By: Chris Lewnau
Late Game Heroics: Hungary, Germany, Italy
Sports 101 will tell you that one should keep playing until a whistle is blown. Until that time, anything can happen, thus give it your all, don’t give up. Whelp, that’s exactly what transpired for Hungary, Germany, and Italy this past week. All three nations scored match altering goals with virtually the final kick of their respective game.
Firstly, despite Hungary shaken by starting striker Barnabas Varga being stretchered off and transported to the hospital due to multiple broken bones in his face thanks to a nasty collision with Scotland’s goalkeeper, Magyarok continued to battle as the team knew it needed all three points to stay alive in the competition.
Ultimately, with time running out, the Hungarians struck on the counter attack. Forward Kevin Csoboth slotted the ball into the back of the net at the 90+10’ mark. Csoboth promptly pulled off his shirt in jubilation and ran to the stands to celebrate. Upon sharing the moment with his fellow teammates and supporters, Csoboth broke into tears. He not only was over come with the joy of winning the match, but rather more importantly for earning the three points for his fallen teammate.
The magical moment will go down in Hungarian footballing lore, even though Hungary ultimately failed to qualify for the knockouts, thanks to Georgia’s miraculous record setting 2-0 upset of Portugal several days later.
Secondly, nearly simultaneously, Germany was in action against Switzerland. The Swiss, up 1-0, and just a toe offside from being 2-0 up, had the Euro 2024 hosts, Germany, baffled. Die Mannschaft was seemingly answerless in a battle to break down Switzerland’s defense.
As such, the Germans were facing the prospect of actually losing Group A, resulting in a date with defending champions Italy in the Round of 16. But, as destiny would have it, at the 90+2’ mark a delectable cross into the box found the head of substitute striker Niclas Füllkrug. The Borussia Dortmund man redirected the ball past Yan Sommers for a last gasp equalizer!
The draw earned Germany the point required to win Group A, avoid the combination of having to play Italy, followed by England (If Germany beats Italy and assuming that the Three Lions beat Slovakia), and re-instilled the championship belief that the home supporters possessed entering this tournament two weeks ago.
Thirdly, speaking of the Italians, Gli Azzuri went into matchday three firmly in second place in Group B. Similarly to Germany, Italy just needed a draw to maintain their position and advance to the knockout stage. However, the Italians were facing a desperate Croatian side that knew this was it for the Slavic nation’s golden era.
The Croats needed a win to advance, anything else wouldn’t suffice. As such, longtime captain and former Ballon d’Or winning midfielder Luka Modric struck early in the second half to put Croatia ahead 1-0. That lead would last for a while, well into stoppage time.
With prospects looking bleak for Gli Azzuri as seconds ticked away, Italy was gifted with one final counter attack. Croatia was caught out, and Modric, having already been subbed off, was left haplessly biting his shirt on the sidelines, only able to observe.
With the clock at precisely 94 minutes and 40 seconds, just 20 seconds from full-time, Mattia Zaccagni become a national hero as he coolly curled the ball into the far corner of the net. It was a sublime finish at the death. A kick that sealed Gli Azzuri’s chances of advancement whilst crushing Croatian hearts and abruptly completing Modric’s European Championship career.
Knockout Stage: Preview & Predictions
Courtesy of several surprising results during the group stage, we’re now looking at an unbalanced knockout bracket. The left side of the fixture list is absolutely loaded, featuring three-time champions Germany and Spain, two-time winners France, one-time victors Portugal and Denmark, as well as Belgium, currently FIFA’s third ranked team in the world.
Conversely, the right side of the knockout bracket boasts just three nations of serious note, which are two-time winners Italy, one-time champion Netherlands, and, according to ESPN BET, current betting favorite England.
Whilst nations like Austria, Switzerland, and Romania impressed over the first three fixtures of the competition, not many, if any, truly consider these teams contenders to reach the final, let alone win the Euros. Frankly, outside of Holland or Italy, you’d be hard pressed to find someone that believes even these two footballing enriched nations will realistically beat England, not to mention whomever comes out of the bracket’s opposite side.
Below are my picks from the Round of 16 through the European Championship Final. Note, the numbering associated with each nation is said team’s current FIFA world ranking.
Round of 16
8 Spain over 74 Georgia
16 Germany over 21 Denmark
6 Portugal over 57 Slovenia
2 France over 3 Belgium
7 Netherlands over 47 Romania
25 Austria over 42 Turkey
5 England over 45 Slovakia
10 Italy over 19 Switzerland
Quarterfinals
8 Spain over 16 Germany
2 France over 6 Portugal
7 Netherlands over 25 Austria
5 England over 10 Italy
Semifinals
8 Spain over 2 France
5 England over 7 Netherlands
UEFA Euro 2024 Germany Final
8 Spain over 5 England
Over the first two weeks of the tournament, Spain has decidedly been head and shoulders above its competition. Looking the part, La Roja come out of the group stage as the only nation to collect a maximum nine points out of nine, in other words, go 3-0. This record, mind you, includes a 1-0 victory over Albania with Spain having featured its reserve side, because La Roja had already clinched advancement to the knockouts. Rather impressive, I’d say.
As aforementioned last week, España is loaded at every level of the park, and more importantly, the players are performing at their best with confidence and chemistry, unlike fellow heavyweights France, England, and others.
Therefore, I foresee Spain hoisting the Henri Delaunay Trophy come Euro 2024’s end; thus, making the Iberian nation sole record-holders with four European Champion titles in the process.