24-year-old left wing forward from Maltby in North Yorkshire became the first player born and trained in England to be selected by an NHL team when he was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in 2018.

Having most recently plied his trade at HC Litvinov on the Czech-German border in the Czech Extraliga, Kirk should feel somewhat at home in Prague. 

Meanwhile, he will be supported in attack by the likes of Cade Neilson, Dowd, Davies, Betteridge and Brett Perlini.

In defence, Team GB strongly favours experience with Mark Richardson, David Phillips, Evan Mosey and O'Connor all well beyond the age of 30.

And if they lack the legs to see out a shift, head coach Russell will need his goalkeepers, first-choice Ben Bowns and back-up Jackson Whistle, to perform at the top of their game - even in the more winnable matches against 12th-ranked Norway and 16th-ranked Austria. 

So, this tournament is expected to be an uphill struggle as ever. Additionally, Britain's form heading into the main event could have been better.

Back-to-back wins over Poland were tarnished by the concession of late goals in both matches, the second of which forced GB to penalty shots - while the latest international against Kazakhstan ended in a 5-2 defeat.

Britain also face a hideous start with ties against the top two in the world rankings - Canada and Finland - on the first weekend.

Russell must hope the confidence of his squad is not too damaged by their opening foray ahead of matches against Switzerland, Denmark and Czech Republic - and the vital last two of the preliminary stage against Norway and Austria.

Nevertheless, squad togetherness has been a feature throughout Russell's 10-year tenure in charge - and that, along with Kirk obvious sparkling quality, might just be enough for Great Britain to get over the line once more.

TEAM GB SQUAD
Head coach Pete Russell
Netminders Ben Bowns (Cardiff Devils) - Lucas Brine (Dundee Stars) - Jackson Whistle (Belfast Giants)
Defence Josh Batch (Cardiff Devils) - Nathanael Halbert (HC Innsbruck) - Sam Jones (Sheffield Steelers) - Evan Mosey (Cardiff Devils) - Ben O'Connor (Guildford Flames) - David Phillips (Belfast Giants) - Mark Richardson (Cardiff Devils) - Sam Ruopp (Lausitzer Fuechse) - Josh Tetlow (Nottingham Panthers)
Forwards Ollie Betteridge (Nottingham Panthers) - Cam Critchlow (Manchester Storm) - Johnny Curran (Coventry Blaze) - Ben Davies (Cardiff Devils) - Robert Dowd (c) (Sheffield Steelers) - Sam Duggan (Cardiff Devils) - Liam Kirk (HC Litvinov) - Robert Lachowicz (Glasgow Clan) - Ben Lake (Belfast Giants) - Cade Neilson (Alaska Nanooks) - Sean Norris (Belfast Giants) - Brett Perlini (Saale Bulls) - Cole Shudra (Sheffield Steelers)

TEAM GB FIXTURES AND RESULTS

			Score	Periods	Team GB goals	Team GB assists
Sat 11-May	11:20	CANADA	L2-4	(1-1, 0-3, 1-0)	Kirk (PP) O'Connor	Mosey, Lake Kirk, Betteridge
Sun 12-May	11:20	FINLAND	L0-8	(0-1, 0-5, 0-2)
Wed 15-May	19:20	SWITZERLAND	L0-3	(0-2, 0-1, 0-0)
Fri 17-May	15:20	DENMARK	L3-4	(2-2, 1-1, 0-1)	Kirk Neilson Halbert	Curran, Ruopp Mosey, Lake Lachowicz, Perlini
Sat 18-May	19:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	L1-4	(0-2, 1-2, 0-0)	Mosey (PP)	Kirk, O'Connor
Mon 20-May	15:20	NORWAY	L2-5	(0-3, 1-1, 1-1)	Perlini Betteridge	Dowd, O'Connor Lake, Mosey
Tue 21-May	11:20	AUSTRIA	W4-2	(0-0, 1-1, 3-1)	O'Connor (PP) Perlini (PP) Mosey Dowd	Lake Dowd, O'Connor Duggan, Tetlow Perlini

TEAM GB PLAYER POINTS
2+3 Evan Mosey
2+3 Ben O'Connor
2+2 Liam Kirk
2+2 Brett Perlini

1+2 Robert Dowd

1+1 Ollie Betteridge

1+0 Nathanael Halbert
1+0 Cade Neilson
0+4 Ben Lake
0+1 Johnny Curran
0+1 Sam Duggan

