Uninspiring Brazil

Brazil and Colombia battled for the top spot in California but ended up sharing points which benefited Colombia, who will face Panama in the last eight while Brazil has to overcome one of the nemesis, Uruguay. 

The Selecao will be without the services of Vinicius Junior for receiving a yellow card and so far, in this year's Copa America, the going has not been easier so far. 

Midfielders Bruno Guimares and Joao Gomes also found themselves picking up yellows, with a match that had a total of 33 fouls - something which was expected as these two teams share a bitter relationship since Zuniga injured Neymar during the World Cup 2014. 

But honestly speaking, Colombia played better than Brazil. Since Raphinha gave Brazil led by 12 minutes, the remaining 78 minutes witnessed the Samba Boys stagnated by a unit that is unbeaten for 26 matches. 

The control over the ball by Brazil was poor and it hampered their progress. Brazil was expected to perform better after the good show against Paraguay - sadly - they struggled throughout the match to move the ball. 

The cohesiveness of Colombia has allowed them to flourish. What Brazil required was flamboyance - a criteria that made Brazil one of the best in the world once upon a time. 

It may take time for this unit to rediscover their mojo.

Thank You 

Faisal Caesar 

Turkey beat Austria in high paced match

The heavens opened. The rain was pouring down. The pitch was slippery. The players ran like leopards. Hunted for the prey. There was no slowing down. 

30 seconds were remaining for Austria to take the match to extra time - just 30 seconds, only. The battle hardened boys of Ralph Rangnick put the spirited Turkish on the back foot and produced a desperate cross into the Turkish box from the left by Prass. 

Baumgartner took a flight, jumped the highest, six yards out, on his own. He sent a downward header across Gunok and up towards the top left. 

Surely, it was a goal, but the Turkish keeper was possessed by the spirits of Gordon Banks and denied the Austrians on a night that produced football of the highest quality. 

Turkey against Austria promised high intensity, noise, pace and an all out attack - everything was delivered emphatically. 

Turkey had been warned about Austria’s habit to score inside the first 10 minutes and, when Rangnick’s side poured forward from kick-off, it seemed reasonable to anticipate more of the same.

Turkey responded through the defender Demiral who smashed a loose ball resulting from a corner to become the second fastest scorer in the history of the tournament. Austria were not expecting it because they had the foot on the right paddle and now they had to switch the tempo at a higher level. 

It was a phenomenal tempo with play ripping from end to end. 

Baumgartner almost equalised immediately but drilled just wide. Then a Romano Schmid corner almost wrought an equaliser remarkably similar to the opener, his low delivery running across the face of goal before Demiral somehow bundled clea

Austria kept coming back but as the first half developed they were clearly finding difficulties creating space. 

Turkey were breaking smartly, brilliant play down the right by Baris Alper Yilmaz begging a cross to the unmarked Kenan Yildiz. 

In the event Yilmaz overcooked it, but he and his teammates had their opponents where they wanted them. Ismael Yuksek drew roars by running back to dispossess a surging Schmid; for all their energy and pressing, Austria had lacked poise when nearing the penalty area. When they did find another opening, Baumgartner stabbed wide.

By the interval Turkey were broadly in control. 

Rangnick switched things up, introducing the offensive left-back Alexander Prass and the giant forward Gregoritsch. 

They tore out of the blocks again, Gregoritsch heading wide before Turkey were finally picked apart. Stefan Posch’s ball played Marko Arnautovic in but Gunok, hitherto well protected, did superbly to block.

At this point Turkey were under a barrage, Konrad Laimer slaloming into the area but skewing wide. Then the right-back Posch saw a shot blocked and Austria were beginning to find an extra man all over the attacking third. But they had not made it count

It arrived shortly after Turkey doubled the lead through Demiral from a set piece and it seemed game over for Austria. 

Austria didn't slow down. 

Austria never slow down and finally scored from their own corner, Gregoritsch stationed to slam in Posch’s header after Marcel Sabitzer had crossed.

Thank You 

Faisal Caesar 

Holland advance to quarterfinal

The 3-0 scoreline may not reflect how the Dutch were made to sweat by a determined Romanian unit. It was a sea of yellow in Munich where the Romanian fans poured in numbers to back their players Unfurling a banner that stated of going all the way to the final and they were in no mood to go home now. It seemed the players were of the same persuasion, and they began the game at a furious pace and for a short while the Dutch looked panicked.

A dangerous cross from Iannis Hagi as early as the second minute only just cleared the head of striker of Denis Dragus. After a delightful driven cross from inside his own half by Andre Ratiu nearly sent Dragus clear on goal, and Bart Verbruggen was forced to hastily turf a backpass into the stands, it appeared the Romanian blood was pumping. 

The Dutch were reorganizing and trying their best to wake up from the nightmare against Austria a few days back. 

Jerdy Schouten's short pass bisected the Romanian midfield and found Xavi Simons in a pocket of space. Simons span and released Cody Gakpo out wide who took Ratiu towards the touchline then cut back away, took a touch across the corner of the box and drilled a low shot inside Florin Nita’s near post.

