Hola amigos and welcome to the Euro 2021 quarter-final review and semi-final preview. We’re only three games from the end of this wonderfully distracting summer tournament and the narrative is honing to a very fine point. We have two revitalised giants, a team on a mission and three lions on a shirt. Before we get into it, I want to make a point about semi-finals. Any team who gets to a semi-final deserves to be there; any team knocked out of a semi-final can go home head held high. There is no such thing at this point as ‘bottling’ or ‘choking’ – just four very good teams going at each other with only one who can ultimately emerge triumphant. These teams are each exciting in their own way and if you can make time to watch each of the three remaining games, I would strongly encourage you to do so. You want to be able to say where you were when the European Championship trophy is raised on 11 July.
But before we get there, we need to look back at the quarter-final clashes that brought us here and ahead to the semi-finals which await:
Spain v Italy
Switzerland 1 (1) – 1 (3) Spain
It may not have been as obviously dramatic as the buck wild day that set this tie up but it was emotionally as much of a rollercoaster. Luis Enrique has attempted to revive the Spanish spirit that their nickname (La Furia Roja – The Red Fury) embodies and his team tore into Switzerland from the first whistle.
Eight minutes in and they had manufactured a lead. A poorly cleared corner bounced out to Jordi Alba who leant like a young tree in a high wind to wrap his foot around a tracer bullet of a shot. Denis Zakaria stuck out a foot to block but with the pace of the shot, he only got enough on it to wrong-foot his keeper – Yann Sommer stranded as the ball zipped past him.
It could have been their cue to push on for more but, perhaps mindful of how Croatia had punished them for over-extending previously, Spain fell back on a newer set of old habits – the possession-based control of their 2008-2012 vintage, best described as the ‘keepy-offy defence’. They navigated their galleon to halftime safely but in hindsight, this may have been a mistake. Switzerland knew this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity for them and came out for the second half with a clear determination to leave no questions unasked. Dressed in their red strip, Switzerland subjected Spain to thirty minutes of la fureur rouge, or perhaps die rote wut.
Unai Simon stood tall as the Spanish backline was repeatedly shredded by an impressive Swiss attack. The Basque keeper was immense, his catastrophe against Croatia clearly put behind him. The Swiss bear hunt couldn’t go over him and couldn’t go through him, so they decided to go around him. The Spanish defensive pair of Aymeric Laporte and Pau Torres opened the door with a comical mix-up, Remo Freuler nipped in and rolled the ball across to Xherdan Shaqiri to open the angle. The Powercube made no mistake, and it was all level.
The roller had not stopped coasting though and when Freuler slid through both the ball and Gerard Moreno with both feet, he was shown a straight red card. Spain knew they had missed their past five penalties in all competitions, so they had 45 minutes of regular and extra time to avoid the shoot-out lottery. They could not. They pressed but their finishing was awful, and it was Sommer’s turn to be outstanding between the sticks.
And so, one of the worst shoot-outs I’ve had the pleasure of watching. For comparison, the Europa League final this year between Manchester United and Villarreal saw 23 successful penalties, including one by one of the keepers, before the other goalie missed. Switzerland and France scored a combined nine out of 10 penalties only the other day. This? Four successful penalties. Out of nine. Sergio Busquets hit the post; Fabian Schär, Rodri and Manuel Akanji in a row all took weak, telegraphed shots at perfect keeper dive height which were duly saved; and Ruben Vargas took his like Jonny Wilkinson, clearing the bar by at least a metre. Finally, Mikel Oyarzabal put the teams out of their misery, and the spectators out of our entertainment, and Switzerland’s wonderful journey was over.
Belgium 1 – 2 Italy
This was always the heavyweight tie of the round. Two teams coming off long (10+) winning runs, scintillating attacks resting on ageing defences, Bobby M against Bobby M. The last time these two managers had met, Roberto Martinez’s Wigan Athletic upset Roberto Mancini’s Manchester City in the FA Cup final. Here, Martinez looked to a similar set-up. Knowing Italy would keep the ball high up the pitch, Belgium coiled like a spring, waiting for a chance to let slip their dogs of war.
