By: Chris Lewnau

Germany - Today marks a full week since host Germany bossed the Scots off the park en route to a 5-1 win in Euro 2024’s curtain raiser. Since that momentous night in Bavaria, whether it’d be scintillating or auspicious, several plots have begun unfolding. As such, below are a handful of takeaways from week 1 of Europe’s premier international competition.

Most Impressive: Germany and Spain

Where else to start then with the aforementioned host nation, Die Mannsschaft. The Germans are off to a scintillating start to this tournament, led by Jamal Musiala. The 21 yr  old phenom, who plays club football for Bayern Munich, currently leads the golden boot race as top scorer with 2 goals from 2 games. The attacking midfielder has been silky smooth with the ball at his feet. The young man from Stuttgart has made defenders miss, created chances for both him and his teammates, and also, perhaps most importantly, struck the ball the great aplum, hence his two goals. Simply put, he’s been clinical.

If Germany can continue overrunning its opponents in the midfield and producing stout defense at the back, led by Antonio Rüdiger and Manuel Neuer, coupled with Musiala’s lethal form in the final third, then the host nation very well may have a date with destiny in Berlin come July 14th. 

Meanwhile, if Germany is to in fact get to the final, then Die Mannschaft will have to beat La Roja in the quarterfinals first, and that won’t be an easy undertaking. Spain looks like the class of the tournament, thus far. Similar to the host nation, Spain is 2-0 in group play. In addition to the undefeated start however, Luis de la Fuente’s side owns the best resume to date, with wins over Croatia and, most recently, the defending European champions, Italy. 

The Iberian nation has looked electric along the flanks, led by not one, but two youngsters across the front line in Nico Williams Jr. (21) and Lamine Yamal (16). That’s right, Yamal is 16 years of age, becoming the youngest player ever to feature at the Euros. For a player of his age, simply seeing the field at all would be a feat within itself, but to make matters even more impressive, the La Masia graduate provided a sumptuous assist to Dani Carvajal in his debut. 

Whilst Yamal dazzled in the opener, Williams Jr. ran Italy ragged in game two. Posing as a constant threat down the left flank, Nico routinely got past the Italian defense and ultimately it was his cross that led to the decisive goal of the game. 

Needless to say, the front line has been ruthless, but La Roja’s dominance doesn’t stop there. The midfield triumvirate of Pedri, Fabian Ruiz, and Rodrigo, has been stellar in winning the ball back nearly immediately after possession has been lost.  In addition, the incisive passing through the middle of the park and into the final third of the field has been mouthwatering to watch (Exhibit A: Goal #1 vs Croatia).

Lastly, Spain’s defense has produced back-to-back clean sheets. Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella was absolutely phenomenal at the back versus Gli Azzurri. He cleared and intercepted countless passes along the left flank, and as a result, Cucurella was a big reason as to why it took the Italians 44 minutes and 58 seconds to take a single shot against Spain. Whoa!

Without a doubt, Spain and Germany are on a quarterfinal collision course, and at this point, the winner will be heavily favored to advance to the final and perhaps the betting favorite to win it all come July 14th. 

Betting Favorites: England and France 

Speaking of favorites, heading into Euro 2024, England and France were co-betting favorites at +400, according to ESPN BET. Therefore, we’d expect to see world class play from The Three Lions and Les Bleus. However, England is off to a rather auspicious start to the campaign. Yes, Gareth Southgate’s squad is unbeaten, but they struggled to hold on against Serbia en route to a 1-0 win. Then yesterday, England once again struggled to hold on to its lead, except this time The Three Lions succumbed to the pressure put on by Denmark on way to a 1-1 draw. 