The much-needed goal that brought The Dutch back in the game. 

The Dutch then dominated the rest of the half completely and made such hay down their right hand side where Denzel Dumfries was having a ball, that Edward Iordanescu was forced to replace his stand in left-back, Vasile Mogos, with another, Bogdan Racovitan, 10 minutes before half-time. 

Racovitan’s first act was to be absolutely diddled by a Memphis Depay trick. His second was to surrender the ball to Dumfries inside the area and Simons should really have scored, but took a touch from six yards out and the opportunity passed him by.

Ronald Koeman doubled down on exploiting the weak left side of Romania by replacing Stephen Bergwijn with Donyell Malen whose lightning pace at the break sparked the Dutch. Malen got in behind Racovitan almost instantly and his cut back should have been finished by first Simons then Memphis Depay, but wasn’t.

Iordanescu rolled the dice with 20 minutes to go, taking off Hagi, Dragus and midfield linchpin Marius Marin for fresh legs but instead - it exposed Romania. 

Substitute Joey Veerman took a cute Gakpo backheel and shot just wide, Gakpo should have scored when played in by a driving Malen. 

But with five minutes remaining, Gakpo knocked his way past Dragusin on the byline to give Malen a tap-in, an invitation the Dortmund man duly accepted. 

Malen scored again with the final kick of the match, bursting through for the umpteenth time and driving in at the same near post. 

Only three players have scored twice after coming off the bench in a Euro match since 1980: Oliver Bierhoff against the Czech Republic in the 1996 Final, Savo Milošević against Russia in 2000 and today, Donyell Malen against Romania. 

Malen scored his eighth goal for Holland as a substitute, with only Pierre van Hooijdonk (10) and Klaas Jan Huntelaar (8) finding the net more often after coming off the bench with Wout Weghorst also 7.

Thank You 

Faisal Caesar 

Portugal overcome stubborn Slovenia

Thankfully, the show did not turn out a heartbreak for Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal. After 120 minutes of stalemate and a missed penalty by Ronaldo, the heroics of Diogo Costa save the blushes for Portugal. 

Ronaldo made amends for failing to score his spot kick in extra-time, which was saved magnificently by Jan Oblak.

Ronaldo blubbered uncontrollably after the first but second time around he took another nd coolly dispatched his spot kick into the opposite corner to his earlier effort, before clasping his hands together to make a praying gesture and holding up his palms to say sorry to the curve of Portugal supporters going ballistic behind the goal.

Diogo Costa who was the undoubted hero, making three extraordinary saves, the last of which thwarted Benjamin Verbic down to his right, before Bernardo Silva sealed a 3-0 win on penalties. 

Even Ronaldo seemed a touch remorseful as Slovenia, whose steely resistance was broken in the cruellest of manners, came up short from 12 yards. They had exhibited a defensive masterclass against slicker opposition who registered more than twice as many passes and double the touches.

Ronaldo had extended his lean streak during normal and extra time – it is now eight appearances at a major tournament without a goal – but he was unperturbed when it came to putting the ball down in the shootout. 

Three free-kicks came and went, one which forced Oblak into a save, but Slovenia, who spent much of the game with all 10 outfield players behind the ball, were stubborn, fiercely disciplined and awkward opposition.

But Portugal prevailed.

On the pitch Ronaldo was crying while in the gallery, his mother shed tears. 

Portugal will meet France in the quarterfinals.

Note;: Excerpts from The Guardian

Thank You 

Faisal Caesar 

France advance to quarterfinal

The French have scored just three goals so far: a penalty, and one or perhaps two scored for them by opponents. And yet there they are in the quarterfinal, and the kind of players they have, none can write them off from winning the title. 

It took nine minutes for Antoine Griezmann to take the first shot and by half-time the totals read 9-1 but that opening effort was weak and what followed wasn’t very much better. 

Occasionally, there would be a neat exchange, a dash beyond the marker, and there were a couple of headers at the near post from Marcus Thuram. 

Aurelien Tchouaméni fired over and Kylian Mbappé bundled through on the left. But it was all a bit slow and uninspiring. 

The Red Devils did run: Jérémy Doku and Yannick Carrasco leading the way. 

There was also a lovely sharp turn into the area by Loïs Openda which left Carrasco with a chance from which he might have done better. 

From one of those Jeremy Doku runs, they won a free-kick from which Kevin de Bruyne curled in a shot that, hidden by the bodies standing before him, almost caught out Mike Maignan. 

After the break - France increased the speed with which they moved the ball, a touch more insistence to them. 

Mbappé and N’Golo Kante set up Tchouameni who, side-footed, curled towards the bottom corner, drawing the first really notable save from Casteels. 

That was followed by another Thuram header over, before he was removed. And then Mbappé dashed inside and shot over. A moment later, Griezmann and Koundé made another opening for him, which was sliced wide.

