Some thoughts on Norwich City 1-2 Leicester City, as the Canaries go into the first international break of theseason winless and without a goal from open play in the Premier League.
Trouble getting a pre-match coffee should have been a warning
I met my mother and her significant other for a coffee and a muffin in the Morrisons café opposite Carrow Road before the match, only to have my dream of a refreshment break having raced down there from work thwarted by mum being told that ‘they had no cups left for hot drinks’. Excuse me? It’s 1.30pm on a Saturday, a matchday, and a big shop like that has run out of cups to have a hot drink in? Mum was furious, but thinking about it now it’s so hilariously rubbish. We left and found refreshment elsewhere but, Morrisons, you really have to plan ahead for when Norwich are at home. It shouldn’t be a surprise to you that you’re extra busy when there’s a match on. I guess it should have been a warning of what was to come on the pitch.
The Morrisons supermarket opposite Carrow Road, who had run out of cups for hot drinks by 1.30pm on a matchday. I didn’t call the police on them – this photo is from when the store was subject to a bomb threat.
VAR just isn’t worth it
The dreaded Video Assistant Referee (VAR) played its part in two major incidents in today’s game, having been virtually absent from Norwich’s first two Premier League matches. First, they were awarded a penalty in the first half when Leicester’s Turkish defender Çağlar Söyüncü went to ground clumsily near the byline with Pierre Lees-Melou. The referee gave only a corner, but after a lengthy delay with his hand to his ear was advised by the VAR to go and look at the screen next to the pitch. Teemu Pukki sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to get Norwich back into the match.
Having gone 2-1 down, the home side looked like they had equalised when Kenny McLean headed in from a corner. The whole of Carrow Road, barring those in blue and white at one end of the South Stand, jumped up in delight and it took some time for the crowd to notice the awful sight of the referee with his hand in the air, disallowing the goal, seemingly based on something seen by his assistant. After what felt like an age, VAR had decided it was indeed offside – 5ft 8in Todd Cantwell was standing in an offside position, apparently blocking the view of 6ft 2in goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel. The mind boggles.
Both of these, as far as I’m concerned, are further proof that VAR has to go – I’m not just saying this because Norwich were on the rough end of it today. Supporting a football club is about those moments of joy, those roars of delight, that greet a goal. Especially an important equaliser like McLean’s would have been. The VAR took so long to look at it that it surely cannot have been a cut-and-shut decision. Is this really worth destroying the soul of the game for? VAR doesn’t solve an issue, it just creates a new one. Norwich fans are still haunted by the perfectly good goal Pukki had disallowed for offside by VAR against Spurs in 2019 – to this day I cannot fathom how anyone could think he was offside.
Teemu Pukki was apparently offside here against Spurs in December 2019
Lees-Melou and Söyüncü came together at the opposite end of the pitch to me in my Barclay seat, but it looked like one of those incidents where everyone shouts for a penalty but no one really expects to get one. If VAR hadn’t been there, and the referee had just given the corner, I would have been fine with it. As it is, the system is ruining the experience of being inside the ground. With each VAR decision cutting short scenes of joyous celebration, a small part of football dies. Get rid of it.
Williams looks a useful addition
Brandon Williams is on loan from Manchester United for the season
I was slightly surprised at the signing of Brandon Williams on loan from Manchester United when it was announced on Monday. I had been impressed with Dimitris Giannoulis at left back in the first game of the season against Liverpool, and thought that a club like United wouldn’t be sending one of their players to us if they didn’t think he’d be playing a lot. I saw him for the first time against Bournemouth in the cup on Tuesday night and he caused plenty of problems down the left, though I found a right-footed left back to be rather odd. On another difficult day for the Norwich defence, I thought he was really good against Leicester. He is able to think quickly, put in the perfect tackle, and has a knack of nipping in just when needed. He could be very handy for the Canaries this season and it shows that there’s quality out there if you look for it in the final days of the transfer window.
We might be too nice for the Premier League
It’s fair to say that the step up in class from the Championship to the Premier League is huge, but there’s more to it than pure ability on the pitch. Leicester finished 5th last season, and for all their talent, were still time wasting, diving and getting away with sneaky little fouls all over the pitch today. If Norwich are going to stay up they should think about taking a leaf out of Leicester’s book – they won’t be the only ones who play like that. We’ve got to show more of a nasty side.
Disappointing to hear the taking of the knee being booed
There were audible boos when the players took the knee before kick off, and it was incredibly disappointing to hear. I can’t speak for any Leicester fans but I definitely heard jeering coming from the home supporters. What is it about a simple anti-racism stance that gets some people so worked up? The more they boo it, the more it shows that a stance like the knee is needed. If you boo it, you’re not the sort of person we want supporting our club.
The last time I, and most of the others at the ground today, had been inside Carrow Road was on 27th February last year. Norwich beat Leicester 1-0 with a driven half-volley from left back Jamal Lewis. 534 days on, almost all coronavirus related restrictions have been lifted and Carrow Road was back to full capacity. Having swiftly got through a long queue outside the ground, I took the familiar route to my seat in the upper tier of the Barclay end, where I saw familiar faces all together once again. It was as if we’d never been away – the masks on those faces the only sign that the pandemic had ever happened.