After Italy had a set-piece goal chalked off for offside, Belgium demonstrated their threat repeatedly. Kevin de Bruyne drew a strong hand from Gianluigi Donarumma in goal and Romelu Lukaku almost rolled the ball into the far corner of the goal only for Donarumma to intervene again. Outside those chances though, the rugged Italian defenders Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini ably marshalled the Belgian strikers.
The equally veteran Belgian defensive trio of Toby Alderweireld, Jan Vertonghen and Thomas Vermaelen were significantly less composed. Vermaelen attempted to clear a ricocheting ball but could only give it straight to Marco Verratti who found Nicoló Barella. Three red shirts pounced on Barella but he fooled them all – turning the appearance of a trip into a drag-forward into a half-second of spacetime. His instinctive snapshot cut across the helpless Thibaut Courtois and went in off the far post. Lorenzo Insigne added the second, stepping around Youri Tielemans and driving at the Belgian defenders. They wanted absolutely none of anything he was serving and gave him all the time he needed to create the kind of shot that was obviously going in from about two seconds before he actually hit it.
This tournament keeps you on your toes though. Jérémy Doku wriggled free in the area and Giovanni Di Lorenzo shoved him over in desperation. Lukaku converted the penalty and Belgium could go into the break only 2-1 down.
The second half was tight with chances for both teams. De Bruyne was the main spark for Belgium and his cutback looked tailor made for Lukaku to tap in, but Leonardo Spinazzola hurled himself in front of it like Captain America on a live grenade. It was his turn to spurn a chance to seal it for Italy up the other end, putting a volley wide when free in the box. In the end though, Italy’s cultural catenaccio heritage saw them through – blocks, defensive headers and tackles all celebrated like they were goals. The number one ranked team in the world is out and Italy’s unbeaten run now extends to 32 games.
This match
This is a real cream cracker of a match-up. Spain are less than a decade out from their never-before-seen period of world domination and still have a handful of players from that era. Italy won the World Cup immediately preceding and were the team Spain beat to confirm their third successive major trophy of that period. These two teams are European royalty but honestly I’m not convinced either of them would have overly troubled France had Les Bleus not tripped over their own complacency. I think Italy have both a better defence and better attack then Spain but if they can’t get the ball off the Spanish midfield, will it matter?
Denmark v England
Denmark 2 – 1 Czech Republic
The dark horse arm of the draw was stiffed. The “European-hosted tournament” has been pretty silly so far but hosting this quarter-final in Azerbaijan really takes the cake. Instead of a packed and bouncing Copenhagen or perhaps a 50% full Bucharest stadium, less than 20,000 fans made it out to Baku to watch their national team compete for a semi-final spot in a major tournament – an event not seen by the Czechs since 2004 and the Danes since 1992.
Denmark are still riding the wave of national goodwill generated in the almost-tragedy of the first day of this tournament and they dominated this first half. The Czech defence fell asleep at a corner in the fourth minute and Thomas Delaney could steer a header home under absolutely no pressure. The second was more picturesque – Joakim Mæhle took off down the flank and hit a first time cross with the outside of his left foot. The ball swirled across the box, evading the leaping Czech defenders for Kasper Dolberg to volley into the net, falling into a knee-slide from the finish for additional style points.
After the break, the Czech Republic came out hard. It took them almost exactly the same amount of time from kick-off as the Danes had taken to score; Patrik Schick twisting and hitting a cross past Kasper Schmeichel. They had a lifeline, but it was all they’d get. Denmark carried the threat for the rest of the game as the Czech structure dissolved in the heat of Baku. Mæhle was particularly culpable for spurning a clear chance to set-up Martin Braithwaite for a tap-in by going for glory himself and hitting only the keeper.
Both teams looked shattered by the end of the 90 minutes and the wisdom of forcing them to fly 2500km in the Czech Republic’s case and 3,600km in Denmark’s case – only for the winner to have to then turn around and fly 4,000km back to London for the semi-final – was not at all apparent, carbon footprint aside. The Czech Republic team can be proud of their tournament performance but it’s a crying shame more of their fans couldn’t be present to cheer them off.
