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It's knockout time and Italy are the first big successful footballing nation to get knocked from Euro 24!
We have seen some of the current big teams not meeting perhaps our expectations in the group stage such as France, England, Croatia in terms of clinical performances and then even Netherlands and Portugal and Belgium all losing a game along the way.
England vs Slovakia
I am hoping Southgate trusts Bellingham as Englands best CM and Foden as Englands best number 10 to then select a different option on left wing such as Gordon or Saka and then have maybe Trent AA or Bowen on the right.
England will win this match even if they play it boringly safe, I think Slovakia have done well in their group but I can not see them hurting this England team at this stage of the competition.
My prediction England win, scoring at least 2 goals and controlling most parts of the game - wouldn't that be nice for England fans!
Slovakia of course have a chance but it's probably going to be from set pieces, England will be focused on defending open play.
This has been a really good tournament to watch. I recently got youtube tv and have been able to record all the game so have been able to enjoy them when I have time to watch them. It also gets me excited to play more ea fc which is nice too.
Semi-Finals confirmed!
Germany getting knocked out was a shock for me, although they didn't make it out of the group stage in the last world cup they were looking like real contenders in this Euro 24 tournament with the home crowd behind them and players like Musiala and Wirtz shining bright on the pitch.
Spain continue to show goal-scoring form from open play in every match whilst having a decent defence however their performance against Germany means they will be without suspended Carvahal against France in the semi final and we all know that is where Mbappe likes to play on the pitch.
If critics of England have expressed their discontent towards the style of play in their performances then France are guilty of exactly the same opinions but perhaps even more so. France have only scored 3 goals from the 5 matches they have played so far (two own goals and a penalty) choosing to play cautiously, controlling the game from defence and hoping to find that bit of quality up front to get the winner. This seems to be working well for both England and France however the fans and pundits are calling for better attacking play. Both coaches Southgate and Deschamps are very experienced in these kinds of tournaments and so I think they are my favourites for the final.
The Portuguese played well against France and even though Ronaldo looked past his best Pepe proved that age is just a number. Ronaldo may well rethink his retirement plans just now and carry on with international football as Portugal do have a really good team.
Switzerland were very close to knocking England out and played well to get to the quarter finals. They also came second to Brazil in their most recent world cup group showing that they do pose a real threat on the pitch to decent opposition.
The Turkiye team has earned a few good victories however losing 3-0 to Portugal in the group stage and then getting knocked out by the Netherlands in 90 minutes indicates they are not quite on the levels they would like to be but they will certainly be proud of adding a few competitive tournament victories to their historical records.
And then the Netherlands who will face England have it all to do in that semi final. They qualified as a third placed team and clinically eased past Romania whilst relying on goalkeeper heroics to hold off a determined Turkish side. Gakpo has had a great tournament so far and the Netherlands have exciting attacking players with Simons, Zirkzee, Bergwijn and Depay. On paper though I can't see the Netherlands midfield getting the better of a well tuned English team.
I support Spain. They've been the most entertaining this tournament ⚽
