Euro 2020 LIVE: England vs Germany latest plus Wales v Denmark last 16 build-up
Keep track with all the latest Euro 2020 news and build-up to Wales v Denmark and Italy v Austria as the round of 16 matches begin
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Your support makes all the difference.Keep up to date with all the latest news from Euro 2020 as England prepare to face Germany with Wales poised to kick off the round of 16 against Denmark on Saturday.
Leon Goretzka came on to their rescue Germany in the dying stages of Wednesday’s Group F conclusion, which of course means Germany travel to Wembley next Tuesday to take on England.
Though Die Mannschaft represent a tough first opponent in the knockouts, England can still count themselves lucky to have fallen on the favourable side of the draw. Wales on the other hand have a very tough run through to the latter stages of the tournament, with Denmark up first, but they also feature in the same side of the draw as France, Italy, Spain and Croatia, while Belgium take on Portugal in the standout fixture, with Cristiano Ronaldo fresh from breaking yet another international record.
Jordan Henderson, who banked a half of football in the Three Lions’ final game against Czech Republic, has moved to rally his teammates: “We’ve got quite a young squad but I think that can be a positive thing. A lot of these lads just go out and play, enjoy the game, play with no fear. And that’s what they need to do again on Tuesday. Go and enjoy it, go and show everybody how good they are. Use the emotion and passion in the right way to give you energy for the game, because that can be the difference really. As an experienced player I can help with that and make sure we’re in the right frame of mind going into the game and make sure training’s at the level it needs to be over the next few days to prepare for that one. Everybody’s confident, everybody’s feeling good and we’ve got a good few days to prepare for a huge game. But a lot of the lads have played in huge games already: Champions League finals, Champions League games, cup finals, big games for England. They’re used to big games even though they’re young and I’m sure they’re looking forward to this one.”
Follow all the latest news from the tournament as we build up to the first round of knockout games:
Euro 2020 team of the group stage with Cristiano Ronaldo, Jorginho and Danny Ward
Boring or blitz machine: Which Germany will turn up against England at Euro 2020?
Euro 2020: Power ranking every nation in the last 16 by chances of winning the tournament this summer
England vs Germany: Can you still buy tickets for Euro 2020 match at Wembley?
Who will win England vs Germany Euro 2020 last-16 match and what are the odds?
No major risk for fans travelling to Euro 2020 games, say Uefa
Uefa medical chiefs are confident teams and fans crisscrossing the continent for the Euro 2020 knockout stages will not have a detrimental impact on public health amid the coronavirus pandemic.
England are the only team who will not be travelling to a new destination for the last 16 of a tournament which is spread across 11 countries.
However, the tournament’s medical adviser Dr Daniel Koch believes the benefits of the Euros must be balanced in the same way as other industries.
“Every day, a lot of lorry drivers are running around Europe thousands and thousands every day, and they are not tested, they are not restricted,” he said.
“Europe is interconnected, it’s heavily interconnected, the virus will not stop at the borders. We can restrict it but we cannot avoid it. I think that’s why we have to be in a balance.
“The sports, and all these issues, have to be in a balance. And if you put all this in balance I think there is no question that just this few thousand people travelling to the football matches are not making the difference.”
Euro 2020 chief medical officer Dr Zoran Bahtijarevic said the movement would not have a negative impact on the teams either, and that in some cases it was safer to travel internationally than within one country.
Best nations at Euro 2020 are about to turn the screw
Think a few of the players or teams have mildly under-impressed so far? That might be exactly true - but expect a few nations to really come into their own now the matches mean everything, writes Miguel Delaney.
“The rallying call [in dressing rooms] was that poor performances and negatives no longer matter. Those squads now have the confidence of qualification. Their tournaments only ‘start now’.
“That might actually be truer than the players think.
“If the feeling was that the opening rounds saved the best until last with those rousing games in Group F, there is an argument that they were actually only the warm-up for the real thing. That final night certainly fostered the idea that this was the true start of Euro 2020. This is when it gets serious.”
After group stage excitement, the real Euro 2020 now begins
The groups featured classic matches, thrilling spectacles and true emotion - but now the stakes have far bigger consequences and the 16 remaining teams have no safety net
Euro 2020: Latest on England vs Germany with press conference this afternoon
I’m off for my lunch now but will be back with more of today’s news later this afternoon. There’s an England press conference with Jordan Henderson at 3pm BST to look forward to.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with Karl Matchett.