0+1 Robert Lachowicz
0+1 Sam Ruopp

0+1 Josh Tetlow

TOURNAMENT FIXTURES AND RESULTS

Date	Time	GROUP A		O2 Arena, Prague	Periods
10-May	15:20	SWITZERLAND	5-2	NORWAY	(1-1, 3-0, 1-1)
10-May	19:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	1-0 GWS	FINLAND	(0-0, 0-0, 0-0, 0-0 OT)
11-May	11:20	GREAT BRITAIN	2-4	CANADA	(1-1, 0-3, 1-0)
11-May	15:20	AUSTRIA	1-5	DENMARK	(1-2, 0-1, 0-2)
11-May	19:20	NORWAY	3-6	CZECH REPUBLIC	(3-2, 0-1, 0-3)
12-May	11:20	FINLAND	8-0	GREAT BRITAIN	(1-0, 5-0, 2-0)
12-May	15:20	DENMARK	1-5	CANADA	(0-2, 1-0, 0-3)
12-May	19:20	AUSTRIA	5-6	SWITZERLAND	(2-1, 2-3, 1-2)
13-May	15:20	NORWAY	1-4	FINLAND	(0-2, 1-2, 0-0)
13-May	19:20	SWITZERLAND	2-1 GWS	CZECH REPUBLIC	(1-0, 0-1, 0-0, 0-0 OT)
14-May	15:20	DENMARK	0-2	NORWAY	(0-0, 0-1, 0-1)
14-May	19:20	CANADA	7-6 OT	AUSTRIA	(3-1, 3-0, 0-5, 1-0 OT)
15-May	15:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	7-4	DENMARK	(1-1, 2-1, 4-2)
15-May	19:20	SWITZERLAND	3-0	GREAT BRITAIN	(2-0, 1-0, 0-0)
16-May	15:20	FINLAND	2-3	AUSTRIA	(2-0, 0-1, 0-2)
16-May	19:20	CANADA	4-1	NORWAY	(1-0, 1-0, 2-1)
17-May	15:20	GREAT BRITAIN	3-4	DENMARK	(2-2, 1-1, 0-1)
17-May	19:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	4-0	AUSTRIA	(1-0, 2-0, 1-0)
18-May	11:20	DENMARK	0-8	SWITZERLAND	(0-2, 0-3, 0-3)
18-May	15:20	CANADA	5-3	FINLAND	(2-2, 1-1, 2-0)
18-May	19:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	4-1	GREAT BRITAIN	(2-0, 2-1, 0-0)
19-May	15:20	NORWAY	1-4	AUSTRIA	(0-0, 0-3, 1-1)
19-May	19:20	SWITZERLAND	2-3	CANADA	(1-1, 1-2, 0-0)
20-May	15:20	GREAT BRITAIN	2-5	NORWAY	(0-3, 1-1, 1-1)
20-May	19:20	FINLAND	3-1	DENMARK	(0-0, 0-0, 3-1)
21-May	11:20	AUSTRIA	2-4	GREAT BRITAIN	(0-0, 1-1, 1-3)
21-May	15:20	CANADA	4-3 OT	CZECH REPUBLIC	(0-0, 0-0, 3-3, 1-0 OT)
21-May	19:20	FINLAND	1-3	SWITZERLAND	(0-0, 1-2, 0-1)

Date	Time	GROUP B		Ostravar Arena, Ostrava	Periods
10-May	15:20	SLOVAKIA	4-6	GERMANY	(0-0, 2-3, 2-3)
10-May	19:20	SWEDEN	5-2	UNITED STATES	(1-0, 2-1, 2-1)
11-May	11:20	FRANCE	1-3	KAZAKHSTAN	(1-2, 0-1, 0-0)
11-May	15:20	POLAND	4-5 OT	LATVIA	(1-0, 1-1, 2-3, 0-1 OT)
11-May	19:20	UNITED STATES	6-1	GERMANY	(2-0, 2-1, 2-0)
12-May	11:20	SLOVAKIA	6-2	KAZAKHSTAN	(3-0, 1-1, 2-1)
12-May	15:20	LATVIA	3-2 OT	FRANCE	(0-1, 0-0, 2-1, 1-0 OT)
12-May	19:20	SWEDEN	5-1	POLAND	(2-0, 1-0, 2-1)
13-May	15:20	UNITED STATES	4-5 OT	SLOVAKIA	(0-2, 1-2, 3-0, 0-1 OT)
13-May	19:20	GERMANY	1-6	SWEDEN	(0-3, 0-2, 1-1)
14-May	15:20	KAZAKHSTAN	0-2	LATVIA	(0-0, 0-2, 0-0)
14-May	19:20	POLAND	2-4	FRANCE	(0-2, 2-2, 0-0)
15-May	15:20	GERMANY	8-1	LATVIA	(2-0, 5-1, 1-0)
15-May	19:20	SLOVAKIA	4-0	POLAND	(2-0, 0-0, 2-0)
16-May	15:20	KAZAKHSTAN	1-3	SWEDEN	(0-1, 0-1, 1-1)
16-May	19:20	UNITED STATES	5-0	FRANCE	(4-0, 0-0, 1-0)
17-May	15:20	GERMANY	8-2	KAZAKHSTAN	(2-1, 3-0, 3-1)
17-May	19:20	POLAND	1-4	UNITED STATES	(0-0, 0-2, 1-2)
18-May	11:20	LATVIA	2-7	SWEDEN	(0-2, 2-4, 0-1)
18-May	15:20	GERMANY	4-2	POLAND	(0-0, 2-0, 2-2)
18-May	19:20	FRANCE	2-4	SLOVAKIA	(0-1, 1-2, 1-1)
19-May	15:20	UNITED STATES	10-1	KAZAKHSTAN	(4-0, 3-0, 3-1)
19-May	19:20	SLOVAKIA	2-3 GWS	LATVIA	(0-1, 0-0, 2-1, 0-0 OT)
20-May	15:20	SWEDEN	3-1	FRANCE	(0-0, 1-1, 2-0)
20-May	19:20	KAZAKHSTAN	3-1	POLAND	(1-1, 0-0, 2-0)
21-May	11:20	FRANCE	3-6	GERMANY	(1-1, 2-3, 0-2)
21-May	15:20	LATVIA	3-6	UNITED STATES	(0-2, 1-1, 2-3)
21-May	19:20	SWEDEN	6-1	SLOVAKIA	(1-0, 3-0, 2-1)

Team GB lose place at ice hockey top table

GREAT BRITAIN collapsed from 3-1 up two days in a row earlier this week to suffer a painful relegation from the top flight of the ice hockey World Championships.

