EURO 2020 FINAL REVIEW

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

10 JULY 2021 | Angelo Ziovas

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Italy v England

After a month-long tournament of 50 games being played, we are down to the final 2 of 24 teams of Euro 2020. The tournament has been brilliant but there can only one winner. Italy and England will face each other in the final for the right to be champions of Europe.

Italy, having only won one European Championship ever, all the way back in 1968, will be looking to break their European duck after 53 years, and 9 years after their last Euros final appearance where they were beaten heavily 4-0 by Spain, this Italian side has shown great qualities and looked hungry to win this year.

Roberto Mancini has managed to get Italy to this final only conceding 3 goals and continuing the amazing run of unbeaten games to 33 games, 28 of those games being wins and only 5 draws. Traditionally the Italian teams have been known to score a goal and then sit back and defend, this side is happy to score more should they need to and was certainly evident in their games in the tournament. They have also proved they can beat higher quality teams as that is something people had questioned after the group stage as they have beaten both Belgium and Spain en route to the final and looked good in both displays.

For the Italians, the injury of Leonardo Spinazzola did hurt them a little against Spain and will be interesting to see how they handle the loss of him in the final as he has been key up until his injury for Italy. Lorenzo Insigne will be key for Italy as he has been throughout the tournament, showing his quality scoring the goal that proved to be the winner against Belgium. Nicolo Barella has also been needed going forward as he has contributed well going forward while Bonucci and Chiellini will need to be prepared against the pacy attackers of the English.

In a similar vein to Italy, this could be England’s first European Championship win in history, however unlike Italy, the last time they won a major tournament was in 1966 when they lifted the world cup.

The English defence has been the talking point of their run to the final as they have only conceded 1 goal, which was from a free kick, meaning they still have yet to concede from open play. With that stat they will have confidence going into the final, believing that they can get through Italy who have yet to not score a goal in a Euros game this year. England will most certainly look to their attackers to try and outpace the Italian defence as they have shown to do so throughout the tournament.

Luke Shaw will prove crucial as he has been dangerous going down the left side of the pitch as he is joint 2nd on the assists chart, he will be looking to add to that and will be key to any attack England make. Harry Kane is another that has been quality throughout the tournament scoring 4 goals, where 2 more will take him into top scorer of Euro 2020.

Italy have never lost to England in a major tournament, with their last win coming in the group stage of the 2014 world cup. But, like Italy, England are unbeaten in their last 12 international matches, only drawing once and conceding just 2 goals. This game will most likely not see a lot of goals, possibly no goals and we see it go to penalties. The last time that happened was 2012 Euros where Italy went through on that occasion, however, as we have seen this year, the team who have won the previous game on penalties has not come out victorious in their next game. If the game goes to penalties, it may be advantage England as the Italians have come off the semi-final, winning that game on penalties.

Possible line up for Italy:

Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Emerson; Jorginho, Barella, Verratti; Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne

Possible line up for England:

Pickford; Walker, Stones, Maguire, Shaw; Rice, Phillips; Saka, Mount, Sterling; Kane

EURO 2020 SEMI FINAL GAME PREVIEW

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

06 JULY 2021 | Angelo Ziovas

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Italy v Spain

With the semi finals almost here, a massive clash between two European heavyweights’ looms. Italy v Spain who both made it to the final of Euro 2012, which on that occasion Spain won by annihilating Italy 4-0 on their way to a back-to-back Euros triumph.

The roles however seem to have slightly changed with Italy having gone an incredible 32 games unbeaten, and have only conceded two goals in the tournament, one of which was a penalty. Spain have gone unbeaten in 13 games however, but in the tournament thus far have been hit or miss in front of goal, as they have been lethal against Croatia and Slovakia, but not so great against Sweden, Switzerland and Poland. They seem to struggle to break teams down, and that is something that they will have to do against Italy to stand a chance at going through to the final.

