Showing posts with label turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label turkey. Show all posts

Saturday, 29 June 2024

Soulless England frustrate as Scotland fail again


🟥 EURO 2024 GROUP STAGE ðŸŸ¥

GROUP AWDLFAGDPts
(Q) GERMANY21082+67
(Q) SWITZERLAND
12053+25
HUNGARY
10225-33
SCOTLAND01227-51

14-June
20:00GERMANY5-1SCOTLANDMunich
ITV



Wirtz 10, Musiala 19
Havertz 45+1pen
Fullkrug 68, Can 90+3

Rudiger 87og



15-June14:00HUNGARY1-3SWITZERLANDCologne
ITV


Varga 66


Duah 12, Aebischer 45
Embolo 90+3

19-June17:00GERMANY2-0HUNGARYStuttgart
BBC

Musiala 22, Gundogan 67


19-June20:00SCOTLAND1-1SWITZERLANDCologne
BBC

McTominay 13
Shaqiri 26
23-June20:00SWITZERLAND1-1GERMANYFrankfurt
BBC

Ndoye 29
Fullkrug 90+2
23-June20:00SCOTLAND0-1HUNGARYStuttgart
BBC



Csoboth 90+10

Scotland failed to get out of the group at a major tournament for a record-extending 12th time after a last-gasp defeat to Hungary consigned Steve Clarke's men to yet another bottom-placed finish in Group A. 

Germany, as expected, topped the section - though only after Niclas Fullkrug scored a late goal to equalise against Switzerland - and it was the Germans, of course, who started off this latest Scottish nightmare.

Julian Nagelsmann's Mannschaft were 2-0 up inside 20 minutes and 3-0 up at half time on their way to a 5-1 hammering of the Scots on the opening night of the tournament as Ryan Porteous received a red card for a nasty foul on Ilkay Gundogan.

Scotland consoled themselves that they could not have faced a tougher start against the revved-up hosts - but their failure to get anywhere near Germany at any point during the game was a definite cause for concern.

The Germans even seemed to take pity on their opponents as a late Antonio Rudiger own goal put the Scots on the scoresheet - and own goals, along with timidity from the two British teams, have been notable themes of Euro 2024 so far.

At least Scotland started better in their second match against Switzerland - and their early pressure was rewarded when Scott McTominay smashed a shot from the edge of the box into the net off Fabian Schar.

It could have easily gone down as another own goal - but the original effort was deemed to have been on target so the Manchester United midfielder was credited.

Nevertheless, the Swiss rarely roll over nowadays and the Nati were back level before the break through a cracking strike by Xherdan Shaqiri following a terribly loose back-pass by Scotland right-back Anthony Ralston.

Both teams had chances late on to take the three points as Grant Hanley headed against the post from a McTominay free-kick - but a draw was probably a fair result.

In the meantime, Germany eased their way past Hungary to reach the Last 16 with a game to spare with a straightforward 2-0 win in Stuttgart which left the Magyars without a point.

That was enough for Scotland to feel confident heading into the third group game against the Hungarians of breaching the first phase of a major tournament for the first time in history.

But, despite dominating the ball, Scotland failed to get a single shot on target - and their lack of ambition seemed to stem throughout the competition from the coaching staff.

Head coach Clarke declared beforehand that he would be happy to scrape through with four points - and, while it obviously meant Clarke could not be accused of delusion, it hardly reeked of Braveheart and arguably belied a lack of confidence in the ability of his squad.

Of course, there was the usual dose of bad luck as neither Argentine referee Fernando Rapallini or the video assistant referee (VAR) determined Stuart Armstrong had not been fouled even though the replays suggested otherwise.

Then, as the clock ticked into stoppage time, the Scots' biggest chance fell to centre-back Hanley - before, moments later, a neat passing move on the break from the clearance of a Scotland corner reached its crescendo when Kevin Csoboth struck the ball past goalkeeper Angus Gunn.

In that moment, any remaining Scottish hopes were shattered. However, the fact is that Scotland had just 17 shots in the Euro 2024 finals overall, with no team having had fewer efforts in a group stage since groups were introduced at Euro 1980.

Now, frustratingly for the long-suffering Tartan Army, this was nothing new - in 21 matches in World Cup and European Championship finals since 1986, the Scots have won just three, and the last of those came back in 1996.

Moreover, in that time, Scotland have scored a pitiful 12 goals in total. So much indeed for Scotland the Brave...

■ GROUP BWDLFAGDPts
(Q) SPAIN30050+59
(Q) ITALY
1113304
CROATIA02136-32
ALBANIA01235-21

15-June17:00SPAIN3-0CROATIABerlin
ITV


Morata 29, Fabian Ruiz 32
Carvajal 45+2



15-June20:00ITALY2-1ALBANIADortmund
BBC
Bastoni 11, Barella 16
Bajrami 1
19-June14:00CROATIA2-2ALBANIAHamburg
ITV
Kramaric 74, Gjasula 76og
Laci 11, Gjasula 90+5
20-June20:00SPAIN1-0ITALYGelsenkirchen
ITV
Calafiori 55og


24-June20:00ALBANIA0-1SPAINDusseldorf
BBC


Ferran Torres 13
24-June20:00CROATIA1-1ITALYLeipzig
BBC
Modric 55
Zaccagni 90+8

Spain made light work of Group B as the only team in the competition to take maximum points by progressing with an unbreached defence against Croatia (3-0), Italy (1-0) and Albania (1-0). 