Team GB were beaten 5-3 by Austria on Monday, only just over 24 hours after a 4-3 defeat to Latvia at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland.

Those defeats left Pete Russell's men on just one point from seven games, well short of the safety mark in Group B - but it could have been all so different if the build-up to the tournament had not been quite as disrupted by injury as it was.

Shorn of the brightest British hockey star of his generation, Liam Kirk, the team suffered further blows to the offence with the loss of Mike Hammond and Ollie Betteridge.

At least Team GB could call upon the vast experience provided by captain Jonathan Phillips who picked up a new national record by winning his 111th cap in the match against Austria.

But the lack of firepower was clearly in evidence in four warm-up matches, two each against Denmark and Italy, which finished with four defeats and an aggregate score of 1-16.

Nevertheless, in the finals themselves, Team GB acquitted themselves generally well -  and were shut out only by Sweden (0-6), hosts Finland (0-6), and the United States (0-3), the latter of which was a competitive battle.

In total, Team GB found the back of the net on 10 occasions in the four other matches, scoring one more goal than in the 2019 World Championship when Britain beat France in overtime to survive in their first season back in the top flight for 25 years.

This time, though, it was not to be - despite a stunning recovery from 3-0 down in the third period against Norway in their second game.

A trio of quickfire goals from Robert Dowd, Brett Perlini and Mark Richardson forced an unlikely period of overtime - but, while there was no further scoring in the additional five minutes, it was the Norwegians who prevailed on penalty shots for the extra point.

At the time, it still looked like a good point - but results elsewhere in Group B conspired against Team GB with Austria forcing overtime against the United States then causing a shock by beating the Czech Republic on penalty shots.

Meanwhile, Latvia beat Norway in a regulation time victory for three points - and the points from the match between the Latvians and the Austrians were split 2-1 in favour of the former after another match which went all the way.

As largely expected then, the Team GB campaign would be decided by their last two matches with Latvia (5) and Austria (4), well clear of Russell's side on a single point.

Britain looked set to close the gap on the teams above them when Lewis Hook restored a two-goal lead at 3-1 within seconds of Oskars Batna pulling one back for Latvia.

Those goals followed an opening period which was dominated by Britain and rewarded on the scoreboard with a goal from Perlini and a maiden senior international strike for Cade Neilson.

By the end of the second period, Latvia were back in it at 3-2 after scoring on the powerplay - and Britain critically failed to stay out of the penalty box in the third as the Latvians completed the turnaround with two further powerplay goals.

At least, at that point, Austria remained within reach - and any win in regulation time was enough for Team GB to survive again at the elite level on head-to-head

In a carbon copy of the Latvia game, things looked good again early on as Matt Myers and Dowd deservedly put Britain 2-0 up, and Neilson produced a quick response to an Austrian goal for a 3-1 scoreline.

The main difference this time was that, by the time Neilson scored, the match was in the third period and had less than 14 minutes left.

Nevertheless, that was still more than enough time for an Austria team who did not panic in the knowledge that a tie at the end of 60 minutes would be enough for them.

The Austrians quickly got back on level terms through Dominique Heinrich and Benjamin Nissner as Britain were overwhelmed - then went ahead for the first time through Thomas Raffl to leave Britain needing two.

Unsurprisingly, Team GB pulled the goalie - but that merely allowed Peter Schneider to slide the puck into an empty net from the very next attack.

That fifth Austrian goal arrived with an undoubtable thud of finality - the new boys had secured safety and Great Britain were going down.

Of course, right now, there is much about the future which remains uncertain.

The expulsion of Belarus and Russia from the Championships this year following the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine has left questions over the future structure of the promotion and relegation places between the top flight and the second-tier Division 1A.

Russia - if ever welcomed back into the international fold - almost certainly would be placed straight back into the Top Division with Belarus likely to go to Division 1A following their bottom-placed finish in 2021.

This year, though, there were still two promotion spots up for grabs with Hungary and Slovenia replacing Britain and Italy who were relegated after they also took just one point in Group A.

In some heartening news this week, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) announced Great Britain as the host of Division 1A in 2023 with the matches set to be played on home ice at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham. 

Therefore, Team GB already stand an excellent good chance of ensuring that this memorable spell among the elite merely ended on a semi-colon - and not a full-stop.

GROUP A	W	W-OT	L-OT	L	F	A	Pts
(Q) SWITZERLAND	6	1	0	0	34	15	20
(Q) GERMANY	5	0	1	1	26	20	16
(Q) CANADA	5	0	0	2	34	18	15
(Q) SLOVAKIA	4	0	0	3	23	19	12
DENMARK	4	0	0	3	18	18	12
FRANCE	1	1	0	5	11	24	5
KAZAKHSTAN	1	0	0	6	19	31	3
(R) ITALY	0	0	1	6	12	32	1