Carrow Road, ten minutes before kick off against Liverpool
It was quite emotional when a video was played on the big screen with the message ‘Welcome home, Canaries fans’ and the welcome the players received as they came out onto the pitch was something to behold. It’s good to be back and hopefully we’ll never be forced away again.
We’re not as good as Liverpool
Really, the main thing we learned from this game is that Norwich are not as good as Liverpool. We knew that already, so there’s no reason to be too downbeat about the result. Champions League winners in 2019, Premier League champions in 2020, Liverpool can put their slump in form last season down to the injury crisis they suffered in defence. Jurgen Klopp has a settled side that he has spent several years building and with Virgil van Dijk back from ten months out they look good for another push for the title. They also have a spell over Norwich, having beaten us in 13 of our last 15 encounters, so anything other than a Liverpool win would have been a major shock.
Positives to take
If you’re a pessimist, you might point out that Norwich starting brightly, fading away and then conceding goals is very much what they did on a regular basis when they were last playing at this level two years ago. It was the first game of the season, though, so let’s be lenient. All of Daniel Farke’s new signings did well and look like they will fit in just fine – when Milot Rashica and Teemu Pukki have played a few games together and developed an understanding their link up play could prove very fruitful. Billy Gilmour can pick one hell of a pass and Josh Sargent looked threatening in his brief substitute appearance. After a disrupted pre-season due to Covid-19 (which forced two friendlies to be cancelled) and players away at Euro 2020, things will get a lot better in the weeks ahead for City.
I’ve enjoyed Euro 2020. Major tournaments can often feel like they drag on but this one has been a good one. I’m sorry it’s nearly over.
All that’s left is the final.
Denmark continue to ride their wave of emotion
Denmark’s players celebrate overcoming the Czech Republic in the quarter finals
My last round up ended with two of the semi-finalists sorted – Spain and Italy – with two more quarter finals still to be played. The first of those was between the Czech Republic and Denmark, way out in the Azerbaijan capital Baku. The Danes took the lead after just five minutes through Thomas Delaney. The Borussia Dortmund midfielder was left unmarked at a corner and his powerful header down into the ground bounced out of the reach of the Czech goalkeeper and into the net.
With half time approaching a fantastic cross by Joakim Maehle found Kasper Dolberg on the volley, who volleyed in to double the Danish lead. Dolberg has impressed in this tournament, with that goal adding to the two he scored in the last round against Wales. The 23-year-old might find himself with a big money move in the near future (with no disrespect to his current club, Nice).
Another players who has had a good Euros is Patrik Schick. The Bayer Leverkusen striker got on the end of West Ham defender Vladimír Coufal’s ball into the box and managed to divert it beyond Kasper Schmeichel not long after half time to keep the Czechs in the game. It was his fifth goal of the tournament, making him its joint top scorer alongside Cristiano Ronaldo.
Denmark managed to hold on, though, and on a hot night in Baku celebrated reaching the semi-finals. A tournament that started with one of their players very nearly dying on the pitch and with back-to-back defeats to Finland and Belgium has gone on to see them reach the last four – and who knows? They could even surprise everyone and end up European champions, just as they did back in 1992 when they hadn’t even qualified.
England ease past Ukraine
England’s campaign had been flying slightly under the radar before they beat Germany at Wembley. A decent performance in the opening game against Croatia but only a 1-0 win, a disappointing goalless draw with Scotland and another 1-0 against a Czech Republic side who were quite happy not to top the group. They had got through the group stage pretty much untroubled, however, and they hadn’t conceded a goal. Another clean sheet and a couple of goals in the ninety minutes against the Germans whipped the country into a fervour and had ‘it’s coming home’ on everyone’s lips.
Harry Maguire celebrates scoring one of England’s four goals against Ukraine
A couple of hours after Denmark had sealed a place in the semi-finals, England and Ukraine kicked off in Rome. The victory over Germany was very much a ‘prove everyone wrong’ moment, but here England found themselves in the unusual position of big favourites for a quarter-final. Harry Kane settled the nerves just four minutes in by finishing from just outside the six yard box after an excellent pass by Raheem Sterling. England were well on top and when Harry Maguire headed in a second goal from a Luke Shaw free kick early in the second half Ukraine had no answer. Two more headers – one from Kane and a first international goal for Jordan Henderson – finished off a professional performance. England were in the semi-finals of the Euros for the first time since 1996, where they would play Denmark at Wembley.
Captivating semi-final sees Italy progress
With the pandemic making international travel difficult there were fears that the Wembley crowd for the first semi-final between Italy and Spain would fall some way short of the around 60,000 permitted. Those fears proved unfounded as a raucous atmosphere befitting of the occasion provided the soundtrack to a fascinating game of high quality football.