La Roja enjoyed an ideal start to their campaign, leading 3-0 against the Croatians at half time - before following it up with a far narrower success against the Italians in a tight affair settled by an unfortunate own goal off the knee of Riccardo Calafiori.

That was enough to seal top spot for Luis de la Fuente's side with a game to spare - and the head coach indulged in this freedom by making 10 changes to his starting line-up.

Ferran Torres hit an early goal to justify the shaken-up selection - but the Barcelona forward then missed a hatful of chances as Albania noticeably struggled for the first time in the tournament.

Until that point, the Red and Blacks had competed well - and, in fact, Nedim Bajrami now holds the record for the fastest goal in European Championship finals history.

Timed at 23 seconds, Bajrami intercepted a loose throw-in by Federico Dimarco before slamming a shot past the stunned Gianluigi Donnarumma.

However, the Albanians had a major weakness - they gave up a lead then fell behind in double-quick time against Italy and did exactly the same against Croatia.

At least in a chaotic encounter against Hrvatska, Albania were able to pick up only their fourth point in major tournament football as Klaus Gjasula kept his cool for a stoppage-time equaliser.

It was a case of redemption for Gjasula who had inadvertently scored in his own net less than 20 minutes earlier.

Nevertheless, Croatia v Italy always looked like the key tie in this section - and so it proved, although the first half was almost completely devoid of action.

Croatia - aware that a draw would be no good - showed their hand first and, following a series of attacks, the Azzurri eventually cracked as a clear handball by Davide Frattesi resulted in a penalty.

Up stepped 38-year-old Luka Modric - but Donnarumma made a fine save to his left and then made an even better stop from Ante Budimir in the very next attack.

Modric snaffled the rebound, however, to round off a crazy 33 seconds of football - and Croatia remained in control with the lead.

By contrast, Italy had to make-do with fleeting attacks and were not helped by the poverty of their set-plays - although, towards the end of the match, Alessandro Bastoni really should have done better with his header from a corner.

No matter. Winners always find a way - and, while Croatia maintained their remarkable all-time unbeaten record against Italy, Mattia Zaccagni's curling shot in the eighth minute of stoppage time ensured this one would be a draw.

It was virtually the last kick of the game - and a draw really was no good for Croatia.

Modric, standing helplessly on the sidelines having been substituted, cut a dejected figure as the final curtain fell on this special Croatian generation.

Holders Italy, though, march on - and, while Luciano Spalletti's charges have been far from convincing in any of their first three games, they will start their Last 16 tie against Switzerland as favourites.

 GROUP CWDLFAGDPts
(Q) ENGLAND
12021+15
(Q) DENMARK
0302203
(Q) SLOVENIA
0302203
SERBIA
02112-12

16-June17:00SLOVENIA1-1DENMARK
Stuttgart
ITV
Janza 77
Eriksen 17
16-June20:00SERBIA0-1ENGLANDGelsenkirchen
BBC

Bellingham 13
20-June14:00SLOVENIA1-1SERBIA
Munich
ITV
Karnicnik 69 
Jovic 90+6
20-June17:00DENMARK1-1ENGLANDFrankfurt
BBC
Hjulmand 34
Kane 18
25-June20:00ENGLAND
0-0SLOVENIA
Cologne
ITV




25-June20:00DENMARK0-0SERBIAMunich
ITV





England prevailed at the top of possibly the worst group ever played out at a major tournament with five of the six matches finishing as dull draws. 

In fairness, the Three Lions were the only team actually to win a match in a truly desperate section which featured three 1-1 results, two 0-0 stalemates, and only seven goals overall.

Jude Bellingham gave Gareth Southgate's men an ideal start to the campaign against Serbia, heading in a deflected cross from Bukayo Saka after just 13 minutes.

England quickly fashioned another chance down the right as Kyle Walker sent a teasing ball across the six-yard box - but, until Harry Kane clipped the bar with a late header, a much-vaunted attack showed little in the way of threat.

It was felt perhaps that England were just feeling their way into the competition - and any major criticism of the Three Lions was tempered by the three points on the board.

In the second match against Denmark, England took another relatively early lead as Kane stabbed home from close range following a couple of deflections on Walker's pull-back.

But the Danes are an all-round better team than Serbia and, by half time, were back level after Morten Hjulmand struck a long-range effort.

The results in the other matches - Slovenia v Denmark and Slovenia v Serbia, both 1-1 draws - made it possible for England to win Group C with a match to spare with a second victory.

If that was the ambition, though, the Three Lions showed little sign of fulfilling it, especially after the equaliser.

Remarkably, it was the 14th time in matches at major tournaments held since 2000 that England had taken the lead yet failed to win the match with most of the giveaways down to the adoption of the ultra-cautious approach bizarrely favoured by Southgate.

Ahead of the third match against Slovenia, results in other groups ensured England had qualified for the Last 16 - but the identity of the group winners remained unclear.

The runners-up knew they would face hosts Germany in the first knockout round, though, so there was still theoretically some level of pressure.

In practice, England infuriatingly produced yet more of the same slow, safety first football which has come to epitomise their campaign.

The balance of the team remained poor with Kieran Trippier and Phil Foden looking particularly uncomfortable down the left - although at least the experiment of playing Trent Alexander-Arnold in midfield was thankfully ditched.

Still, though, there was no room in the starting line-up for either Cole Palmer or Anthony Gordon despite both players boasting double figures for both goals and assists in the 2023-24 Premier League season.

Palmer was eventually introduced in the 71st minute - while Gordon ridiculously kicked his heels until 88 minutes were on the clock.

