The England and Netherlands national teams have become the last semi-finalists of the 2024 European Football Championship, which is being held in Germany. This was reported by a Lenta.ru correspondent.
The English defeated the Swiss, and the Dutch defeated the Turks. The teams will play each other in the semi-finals. The semi-final match of the tournament will take place on July 10 and will begin at 22:00 Moscow time.
All Euro 2024 semi-finalists have been determined
On July 9, Spain will face France at the Allianz Arena in Munich. A day later, England will face the Netherlands at the Signal Iduna Park in Dortmund.
The supercomputer of the statistical company Opta named the Spanish team as the favorite among all participants in the 1/2 finals of the Euro, estimating the team’s chances of winning at 32 percent. The second on the list of favorites is the French team with 27 percent.
England snatch victory from Switzerland on penalties
Photo: Martin Meissner / AP
The match between the teams took place in Dusseldorf at the Merkur Spiel Arena and ended with the English team winning in a penalty shootout. The regular and extra time ended with a score of 1:1. The teams did not hit the target even once in the first half. The first goal was scored in the 75th minute by Swiss striker Breel Embolo into the corner of the goal. Five minutes later, midfielder Bukayo Saka hit a low shot into the far corner and tied the score.
The teams did not score in extra time. In the penalty shootout, England midfielder Cole Palmer scored the first. Then Swiss Manuel Obafemi Akanji missed. Then Bellingham, Saka, Toney and Alexander-Arnold scored for England, which ensured the team’s passage to the semi-finals of Euro 2024.
England have never won the European Championship. They have participated in 10 of the 16 tournaments since 1968. Their best result is reaching the semi-finals in 1968, 1996 and 2020. The last time they lost the final match to the Italians in a penalty shootout.
Photo: Fiona Noever / Reuters
Switzerland has also had little success at the Euros. The team has been eliminated in all four of its quarter-finals at the World Cup and Euros, which is an anti-record among European teams. The team has qualified for the last five European Championships in a row. The best result for the Swiss at the Euros is reaching the quarter-finals at the home tournament in 2008.
England manager Gareth Southgate responds to team criticism
England head coach Gareth Southgate apologized to fans for the lack of a bright game, noting that the main thing for his charges was the result. The specialist drew attention to the fact that his team has young players who play against teams with very well-organized defense.
We’ve never been to a final outside England, we’ve never won the Euro. That’s the history we want to create.
Netherlands turn game around with Turkey in six minutes to earn last semi-final berth
The match took place in Berlin at the Olympiastadion and ended with a score of 2:1 in favor of the Dutch. In the 35th minute, the first goal was scored with a header by the defender of the Turkish team, Samet Akaydin. In the 70th minute, the score was equalized by the defender Stefan de Vrij. Six minutes later, the defender Mert Müldur scored an own goal, which helped the Dutch to achieve a strong-willed victory.
Photo: Lee Smith / Reuters
The Netherlands won the European Championship only once in 1988, beating the USSR team 2-0 in the final. Turkey’s best result at the Euro was reaching the semi-finals of the tournament in 2008. Then the Turks lost to Germany.
Turkish fans use ‘wolf salute’
Fans of the Turkish national team used the “wolf salute” during the performance of the national anthem before the Euro 2024 quarter-final match against the Netherlands, for which the national team defender Merih Demiral was previously disqualified.
Demiral celebrated his goal against the Austrians in the 1/8 finals of the tournament with the symbol of the “Grey Wolves” (a movement whose ideology is based on pan-Turkism – the dream of a great secular Turkey that will unite all “Turanian” peoples on the basis of blood – note from “Lenta.ru”). Following this, the Union of European Football Associations launched an investigation into the defender and suspended him for two matches.
The Turkish national team’s match in Berlin was also attended by the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The politician was outraged by Demiral’s disqualification for the gesture he showed at the Euro.
Source: Lenta
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