Italy were the favourites, going into the match with a 100% record in the tournament, while Spain had seemingly stumbled their way through to this stage, needing extra time to get past both Croatia and Switzerland. The Spanish were not to be underestimated and started well, RB Leipzig midfielder Dani Olmo causing problems for the Italians. Gianluigi Donnarumma is already, at 22, one of the best goalkeepers in the world but there was a hint that the pressure was getting to him as he made some uncharacteristic mistakes in the first half. Spain couldn’t capitalise, though, with Mikel Oyarzabal missing two glorious chances to score. Seriously, the 24-year-old will be having nightmares about them.
On the hour mark an Italy counter attack saw the ball at the feet of Federico Chiesa, who picked it up on the edge of the box after Aymeric Laporte had tried to scramble it away for Spain. Chiesa brought it into the area and curled a fantastic shot into the far corner. Italy had broken the deadlock.
Spain brought the much-maligned striker Alvaro Morata on a as a substitute and with ten minutes remaining he played a brilliant one-two with Olmo to get behind the Italian defence and slot in an equaliser. The game needed extra time and Spain had the better of it. Italy looked tired but, once again, Spain couldn’t make the most of it and a penalty shootout was in order.
Italy’s first penalty, taken by Manuel Locatelli, was saved. Olmo blasted Spain’s first over the bar. Both sides were successful with their next few before the unfortunate Morata had his saved by Donnarumma. The Chelsea midfielder Jorginho stepped up and was the calmest man in the stadium as he nonchalantly passed the ball into the corner to put Italy into the final. It was almost Panenka levels of cool.
Jorginho rolls in an incredibly cool penalty to send Italy into the final
England finally make a final
Wednesday 7th July 2021 was the date of England’s semi-final against Denmark – 9,142 days since their last appearance in the last four of a European Championship. By this point football fever had well and truly gripped the nation, and with hours to go before kick off the crowds outside Wembley were building.
England started the game well without ever really threatening to score. With half an hour played, Denmark won a free kick about thirty yards from Jordan Pickford’s net and Mikkel Damsgaard fired in a brilliant shot – the first goal England had conceded in the tournament. That wasn’t in the script. It could be claimed that Pickford should have done better as the shot wasn’t right in the corner but it was travelling at such pace I think you can give the Everton keeper the benefit of the doubt.
It didn’t take England long to respond. Bakayo Saka played the ball to Harry Kane on the right hand side of the area and he squared it in the direction of the onrushing Raheem Sterling. Sterling had already scored three goals in Euro 2020, and it looked for all the world that he was about to make it four. Kasper Schmeichel, however, had other ideas and produced a brilliant stop reminiscent of his father Peter.
Shortly afterwards, Kane played a delightful pass that made its way through the Denmark defence, where Saka was able to put it back across the box where Sterling was arriving once more. There’s no doubt that the Manchester City midfielder would have scored this time, had the Danish captain Simon Kjaer not turned the ball into his own net. There was nothing he could do really – he had to try to get in Sterling’s way and hope that ball evaded the goal. England were level, and from then on became the dominant side.
England beat Denmark in extra time to reach their first major tournament final since 1966
Every time England got a free kick in a crossing position they looked for the sizeable forehead of Harry Maguire, who very nearly scored but for a fantastic save from Schmeichel, who looked determined to spoil England’s evening after his quip in the pre-match press conference. Late on, England had a strong shout for a penalty turned down after a clumsy challenge on Kane – inexplicably, the referee decided that the incident warranted a free kick for Denmark. And that was that. Despite the introduction of Jack Grealish, who the Danes appeared to be terrified of, the game went into extra time.
Rarely have I ever seen a period of extra time dominated more by one side. In the first fifteen minutes, Denmark could hardly get out of their own half. England were piling the pressure onto tired Danish legs. There was a shot from Kane, Grealish stung Schmeichel’s fingers, and then Sterling weaved his way into the box near the byline, where he was tripped and a penalty was given. I’ve seen a lot of whining in the days since that this was a soft penalty – not for me. It looked like a penalty in real time and still looks like one in slow motion. Kane stepped up, had his penalty saved by Schmeichel (of course he did), but was first to the rebound and stuck it away to put England in front.
In the second period of extra time England were more defensive – Gareth Southgate withdrew Grealish and replaced him with Kieran Trippier, at first glance an odd decision but one designed to protect the lead. To be honest, Denmark never really looked like scoring an equaliser and after what felt like an age the referee blew the final whistle. England were into the Euro 2020 final.
Denmark had given everything. They had done themsevles, their nation and their teammate Christian Eriksen proud. But as an Englishman, the scenes of celebration at the end with 60,000 fans singing Neil Diamond’s Sweet Caroline were great to see. 55 years (!) after their last, England would play in a major tournament final.
So, is it coming home? Or going to Rome?
Italy won their only European Championship to date in 1968 – this is England’s first time in the final
Whatever happens on Sunday, the whole nation should see Euro 2020 as a success. England have so often been the butt of cheap jokes about how rubbish they are at football, about what an inflated opinion we have of our players – now they have a squad of players to be very proud of. In the early 2000s, when England undoubtedly had some fantastic players, it felt like they were incapable of putting club rivalries aside. The class of 2021 all seem to get on extremely well and want each other to succeed.