• All matches at the Helsinki Ice Hall in Helsinki, Finland

13-May	14:20	FRANCE	2-4	SLOVAKIA
13-May	18:20	GERMANY	3-5	CANADA
14-May	10:20	DENMARK	9-1	KAZAKHSTAN
14-May	14:20	SWITZERLAND	5-2	ITALY
14-May	18:20	SLOVAKIA	1-2	GERMANY
15-May	10:20	ITALY	1-6	CANADA
15-May	14:20	FRANCE	2-1	KAZAKHSTAN
15-May	18:20	DENMARK	0-6	SWITZERLAND
16-May	14:20	SLOVAKIA	1-5	CANADA
16-May	18:20	FRANCE	2-3	GERMANY
17-May	14:20	ITALY	1-2	DENMARK
17-May	18:20	SWITZERLAND	3-2	KAZAKHSTAN
18-May	14:20	FRANCE	2-1	ITALY	OT
18-May	18:20	SWITZERLAND	5-3	SLOVAKIA
19-May	16:00	GERMANY	1-0	DENMARK
19-May	19:30	CANADA	6-3	KAZAKHSTAN
20-May	14:20	GERMANY	9-4	ITALY
20-May	18:20	KAZAKHSTAN	3-4	SLOVAKIA
21-May	10:20	DENMARK	3-0	FRANCE
21-May	14:20	CANADA	3-6	SWITZERLAND
21-May	18:20	ITALY	1-3	SLOVAKIA
22-May	14:20	KAZAKHSTAN	4-5	GERMANY
22-May	18:20	SWITZERLAND	5-2	FRANCE
23-May	14:20	KAZAKHSTAN	5-2	ITALY
23-May	18:20	CANADA	2-3	DENMARK
24-May	10:20	GERMANY	3-4	SWITZERLAND	GWS
24-May	14:20	SLOVAKIA	7-1	DENMARK
24-May	18:20	CANADA	7-1	FRANCE

GROUP B	W	W-OT	L-OT	L	F	A	Pts
(Q) FINLAND	6	0	1	0	25	5	19
(Q) SWEDEN	5	1	1	0	27	10	18
(Q) CZECH REPUBLIC	4	0	1	2	19	13	13
(Q) UNITED STATES	3	2	0	2	18	12	13
LATVIA	2	1	0	4	14	20	8
AUSTRIA	1	1	2	3	16	22	7
NORWAY	1	1	0	5	15	29	5
(R) GREAT BRITAIN	0	0	1	6	10	33	1

• All matches at the Nokia Arena in Tampere, Finland

13-May	14:20	UNITED STATES	4-1	LATVIA
13-May	18:20	FINLAND	5-0	NORWAY
14-May	10:20	SWEDEN	3-1	AUSTRIA
14-May	14:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	5-1	GREAT BRITAIN
14-May	18:20	LATVIA	1-2	FINLAND
15-May	10:20	NORWAY	4-3	GREAT BRITAIN	GWS
15-May	14:20	AUSTRIA	2-3	UNITED STATES	OT
15-May	18:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	3-5	SWEDEN
16-May	14:20	LATVIA	3-2	NORWAY
16-May	18:20	FINLAND	4-1	UNITED STATES
17-May	14:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	1-2	AUSTRIA	GWS
17-May	18:20	SWEDEN	6-0	GREAT BRITAIN
18-May	14:20	NORWAY	5-3	AUSTRIA
18-May	18:20	FINLAND	2-3	SWEDEN	GWS
19-May	14:20	GREAT BRITAIN	0-3	UNITED STATES
19-May	18:20	CZECH REPUBLIC	5-1	LATVIA
20-May	14:20	GREAT BRITAIN	0-6	FINLAND
20-May	18:20	LATVIA	4-3	AUSTRIA	GWS
21-May	10:20	UNITED STATES	3-2	SWEDEN
21-May	14:20	AUSTRIA	0-3	FINLAND
21-May	18:20	NORWAY	1-4	CZECH REPUBLIC
22-May	14:20	GREAT BRITAIN	3-4	AUSTRIA
22-May	18:20	SWEDEN	7-1	NORWAY
23-May	14:20	UNITED STATES	0-1	CZECH REPUBLIC
23-May	18:20	AUSTRIA	5-3	GREAT BRITAIN
24-May	10:20	SWEDEN	1-0	LATVIA
24-May	14:20	UNITED STATES	4-2	NORWAY
24-May	18:20	FINLAND	3-0	CZECH REPUBLIC

QUARTER FINALS

26-May	14:20	GERMANY	1-4	CZECH REPUBLIC	Helsinki
26-May	14:20	SWEDEN	3-4	CANADA	Tampere  OT
26-May	18:20	SWITZERLAND	0-3	UNITED STATES	Helsinki
26-May	18:20	FINLAND	4-2	SLOVAKIA	Tampere

SEMI FINALS

28-May	10:20	FINLAND	4-3	UNITED STATES	Tampere
28-May	14:20	CANADA	6-1	CZECH REPUBLIC	Tampere

BRONZE FINAL

29-May

13:20

UNITED STATES

4-8

CZECH REPUBLIC

Tampere

GOLD FINAL

29-May

18:20

FINLAND

4-3

CANADA

Tampere OT

OVERALL RANKINGS

1 • FINLAND

2 • CANADA

3 • CZECH REPUBLIC

4 • UNITED STATES

5 • SWITZERLAND

6 • SWEDEN

7 • GERMANY

8 • SLOVAKIA

9 • DENMARK

10 • LATVIA

11 • AUSTRIA

12 • FRANCE

13 • NORWAY

14 • KAZAKHSTAN

15 • (R) ITALY

16 • (R) GREAT BRITAIN

GREAT BRITAIN TOURNAMENT POINTS
2+3 • Cade Neilson

2+2 • Brett Perlini

2+0 • Robert Dowd

1+1 • Ben Lake

1+1 • Lewis Hook
1+1 • Matthew Myers
1+0 • Mark Richardson

0+2 • Scott Conway

0+2 • Josh Batch
0+1 • Evan Mosey
0+1 • Joshua Tetlow
0+1 • Sam Jones
0+1 • Ben O'Connor

Euro 2020+1 - Southgate seeks to banish the ghosts of Euro 96

➡️ ENGLAND lined up a Last 16 tie against old rivals Germany after progressing from the first Group Stage of a major tournament without conceding a goal for the first time since 1966.