Gordon, indeed, has spent many more minutes at Euro 2024 responding to questions from the media in interviews and press conferences than he has actually playing football.

Nevertheless, both made a positive impression against the Slovenians with a raking pass by Gordon finding fellow substitute Kobbie Mainoo whose flick to Kane set up Palmer in one of the very few moments of excitement across the 90 minutes.

All that was needed was a stoppage time Denmark winner in Munich to consign England to second place and a meeting with the Germans.

But the fact that it did not come - and the fact that Denmark and Slovenia were able to make it through without winning any of their games - rather summed up Group C quite neatly.

■ GROUP DWDLFAGDPts
(Q) AUSTRIA20154+16
(Q) FRANCE12021+15
(Q) NETHERLANDS1114404
POLAND01235-21

16-June14:00POLAND1-2NETHERLANDSHamburg
BBC
Buksa 16
Gakpo 29, Weghorst 83
17-June20:00AUSTRIA0-1FRANCE
Dusseldorf
ITV


Wober 38og
21-June17:00POLAND1-3AUSTRIABerlin
ITV


Piatek 30


Trauner 9, Baumgartner 66
Arnautovic 78pen

21-June20:00NETHERLANDS0-0FRANCELeipzig
BBC




25-June17:00NETHERLANDS2-3AUSTRIABerlin
BBC


Gakpo 47, Depay 75


Malen 6og, Schmid 59
Sabitzer 80

25-June17:00FRANCE1-1POLANDDortmund
BBC
Mbappe 56pen
Lewandowski 79pen

Austria caused a huge shock in Group D after beating Netherlands to finish ahead of France and the Dutch at the top of the section. 

Coming into the third set of group games, there appeared to be little scope for drama with Netherlands and France already through, and Poland already eliminated.

Meanwhile, the Austrians merely had to get a point or, at worst, ensure their goal difference did not suffer too much damage.

Straightaway, though, Ralf Rangnick's men showed greater ambition than that - picking up where they left off in their fine 3-1 win against Poland by taking an early lead as Donyell Malen slid the ball past his own goalkeeper.

Ronald Koeman's Netherlands hit back immediately after half time as a quick break concluded with Cody Gakpo curling in his second goal of the tournament.

But Austria were not disturbed out of their rhythm by the equaliser - and, just as Kylian Mbappe was putting France in front against Poland in the other game in Dortmund, Romano Schmid restored the Austrian lead in Berlin with a diving header.

The Dutch - who had started the day top on goals scored from France - dropped to third place, but then briefly went back top as Memphis Depay found a second equaliser and, concurrently, Robert Lewandowski was levelling for Poland against the French.

It was all too brief for the Oranje though, as Marcel Sabitzer finished a lovely passing move to send Austria in front for a third time and back to the top of the group with the Dutch demoted back to third again.

France - aware that, by scoring, the Dutch would need two goals to topple them - tried in vain to get a winner, as Poland completed another underwhelming campaign having at least avoided losing all three group games for the first time ever. 


Les Bleus - while never in danger of falling to progress - have also disappointed and head into the knockout stages via an own goal and an Mbappe penalty.

By contrast, an enterprising Austrian outfit found the net six times in their last two matches. 

Now, the impact of the unexpected finishing order in Group D was immediately apparent with France taking on Belgium in the Last 16 and unexpectedly falling into the side of the knockout stage bracket which also features Germany, Spain and Portugal.

Netherlands will face Romania in the Last 16 - while Austria will look to continue their excellent form against Turkey.


■ GROUP EWDLFAGDPts
(Q) ROMANIA
11143+14
(Q) BELGIUM11121+14
(Q) SLOVAKIA
1113304
UKRAINE11124-24

17-June14:00ROMANIA3-0UKRAINEMunich
BBC


Stanciu 29, R Marin 53
Dragus 57



17-June17:00BELGIUM0-1SLOVAKIAFrankfurt
ITV


Schranz 7
21-June14:00SLOVAKIA1-2UKRAINEDusseldorf
BBC
Schranz 17
Shaparenko 54, Yaremchuk 80
22-June20:00BELGIUM2-0ROMANIACologne
ITV
Tielemans 2, De Bruyne 80


26-June17:00SLOVAKIA1-1ROMANIAFrankfurt
BBC
Duda 24
R Marin 37pen
26-June17:00UKRAINE0-0BELGIUMStuttgart
BBC






None of the four teams in Group E could be easily separated as Romania, Belgium, Slovakia and Ukraine all finished on four points. 

Ultimately though, Ukraine lost out on goal difference following their heavy defeat to Romania in the first round of group games.

The Romanians won their first match at a major tournament since Phil Neville injudiciously brought down Viorel Moldovan and Ionel Ganea dispatched the resultant penalty as goals from Razvan Marin, Nicolae Stanciu and Denis Dragus earned a stylish victory.

On the same afternoon, there was something of a shock as Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka kept a clean sheet despite a typically nervy performance.

Better still for the Slovakians, an early goal by Ivan Schranz gave them a wholly unexpected three points, albeit against an unsurprisingly underwhelming Belgium outfit.

Schranz scored again against Ukraine in the second round of group games - but, facing an early elimination, Serhiy Rebrov's men fought their way back through goals by Mykola Shaparenko and Roman Yaremchuk.

Yaremchuk's effort was outstanding as he took the ball down over his shoulder to finish, although he was helped by uncertain goalkeeping from Dubravka.