Beating Italy is an almighty tough ask. They have gone 33 matches unbeaten. They have, in Donnarumma, a giant in goal. The warhorses, Chiellini and Bonucci, in the centre of defence. The brilliant Jorginho and Chiesa in the midfield. England have their work cut out. There would be no shame in defeat, but the feeling that the story would be left incomplete would be hard to ignore. Football doesn’t really need a popularity boost in this country, but I’ve heard people who have shown no interest in the sport before talk about how they’ve been ‘really getting into’ England’s run at Euro 2020. We’ve all, collectively, had something to celebrate after an awful eighteen months – is it too much to ask to go that one last step?
For some reason, I failed to write about the second week of Euro 2020. Having made this great declaration of rounding up each week of the tournament, skipping one when it only lasts for four is poor form. Apologies. Let’s get back on track.
England beat Germany in a knockout match for the first time since 1966
Here’s what happened in the second week
Since my last post, Scotland had their little moment with a heroic 0-0 draw with England (sarcasm is the lowest form of wit) before losing to Croatia and exiting the tournament. Their first major tournament in 23 years was over in eight days, and they’d scored just one goal.
Hungary held world champions France to a draw before Germany brought their campaign to life with a 4-2 dismantling of Euro 2016 winners Portugal. On Sunday 20th June the final round of group games began with Switzerland sending Turkey – who some of the pundits had picked as their ‘dark horses’ – home winless, while Italy kept up their 100% record with a narrow victory over Wales. The Welsh didn’t mind, though, as they went through to the last 16 along with the Azzurri.
In Group B, a stirring performance from Denmark saw them thrash Russia 4-1 in Copenhagen, marking a delightful fightback from the trauma of Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest and sending them through. At one point it looked like Teemu Pukki and Finland might sneak through but their defeat to Belgium coupled with the Danish result brough their first major tournament to an end at the group stage. On the same day in Group C, unfancied Austria found a way into the second round by beating Ukraine, while plucky North Macedonia bowed out to the flying Netherlands.
Denmark were superb in beating Russia 4-1 to make it into the second round
England secured their passage through the group without conceding a goal by beating the Czech Republic at Wembley. Having finished top, they knew they would face the runners up of the feared Group F. The final round of games in that group were thrilling, topsy-turvy affairs – at various stages all four teams occupied second place. Eventually, a pair of 2-2 draws meant that it would be the old enemy Germany who would face England. In the other group, disappointing Poland were knocked out after a 3-2 defeat to Sweden, while Euro 2008 champions Spain reminded everyone what they were capable of with a 5-0 thumping of Slovakia.
With a 24 team tournament moving into a knockout round of 16 sides, only 8 actually took their leave after the group stage. As well as the top two from each group, the four best third placed sides also got through – Finland and Slovakia were the unfortunate ones to miss out.
The Welsh are sent packing
Euro 2016 was the first time since the 1958 World Cup that Wales had appeared at a major tournament, and they memorably made it all the way to the semi-finals before being beaten by the eventual winners Portugal. Having got through the group stage the Welsh had hopes of emulating that achievement. Denmark, however, had other ideas and on a chastening evening in Amsterdam ran out 4-0 winners. The scoreline was a tad harsh (it was only 2-0 until the 88th minute, and Wales received a very dubious red card in stoppage time) but it was a sad end for a proud nation. Their captain and talisman Gareth Bale was rather rudely asked on the pitch immediately afterwards if he would be retiring from international football – the 31-year-old decided the question wasn’t worthy of an answer and simply walked away.
It took Italy extra time to finally overcome Austria. Former Stoke and West Ham striker Marko Arnautovic thought he had given the underdogs the lead, only for his headed goal to be disallowed by the VAR for offside. Eventually Italy’s quality found a way through and they scored twice in the extra time period, though they did concede their first goal of the tournament with six minutes to go. Austria couldn’t find an equaliser but left Euro 2020 with their heads held high.
It was a bad day for Gareth Bale and Wales as they were knocked out by Denmark
The Dutch despair and the champions bow out
The Netherlands were the favourites going into their last 16 tie with the Czech Republic. Having failed to qualify for both Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, the Oranje had been a welcome addition to the tournament. However, in a cagey game, it was the red card shown to centre half Matthijs de Ligt in the second half that gave the Czechs the impetus. The referee, with the help of VAR, decided that de Ligt’s handball had denied a clear goalscoring opportunity. The Juventus player was sent off, the Czechs scored twice and the Dutch were out.
Also on their way out were defending champions Portugal, who were beaten by Belgium in a game far more entertaining than the 1-0 scoreline suggests. Half time was approaching when Thorgan Hazard – brother of Eden – curled in from outside the box. Despite their best efforts in the second half, the Portugese couldn’t find a way back, and you have to wonder if Cristiano Ronaldo – who will be 39 by the time of the next one in 2024 – has played his last match at a Euros.