Raheem Sterling scored the solitary goal in matches against Croatia and the Czech Republic either side of a 0-0 stalemate in the much-anticipated clash against Scotland.

It would be fair to say then that the Three Lions have been unspectacular at best so far - and will definitely need to step up a gear on Tuesday at 5pm against Joachim Loew's side.

For England boss Gareth Southgate, this fixture has its own back story, of course. 

Exactly 25 years ago today, on 26 June 1996, Southgate was the only player not to score in the shoot-out at Wembley which decided the Euro 96 semi final against Germany with his tame, side-footed effort saved easily by Andreas Koepke.

Now, Southgate has already gone some way to rectify the Three Lions' relationship with spot-kicks after his team beat Colombia on penalties on the way to the World Cup semi finals in 2018.

England also beat Switzerland on spot-kicks to claim third place in the inaugural Nations League competition. 

But, even though Southgate may deny its importance himself, the ghosts of 1996 still loom large ahead of this tie for the England supporters, at least. 

Unfortunately, the poverty of attacking play served up by Southgate's men, especially considering some of the talent available, has meant so far that Euro 2020+1 has not yet caused the same sort of buzz which swept the country in 1996 and 2018.

The under-capacity stands due to COVID-19 restrictions have not helped in this regard - and at least there will be a slightly increased total of 45,000 fans at Wembley on Tuesday. 

Hopefully then, Southgate will give them something to get excited about by taking the game to a Germany team which is a model of inconsistency, rather than the usual efficiency. 

Tournament favourites France beat the Nationalmannschaft via a Mat Hummels own goal but played in third gear throughout - and then Germany fell behind to defending champions Portugal in their second match. 

A pair of Portuguese own goals by Ruben Dias and Raphael Guerreiro in the space of four minutes turned the contest around in the Germans' favour - and, inspired by a fantastic performance by Robin Gosens, they used the momentum to go 4-1 up, and eventually won 4-2.

In the meantime, underdogs Hungary coped well against the Group F giants - and took a point against France after taking the lead in a 1-1 draw in front of a raucous fully-vaccinated full house in Budapest. 

The results set up a crazy final day of Group F in which all four teams were able to finish in any of the positions - and, even as the matches entered their last 10 minutes, England had no idea who they would be playing. 

If Portugal had scored, England would have played France; if France had scored, Hungary would have been the visitors to Wembley; and if no one had scored, the Three Lions would have taken on Portugal.

Instead, Germany scored a second equaliser against Hungary - and both ties, Portugal versus France and Hungary versus Germany, were 2-2 draws and the table remained exactly the same as it had started the day. 

Germany were Group F runners-up and will take on Group D winners England - but, before all of that, Wales kick off the knockout stages on Saturday at 5pm against Denmark.

➡️ WHATEVER happens from here, the Welsh will no doubt reflect positively on these European Championships after proving their superb run to the semi finals of Euro 2016 was no fluke. 

A cautious opening against Switzerland almost cost the Dragons as they fell behind early in the second half - but, with time starting to run out, Kieffer Moore nodded in an equaliser from Joe Morrell's delicately clipped cross.

Switzerland still had time to see a goal correctly ruled offside in the last five minutes - but Wales were able to hang on for a valuable point in Baku. 

It was important then that Wales started more positively in their second match against Turkey - even though the proximity of Turkey to the Azerbaijani capital made this feel like an away game. 

The Baku crowd was silenced, though, as the Welsh scored in the closing stages of both halves through Aaron Ramsey and Connor Roberts in a thoroughly deserved win. 

Gareth Bale was the provider for both goals which made up for his miss from the spot when he blazed a second half penalty well over the bar - so not even that wild effort could detract from the Dragons' overall performance. 

The third match against Italy was much tougher - and became especially tough after Ethan Ampadu became only the second player at Euro 2020+1 to be sent off following a nasty late tackle on Federico Bernardeschi. 

Matteo Pessina had already put the Italians 1-0 up in the first half as the Azzurri dominated without breaking Wales down any further.

But, while Welsh progress through to the Last 16 was pretty straightforward, opponents Denmark had a journey which veered from near-tragedy to a triumph of sorts.

➡️ CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN'S sudden collapse on the pitch in Copenhagen in the closing stages of the first half of the Danes' match against Finland sent shockwaves around the football world. 

Thankfully, Eriksen was surrounded by good people - his captain Simon Kjær acted quickly to ensure his star player did not swallow his tongue while English referee Anthony Taylor immediately halted the match. 

Then, of course, there were the heroic medical professionals who were able to resuscitate the Internazionale midfielder using a defibrillator before he left the pitch waving from a stretcher. 

If there is one extremely positive thing to come out of this horrific coronavirus pandemic, it is recognition of the wonder that is medical science. 