Italy gained a measure of revenge when they beat Spain in the round of 16 of the next Euro tournament, Euro 2016. Facing each other again in the knockout stages, they will both be keen to get a win over one another and advance to the final.

Italy were rather impressive in their win against Belgium and once again proved very difficult to break down, so while the Spanish may get most of the possession, Italy will be dangerous on the counter attack. But both teams have also scored the most goals at the tournament with 12 for Spain and 11 for Italy, but with Italy scoring in every game they’ve played of Euro 2020, Spain have been kept out once however, so will be interesting to see how both teams approach this game.

EURO 2020 SEMI FINAL PREVIEW

EUROPEAN FOOTBALL

07 JULY 2021 | Angelo Ziovas

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Italy v Belgium

The biggest game in the quarters of Euro 2020 pits Belgium against Italy for a place in the semi-finals. Both teams have done a good job getting to this stage and would be a shame for either if they were to fall now.

Italy showed great resolve against Austria to find a goal against them in the previous round, and considering how Austria really pushed Italy, it could very well prepare them for the tough test that is Belgium. The Italians have been looking good so far in the tournament but remains to be seen how they deal with the tough opposition that is Belgium.

Both teams have only conceded one goal so far in the tournament and will be looking to continue to keep goals out. This game could be decided by the one goal, and both teams have proven they can do it. There is a decent chance this could be taken to penalties. Belgium may be without both Eden Hazard and Kevin de Bruyne, as they both came off against Portugal with possible injuries.

Belgium will be looking to continue their march towards a first major tournament win, as they have come close in the past, best achieving a runner’s up finish in Euro 1980. Italy was knocked out at this stage last time in Euro 2016, they will be wanting to make it further on. Whoever ends up winning, it will be a close affair, with whoever winning being one of the favourites to win. Italy have also set a new national record going 31 games unbeaten now, for Belgium to break that they will have to give it everything.

Possible line up for Italy: Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bonucci, Chiellini, Spinazzola; Barella, Jorginho, Verratti; Chiesa, Immobile, Insigne

Possible line up for Belgium: Courtois; Alderweireld, Vermaelen, Vertonghen; T. Hazard, Witsel, Tielemans, Meunier; Mertens, Lukaku, Carrasco

Switzerland v Spain

Yet another one of the favourites for the Euros Spain, take on Switzerland in what could be a very interesting match-up. Both sides are fresh off incredible round of 16 victories. Spain who beat Croatia 5-3 a.e.t, and Switzerland who stunned the World Champions France 3-3 a.e.t (5-4) on penalties.

Both teams are going to come into this game high on energy but possibly tired after both playing a full 120-minute game each. Both Spain and Switzerland have scored brilliantly in their last two games, with Spain scoring 5 in both of their last two games, and Switzerland scoring 3 in both of their last two games. This could either be a game of attack or a game of defence. But we have seen that when Spain do not take their chances they can be under threat from the opposition, Switzerland will be looking to score early as they did against France and make the Spanish come forward and break on the counter as they have effectively done.

If Spain want to progress, they will have to keep Switzerland out, while also taking any chances that come their way, which we have seen in their first 2 group games and even against Croatia a couple of times is something they have not done efficiently. However, when Spain are on top of it, they are hard to stop. Switzerland will be fancying their chances here after beating France and they will believe they can do it now.

Switzerland has only defeated Spain once with that win coming in the group stage of the 2010 World Cup. The last time they faced each other was in November of 2020, where they played out a 1-1 draw. Switzerland has the tools to beat Spain here, the question is, who will be most effective when the chances come?

Possible Switzerland line up: Sommer; Elvedi, Akanji, Rodriguez; Widmer, Freuler, Zakaria, Zuber; Shaqiri; Embolo, Seferovic

Possible Spain line up: Simon; Azpilicueta, Garcia, Laporte, Alba; Koke, Busquets, Pedri; Sarabia, Morata, F Torres