Manic Monday
If there is a more exciting day of this tournament than Monday 28th June it would have to be really special. The first game saw 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia take on Spain, and it looked like the Spaniards had sealed their place in the quarter finals with a 77th minute goal from Manchester City’s Ferran Torres putting them 3-1 up. The Croatians weren’t about to give up, however, and a 92nd minute equaliser from Mario Pasalic took it into extra time. You might have thought the momentum would be with Croatia after that but, alas, Spain scored twice in the first period of extra time to finally win 5-3.
The second match of the day, between France and Switzerland in Bucharest, had a lot to live up to – and it did. Haris Seferovic gave the Swiss a shock lead fifteen minutes in, and they were still leading into the second half when they were awarded a penalty. Defender Ricardo Rodriguez took it, but the chance to give his side an astonishing 2-0 lead went begging as Hugo Lloris of Spurs saved his spot kick. Within four minutes of that failure to convert the penalty, France were in the lead. Karim Benzema – not a nice man – scored twice as the world champions started to show why they were most people’s favourites for the tournament. With fifteen minutes remaining, a fantastic strike from Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba seemed to put the tie beyond doubt.
Switzerland pulled one back through Seferovic’s second headed goal of the game, and then in the 90th minute substitute Mario Gavranovic finished superbly to spark wild scenes of celebration. It was 3-3, and just like Croatia v Spain, the game was going into extra time. Unlike Croatia v Spain, neither side could find a goal in the additional 30 minutes and so the first penalty shootout of Euro 2020 was upon us. Switzerland scored all five of theirs. France scored their first four, but their superstar Kylian Mbappe had his saved by goalkeeper Yann Sommer to seal a remarkable victory for the Swiss. In the space of two days the defending European champions, the World Cup winners and the World Cup runners up had all been knocked out.
Yann Sommer saves Kylian Mbappe’s penalty to send France home
England finally beat Germany in a knockout match
The German football team is not what it once was. Having won the 2014 World Cup, they were eliminated at the semi-final stage of Euro 2016 by France and suffered an embarrassing group stage exit at the 2018 World Cup, losing to Mexico and South Korea. In the run up to this tournament they had been beaten at home by North Macedonia and thrashed 6-0 by Spain. But they are still Germany, and England hardly ever seem to beat Germany when it matters. The last time they had managed to do it in a knockout match was the 1966 World Cup final. England’s exits at Italia ’90, Euro ’96 and the 2010 World Cup had all come at the hands of the Germans. Despite possessing the best squad of players in years it just didn’t feel like it could possibly happen for England.
Well then. At a raucous Wembley containing 45,000 fans, the home side showed their opponents plenty of respect in the first half, being very cautious at the back and hardly venturing forward. On the stroke of half time, a tackle on Raheem Sterling saw the ball loop towards Harry Kane to the left of the German net. The England captain was presented with a golden opportunity to score his first goal of the tournament, but his attempt to take the ball past keeper Manuel Neuer gave defender Mats Hummels the time to put in a crucial tackle. With 75 minutes on the clock, thoughts were already drifting to the prospect of a penalty shootout. But the introduction of Jack Grealish as a substitute had made England more of a threat going forward, and the Aston Villa man laid the ball off for Luke Shaw to drill it across the box, where Sterling was waiting to tap in. Wembley has rarely been louder. England were in front and with less than a quarter of an hour to go.
Sterling very nearly went from hero to zero as a careless pass backwards allowed Chelsea’s Kai Havertz to put Thomas Muller through on goal. Muller has often been a thorn in the English side but on this occasion he rolled his shot just wide of Jordan Pickford’s right hand post. ‘That never happens!’ bellowed BBC commentator Guy Mowbray. Written in the stars? Maybe. Shortly afterwards, Grealish found himself in a crossing position and played the perfect ball onto the forehead of Kane, who expertly guided it into the ground. The ball bounced up, out of the reach of Neuer and into the net. After a few seconds where no one could believe what they were seeing, the celebrations reached another level as it dawned on us that, this time, it was happening. Germany had no time to make a comeback. England had beaten them in a knockout game for the first time in 55 years.
The fans inside Wembley marvel at England’s victory over Germany
England would play the winners of the game that kicked off later that evening between Sweden and Ukraine. Manchester City left back Oleksandr Zinchenko put Ukraine ahead with a thumping finish but Emil Forsberg equalised for Sweden before half time. There were no goals in the second half so extra time was needed – the fourth of the eight knockout matches to go to the additional half an hour. Sweden’s Marcus Danielson was sent off in the first period for a nasty tackle on striker Artem Besedin, a tackle which has since ruled the Ukrainian out for six months. Extra time was an awfully scrappy, stop-start affair which by the end of it saw Ukraine looking like the walking wounded. Just as penalties looked nailed on, Artem Dovbyk headed in an excellent Zinchenko cross to win it for Ukraine and break Swedish hearts.