Here was yet another example - and, miraculously, Eriksen was later well enough to speak to his fellow Denmark players via video link from hospital that same evening. 

During the call, Eriksen urged his team-mates to complete the match which had been suspended - and, indeed, the contest resumed and was completed with Finland winning 1-0. 

Denmark, unsurprisingly, looked like a team whose minds were elsewhere - and, despite Eriksen's encouragement, something still does not feel quite right about Denmark having to complete the match on the same day. 

Certainly, Denmark head coach Kasper Hjulmand was not happy with the pressure put on his team by UEFA - and nor was Danish goalkeeping legend Peter Schmeichel, father of current number one Kasper. 

Undoubtedly, though, the most important thing was that Eriksen was safe - and this positive news clearly had a galvanising effect on the Danish squad.

The Danes started their second match against Belgium like a runaway train, scoring after two minutes through Yussuf Poulsen and coming close to adding another on several occasions. 

But the Belgians are not ranked number one in the world for nothing - and the introduction of Kevin De Bruyne as a half time substitute turned the match around completely.

It meant Denmark were without a point after two games - but the generous system, which allows four third-placed teams to qualify, continued to give Hjulmand's men hope.

In front of a cracking atmosphere at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, the Danes delivered as Russia were demolished by a rampant display of attacking football. 

Then, it got even better for Denmark. Two late Belgium goals against Finland lifted the Danes into second place and automatic qualification - a pretty remarkable outcome, considering the ordeal of the previous two weeks.

A fairytale end to the Group Stage which even Hans Christian Anderson would have struggled to write. 

➡️ AMONG the other six ties, the stand-out match is clearly world number one Belgium against defending champions Portugal. 

Cristiano Ronaldo has already inevitably made his impact on Euro 2020+1 - his five goals make him leading goalscorer at the end of the Group Stage of this tournament - and now, on 14 goals overall, the 36-year-old is the outright leading goalscorer in the history of the European Championships.

Ronaldo is level with retired Iranian striker Ali Daei on 109 international goals so his next personal milestone is pretty obvious - although he barely could have ended up with tougher opposition in the Last 16.

Belgium retained their 100% record from the qualifiers with a 3-0 thrashing of Russia, that comeback win against Denmark, and a hard-fought victory against Finland. 

Romelu Lukaku and De Bruyne have looked in particularly good form - and so this match from Seville at 8pm tomorrow is certainly not one to miss.

Italy and Netherlands have both impressed on their international return with three wins out of three, and will start as favourites against Austria and the Czech Republic - while France will also be expected to beat perennial Last 16 losers Switzerland. 

The other two ties look too close to call - Croatia and Spain both started slowly before finding form in their final group games - and it should not be a surprise to anyone if Sweden were bogged down by Ukraine. 

➡️ GOING HOME after the Group Stage are: Turkey (Group A), Finland (Group B), Russia (Group B), North Macedonia (Group C), Slovakia (Group E), Poland (Group E), Hungary (Group F) - and, of course, Scotland (Group D). 

There were high hopes among the Tartan Army north of the border that, although their team was in its first major finals for 23 years, this would become the first Scottish team to make it beyond the Group Stages.

Instead, Czech striker Patrik Schick extinguished the early optimism with a header late in the first half before then producing a moment of absolute magic to silence Hampden Park. 

A pot-shot by Jack Hendry from 30 yards was blocked and rebounded into the path of Schick who was waiting on the halfway line for the opportunity to counter. 

Without breaking stride or taking a touch, Schick swerved the ball brilliantly from 49.7 yards past panicked goalkeeper David Marshall. 

Scotland had their chances to reduce their arrears thereafter but were wasteful in front of goal - and also failed to make the breakthrough against England despite dominating the match at Wembley. 

It all came down to the third match against Croatia where the Scots knew that a win would be enough and Callum McGregor offered yet more hope when his low drive just before half time cancelled out Nikola Vlasic's opener.

But that was as good as it got for the Scots - and, following the interval, Croatia took firm control of proceedings and showed signs of the quality which took them all the way to the World Cup Final three years ago. 

First, Luka Modric launched a howitzer of a strike with the outside of his right foot to restore the Vatreni's lead just past the hour - then, with less than a quarter of an hour remaining, Ivan Perisic flicked home a header from a corner. 

In the end then, the Scots' hard-fought and deserved draw at Wembley against England counted for absolutely nothing - and, as had been widely predicted beforehand, their key result came against the Czechs.

Elsewhere, Turkey - with three straight defeats - and Russia - with two heavy losses to Belgium and Denmark - were the biggest disappointments, along with Poland, who are almost always underwhelming. 

The Poles finished on just a single point from their three matches after Viktor Claesson's late winner for Sweden - while Slovakia, in the same section, also head home early after a final day thrashing by Spain. 

La Roja's 5-0 win over the Slovakians equalled the record for the biggest win in the history of the Championship - and will not be a match on which goalkeeper Martin Dubravka will look back with any fondness. 

Despite saving a penalty in the first half, Newcastle United goalkeeper Dubravka scored a horrific own goal by palming a ball which rebounded high off the bar into his own net. 

Dubravka is not alone in making a howler - the eight own goals at Euro 2020+1 is already a record for the Euros - while, at the other end of the pitch, six of the 14 penalties awarded so far have been missed or saved. 

Nevertheless, the Dubravka mistake stands out as the worst of the lot and set the tone as Slovakia crumbled badly. 

