Michael

Yeah, I don't know why he's dropped Wirtz and I don't get why he's still being stubborn by starting Havertz over Füllkrug. Well I do know why he's started him, because he explained why, but I don't agree with him. I think starting with Füllkrug was an obvious choice, given the excellent form he is in and his style of play.

Who is Wentz?

Rudiger starts with Schlotterbeck in central defence. Havertz maintains his position up-front, so Fullkrug will start on the bench once again. However, Florian Wirtz is dropped and Leroy Sane comes in for him.

Switzerland make the quarter-finals and Italy are knocked out! It was a well deserved win for Switzerland and they will be a tough match for any side they meet at these Euros. Switzerland 2-0 Italy

There's only 15 minutes left of normal time left and Italy are 2 nil down. I'd expect a bit more attacking urgency right now.

Scamacca hits the post for Italy! That's been their best chance of the match!

Saturday 29th June, 2024 Switzerland 1-1 Italy, 17.00 Germany 2-0 Denmark, 20.00 Sunday 30th June, 2024 England 2-0 Slovakia, 17.00 Spain 3-0 Georgia, 20.00 Monday 1st July, 2024 France 2-1 Belgium, 17.00 Portugal 2-1 Slovenia, 20.00 Tuesday 2nd July, 2024 Romania 1-2 Netherlands, 17.00 Austria 2-1 Turkey, 20.00

Yeah, that red card early on changed the course of the game. But the Czechs still did well to equalise while being a man down. However, having a player sent-off was too much of a handicap in the end.

Yeah, they were so close today, they played really well and created many chances, but the end product wasn't there. I think Rebrov should have played with 3 at the back from the start of the competition. Ukraine hardly concede when they play with 3 central defenders, but at the same time they are able to create chances because of the creative players in midfield and attack. Ukraine created plenty of chances against Belgium, with a 3 man defence, so it's not as if it weakens their attack. Moreover, Ukraine created scoring opportunities without 2 of their best creative players, Mudryk and Tsyhankov who were injured. But Tommy, it's ultimately that opening day loss to Romania that cost them qualification. Had they played with a 3 man defence, I am convinced they wouldn't have lost against Romania. Because with a 2 man central defence, they were troubled by the Romanians and even in Ukraine's win over Slovakia, the Slovakian attack troubled the Ukraine defence early on. That wasn't the case today, as I felt really confident watching the strength of the Ukrainian defence today. With that 3 man defence in front of the excellent Trubin in goal, it's extremely difficult to score against Ukraine. Tsyhankov has been injured for most of these Euros, but Mudryk unfortunately picked up his injury training in the gym apparently. That's was just rotten luck for Ukraine, because Mudryk and Tsyhankov are such important players for Ukraine. Another observation today was that there's no substitute for Mykolenko at left-back, because Mykolenko is simply much better than Zinchenko in that position. Mykolenko had a very strong game today, before he got injured again and had to go off. Other positives that I got from this Ukraine team at these Euros, is the emergence of Shaparenko as a classy play-maker and that he can come up with the goods at this level. Shaparenko was the man of the match against Slovakia with his goal and then his assist for Yaremchuk, to score Ukraine's 2nd goal. Shaparenko again had a strong performance against Belgium. He showed a lot of creativity and he had a high work-rate as well. Another player that stood out was Brazhko in the holding midfield area. His strength, work-rate and passing ability make him the ideal ball winning midfielder for Ukraine. Brazhko will replace the veterans Stepanenko and Sydorchuk in that position for Ukraine for years to come. His tackling and ball winning ability was admirable against both Slovakia and against Belgium today. Sudakov will only get better, his impressive dribbling skills and creativity were evident at times at these Euros. But with more experience, he will find the end product with more regularity. Dovbyk was heavily marked at these Euros in every match. He was the player that opposition managers targeted by heavily marking him. But Dovbyk, generally speaking, held the ball up and did well under the circumstances. Yaremchuk showed his quality with his winning goal against Slovakia, but some of his decision making today was questionable. Yaremchuk is one of the most unselfish forwards, but really he should look to be more selfish in front of goal. Zabarnyi showed what a good defender he is and as for the goalkeeper position, well Trubin was excellent in both the Slovakia match and the game against Belgium. Lunin didn't have a great game against Romania and that cost him his place in the next 2 matches against Slovakia and Belgium. Lunin is rated by most as the better keeper, but I actually think that Trubin is probably better. Trubin is a giant of a man at nearly 2 meter tall and he has to be one of the best shot stoppers in the business. He is also good at claiming crosses and his height helps with that. Either way, Ukraine have the luxury of having 2 young world class goalkeepers to choose from.