The Italians look like the real deal
After a two day break, the quarter finals got underway with Switzerland taking on Spain in St Petersburg. Spain took an early lead when Jordi Alba’s half volley from a corner was deflected in by the unfortunate Swiss midfielder Denis Zakaria. The Spaniards created plenty of chances but couldn’t add to their advantage against a dogged Switzerland side. Liverpool’s Xherdan Shaqiri equalised in the 68th minute, and despite Remo Freuler being shown a straight red card for a bad tackle thirteen minutes from time, the Swiss held out to take the game all the way to penalties. Sergio Busquets hit the post with the first Spanish penalty, giving Switzerland hopes of repeating their epic victory over France four days earlier, but they missed three of their spot kicks to give Mikel Oyarzarbal the opportunity to put Spain into the semi-finals.
Later on, a pulsating first half saw Italy go in at the break 2-1 up against Belgium, ranked number one in the world. Nicolo Barella and Lorenzo Insigne scored excellent goals to give their side a two goal advantage, but a penalty in first half stoppage time from Romelu Lukaku kept the Belgians in it. To some surprise there were no goals in the second half but there was some superb football on display from both sides. Italy have been tight at the back, with elder statesmen Giorgio Chiellini (36) and Leonardo Bonucci (34) in the centre, and thrilling to watch going forward. Federico Chiesa seems to shoot every time he gets the merest glimpse of the goal, and this performance really set Italy out as the favourites to go on and win the tournament. As for Belgium, their much vaunted ‘golden generation’ are left trophyless once more, and with an ageing squad and manager Roberto Martinez leaving their chance to win something may have passed them by.
So there we have it – you are now up to date with Euro 2020. As I write this it’s Saturday afternoon and the other two quarter finals, Czech Republic v Denmark and England v Ukraine, are a few hours away. The next time I write one of these will (hopefully) be just before the final. It’s been a brilliant tournament. What has it got left in store for us?
We are now one week into Euro 2020 – and, yes, it is still called Euro 2020 despite being delayed a year by the pandemic. Probably because UEFA had spent millions on the branding for it. Anyway, with the intention of writing a weekly round up of what’s been going on at the summer festival of football, here we go.
Andrea Bocelli gets everyone in the mood on opening night
The tournament began on Friday night in Rome, where Italy played Turkey. The match was preceded by the opening ceremony, usually a dull and cringeworthy affair, but the tenor Andrea Bocelli superbly belted out ‘Nessun dorma’ while fireworks lit up the stadium around him and suddenly everyone was in the mood. Italy won 3-0, and backed it up with the same scoreline against Switzerland to mark their return to the major tournament stage having failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Andrea Bocelli got Euro 2020 off to a bang in Rome
Christian Eriksen puts everything into perspective
On Saturday, Denmark played Finland in Copenhagen. I was mainly watching that match to see how Norwich’s Finnish striker Teemu Pukki was getting on, but surely before half time I saw things I will never forget. Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen, their most famous player and one of Tottenham’s best players before he left for Inter Milan last year, collapsed with no one near him. You can always tell when something bad has happened to a player on a football pitch, as the others on the field will react with shock and wave their arms towards the dugouts, pleading for the medical staff to hurry up.
Thanks to some rather insensitive camera work by the host broadcaster (that the BBC later had to apologise for, despite it not being their fault), I saw more of Eriksen’s plight than I wanted to. At one point I could see his face, eyes open but expressionless, and then the medics doing CPR on him. I was reminded of the time Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane, a game I was watching with my Saturday night tea in 2012. I had to turn the TV off as I found it too upsetting. I then couldn’t think straight until I’d heard that Eriksen was awake and stable in hospital.
I’m not sure how, but the players managed to come back onto the field and complete the game. Finland won 1-0. Eriksen remains in hospital and it’s hard to imagine him playing professional football again.
Denmark’s shocked players form a human shield around their stricken teammate Christian Eriksen
Good start for the home nations… unless you’re Scottish
Wales were the first of the home nations to play in the tournament, drawing 1-1 with Switzerland in Baku on Saturday afternoon. Had Euro 2020 taken place when it was originally scheduled, the Welsh would have been managed by Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs – but he has been charged with assaulting two women and Robert Page is filling in, temporarily for now. It will take a lot for Wales to match the fairytale run to the semi-finals of five years ago but they already have one foot in the knockout stages after beating Turkey 2-0 in their second game.
England got their campaign underway with a 1-0 win over Croatia at Wembley, who had beaten them in the World Cup semi-finals three years ago. There’s a fair amount of optimism around Gareth Southgate’s side but questions remain about their ability to handle the big games.
Raheem Sterling scored the only goal of the game as England beat Croatia
Scotland haven’t played at a major tournament since the 1998 World Cup and the excitement was palpable going into their opener against Czech Republic in Glasgow, but a 2-0 defeat – the second goal coming from the halfway line – brought them back down to earth. Their next game is on Friday night against England.