As expected, debutants Finland and North Macedonia did not make it through the Group Stage - but nor were they overwhelmed.

Finland, in particular, gave it a good go - their 1-0 win over Denmark kept the Eagles-Owls in contention until late on in their third match when Belgium finally made the breakthrough via another horrible goalkeeping own goal. 

The lowest ranked team, North Macedonia, were not as close as Finland to making a big impact and, in fact, lost all three of their matches. 

Nonetheless, the Lynxes still generally competed reasonably well in Group C as national legend Goran Pandev made an emotional goodbye on an unexpectedly big stage. 

Finally, Hungary - as mentioned above - also coped well with far superior opponents, and were within minutes of going through at the expense of Germany. 

But, not writing off the Germans is something now so ingrained in football folklore that an equaliser felt almost inevitable. 

And so here we go again... 

➡️ GROUP A	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) ITALY	3	0	0	7	0	+7	9
(Q) WALES	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
(Q) SWITZERLAND	1	1	1	4	5	-1	4
TURKEY	0	0	3	1	8	-7	0

11-June	20:00	TURKEY	0-3	ITALY	Rome
BBC				Demiral 53og, Immobile 66 Insigne 79
12-June	14:00	WALES	1-1	SWITZERLAND	Baku
BBC		Moore 74		Embolo 49
16-June	17:00	TURKEY	0-2	WALES	Baku
BBC				Ramsey 42, C. Roberts 90+5
16-June	20:00	ITALY	3-0	SWITZERLAND	Rome
ITV		Locatelli 26, 52, Immobile 89
20-June	17:00	SWITZERLAND	3-1	TURKEY	Baku
ITV		Seferovic 6, Shaqiri 26, 68		Kahveci 62
20-June	17:00	ITALY	1-0	WALES	Rome
ITV		Pessina 39

➡️ GROUP B	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) BELGIUM	3	0	0	7	1	+6	9
(Q) DENMARK	1	0	2	5	4	+1	3
FINLAND	1	0	2	1	3	-2	3
RUSSIA	1	0	2	2	7	-5	3

12-June	17:00	DENMARK	0-1	FINLAND	Copenhagen
BBC				Pohjanpalo 60
12-June	20:00	BELGIUM	3-0	RUSSIA	St Petersburg
ITV		Lukaku 10, 88, Meunier 34
16-June	14:00	FINLAND	0-1	RUSSIA	St Petersburg
BBC				Al. Miranchuk 45+2
17-June	17:00	DENMARK	1-2	BELGIUM	Copenhagen
ITV		Poulsen 2		T. Hazard 55, De Bruyne 70
21-June	20:00	RUSSIA	1-4	DENMARK	Copenhagen
BBC		Dzyuba 70pen		Damsgaard 38, Poulsen 59 Christensen 79, Maehle 82
21-June	20:00	FINLAND	0-2	BELGIUM	St Petersburg
BBC				Hrádecky 74og, Lukaku 81

➡️ GROUP C	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) NETHERLANDS	3	0	0	8	2	+6	9
(Q) AUSTRIA	2	0	1	4	3	+1	6
(Q) UKRAINE	1	0	2	4	5	-1	3
NORTH MACEDONIA	0	0	3	2	8	-6	0

13-June	17:00	AUSTRIA	3-1	NORTH MACEDONIA	Bucharest
ITV		Lainer 18, Gregoritsch 78 Arnautovic 89		Pandev 28
13-June	20:00	NETHERLANDS	3-2	UKRAINE	Amsterdam
ITV		Wijnaldum 52, Weghorst 58 Dumries 85		Yarmolenko 75 Yaremchuk 79
17-June	14:00	UKRAINE	2-1	NORTH MACEDONIA	Bucharest
ITV		Yarmolenko 29 Yaremchuk 34		Alioski 57
17-June	20:00	NETHERLANDS	2-0	AUSTRIA	Amsterdam
BBC		Depay 11pen, Dumfries 67
21-June	17:00	NORTH MACEDONIA	0-3	NETHERLANDS	Amsterdam
ITV				Depay 24, Wijnaldum 51, 58
21-June	17:00	UKRAINE	0-1	AUSTRIA	Bucharest
ITV				Baumgartner 21

➡️ GROUP D	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) ENGLAND	2	1	0	2	0	+2	7
(Q) CROATIA	1	1	1	4	3	+1	4
(Q) CZECH REPUBLIC	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
SCOTLAND	0	1	2	1	5	-4	1

13-June	14:00	ENGLAND	1-0	CROATIA	London
BBC		Sterling 57
14-June	14:00	SCOTLAND	0-2	CZECH REPUBLIC	Glasgow
BBC				Schick 42, 52
18-June	17:00	CROATIA	1-1	CZECH REPUBLIC	Glasgow
BBC		Perisic 47		Schick 37pen
18-June	20:00	ENGLAND	0-0	SCOTLAND	London
ITV
22-June	20:00	CROATIA	3-1	SCOTLAND	Glasgow
ITV		Vlasic 17, Modric 62, Perisic 77		McGregor 42
22-June	20:00	CZECH REPUBLIC	0-1	ENGLAND	London
ITV				Sterling 12

➡️ GROUP E	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) SWEDEN	2	1	0	4	2	+2	7
(Q) SPAIN	1	2	0	6	1	+5	5
SLOVAKIA	1	0	2	2	7	-5	3
POLAND	0	1	2	4	6	-2	1

