Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell trained away from the main group as they prepare to leave isolation just before England’s Euro 2020 clash with Germany, reports the Press Association. Gareth Southgate has no fresh concerns to contend with heading into the last-16 ties with Germany but a decision needs to be taken on the availability of the two Chelsea players. Asked if he can realistically consider them for Tuesday given they only leave isolation at midnight, Southgate told ITV:
Well, that’s what we’ve got to take into account, really. There’s not only the training part of that but the psychological part of that as well, of course. They’ve had to spend a lot of time in a room on their own, so very difficult situation firstly for the two boys. You come to a major tournament, you want to be a part of everything and they’ve had to isolate through this period, which is of course difficult for anybody. And for us we’ve just got to make that decision as we progress.”
Would you throw Mount straight back in? Do Saka and Grealish deserve to stay in the starting XI? Should Foden reclaim his place? Is it time for Henderson to return to centre midfield? Would you consider dropping Kane? Let me know your thoughts
More good news coming out of the Denmark camp, where Kasper Hjulmand expects Simon Kjær to be fit for the quarter-final match against the Czech Republic. The Denmark captain went off in the win against Wales with what looked like a thigh injury. Hjulmand revealed Kjær is still undergoing treatment but the centre-back should recover in time for Saturday’s game in Baku, Azerbaijan. “They’re working on Simon and we all think he’ll be ready,” he said. Can Denmark win it again? For Eriksen? This is my favourite moment of the tournament so far …
James Dart (@James_Dart)
The rise, fall and eventual explosion of #Den fan noise for Andreas Christensen’s piledriver is just sublime pic.twitter.com/jyA0kFs4Lt
June 21, 2021
You feared the worst when Kevin De Bruyne limped out of Belgium’s win over Portugal last night but Kristof Terreur has just tweeted some positive news. Maybe the Manchester City maestro will be back for the mouth-watering quarter-final against Italy on Friday …
Kristof Terreur (@HLNinEngeland)
Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard will be assessed later today (scans). A video of the Belgian FA reveals that De Bruyne walked quite comfortably off the plane last night, carrying two suitcases. No protective boot. No limping. pic.twitter.com/B4Uv0EraYt
June 28, 2021
You can read Kristof’s pre-tournament guide to Belgium here …
A banner threatening Rafael Benítez if he joins Everton has been left near the former Liverpool manager’s family home, reports Andy Hunter. A banner reading “We know where you live. Don’t sign” is understood to have been placed near the home Benítez shares with his wife and two daughters in Wirral.
The Bobble (@ElMuchachoEFC)
To do this to someone’s family, outside the family home, is an absolute disgrace.
A step too far completely. We’re better than this as a fanbase 🔵 pic.twitter.com/Z7Wrcr7T8i
June 28, 2021
Read the full story here …
Some football news away from the Euros for a minute and Arsenal women have appointed Jonas Eidevall as their manager. The 38-year-old joins from the Swedish side Rosengård and was the “standout candidate” to replace the departed Joe Montemurro, according to Arsenal’s chief executive, Vinai Venkatesham.
He will bring the style of football that Arsenal fans want to see. He’s someone who likes to play on the front foot, high-tempo, attractive, attacking football.”
Suzanne Wrack has the full story …
The rain is falling here in London after a night of thunderous downpours so it can only mean one thing: Wimbledon’s starting. Djokovic, Murray and Kenin are in action on day one and you can keep up with all the goings on in SW19 right here with Daniel Harris …
It’s been a funny old year for Kai Havertz. A £72m move to Chelsea, a Covid infection, murmurings about wasted money, a Thomas Tuchel rescue act, the winner in the Champions League final and now the chance to “upset England”. You wouldn’t bet against it would you?
For anyone who has missed the fact that if England beat Germany on Tuesday they will win Euro 2020, here is how the draw is “opening up” …
Morning all. So the draw has opened up for England, everyone keeps saying, but right now it looks like the winner will co e from the other half of the draw. Italy survived a tough examination from Austria and Belgium dug deep to see off Portugal. Cristiano Ronaldo thought they were lucky to win, but if Kevin De Bruyne hadn’t got injured early in the second half surely his connection with Romelu Lukaku would have put the match to bed earlier.
UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020)
🗣️ "[The ball] didn't want to go in today."
🇧🇪🆚🇵🇹 Thibaut Courtois & Cristiano Ronaldo after the final whistle...#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/oBDyZG3f8j
June 27, 2021
Right, Rob Bleaney is going to take over for a little while now. I’ll leave you with him.
France’s mounting injuries could mean a switch from a back four to a three-man defence when they face Switzerland later on. The Swiss head coach, Vladimir Petkovic, will not make any special plans to target this weakness, though, and instead looks set to stick with the same team and formation that destroyed Turkey in the group stage. If Switzerland do beat France, it will be their first-ever knockout-stage win in the Euros.
I don’t think this affects us. These are problems for Didier Deschamps but he has so many good players to chose from. We have to test ourselves, prepare to find our own game and deliver. With all due respect to our opponents, we will try to advance tomorrow because at this stage you cannot go back. The only way is forward. For sure the game against Poland at Euro 2016 we deserved to progress, and on penalties you need to be lucky. We learnt from that game, and also from the defeat against Sweden in the 2018 World Cup. What is important is to keep the right attitude and believe in our strengths. With opponents like France if you give 100% and they give 100% then that’s just not enough. We have to go beyond our limits, beyond 100% and hope France stay a few percentages under us.