The Dutch entertain and Mbappe sends a warning
The most entertaining game of the first week was without a doubt the Netherlands beating Ukraine 3-2 in Amsterdam. The Dutch were 2-0 up and seemingly cruising, but a stunning strike by West Ham’s Andriy Yarmolenko sparked a Ukraine comback only for right back Denzel Dumfries to win it for the Netherlands late on. Similar to Italy, the Oranje have been absent from major tournaments for a while (in their case seven years) and are keen to make the most of being back on the big stage.
Group H is this tournament’s ‘group of death’, containing both the current world champions France and European champions Portugal alongside Germany and Hungary. France met Germany in the first heavyweight clash on Tuesday night. France won 1-0 thanks to a Mats Hummels own goal, but Kylian Mbappe had a goal disallowed for offside and was also denied an assist by VAR. The 22-year-old looks set to take on the title of ‘world’s best player’ once Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo retire and his performance was a warning to the opposition of what’s to come.
Less than a month after the end of the season, they were no longer rumours. My first reaction was disappointment. I was desperate for Norwich to keep their most creative player, believing him to be crucial to our hopes of staying in the Premier League.
My second reaction was surprise at his destination. This brilliant, skillful, tenacious midfielder with most of his career still ahead of him. One of the best players Norwich have ever had, one who can make things happen and do things that other players just can’t. One who has just made it into the Argentina squad for the first time, surely to hang around for a long time to come. His new club? Aston Villa.
I felt sure that, with Premier League football now on offer at Carrow Road, were Buendia to leave it would be to a club in a European competition. When Arsenal (who will not play in any of the three European competitions next season) were touted as his next club, I said he could do better than them – and I meant it.
Buendia is rough around the edges, not the complete package by any means. He can win games on his own but if he’s having an off day he can quickly get frustrated. When that happens, he can be a bit of a passenger. Also, he tends to be so much better than his opponents that the only way they can stop him is by kicking him around the pitch. Occasionally, Buendia will react to this harsh treatment and more than once got himself sent off.
The talent is undoubtedly there, however, and I am convinced he will reach the very top. Which is why I am rather surprised that he has chosen mid-table Villa, and their not exactly inspiring manager, as the next step in his career. Having said that, I wish him every success (apart from when he plays against us) and I am grateful for the three years we had him.
From Norwich’s point of view, Buendia’s sale has come relatively early in the summer and the club have plenty of time to invest the transfer fee in new players to replace him. It’s a sizeable fee, too. City have an irritating policy of labelling all of their transfer dealings as ‘undisclosed’ fees, but Aston Villa are reportedly paying an initial £33m with another £5m potentially coming if certain, though unspecified, performance criteria are met. Should he move from Villa to the big club I expected him to in the first place, Norwich will benefit once again from a 10% sell-on fee.
This makes the 24-year-old comfortably Norwich’s biggest sale. Until 2018, the club had never sold a player for £20m or more. They have since sold three – James Maddison to Leicester, Ben Godfrey to Everton and now Buendia. In an interview with the BBC last week, sporting director Stuart Webber said that if the club sold one of their top players the figure is ‘probably going to start with a number three in front of it’ and ‘we’re really relaxed on that front’. He has been true to his word.
It is reassuring that this doesn’t appear to have come as a shock to the people in power at Carrow Road. While I was hoping they would stick their heels in, refuse to sell Buendia and build the team around him to take on the Premier League – like Villa did with Jack Grealish – the relaxed response from Webber suggests that new faces are already being lined up. I thought it would be worth our while spending a fair bit convincing Buendia to stay for just one more season, and that it would be much easier to replace Max Aarons if the club needed a big sale. For the size of the fee, we could potentially buy three players to replace the one we have sold. Speaking of Grealish, I imagine Villa must be expecting to sell him this summer now and have bought Buendia to take his place.
I do think Norwich have taken a risk in selling their star man. Buendia created an incredible number of chances in the Premier League last time, considering he was in the side that finished bottom. It will be difficult to find someone with as much creativity in midfield as him. It’s hard for me not to believe that our chances of staying up next season have taken a hit. However, if we’ve learned one thing in the four years since Webber and Farke took over, it’s that they know what they are doing and to question their judgement often leaves you looking a fool.
This morning, a major social media boycott by the world of sport came to an end.
Clubs and governing bodies from football, cricket, netball, rugby union and rugby league were joined by companies including Barclays and Adidas and broadcasters Sky Sports and BT Sport in not posting anything on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube between 3pm on Friday and 11:59pm on Monday.
The boycott took place with the aim of pressuring the social media companies into doing more to identify and punish people who post racist, sexist and homophobic messages on their platforms. The problem has been getting worse in recent months with several high profile cases highlighted by the media.
My team, Norwich City, were part of the boycott and encouraged their fans to join in – which I did. This meant that there was no official content from the club on the weekend it won the Championship title.
I see a lot of racist, sexist and homophobic messages online and, while I am a straight, white male, I find it very difficult to ignore and will often call people out on it. Usually it is because I am so astounded by some of the things they say that I feel the need for them to confirm that they really do mean the bile that they type. I am under no illusion that I can ‘talk them round’. I have written about sexism in sport in the past.