14-June	17:00	POLAND	1-2	SLOVAKIA	St Petersburg
ITV		Linetty 46		Szczesny 18og, Skriniar 69
14-June	20:00	SPAIN	0-0	SWEDEN	Seville
BBC
18-June	14:00	SWEDEN	1-0	SLOVAKIA	St Petersburg
BBC		Forsberg 77pen
19-June	20:00	SPAIN	1-1	POLAND	Seville
BBC		Morata 25		Lewandowski 54
23-June	17:00	SLOVAKIA	0-5	SPAIN	Seville
ITV				Dubravka 30og, Laporte 45+3 Sarabia 56, F. Torres 67, Kucka 71og
23-June	17:00	SWEDEN	3-2	POLAND	St Petersburg
ITV		Forsberg 2, 59 Claesson 90+4		Lewandowski 61, 84

➡️ GROUP F	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) FRANCE	1	2	0	4	3	+1	5
(Q) GERMANY	1	1	1	6	5	+1	4
(Q) PORTUGAL	1	1	1	7	6	+1	4
HUNGARY	0	2	1	3	6	-3	3

15-June	17:00	HUNGARY	0-3	PORTUGAL	Budapest
ITV				Guerreiro 84 Ronaldo 87pen, 90+2
15-June	20:00	FRANCE	1-0	GERMANY	Munich
ITV		Hummels 20og
19-June	14:00	HUNGARY	1-1	FRANCE	Budapest
BBC		Fiola 45+2		Griezmann 66
19-June	17:00	PORTUGAL	2-4	GERMANY	Munich
ITV		Ronaldo 15, Jota 67		Ruben Dias 35og, Guerreiro 39og Havertz 51, Gosens 60
23-June	20:00	PORTUGAL	2-2	FRANCE	Budapest
BBC		Ronaldo 31pen, 60pen		Benzema 45+2pen, 47
23-June	20:00	GERMANY	2-2	HUNGARY	Munich
BBC		Havertz 66, Goretzka 84		Ad. Szalai 11, Schafer 68

➡️ THIRD-PLACED TEAMS	Group	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
(Q) PORTUGAL	[F]	1	1	1	7	6	+1	4
(Q) CZECH REPUBLIC	[D]	1	1	1	3	2	+1	4
(Q) SWITZERLAND	[A]	1	1	1	4	5	-1	4
(Q) UKRAINE	[C]	1	0	2	4	5	-1	3
FINLAND	[B]	1	0	2	1	3	-2	3
SLOVAKIA	[E]	1	0	2	2	7	-5	3

➡️ LAST 16
26-June 17:00 BBC	WALES	v	DENMARK	Amsterdam (NED)
26-June 20:00 BBC	ITALY	v	AUSTRIA	London (ENG)
27-June 17:00 ITV	NETHERLANDS	v	CZECH REPUBLIC	Budapest (HUN)
27-June 20:00 ITV	BELGIUM	v	PORTUGAL	Seville (ESP)
28-June 17:00 ITV	CROATIA	v	SPAIN	Copenhagen (DEN)
28-June 20:00 ITV	FRANCE	v	SWITZERLAND	Bucharest (ROM)
29-June 17:00 BBC	ENGLAND	v	GERMANY	London (ENG)
29-June 20:00 BBC	SWEDEN	v	UKRAINE	Glasgow (SCO)

➡️ SCORERS
5 Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
3 Patrik Schick (Czech Republic), Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Emil Forsberg (Sweden), Robert Lewandowski (Poland)
2 Manuel Locatelli (Italy), Ciro Immobile (Italy), Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Yussuf Poulsen (Denmark), Raheem Sterling (England), Ivan Perisic (Croatia), Karim Benzema (France), Kai Havertz (Germany)
1 Lorenzo Insigne (Italy), Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Kieffer Moore (Wales), Joel Pohnjanpalo (Finland), Thomas Meunier (Belgium), Stefan Lainer (Austria), Goran Pandev (North Macedonia), Michael Gregoritsch (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Karol Linetty (Poland), Milan Skriniar (Slovakia), Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal), Aleksei Miranchuk (Russia), Aaron Ramsey (Wales), Connor Roberts (Wales), Ezgjan Alioski (North Macedonia), Thorgan Hazard (Belgium), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Attila Fiola (Hungary), Antoine Griezmann (France), Robin Gosens (Germany), Diogo Jota (Portugal), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Haris Seferovic (Switzerland), Matteo Pessina (Italy), Irfan Kahveci (Turkey), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Mikkel Damsgaard (Denmark), Andreas Christensen (Denmark), Joakim Maehle (Denmark), Nikola Vlasic (Croatia), Callum McGregor (Scotland), Luka Modric (Croatia), Aymeric Laporte (Spain), Pablo Sarabia (Spain), Ferran Torres (Spain), Viktor Claesson (Sweden), Adam Szalai (Hungary), Andras Schafer (Hungary), Leon Goretzka (Germany)
8 own goals Merih Demiral (Turkey) v Italy, Wojciech Szczeny (Poland) v Slovakia, Mats Hummels (Germany) v France, Ruben Dias (Portugal) v Germany, Raphael Guerreiro (Portugal) v Germany, Lukas Hradecky (Finland) v Belgium, Martin Dubravka (Slovakia) v Spain, Juraj Kucka (Slovakia) v Spain

➡️ RED CARDS
Grzegorz Krychowiak (Poland) v Slovakia
Ethan Ampadu (Wales) v Italy