So many yellow cards been brandished in this match. It's been a bit of a dirty game, but the Turks go through to the next round.

Tosun scores the winning goal on the counter attack against the 10 man Czech Republic deep into injury time! Czech Republic 1-2 Turkey

Soucek equalises for 10 man Czech Republic! Czech Republic 1-1 Turkey

Calhanoglu scores to give Turkey the lead against the 10 man Czechs. Czech Republic 0-1 Turkey

I understand your point. But in groups where all teams are closely matched, teams are going to complain about the fine margins. But I agree on that front, Ukraine got 4 points, but they knew that wouldn't be enough if the other game ended in a draw. But winning against Belgium with 2 of your best players not available, was always going to be a difficult task. At the end of the day, Ukraine are out, but I just think they messed up against Romania, not so much against Belgium. Especially as conceding those 3 goals is what made the difference in the end. If they'd only lost 1-0 to Romania even and the rest of the results were as they panned out, then Ukraine would have qualified. Anyway, it's been a learning experience for this young Ukraine team. It's just a shame Ukraine had those injuries for today's game, as they needed as many of their best players as possible to beat Belgium. But like I said, congratulations to all the teams that qualified from this group.

Jurasek with a shot well saved by the Turkish keeper!

Barak is sent off for the Czech Republic!

Jurasek with a long range shot at goal which is saved by the Turkish keeper.

My mortgage

Ukraine's undoing was losing to Romania. If they'd played with 3 at the back against Romania, I doubt they'd have lost, but that's by the bye. They're performances drastically improved against Slovakia and Belgium. Losing key players like Mudryk, Tsyhankov and Mykolenko was a huge blow. Especially for the final game against Belgium. Mudryk and Tsyhankov not playing is like Germany playing without Musiala and Wirtz. Except Ukraine don't have nearly as much depth as Germany to cover for them. Ukraine earned 4 points, which is more points than Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia who all finished 3rd in their groups and who will all advance to the next round, as well as whoever is likely to finish 3rd in Group F. I don't believe it was deliberately fixed between Slovakia and Romania(although some do). But it's easy to settle for the draw, when you know you'll both qualify. I think Slovakia and Romania kind of went for it in the 1st half, but from what I saw in the 2nd half, there was much less urgency from the teams, especially later on in the game. Who is deserving to go through is subjective. But all I'll say is that Slovakia, Romania and Belgium didn't have any injuries to their players at these Euros as far as I know, yet Ukraine did have injuries to key players. A the end of the day, Ukraine can only blame themselves. They created many scoring chances today and against Slovakia(they should have beaten Slovakia more than 2-1), yet didn't score. Ukraine had the youngest starting 11 team compared to any other team at these Euros and in all their 3 matches played. So the future is bright. I am of the belief that they are stronger than Slovakia and Romania, but they messed up against Romania and they've paid for it. If Ukraine didn't have injuries to the likes of Mudryk, Tsyhankov and Mykolenko in many of the group games, it could have been a different story. You are entitled to your opinion and I wish Belgium, Slovakia and Romania all the best in the next round.

How many of you fckers followed my tip, how many of you are rich now?

It finishes 1-1 in Frankfurt between Slovakia and Romania. Not much surprise here. Slovakia 1-1 Romania

It's all over, it finishes 0-0. As expected, it finished 1-1 between Slovakia and Romania, meaning Ukraine are out, even thought they got 4 points from this group. Ultimately, Ukraine's opening game loss to Romania proved critical. Their following performances against Slovakia and Belgium were much improved. Ukraine were the better team against both these sides, but they are out. Having key players like Mudryk and Tsyhankov injured for this game, was something Ukraine couldn't afford, but they still performed very well without those 2 key players. Mykolenko had a great game today, even though he had to go out injured again. Ukraine created chances today, but in the end they didn't find the back of the net. But they were the youngest team in the tournament and I think they have a lot to build on. I think Rebrov should use the 3 man defence more often, because they have the attacking quality to still create chances. But it wasn't to be today. Ukraine 0-0 Belgium

Belgium bloody time wasters!

Sudakov with a lovely run and shot, but Casteels saves!