ONLY EIGHT OF the 24 teams who came to Euro 2020 are still standing, yet it somehow feels like we’re no closer to knowing who’s actually going to win the thing.
With The42‘s own Gavin Cooney and former Dundalk coach Shane Keegan providing their insight, we did our best on the latest episode of The Football Family podcast to make sense of it all ahead of this weekend’s quarter-finals.
On the back of a long-awaited win over Germany that has set up a clash with Ukraine, the current state of play for England dominated the discussion.
“I don’t think that was a perfect England performance yesterday and I also think that Germany were useless – truly, truly terrible,” Gavin said.
“But it’s just what that result means to England, with all the historical baggage. [Gareth] Southgate played it really well ahead of the game in not indulging any of that history, talking about how these players weren’t really alive for Euro 96 and some of them don’t remember the 2010 World Cup, and that ‘we’re here to make our own stories’.
“Now they can actually feed off the rush of good vibes that they’re getting after that game. They have achieved something monumental in winning a knockout game against Germany. Okay, it’s one of the worst German teams I think we’ve ever seen, but I think the level of confidence that gives is difficult to translate and put into words. I think it’s going to be pretty massive.
“Southgate is talking about himself as being the party pooper now, he says complacency is dangerous for England now, so maybe he’ll be able to keep the England team on the ground.
“But looking at Ukraine and whatever battered and bruised bodies they’ll drag to Rome at the weekend, I think the main opponent in that game for England is England themselves.”
Despite concerns over Alvaro Morata’s goalscoring prowess, the lads also talked up Spain’s chances, with Shane expressing his admiration for the talents of 18-year-old Barcelona midfielder Pedri.
“I was really, really impressed with them,” he said of the Spanish performance against Croatia. “At this moment in time, if I could put [Romelu] Lukaku in the Spanish team I’d say they’re winning the tournament – hands down. I think they’ve started to look that good over the last two games.
“Pedri, I love him. I cannot believe that they have managed to find another [Andres] Iniesta so quickly. It’s just amazing. They’re my favourite kinds of players, the ones who just know where the other 21 players on the field are at every minute of every game. I think he’s absolutely fantastic.”
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