Without wishing to put the mockers on England as they prepare to face Germany, things are opening up quite nicely at Euro 2020.
Defending champions Portugal are out. World champions France are out. Two of Belgium’s best players are injured.
Waiting in the quarter-finals are two teams sitting below Wales in the Fifa world rankings, while the semi-final could be against a team England already beat in the group stage. Plus, the final is at Wembley.
If the Three Lions can somehow progress beyond their old nemeses on Tuesday evening, here’s how things could play out…
Who do England play next?
- Last 16: vs Germany (5pm on Tues 29 June) in London
- Quarter-final: vs Sweden or Ukraine (8pm on Sat 3 July) in Rome
- Semi-final: vs Czech Republic or Denmark (8pm on Weds 7 July) in London
- Final: vs Belgium, Italy, Spain or Switzerland (8pm on Sun 11 July) in London
While England will fancy their chances against the likes of Sweden, Ukraine, Denmark and the Czech Republic, all four of those sides have their merits.
Ukraine only qualified for the last 16 as one of the best third-placed teams and manager Andriy Shevchenko says his side are now playing with a sense of freedom having progressed further than they ever have before at a Euros.
Strike duo Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk have proven a handful too, scoring two goals apiece.
Shevchenko also talked up the threat of Sweden’s attackers and their set-piece prowess in the build up to their last 16 clash.
Swedish centre forwards Robin Quaison and Alexander Isak have been well supported by Emil Forsberg and Sebastian Larsson on the flanks, but Shevchenko is hoping to reverse that trend and urged his defenders to take control of the box.
“We have to be very cautious at set pieces because Sweden make great use of them,” Shevchenko told reporters ahead of the tie at Glasgow’s Hampden Park.
“It will also be very important to win second balls. There will be a lot of battles on the pitch.
“They have two great strikers, and are very strong physically so rarely lose one-on-one battles. We must be ready for any scenario.”
Denmark, everyone’s new second favourite team, who have been one of the most remarkable stories at the Euros so far after bouncing back from the horror of Christian Eriksen’s on-pitch cardiac arrest, could be England’s semi-final opponents. While the Czech Republic will be hoping to get there too. England only scraped a 1-0 win over the Czechs, who looked like they had a bit of an off-day at Wembley having already qualified from the goup stage.
Danger does lurk further in the distance, too. After a disastrous start to the tournament, which included Covid-19 positives and a couple of dour draws with Sweden and Poland, Spain have been installed as the new bookies’ favourites following their epic 5-3 win over Croatia in the latst 16.
England could face Luis Enrique’s side if they progress to the final, although they could also take on Italy, who are yet to concede a goal, Belgium, whose golden generation are overdue tournament success, or Switzerland, who have already knocked out world champions France.
More from i on Euro 2020
- England aren’t ‘rubbish’ and Southgate isn’t a ‘fraud’ – we just need a bit of patience
- What the Premier League could learn from Euro 2020’s controversy-free referees
- The football nomad who became a hero for his role in saving Eriksen’s life
- How Ronaldo’s Coca-Cola stunt could change the face of football sponsorship
- How to watch every Euro 2020 match on TV and online in the UK
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3jw2I0N
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