Meanwhile, the Switzerland captain Granit Xhaka seems to be preparing for penalties: “We will need to do our best for 120 minutes, and then we’ll see if it’s enough. What we want is to advance after three times eliminated in the Round of 16. This team is ready to make history.”
Spain beware! Luka Modric scored a sumptuous goal with the outside of his boot against Scotland and he’s been at it again in training. All hail the new master of the trivela!
HNS (@HNS_CFF)
🎥 Practice. Makes. Perfect.
🤩 @lukamodric10 #BeProud | #EURO2020 | #Vatreni🔥 pic.twitter.com/ITQQoBFIlU
June 27, 2021
I think I’ve seen Modric give the ball away once in three games. He’s one of those players who sees football through a different lens. He also looks in incredibly good shape for 35. When he was at Tottenham he credited his dad for giving him strong legs. Those genes are certainly coming to the fore in this tournament.
My father is strong in his legs, and I think I get that from him. I am stronger there than in my upper body, but that is what gives me a low centre of gravity. It makes it harder for opponents to get me off the ball.
All eyes will be on Wembley at 5pm BST tomorrow when England take on Germany in the last 16. One of the decisions Joachim Löw will have to make before the game is whether he plays Jamal Musiala in midfield. It was Löw who persuaded the 18-year-old to represent Germany instead of England and there is now pressure on him to start the Bayern Munich youngster, particularly after Germany’s lethargic showing in midfield against Hungary. Here’s Andy Brassell’s take on how it came to be that Musiala could end up helping to knock out the nation that made him:
Here’s a nice picture of Musiala alongside Jude Bellingham, now of Dortmund, who he could face in midfield if Gareth Southgate goes for youth over experience.
Archie Rhind-Tutt (@archiert1)
Bayern’s Jamal Musiala and Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham catching up before today’s game. Former teammates at youth level with England...but Musiala will now go on and represent Germany! (📸 Times Sport) pic.twitter.com/vlt7Z8LQRu
March 6, 2021
Felix Brych came in for a bit of criticism for using his whistle as often as he might have in the Portugal-Belgium match. It was the kind of liberal approach to refereeing you might expect to see on Hackney Marshes not the last 16 of a major international tournament. “Brych is a referee I usually have no issue with, but I found it mystifying that Portugal ended the game with all 11 players still on the pitch,” emails Kári Tulinius. “For a while it seemed like they had decided to do Italy a favour by hobbling as many Belgian players as possible. Which would be a big favour, as the understudies are a huge step down from the first 11.”
Spain will have Aymeric Laporte in the centre of their defence in the early-evening last-16 tie against Croatia. He scored his first goal for his newly-adopted nation in the 5-0 thrashing of Slovakia. As he wheeled away high on emotion he roared “Vamos!” Having been born in Agen and represented France up to Under-21 level he probably imagined he would have been screaming “Allez!” after scoring at the Euros but he was largely ignored by the senior team (he was called up three times but left in the stands on some occasions and injured before joining the squad on others) and switched allegiance to Spain before Euro 2020. Sid Lowe has spoken to the Manchester City centre-back, who says he doesn’t care what critics think about him swapping nations.
I’ve always been very clear that I’m going to be with those that want me, not those that don’t. I’m not saying France didn’t want me, but I’m grateful to those that ‘bet’ on me. Spain did and I’m trying to return that faith.
So what about last night, then? Belgium’s 1-0 win against Portugal was not the heavyweight classic many hoped it would be but it still had plenty of tension, especially in the second half when Portugal bombarded Spain in direct fashion and Pepe injected some needle into the last 15 minutes with some classic darks arts. But Roberto Martínez’s side showed some steel to battle through, though injuries to Kevin De Bruyne and Eden Hazard will be worrying with their quarter-final against Italy hurtling into view on Friday. De Bruyne, especially, was missed when he went off. The craft in midfield was lacking and against an Italy defence that will give away little, they will be desperate to get the Manchester City playmaker fit again. “With Kevin, it’s the ankle – he couldn’t really turn in the second half,” said Martínez. “With Eden it’s the muscle, but we have to wait for a diagnosis.” Both will have scans today.
And here’s Jonathan Wilson on how Cristiano Ronaldo showed he still has much to give, even at the grand old age of 36:
Good morning. So we now know we’ll have a mouthwatering quarter-final between Belgium and Italy under the lights in Munich on Friday night, with Czech Republic and Denmark making the long journey out to Baku for their last-eight tie on Saturday. Who will join them in the quarter-finals? Today, we have Croatia v Spain at 5pm in Copenhagen followed by France v Switzerland at 8pm in Bucharest. Spain finally found form with a 5-0 win in their final group game but it came against a shambolic Slovakia side. And their preparations for the match against Croatia have been overshadowed by the ongoing abuse of Alvaro Morata by some Spain fans which manager Luis Enrique has called “a crime”. Luka Modric was majestic against Scotland and will be their best hope of stitching together a team performance good enough to take his side past Spain and into the last eight. La Roja will do well to keep an eye on Nikola Vlasic, too, who was a real handful against Scotland and a constant source of energy and invention.
At 8pm, the world champions, France, are heavy favourites to beat Switzerland but the underdogs have been feisty in this tournament so far. Could the Swiss upset the odds as Czech Republic did against Netherlands on Sunday? I’ll bring you the latest news ahead of this evening’s games and I’ll also bring you the reaction to Sunday’s matches, in which the holders, Portugal, were knocked out by Belgium, for whom victory came at a cost with injuries to Kevin De Bruyne and captain Eden Hazard.
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