EURO 2020 is in full swing!
England and Scotland played out a nail-biting contest at Wembley, sharing the spoils after a 0-0 draw.
Italy, Holland and Belgium are the first team through to the second round with picking up their second wins.
Meanwhile Wales are on the brink of joining them after a stunning 2-0 win over Turkey in Baku.
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Follow all of the latest news, build up and updates below…
TEAM NEWS
Portugal and Germany have both named unchanged sides for this afternoon’s crunch Euros clash.
Cristiano Ronaldo will lead the hosts’ line after his double against Hungary, supported by Premier League stars Bernardo Silva, Diogo Jota and Bruno Fernandes.
Meanwhile, the Germans continue to play without a recognised striker as Joachim Low keeps faith with the 3-4-3 system that struggled against France.
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FT – HUNGARY 1 FRANCE 1
World champions France were held to a 1-1 draw by a battling Hungary side this afternoon.
The hosts took a shock lead before the break through Attila Fiola before Antoine Griezmann levelled in the second half.
It means France will be keeping a keen eye on this afternoon’s clash between Portugal and Germany.
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HUNGARY 1-1 FRANCE
66. For all of France’s fancy football, it’s a goal of route one proportions that bring the world champions level.
Hugo Lloris lumps a pass downfield that has Kylian Mbappe battling Loic Nego for the bouncing ball.
The French forward has some good fortune to win out, and then even more as his low centre is diverted straight into the path of Antoine Griezmann by Willi Orban.
Arriving at pace, Griezmann couldn’t miss, and duly blasted into the right corner.
GOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLLL!!
ANTOINE GRIEZMANN EQUALISES!!FERDINAND ON SANCHO
Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand has questioned whether Jadon Sancho has upset important people behind the scenes.
The outstanding creative winger hasn’t played one minute of football at Euro 2020.
And the decision to leave him out has left fans, ex-pros and pundits scratching their head.
On his Five YouTube channel, he said: “The substitutions, I thought they were poor.
“You can make a lot of substitutions now, he only made two substitutions when you can make five.
“Utilise that bench, that’s what it’s there for. We’ve got all these players. Sancho? What’s he done? He must have done something behind the scenes.
“He [Sancho] for the last three seasons has the second most goal involvements in this England squad after Sterling and Harry Kane.”
HUNGARY 1-0 FRANCE
48. France and Paul Pogba have wasted no time in upping the tempo, and it’s the Manchester United man that forces Gulacsi into early action.
The midfielder powers a cross over in the direction of Mbappe, and it’s one that requires the Hungary goalkeeper to push out with a strong hand.
It’s getting tasty in Budapest……. follow all the LIVE action HERE!
PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
THE HALF-TIME WHISTLE GOES!HUNGARY 1-0 FRANCE
45+2. What scenes in Budapest! Hungary lead the world champions!
GOOOOOAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLL!!
ATTILA FIOLA SCORES FOR HUNGARY!!
HUNGARY 0-0 FRANCE
31. Benzema! The drought continues!
Mbappe does brilliantly to pluck a lofted pass out of the air with one touch, and then flick the perfect ball into the path of Benzema with another.
The Real Madrid striker takes the opportunity on first time, opting to strike with the outside of his right boot. It’s a decision that sees the ball swerve wide.
PEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!
HUNGARY VS FRANCE IS UNDERWAY!
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TEAMSHEETS: HUNGARY VS FRANCE
France (4-3-1-2): 1 Lloris; 2 Pavard, 4 Varane, 3 Kimpempbe, 18 Digne; 6 Pogba, 13 Kante, 14 Rabiot; 7 Griezmann; 19 Benzema, 10 Mbappe.
Bench: 16 Mandanda, 23 Maignan, 5 Lenglet, 8 Lemar, 9 Giroud, 11 Dembele, 12 Tolisso, 17 Sissoko, 21 Hernandez, 24 Dubois, 25 Kounde, 26 Thuram.
Hungary (3-5-2): 1 Gulacsi; 21 Botka, 6 Orban, 4 At Szalai; 7 Nego, 15 Kleinheisler, 8 Nagy, 13 Schafer, 5 Fiola; 9 Ad Szalai, 20 Sallai.
Bench: 12 Dubusz, 22 Bogdan, 2 Lang, 3 Keckes, 10 Cseri, 11 Holdender, 14 Loverencdics, 17 R Varga, 18 Siger, 19 K Varga, 23 Nikolic, 24 Schon.
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SHAW BACKS KANE
Man Utd defender Luke Shaw has backed his England captain Harry Kane after his poor performance against Scotland yesterday.
Kane was substituted in the late stages of the game by Marcus Rashford, and he has failed to score in the opening two group games.
When asked if he is concerned over Kane’s performance, Shaw said: “No concern at all, for me personally I think he is the best striker in the world.
‘He is a very important part of the team, in fact the most important part.
“I think whether he has not been at his best or not he is a massive part and a crucial player for us.
“We need him whether his performances are as people expected or not, but this happens in tournament football, you can score a goal at any moment and he is such a crucial player – not just on the pitch but off the pitch, he has got all of our backing and I’m not worried at all.”
KAL ME MAYBE
I didn’t see any risk or desire from England to gamble and try and win, writes JOSE MOURINHO.
What was so good against Croatia was the midfield pairing of Declan Rice and Kalvin Phillips.
If England needed to beat Scotland then I think Phillips would have been subbed around the 60th minute for more creativity.