Meanwhile, Belgium recovered their form with goals from Youri Tielemans and Kevin De Bruyne at the start and end of the match enough to bring Romania back down to earth.

Those results left all four teams on three points with one win and one loss - and really should have set up a classic third round of matches.

Instead, the afternoon turned into something of a damp squib with both matches finishing in draws.

Slovakia and Romania traded first half goals through Ondrej Duda and Marin respectively - but thereafter seemed satisfied with the 1-1 score which guaranteed both teams went through.

And so, it was left to Ukraine to try to provide any drama - a win would have sent the Ukrainians through at the expense of the Belgians.

But a breakthrough by the Blue and Yellow never looked too likely - Belgium had the better chances - as yet another promising set of circumstances dissipated into a non-event.

Consequently Romania retained top spot while Belgium's less than serene progress has landed them a tie against tournament favourites France.

■ GROUP FWDLFAGDPts
(Q) PORTUGAL20153+26
(Q) TURKEY2015506
(Q) GEORGIA1114404
CZECH REPUBLIC01235-21

18-June17:00TURKEY3-1GEORGIADortmund
BBC


Muldur 25, Guler 65
Akturkoglu 90+7

Mikautadze 32


18-June20:00PORTUGAL2-1CZECH REPUBLICLeipzig
BBC
Hranac 69og, Conceicao 90+2
Provod 62
22-June14:00GEORGIA1-1CZECH REPUBLICHamburg
BBC
Mikautadze 45+4pen
Schick 59
22-June17:00TURKEY0-3PORTUGALDortmund
ITV


Bernardo Silva 21, Akaydin 28og
Bruno Fernandes 55

26-June20:00GEORGIA2-0PORTUGALGelsenkirchen
ITV


Kvaratskhelia 2
Mikautadze 57pen




26-June20:00CZECH REPUBLIC1-2TURKEYHamburg
ITV
Soucek 66
Calhanoglu 51, Tosun 90+4

Georgia will continue their wondrous adventure at Euro 2024 on their major tournament debut after sealing a landmark win over 2016 winners Portugal in Group F. 

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia put the Crusaders ahead inside two minutes with a good low finish before, in the second half, Luka Lochoshvili had his tapped ankle tapped by Antonio Silva, and was awarded a penalty.

Metz striker Georges Mikautadze made no mistake from the spot to become the first, and so far only, player to hit three goals in the group stages.

Valencia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili was the Georgians' other big star and he protected the lead with an important save from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Overall, though, Georgia must be commended most of all for their team spirit which has been clear from the start of the competition.

Defeat against Turkey in their first game was tough take for Willy Sagnol's men given that they were right in the game at 2-1 down and pushing for an equaliser.

But, having brought Mamardashvili up for a corner deep in stoppage time, a rapid Turkish break concluded with Kerem Akturkoglu rolling the ball into an empty net for 3-1.

It was a great start for Turkey but the Crescent Stars were unable to build on it in their second match against Portugal who moved into a higher gear in an extremely comfortable 3-0 win which could have been at least a couple more.

Of course, Roberto Martinez's men were helped along the way by an embarrassing own goal by Samet Akaydin after he blindly rolled a backpass into his own net having failed to check the position of his goalkeeper Altay Bayindir.

The heavy defeat left Turkey vulnerable to being caught by Czech Republic - but another late Turkish goal on the break through former Everton and Crystal Palace striker Cenk Tosun meant it was the Czechs who bowed out early.

Ivan Hasek's Czechs finished with an extremely disappointing record of one point from nine - not that the Czechs could have really done much more to help themselves in that third game.

Reduced to 10 men after referee Istvan Kovacs made a rod for his back by booking Antonin Barak twice for a couple of fairly innocuous early fouls, large portions of the match denigrated into a nonsense.

Indeed, it finished in utter farce as the Romanian man in the middle ended up brandashing a European Championship record of 19 cards.

No doubt the Czechs will console themselves that the referee was a disaster and this may be merely a tough start for a squad with the youngest average in the tournament.

There is no place for them in the Last 16, though - and nor should there be for Kovacs. 

 THIRD-PLACED TEAMSGroup
WDLFAGDPts
(Q) NETHERLANDS[D]1114404
(Q) GEORGIA[F]1114404
(Q) SLOVAKIA[E]1113304
(Q) SLOVENIA
[C]0302203
HUNGARY[A]10225-33
CROATIA
[B]02136-32