Some say that those on the receiving end of such abuse on social media should simply ignore, block or report it. I think that is the wrong stance. This pushes the responsibility onto the victim of the abuse rather than challenging those who write it in the first place. The fight against abuse has to be about changing attitudes, not simply keeping them quiet.
I hope this has helped to explain why the social media boycott was important and why I took part in it. No one involved expects online abuse to stop because of it, but if Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are shocked into action by a taste of what their platforms without the country’s biggest sports using them would be like then that can only be a good thing.
It’s a fairly long running podcast (I was on episode 398) by the people who do the sports pages of the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich Evening News. The topic is all things Norwich City.
As I’ve been writing a regular column for those papers for the last five years they asked me to appear, and I was both delighted and terrified to be asked. I’m very comfortable with the written word but actually speaking with my voice fills me with dread. I knew I’d regret it if I turned them down though so I said yes and I’m glad that I did so.
Alongside the host – journalist David Freezer – I was on with the chairman of the Canaries Trust Robin Sainty and ex-Norwich player Darren Eadie. Esteemed company!
We discussed the proposals to resume the Premier League season that is currently suspended due to the coronavirus epidemic and our memories of our first Norwich City games.
Darren Eadie had something of a bee in his bonnet about the way the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) have been handling the crisis, and the things he said in the podcast turned out to be newsworthy enough to make the board outside my mum’s local shop!
You can listen to the podcast below, by clicking the link in the first sentence of this post or by searching for ‘The Pink Un’ where you usually get your podcasts (Apple, Google, Spotify, etc.)
A few years ago I wrote a newspaper column in which I listed a few of the things that annoyed me about football and would lock away inside Room 101. Here are some more.
Transfer speculation
Sky Sports News goes into overdrive during the transfer window
Sky Sports News was practically unwatchable during January. The channel is famous for its ability to hype up the most mundane of sporting events but in what was a fairly quiet transfer window they outdid themselves. Constantly banging on about players I have never heard of going/not going to teams I don’t care about. Several times a day they would have round table discussions about transfers as if they were the most important thing on earth. I saw one bloke on there who seemed genuinely angry at a club for deciding that they were happy with their squad and that they wouldn’t buy anyone. Why wouldn’t you sign someone? It’s the transfer window! It is your duty!
Yes, Jim White, I do vaguely remember Nabil Bentaleb in his Spurs days. He was pretty average. Why are you getting so excited about him moving to Newcastle? Since its 2011 peak, deadline day has ceased to be even remotely interesting but that doesn’t stop Sky Sports News counting down to it like it was Christmas. The fact that the current system means this is all condensed into one month makes it even harder to stomach – my other passion is cricket, and even though the England team were in the middle of a fascinating tour of South Africa, news about it was pushed down the running order because Bruno Fernandes (who?) had been seen in a Homebase just outside Manchester. Or something like that.
Nabil Bentaleb in his Spurs days. I didn’t care then and I don’t care now
‘What do they need a break for? They earn millions!’
As I write this, the Premier League is embarking on its first winter break. It seems crazy that it has taken 27 years for the English top flight to take a leaf out of the books of nearly every other European league, but better late than never. Each of the 20 clubs will get a two week break in February, staggered over four weeks so the TV broadcasters still have some matches to show. Everyone’s happy, right?
Far from it. I’ve had several arguments this week with people who seem incredulous at this highly sensible intermission in a long season. Here’s a summary of the sort of comments I’ve seen online:
‘They earn millions. Why do they need a break?’ – I don’t know if I’ve missed something, but how does earning a lot of money stop you getting tired?
‘They didn’t need a winter break in the good old days’ – they didn’t play as many matches back in the ‘good old days’. Even so, I’m sure the players would have loved a bit of a break. Most other leagues in Europe have one and players have been calling for one here for years.
‘It’s not even cold, they should man up’ – the break has got nothing at all to do with the weather. This is simply the best time to have the break. It keeps the precious festive fixture calendar in tact and comes just before the return of the European competitions.
‘I play for the Dog & Duck right through the winter. I don’t need a break’ – well done, Barry. I’m sure your fellow regulars at the local boozer love a kickabout on a Sunday morning, after your fry up and before your roast beef. But we’re talking about Premier League footballers here. Elite athletes who are expected to perform at their best all the time. It’s usually around this time of year that performances dip and muscle injuries become more common – don’t you think this would be a good time for a little break?
The manager makes a joke about a journalist’s phone going off in a press conference
The Ghost of Arsenal Past with a textbook effort here
I have had it ratified by at least three other people that I have what you would call a ‘good’ sense of humour. I am, indeed, a laugh. But I fail to see what is amusing about a football manager making a joke when a journalist’s phone rings in a press conference. It might have raised a bit of a smile at first but it’s happened too many times now. Yet, the video of the ‘hilarious’ moment will be posted online and we are all supposed to watch it.
VAR
I don’t feel like I have to explain this one. Get rid of it and bring the fun back.
What winds you up about football that you’d happily see the back of? Let me know by leaving a comment at the bottom of this article or by tweeting me on @ncfclee.
LEE PAYNE 