England 4 – 0 Ukraine
I have a theory: English fans exist on a spectrum between two poles. At one pole are the traditional English ultras, the ones who turn up wherever England are playing, obnoxiously occupy the town square, get drunk, push locals into fountains and sing songs about the World Wars. These are the fans who boo the players for taking a knee at the start of the match to protest racism. These are the fans who arrogantly assume England are better than any other team, and who, when England inevitably lose, savagely lash out at the players for not ‘playing for the shirt’. It is the England of resentment, entitlement and deliberately flaunted ignorance.
At the other pole are the fans who are deeply aware of England’s limitations as a football team. These fans are eternally and almost pitiably pessimistic but who cannot help but hope whenever a tournament rolls around. The fans who want England to win with a burning intensity but who are constantly awed by the fearsome competence of France, the effortless flair of Brazil, the incomparable reputation of Germany. The fans who cheer the players taking the knee and are conflicted about how to show their unwavering support for England without aligning with the excesses of the ultras. It’s a younger, kinder England – flawed but attempting to understand those flaws and forge a healthy sense of nationhood.
This is, of course, a simplification but it describes at least a major slice of the dynamics we’ve seen with this English team and the media coverage of it. Because this England – the players and especially the manager Gareth Southgate – is completely aligned with that second pole of English support. They’re professional, humble, empathetic (and link and link) and clearly delighted to be here.
Previous English men’s national teams have foundered in games like this, so consumed by their own sense of superiority, egged on by the nationalistic press, that they utterly fail to recognise the threat posed by a team like Ukraine. Southgate, with his relentless pragmatism and desire to control the rhythms of a match, was never going to let that happen in Rome.
England took the lead early. Their player of the tournament so far, Raheem Sterling, wove infield from the wing and measured an orthogonal pass through two lines of yellow-shirted defenders and into the feet of Harry Kane. Stretching, Kane flipped the ball past Heorhiy Bushchan and into the net. Ukraine threatened only intermittently, a short backpass allowing Roman Yaremchuk to run through and shoot, but Jordan Pickford was more than equal to that test.
After the break, England blew Ukraine away. First, Luke Shaw dropped a free kick onto the broad target that is Harry Maguire’s forehead for two. Then Sterling displayed a delectable backheel to release Shaw, who again executed a flawless no-scope headshot – this time Kane the beneficiary. Three goals up and cruising, Southgate rang the changes and substitute Jordan Henderson headed in the fourth from a corner. No muss, no fuss and after 48 years with only a single semi-final appearance in major tournaments, England have reached two in a row. The last time they scored four goals in a tournament match? Nineteen. Sixty. Six.
This match
This is going to be the hardest match both these teams have faced this tournament. While that might sound obvious given it’s the semi-final, Denmark faced world number one Belgium in their group while England had to overcome Germany in the round of 16. The Danes will attack from out wide with genuine quality in their wing-backs and a very solid spine through the centre. England though look scary for perhaps the first time in fifty long years. They’ve not yet conceded a goal in five competitive games – the only other team to have done similar were the Côte d’Ivoire in the 1992 African Cup of Nations, who ‘only’ had to play five matches to win without ever letting one in. In Sterling and Kane they have the best attacking partnership still standing and their depth across almost all positions is intimidating. I’m not saying it’s coming home – Denmark will be a huge challenge, and the winner of Italy-Spain are at least England’s peers – but I am fixing plyboard over my windows and prepping my go bag.
Conclusion
One team out of Italy, Spain, Denmark and England is at most 240 minutes away from lifting the second most coveted trophy in international football. To get here, they’ve sent home Germany, Belgium, Croatia and many others. Spain last won this cup in 2012, Denmark in 1992, Italy in 1968 and England never. If you aren’t absolutely brimming with excitement about the dénouement of this tournament, the narratives winding through each of these teams, there’s no hope for you. Pull up a seat and enjoy the show.
The It’s-coming-home-ometer rating: 9 loudly tooting cars at midnight out of 10