 GOALSCORERS 81 goals in 36 matches (2.25 goals per game)
3 Georges Mikautadze (Georgia)
2 Jamal Musiala (Germany), Ivan Schranz (Slovakia), Niclas Fullkrug (Germany), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Razvan Marin (Romania)
1 Florian Wirtz (Germany), Kai Havertz (Germany), Emre Can (Germany), Kwadwo Duah (Switzerland), Michel Aebischer (Switzerland), Barnabas Varga (Hungary), Breel Embolo (Switzerland), Alvaro Morata (Spain), Fabian Ruiz (Spain), Dani Carvajal (Spain), Nedim Bajrami (Albania), Alessandro Bastani (Italy), Nicolo Barella (Italy), Adam Buksa (Poland), Wout Weghorst (Netherlands), Christian Eriksen (Denmark), Erik Janza (Slovenia), Jude Bellingham (England), Nicolae Stanciu (Romania), Denis Dragus (Romania), Mert Muldur (Turkey), Arda Guler (Turkey), Kerem Akturkoglu (Turkey), Lukas Provod (Czech Republic), Francisco Conceicao (Portugal), Qazim Laci (Albania), Andrej Kramaric (Croatia), Klaus Gjasula (Albania), Ilkay Gundogan (Germany), Scott McTominay (Scotland), Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland), Zan Karnicnik (Slovenia), Luka Jovic (Serbia), Harry Kane (England), Morten Hjulmand (Denmark), Mykola Shaparenko (Ukraine), Roman Yaremchuk (Ukraine), Gernot Trauner (Austria), Krzysztof Piatek (Poland), Christoph Baumgartner (Austria), Marko Arnautovic (Austria), Patrik Schick (Czech Republic), Bernardo Silva (Portugal), Bruno Fernandes (Portugal), Youri Tielemans (Belgium), Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium), Dan Ndoye (Switzerland), Kevin Csoboth (Hungary), Ferran Torres (Spain), Luka Modric (Croatia), Mattia Zaccagni (Italy), Kylian Mbappe (France), Romano Schmid (Austria), Memphis Depay (Netherlands), Robert Lewandowski (Poland), Marcel Sabitzer (Austria), Ondrej Duda (Slovakia), Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Georgia), Hakan Calhanoglu (Turkey), Tomas Soucek (Czech Republic), Cenk Tosun (Turkey)
7 own goals Antonio Rudiger (Germany) for Scotland, Maximilian Wober (Austria) for France, Robin Hranac (Czech Republic) for Portugal, Klaus Gjasula (Albania) for Croatia, Riccardo Calafiori (Italy) for Spain, Samet Akaydin (Turkey) for Portugal, Donyell Malen (Netherlands) for Austria

 RED CARDS
Ryan Porteous (Scotland)
 v Germany
Antonin Barak (Czech Republic) v Turkey
Tomas Chory (Czech Republic) v Turkey

Saturday, 30 November 2019

Euro 2020: England and Wales avoid Group of Death

EURO 2020 FINALS DRAW
12 June 2020 - 12 July 2020
 

GROUP A 
Rome
Baku


GROUP B
Copenhagen
St Petersburg


GROUP C 
Amsterdam
Bucharest


GROUP D
London
Glasgow



[A1]TURKEY  [B1]DENMARK  [C1]NETHERLANDS  [D1]ENGLAND

[A2]ITALY  [B2]FINLAND  [C2]UKRAINE  [D2]CROATIA

[A3]WALES  [B3]BELGIUM  [C3]AUSTRIA  [D3]PLAYOFF [C]

[A4]SWITZERLAND  [B4]RUSSIA  [C4]PLAYOFF [D]  [D4]CZECH REP














GROUP E 
Bilbao
Dublin


GROUP F
Munich
Budapest







  [E1]SPAIN  [F1]PLAYOFF [A]





  [E2]SWEDEN  [F2]PORTUGAL





  [E3]POLAND  [F3]FRANCE





  [E4]PLAYOFF [B]  [F4]GERMANY


SEEDING POTS
Teams were seeded based upon their performance during the Euro 2020 qualifiers

Pot (1) Belgium, Italy, England, Germany, Spain, Ukraine
Pot (2) France, Poland, Switzerland, Croatia, Netherlands, Russia
Pot (3) Portugal, Turkey, Denmark, Austria, Sweden, Czech Republic
Pot (4) Wales, Finland, four playoff winners


ENGLAND and Wales were both given seemingly manageable tasks at the Euro 2020 finals next summer after the draw was made in Bucharest last night.

The Three Lions will meet some familiar foes in Group D, most notably a Croatia outfit who they lost against in the 2018 World Cup semi finals but then beat last year in group stage of the inaugural Nations League competition.

Gareth Southgate's men will also face the Czech Republic - who they played twice in qualifying with mixed results - and the winner of Playoff Path [C] which could set up a Battle of Britain clash against Scotland.

England are one of 12 tournament hosts - spread across the width of the continent - with groups having already been allocated to each host nation.

That means if the Scots make it through the playoffs at the expense of Israel and either Norway or Serbia away in late-March, the Tartan Army would also get to watch their own team in two of their three games at Hampden Park in Glasgow.

But, having qualified directly rather than through the playoffs, England will have home advantage in any match between the pair.

Reacting to the draw, Three Lions head coach Southgate said: "I'm never sure whether it's a good draw. We have played two of the teams before and for us to play at Wembley is something special. We are looking forward to the tournament.

"We have to accept that expectations have changed from where we were. We are very critical of ourselves. We would rather be a team that are fancied than a team with no chance."

Wales - who, memorably, reached the last four at Euro 2016 in France - were drawn into Group A, which is headlined by Italy, with matches in the section to be held in Rome as well as Baku in Azerbaijan.

Along with the resurgent Azzurri, the Welsh will also come up against Switzerland and Turkey, neither of whom could exactly be considered as giants on the world stage.

Both did win their qualifying groups, though - and Turkey impressively finished above France - but it could have easily been worse for Ryan Giggs and his fledgling Dragons.

Giggs said: "Logistically looking at it, it's Baku, Baku, Rome, rather than having Rome in the middle - so for the fans it's much better.

"Switzerland are a good team, talented. Turkey were in a group with France and Iceland so have done well to come through that - and Italy have won every game so that will be tough.

"I'll get around and watch the players as much as I can. You hope that, come June, you have a group of healthy players to choose from and if we have that, we're a match for anyone.

"We want to take our chance, just like in 2016."

Of course, Northern Ireland were also in the finals four years ago - and reached the Last 16 before being beaten by the Welsh.