It took until their 66th shot and the 84th minute and 36th second of their fourth game but France at last scored a goal from open play at these Euros.

But it wasn't! 

The strike by Randal Kolo Muani took a deflection of Jan Vertonghen and it was an own goal! 

William Saliba was the player for France on the pitch that did not lose possession a single time in the first half. France have conceded no goals from open play with William Saliba on the pitch in major tournaments  in a span of 387 minutes. 

Meanwhile, Jules Kounde covered 10.65 kilometers, recovered the ball 7 times with one tackle, created 5 chances with one big opportunity, won the duel 5 times and dispossessed none. 

Nothing to say about Kante, who has now played more European Championship games without losing than any player in the competition’s history, breaking Xavi’s record. 

With a passing accuracy of 95% Kante completed 100% dribbles, won 4 duels and 2 tackles and produced two key pases. 

But France would need the frontline to display conviction.

Note;: Excerpts from The Guardian

Thank You 

Faisal Caesar 

Dazzling Spain at Cologne

When Spain scored the own goal - the fear of an accident cropped up in the minds of the football followers, but, gradually ,it faded as Spain dished out a dazzling display to bury the Georgian hopes of an upset. 

Goals from Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Nico ­Williams and Dani Olmo, a lovely combination of quality, control and velocity confirming their status as favourites.

Georgia were no match for a team led by Rodri and who have Lamine Yamal and Williams tearing defences apart. 

The lowest ranked team in the tournament, 74 in the world, 35 in Europe, Georgia’s exit is no surprise. Credit to them for how far they came. 

It had only taken 50 seconds for Williams to go beyond Otar Kakabadze, just over a hundred of them for Fabian Ruiz to fire off the first shot, and less than 10 minutes for Giorgi Mamardashvili to have to make the first of nine saves as Spain started with intent. 

By the time Georgia got out, the possession stats read 86%-14% and the shot counted 9-0 but for all the dominance, when they did, they were devastating.

1-0 down and Spain lost a bit of control but restored it with a brilliant strike by Rodri and had Spain gone to half time break, it might have piled pressure. 

Willy Sagnol, the Georgia coach, felt it had been offside for interference from Alvaro Morata and questioned the use of VAR. 

Yamal got the ball back and clipped a gorgeous cross for Fabián Ruiz to head Spain into the lead. Yamal then saw two chances go past each post. Spain turned the screw, if in a more controlled manner. Exhausted, Georgia’s runs forward were fewer and more desperate.

Kvaratskhelia run coming to a close on the edge of the Spain area; in a flash, with fast feet, Williams was away. Cutting inside the Georgia area, he lifted the ball brilliantly over Mamardashvili and into the net to make it three. Now it was done, Olmo wrapping it all off with a fourth to see Spain into the quarter-final.

Germany will meet this dazzling Spanish unit in the quarterfinals. 

Let me tell you - Germany has to be at the top of their game to stop this Spanish team.

Note: Excerpts from the The Guardian

Thank You 

Faisal Caesar 

England survive the Slovakia scare

The current English team is oozing with talents. They're like a Ferrari which never took off in this tournament. In the group matches they lacked the bite - still - qualified for the next round and at Gelsenkirchen, against, Slovakia, the engine of the Ferrari of Gareth Southgate was not heating up until he decided for a bold substitution. 

During the high voltage Italia 90 quarterfinal between England and Cameroon at Naples on a hot and humid night - England coach Bobby Robson decided to take off defender Terry Butcher and play a midfielder in the form of Trevor Steven and switched back to a flat backline with a 4-4-2 formation instead of 5-3-2. Trevor brought life and England crawled back from 1-2 down to win by 3-2. 

That substitution in the 74th minute by Bobby Robson was a masterstroke, but today's substitution by Southgate was ultra-gambling. 

With England literally down and out - Southgate took off Phil Foden in the dying moments and brought on Ivan Toney, who was supposed to feature for Jamaica not so long ago. 

Toney seemed to be the perfect driver for the Ferrari. The engines heated up. The smoke blew out from the silencer pipe. The car moved on fast. 

The electronic board had gone up to show six additional minutes at the end of the 90, England trailing to Ivan Schranz’s goal for Slovakia midway through the first half and the obituaries were being written. 

Marc Guehi flicked on a long Kyle Walker throw-in, five minutes of stoppage time showing, Bellingham had found the space in front of the penalty spot and he leapt into the overhead kick like Cristiano Ronaldo - there had to be a Real Madrid touch. It had to be! 

At extra-time - Ivan Toney heading an Eberechi Eze shot across the six-yard box, there was Harry Kane to crash home with his head.

These are dramatic moments. 

But before all the drama - England were below par. They had been sloppy at the centre of the park. The forwards could hardly strike on target. The backline never looked confident. 

Slovakia digested a bitter experience. 

A narrow escape for England who would require to lift their game in the upcoming match.

Note: Excerpts from the The Guardian

Thank You 

Faisal Caesar