Thus far, England’s starting XI has looked disjointed in the midfield, and has lacked chemistry and composure at all levels. It’s shocking to see since this squad is loaded with world class players from clubs such as Real Madrid, Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Bayern Munich, etc. Players such as Jude Bellingham, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Phil Foden, Kyle Walker, and John Stones have all conquered the mountain top at club level winning the Champions League and domestic league titles at some stage. In addition, lest we forget, England’s all-time leading goal scorer is none other than team captain Harry Kane, a man that just set a new Bundesliga record whilst at Bayern Munich for most goals scored (36) in one’s first season in Germany. Therefore, it’s head scratching to see, just like all of his predecessors, Gareth Southgate not being able to get the best out of his England squad when it comes to the Euros (The Three Lions have never won a European Championship). 

Now with four points from a possible six so far, England will most certainly qualify for the knockouts. However, if Southgate can’t get his team clicking and playing with pride, then The Three Lions will most assuredly lose to stiffer competition. 

Conversely, France, whilst also winning its opening match by a slender 1-0 margin, faced a great deal of adversity having received and withstood some brutal play from the Austrians. Les Bleus’ top two attacking stars in Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann drew blood in this match, literally.

In the first half, Griezmann slammed into the advertising boards courtesy of a sideline push by the opposition. As a result, the Atletico Madrid legend received treatment for a cut to his head. Next came Mbappe’s incident. In the second half, the Real Madrid man sustained a wound of his own to the face as blood poured out from his nose whilst medics tended to him on the pitch. Prognosis, broken nose for Mbappe. 

France’s star striker ultimately had to be subbed off, despite trying to press on. For days thereafter, it seemed as though he’d be unavailable for today’s match against the Dutch. Yet, footage surfaced yesterday of France’s captain participating in training while wearing a French tricolor face mask. Therefore, it now appears that Mbappe may in fact be available for matchday 2 against the Dutch.

Between Mbappe and Griezmann, the toughness of these men is apparent, the desire to achieve greatness and be ever-present for Les Bleus and the nation is obvious, and the mentality is infectious. Hence, the 2018 World Cup winners, France, has now improved to sole betting favorites over the past few days to +350, according to betMGM. 

History Made: Slovakia stuns Belgium

One of the great subplots in sports is the underdog story. However, rarely in competitions at the highest level, such as the Euros, do we actually witness David beating Goliath. But, this past Monday we indeed saw the heavyweight get knocked out as Slovakia stunned Belgium 1-0! 

According to the FIFA World Rankings, this was the biggest upset in European Championship history as the Belgians are ranked third globally compared to the Slovaks ranking of 48th worldwide at the time of victory.

The performance from Sokoli was valiant. The Slovaks were the aggressors, putting Belgium under duress time and again. Now, it wasn’t all one way traffic, of course not. The Belgians had two second half Romelu Lukaku goals ruled off by VAR, which aided in this Cinderella story coming to fruition, but by no means was this victory undeserved for the Eastern Europeans. Slovakia gave every ounce of energy, sweat, blood, and tears, into pulling off this upset. If anything, as FS1’s color commentator, Warren Barton, stated during the broadcast, “sometimes you make your own luck”.

Conversely, Belgium is an absolute mess. Once again underachieving on the big stage. It appears to be the end of an era, an era dubbed the “Golden Generation”. Yet, the same era that failed to win any major silverware during its time that featured world class talent such as Kevin DeBruyne, Eden Hazard, Thibaut Courtois, Lukaku, the Tottenham Twins in Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, and more.

UEFA Euro 2024 Germany: A Sporting Spectacle 

The setting of the Euros captures the world in which fanaticism and patriotism collide and collaborate! It’s a special scene to watch and listen to. Right from the off, the Euro 2024 intro gives you chills from memorable European moments gone by. Seeing former greats, such as Ruud Gullit, Fernando Torres, Zinadine Zidane, Luka Modric, Cristiano Ronaldo, and many more, being recreated in their iconic snapshots in time sets the stage for what we are about witness LIVE. 

Follow that up with scenes from fan zones across the continent and live footage honed in on rabid supporter sections inside the stadium, coupled with the on-field pomp and circumstance that proceeds the kickoff, you can’t help but be overcome with pride and excitement, as well as the anticipation of soaking in what has yet to unfold. 

Euro 2024 is truly a sporting spectacle of which is rarely seen.