This time, Northern Ireland - like Scotland - will have to navigate their way through the playoffs if they are going to make it into the finals.

Playoff Path [B] firstly takes the Northern Irish to Bosnia-Herzegovina - although, if they win in Sarajevo, they will have home advantage for the final against Slovakia or Ireland.

Meanwhile, Ireland - as one of the host nations - have the additional motivation of knowing they will play two Group E finals games in Dublin if they make it through themselves.

Three-time champions Spain head that section with Sweden and Poland rounding it off.

Elsewhere, the intricacies of the tournament resulted in Group B having been almost completely decided ahead of the draw.

Hosts Denmark and Russia qualified directly and were automatically assigned to the group, of course - while Belgium, as one of only two top seeds without hosting rights, also had no option other than to join them.

That is because Ukraine were the only other non-host among the top seeds - and, for political reasons, the Ukrainians cannot be put into the same section as Russia.

Facing two away games is not something with which the world number one-ranked Belgians were particularly happy - and midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has not been shy about expressing his feelings on the matter.

“It’s a disgrace," he told HLN Sport in Belgium. "For me this feels like competition distortion, a fake competition.

"Football is not really football any more, it's becoming a business."

Nevertheless, the allocation of major finals debutants Finland to the same group will surely go some way to softening the blow suffered by the Belgians.

Meanwhile, Ukraine were instead allocated to Group C - alongside the Netherlands, Austria, and the winner of the lowest-ranked playoff route.

Playoff Path [D] features Georgia versus Belarus and North Macedonia versus Kosovo - with one of those four going on to make it to a finals tournament for the first time.

It would be fair to suggest that the group as a whole does not look like the toughest exercise for the Dutch.

However, the same cannot be said of Group F - and, after much concern that England could get both the current world champions France from pot two and defending European champions Portugal from pot three, the pair were perhaps inevitably drawn together.

Instead, though, they landed in the section headed by Germany in what can only be termed a Group of Death.

At least it would have been in past championships - but, as in Euro 2016, four third-placed teams join the top two from each group in the Last 16 of the competition for the start of the knockout stages.

Therefore, it seems more likely that the Germans, French and Portuguese will all make it through in some shape or form, rather than any of them heading for an early exit.

Rather bizarrely, the foibles of this mis-shapen tournament do not end with the group stage draw - as the path into the latter stages has already been mapped out.

The winners of Group D involving England will take on the runners-up from that top-heavy Group F in Dublin for a place in the quarter finals.

Could it be better then to finish runners-up in Group D and instead run into the runners-up of Group E, most likely Sweden or Poland in Copenhagen?

Either way, if England progress through the group stage, they will head off to neutral territory for the Last 16 - while the hosts of the quarter finals will be Munich, Saint Petersburg, Rome, and Baku.

Of course, both semi finals and the Final itself on 12 July will be hosted back at Wembley - but let us not get too far ahead of ourselves.

After all, not even the full line-up of teams has yet to be decided.

GROUP A
12-June(8pm)TURKEY v ITALYRome
13-June(2pm)WALES v SWITZERLANDBaku
17-June(5pm)TURKEY v WALESBaku
17-June(8pm)ITALY v SWITZERLANDRome
21-June(5pm)SWITZERLAND v TURKEYBaku
21-June(5pm)  ITALY v WALESRome

GROUP B
13-June(5pm)DENMARK v FINLANDCopenhagen
13-June(8pm)BELGIUM v RUSSIASaint Petersburg
17-June(2pm)FINLAND v RUSSIASaint Petersburg
18-June(5pm)DENMARK v BELGIUMCopenhagen
22-June(8pm)RUSSIA v DENMARKCopenhagen
22-June(8pm)  FINLAND v BELGIUMSaint Petersburg

GROUP C
14-June(5pm)AUSTRIA v PLAYOFF [D]Bucharest
14-June(8pm)NETHERLANDS v UKRAINEAmsterdam
18-June(2pm)UKRAINE v PLAYOFF [D]Bucharest
18-June(8pm)NETHERLANDS v AUSTRIAAmsterdam
22-June(5pm)PLAYOFF [D] v NETHERLANDSAmsterdam
22-June(5pm)  UKRAINE v AUSTRIABucharest

GROUP D
14-June(2pm)ENGLAND v CROATIALondon
15-June(2pm)PLAYOFF [C] v CZECH REPUBLICGlasgow
19-June(5pm)CROATIA v CZECH REPUBLICGlasgow
19-June(8pm)ENGLAND v PLAYOFF [C]London
23-June(8pm)CROATIA v PLAYOFF [C]Glasgow
23-June(8pm)  CZECH REPUBLIC v ENGLANDLondon

GROUP E
15-June(5pm)POLAND v PLAYOFF [B]Dublin
15-June(8pm)SPAIN v SWEDENBilbao
19-June(2pm)SWEDEN v PLAYOFF [B]Dublin
20-June(8pm)SPAIN v POLANDBilbao
24-June(5pm)PLAYOFF [B] v SPAINBilbao
24-June(5pm)SWEDEN v POLANDDublin

GROUP F
16-June(5pm)PLAYOFF [A] v PORTUGALBudapest
16-June(8pm)FRANCE v GERMANYMunich
20-June(2pm)PLAYOFF [A] v FRANCEBudapest
20-June(5pm)PORTUGAL v GERMANYMunich
24-June(8pm)PORTUGAL v FRANCEBudapest
24-June(8pm)GERMANY v PLAYOFF [A]Munich