Euro 2020: Round of 16 power rankings
The group stages of Euro 2020 are over, and the round of 16 gets underway on Saturday.
Italy have impressed in the groups while England did the opposite, where does each team rank so far?
Here’s Karl Matchett with his view:
Euro 2020: Power ranking every nation in the last 16 by chances of winning the tournament this summer
One half of the last-16 draw looks decidedly more packed with elite talent than the other
Euro 2020: Who should play for England against Germany
Gareth Southgate will have a selection headache when it comes to picking a side to face Germany next week. Jack Grealish and Bukayo Saka’s inspired performances have made the job even more difficult than it already was for the England boss.
Here’s what I think England should go with:
The back three is needed with Germany doing the same. Maguire, Stones and Walker have regularly played together and would do a good job.
England have had problems when it comes to dead-ball situations, and I think that Kieran Tripper would help to allieve those issues. We all remember that free-kick from 2018, but he put in many good deliveries across the tournament.
For me, how Saka played against the Czech Republic warrants a start, but Grealish will just miss out due to the tactical need for the rest of the team.
I spent a long time deliberating over whether Kane should get the nod but kept him in. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a great option, but Kane’s captaincy and experience matters.
Euro 2020: Dubravka’s howler will go down in history
There has been one bizarre trend to stand out in the stats of Euro 2020 so far: the sheer volume of own goals. From 1976 to 2016, nine of them were scored in European Championships; in the group stage of this year’s competition, there have already been eight.
And out of all of them, Martin Dubravka’s will surely go down in history as one of the most bizarre. He watches in anticipation as the ball drops from the sky, but then punches it into his own net.
He won’t want to see it again, but it will probably be all he sees for the rest of the Euros.
Euro 2020: Enrique relieved after 5-0 Slovakia victory
Spain head coach Luis Enrique was relieved after his side won 5-0 against Slovakia last night.
Their performances in the other two ground matches – against Sweden and Poland – had been somewhat lacklustre but this resembled a Spanish side more akin to what we are used to.
The football was free-flowing and the attacking was electric. Martin Dubravka’s own goal may have hurt Slovakia early on, but it was the utter dominance of Enrique’s side that shone through.
“It’s a relief of course – I don’t know about a liberation – but not just for me but in terms of what it means for our ability to achieve a convincing result via our style,” he said after the match.
“I believe people will have plenty of complaints but I really don’t think there can be any criticism of today.
“When you are a coach you know when you win you get praise, sometimes too much, and when you lose you get criticism. I think coaches know that better than anyone in the world of football.
“Now it’s about celebrating and then tomorrow we will prepare for the next match. I am sure there are things we can improve.”
Euro 2020: Why is VAR working so well at the tournament?
The standard of refereeing has been excellent across the entirety of Euro 2020, especially its use of VAR. The usage of technology has been far quicker than what we are used to in the Premier League and there has been an avoidance of the usual controversy associated with it.
Decision-making has been consistent and so we have seen far less of pundits criticising its usage, rather many have chosen to praise its usage.
Here, Lawrence Ostlere takes a look at why it has worked so well:
Why is VAR working so well at Euro 2020?
A dedicated offside official and closed-doors policy has helped Uefa to implement VAR smoothly from its headquarters in Nyon – and the Premier League is taking note
Euro 2020: Ronaldo levels with Ali Daei for goalscoring record
Christiano Ronaldo has drawn himself level with Ali Daei for the all-time men’s international goalscoring record after scoring his brace last night increased his tally to 109.
Here’s a look at how one of the greatest of all time has reached that record. 62 of his goals have come in international qualifiers with many others being scored in tournaments.
Crunching the numbers on Cristiano Ronaldo’s international goalscoring record
With his 109 goals scored across 178 appearances for Portugal, Ronaldo now sits alongside Iran’s Ali Daei atop the all-time list.
Euro 2020: Contact injury for Croatia’s Gvardiol
Croatia’s Josko Gvardiol was forced off with an injury against Scotland, but it should not keep him out of action.
Described as a contact injury, there are no concerns after a scan and he is expected to be okay for their round of 16 game against Spain.
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