LAST 16
27-June(5pm)[38]  RUNNER-UP A v RUNNER-UP BAmsterdam
27-June(8pm)[37]  WINNER A v RUNNER-UP CLondon
28-June(5pm)[40]  WINNER C v THIRD PLACE D/E/FBudapest
28-June(8pm)[39]  WINNER B v THIRD PLACE A/D/E/FBilbao
29-June(5pm)[42]  RUNNER-UP D v RUNNER-UP ECopenhagen
29-June(8pm) [41]  WINNER F v THIRD PLACE A/B/CBucharest
30-June(5pm)[44]  WINNER D v RUNNER-UP FDublin
30-June(8pm)  [43]  WINNER E v THIRD PLACE A/B/C/DGlasgow

QUARTER FINALS
03-July(5pm)(45)  WINNER [41] v WINNER [42]Saint Petersburg
03-July(8pm)(46)  WINNER [39] v WINNER [37]Munich
04-July(5pm)(47)  WINNER [40] v WINNER [38]Baku
04-July(8pm)  (48)  WINNER [43] v WINNER [44]Rome

SEMI FINALS
07-July(8pm)WINNER (46) v WINNER (45)London
08-July(8pm)  WINNER (48) v WINNER (47)London

PLAYOFF DRAW
The home team in each of the one-off semi finals was decided on the basis of the respective teams' Nations League ranking. The venues of the four one-off finals in each Path were determined by a draw held on 22 November.
Path

[A]






Semi finals
ICELAND v ROMANIA
BULGARIA v HUNGARY


Final
BULGARIA or HUNGARY v ICELAND or ROMANIA

Group F
[B]






Semi finals
BOSNIA-HERZ v N IRELAND
SLOVAKIA v IRELAND

Final
BOSNIA-HERZ or N IRELAND v SLOVAKIA or IRELAND

Group E
[C]






Semi finals
SCOTLAND v ISRAEL
NORWAY v SERBIA

Final
NORWAY or SERBIA v SCOTLAND or ISRAEL

Group D
[D]





Semi finals
GEORGIA v BELARUS
N MACEDONIA v KOSOVO

Final
GEORGIA or BELARUS v N MACEDONIA or KOSOVO
Group C

Sunday, 17 November 2019

Kane treble leaves England feeling grand

(Q) EURO 2020 QUALIFIERS (Q)
AUSTRIA, BELGIUM, CROATIA, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, ENGLAND, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, NETHERLANDS, POLAND, PORTUGAL, RUSSIA, SPAIN, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, TURKEY, UKRAINE, WALES

ENGLAND marked their 1000th international with a thumping 7-0 win over Montenegro which sealed a place at the Euro 2020 finals in the summer.

Harry Kane scored a first-half hat-trick to take his international goal tally to 31, a total which takes him past the likes of Nat Lofthouse, Tom Finney and Alan Shearer into sixth place on the all-time scorers list.

By the time Kane got his first two, both through unmarked headers from corners, the Three Lions were already 1-0 up through Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's opener.

It was the Liverpool midfielder's first goal for the national team in more than two injury-ravaged years as he killed a pass from Ben Chilwell before firing past the helpless Milan Mijatović.

Chilwell, the in-form Leicester City left-back, in fact set up each of the first three as Kane gorged on his set-piece delivery and it quickly became apparent that Montenegro were going to be no match for a vibrant England.

At the interval, it was 5-0 as Marcus Rashford got himself on the scoresheet with a rasping shot before Kane completed his treble after turning his marker inside-out.

Inevitably perhaps, the second half did not provide anything like the same sort of fare for the 77,277 in attendance at Wembley.

But, still, there were two more goals to savour - although the first of those was merely the predictably comic culmination of an own goal following a bit of pinball in the Montenegrin box.

Finally, Kane's replacement, young Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham, completed the scoring with his first senior international goal - and, as such, became the 430th player to score for the Three Lions.

England were in seventh heaven as they recorded their biggest home win in 32 years to qualify with a match to spare.

Indeed, except for problems at centre-back following the poor defeat to the Czech Republic in Prague, the main worries during this campaign have come away from the field of play.

Racism reared its ugly head in the visits to Montenegro and, particularly notably, Bulgaria - while the build-up to this match focused mainly on the fall-out from the scuffle between Raheem Sterling and Joe Gomez.

Deemed the instigator, Sterling was dropped from the matchday squad while Gomez retained his place and was introduced from the bench for the last 20 minutes.

Sadly, and somewhat bizarrely, the Liverpool defender was welcomed onto the pitch by a chorus of boos from some sections of the crowd, prompting post-match condemnation from head coach Gareth Southgate as well as Sterling on social media.

Outwith that rather sour note, though, this was another night for Southgate and England to cherish as they became one of the 20 teams to make it through to Euro 2020 so far.

In truth, none of the big guns have struggled in this kindly qualifying process in which two teams progress directly from each group.

World number one-ranked Belgium made it through as early as last month and so did Italy, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and Spain.

Now, as well as England, a further 13 teams have qualified this week - namely Turkey, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Croatia, Austria, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Denmark, Wales and, for the first time ever, Finland.

A further four slots will not be confirmed until the playoffs in late March - and this is where it can get a bit complicated.

EURO 2020 QUALIFYING GROUPS
The 55 teams were drawn into five groups of five teams (A-E), and five groups of six teams (F-J). The top two teams in each group qualified for the finals.


GROUP APts
GROUP BPts
GROUP CPts
(Q)ENGLAND21  (Q)UKRAINE20  (Q)GERMANY21
(Q)CZECH REP15(Q)PORTUGAL17(Q)NETHERLANDS19
[D]KOSOVO11[C]SERBIA14[B]N IRELAND13
[A]BULGARIA64Luxembourg4[D]BELARUS4
5Montenegro35Lithuania15Estonia1



















GROUP DPts
GROUP EPts
GROUP FPts
(Q)SWITZERLAND17(Q)CROATIA17(Q)SPAIN26
(Q)DENMARK16(Q)WALES14(Q)SWEDEN21
[B]IRELAND13[D]SLOVAKIA13[C]NORWAY17
[D]GEORGIA8[A]HUNGARY12[A]ROMANIA14
5Gibraltar05Azerbaijan15Faroe Islands3






6Malta3



















GROUP GPts
GROUP HPts
GROUP IPts
(Q)POLAND25(Q)FRANCE25(Q)BELGIUM30
(Q)AUSTRIA19(Q)TURKEY23(Q)RUSSIA24
[D]N MACEDONIA14[A]ICELAND19[C]SCOTLAND15
4Slovenia144Albania134Cyprus10
[C]ISRAEL115Andorra45Kazakhstan10
6Latvia36Moldova36San Marino0



















GROUP JPts





(Q)ITALY30





(Q)FINLAND18





3Greece14





[B]BOSNIA-HERZ13





5Armenia10





6Liechtenstein2






NATIONS LEAGUE STANDINGS
The final standings in the 2018-2019 Nations League determined the 16 teams who will compete in the Euro 2020 playoffs in March, as follows:
  1. All available group winners were selected.
  2. If a group winner had already qualified through the Euro 2020 qualifying group stage (as above), they were replaced by the next best-ranked team from the same league which had not also already qualified.
  3. If fewer than four teams from a given league had failed to qualify, then the remaining spaces for that league were allocated by the overall ranking:
    (a) if the league had a group winner* selected for the play-offs, the next best team in the overall ranking from a lower league was selected
    (b) if the league had no group winner available, the best team in the overall ranking was selected.

LEAGUE A
LEAGUE B
LEAGUE C
LEAGUE D
(Q)PORTUGAL[B]BOSNIA-HERZ  [C]SCOTLAND  [D]GEORGIA
(Q)NETHERLANDS  (Q)UKRAINE[C]NORWAY[D]N MACEDONIA
(Q)ENGLAND(Q)DENMARK[C]SERBIA[D]KOSOVO
(Q)SWITZERLAND(Q)SWEDEN(Q)FINLAND[D]BELARUS

(Q)

BELGIUM

(Q)

RUSSIA

[A]

BULGARIA

44

Luxembourg
(Q)FRANCE(Q)AUSTRIA[C]ISRAEL45Armenia
(Q)SPAIN(Q)WALES[A]HUNGARY46Azerbaijan
(Q)ITALY(Q)CZECH REP[A]ROMANIA47Kazakhstan
(Q)CROATIA[B]SLOVAKIA33Greece48Moldova
(Q)POLAND(Q)TURKEY34Albania49Gibraltar
(Q)GERMANY[B]IRELAND35Montenegro50Faroe Islands
[A]ICELAND[B]N IRELAND36Cyprus51Latvia




37Estonia52Liechtenstein




38Slovenia53Andorra




39Lithuania54Malta






55San Marino
*Note The top four teams in each league as listed above won their Nations League group

Remember the Nations League? Well, the performance of teams in their respective league divisions are the key to their qualifying prospects.

League D is simple enough to understand. None of the Nations League group winners - Georgia, North Macedonia, Kosovo or Belarus - were able to qualify through their respective groups and so they will all feature in the playoffs with the winner of their 'path' going on to progress to the finals.

It is largely the same story in League C with Scotland, Norway and Serbia all failing to make it through to the finals in their qualifying groups.

Finland did make it through, however - so their place will be taken by Bulgaria, Israel, Hungary or Romania as determined by a draw on Friday.

In League B, Bosnia-Herzegovina were the only Nations League winners needing to fall back on the playoffs but the remaining places will be filled by the three spare teams from the same division - Slovakia, Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Unsurprisingly, it was all rather different among the big guns of League A with only Iceland finishing outside of the top two of their group.

That, in itself, is something which is perhaps not so much of a shock given previously they were punching well above their weight.

But system has still come to the benefit of the Icelanders - for, as the only League A team, the three vacant places in their divisional playoff path have been back-filled by the remaining unallocated teams from down in League C.

Meanwhile, the finals draw on 30 November in Bucharest is still more convoluted again.

There are no fewer than 12 host cities, all in different countries, with seven of those having qualified while another three may yet make it through via the playoffs.

The complication comes from the fact that the host nations will stage at least two and possibly three of their own countries' group matches in the finals, based upon performance in the qualifiers.

Hosts have already been allocated groups in line with this - and, as such, England already know that they will be at Wembley for their three Group D matches.

Meanwhile, Scotland - if they make it through the back door - will get two home games in the same section, but they will play England in London.

In Groups A, C, E and F, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Germany will get three home games in Rome, Amsterdam, Bilbao and Munich respectively.

Otherwise, the remaining teams slot in somewhere or other - but, frankly, it has got too complicated even for me!

Regardless of this migraine-inducing format for a tournament, though, England can consider themselves to be in a decent position.

Both semi finals on 7 and 8 July, and the Final on 12 July will be held at Wembley - so, if a young Three Lions team happen to pay out early on their promise, home advantage awaits.