But a fear of losing kept him on the pitch.
COKE JOKE OVER
Euro 2020 stars have been told to STOP moving sponsors’ drinks in press conferences – or risk their team getting fined, writes JOSHUA JONES.
Cristiano Ronaldo started the trend when he put a pair of Coca-Cola bottles out of the way on Monday.
He then told the cameras to ‘drink water’ instead of the popular fizzy drink.
But Uefa, aware of the negative impact the stunts have on big-money backers, want to put an end to any more instances.
GERMANY TEAM GUIDE
The 2014 world champions face defending European champions at 5pm today!
‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH’
Roy Keane blasted England’s set pieces as ‘not good enough’ after they failed to beat the first man from corners on multiple occasions.
Football legend Keane highlighted that one of England’s successes at the World Cup 2018 was set pieces.
And that this time around it’s simply not good enough.
Speaking on ITV, he said: “One of the strengths in the last World Cup was the set-pieces, but the delivery [against Scotland], nowhere near good enough.
“Okay, [John] Stones had the header [from a Mason Mount corner in the first half], but in general, how many times did they hit the first man? Nowhere near good enough.”
Credit: GETTY IMAGES EYE SORE
Belgium’s Euro 2020 squad has dedicated the 2-1 win over Denmark to Leicester City’s Timothy Castagne after he was sent home with a broken eye socket.
The full-back picked up the injury after a horrific clash of heads with Russia’s Daley Kuzyaev midway through the opening Group B clash.
Castagne broke his eye socket, which could have been a career-ending injury.
And it required a six-hour operation to fix, alongside metal parts to aid the recovery process.
Romelu Lukaku, after starring in Belgium’s 2-1 away win against Denmark, posted a picture to Instagram of the Belgium squad holding Castagne’s shirt, dedicating the win to the Foxes full-back.
He captioned the post: “Tough game but another win! Great atmosphere we really enjoyed it!
“@timothycastagne we love you bro this victory is for you!”
UP NEXT
Hungary take on France from 2pm. Can the host nation put in another good performance?
They were unlucky to concede late on against Portugal.
Germany and Portugal also go head-to-head today in what should be another blockbuster game.
The game is due to get underway at 5pm.
And finally, Spain take on Poland from 8pm tonight!
FOUL PLAY
Boozy football fans trashed Leicester Square last night as England faced Scotland in a Euro 2020 showdown at Wembley.
Tartan Army supporters swigging Buckfast from the bottle left huge piles of rubbish as they invaded London ahead of the nail-biting tie – which ended in a tense 0-0 draw.
Thousands of diehard fans made the trip to the capital ahead of the Euros clash, despite only 3,000 having tickets for the game due to Covid restrictions.
They donned Scotland shirts, kilts and fancy dress as they made their way to train stations at the crack of dawn to make it in plenty of time for kick off.
With no official fan zone, supporters filled Leicester Square’s fountain with bubbles before having a dip and soaking cops with booze.
Read more
PICK THE POSITIVES
Despite England not winning, they didn’t lose either!
And first choice goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is highlighting the positives that came from the game.
He said: “It’s a massive game, you know.
“We want to take all three points every game we play, and we want to win the game.
“But the bigger thing tonight was, if we can’t win it don’t get beat.
And, you know, the resilience of keeping a clean sheet from the lads, and that’s what we did.”
ROAD TO THE FINAL
After last night’s draw, there could be two teams level on four points come the middle of next week.
Either Croatia or Scotland could pick up three valuable points, pushing them into contention for the knockout stages.
Four points could also be enough for a third team in the group to go through.
GOOD MORNING EUROS FANS
Gareth Southgate will be feeling the pressure this morning after yesterday’s 0-0 draw with Scotland at Wembley.
Unmarked John Stones should have opened the scoring for England in the first half but his header hit the post.
The hosts were poor after that and the visitors had a few chances to get the winner – but England managed to hold on.
Elsewhere in Group D, Croatia and Czech Republic couldn’t be separated as their match at Hampden finished 1-1.
Yesterday’s other game between Sweden and Slovakia was one of the dullest of the tournament so far, finishing 1-0 to the Swedes.
The game was so drab that BBC pundits Micah Richards and Ashley Williams began SINGING at half-time.
The best news of the day came from Copenhagen, where Christian Eriksen was discharged from hospital following a successful heart operation.
Today’s big match is between defending champions Portugal and 2014 World Cup winners Germany at 5pm.
The action kicks off with Hungary and tournament favourites France at 2pm, finishing with Spain vs Poland at 8pm.
NEV’S MAGUIRE FEAR
Gary Neville fears for Harry Maguire’s recall chances at Euro 2020 as the Manchester United skipper sat out England’s clean sheets against Croatia and Scotland.
Maguire hoped to return against the Scots tonight but Gareth Southgate retained John Stones’ central-defensive partnership with Tyrone Mings.
In one sense, the United centre-back might be glad to have missed the shocking 0-0 draw with Scotland, following the more solid 1-0 group win over Croatia.
But Old Trafford legend Neville told ITV: “I think he would have started if he was fit.
“He mustn’t be fit and that must be a concern as the tournament goes on.
“If Gareth doesn’t think he can play against Scotland then that would cast a shadow on him across the rest of the tournament for me, as it gets to the point where you can’t bring him into a knockout game mid-way through the competition.”
KANE WAS SOU DISAPPOINTING
Graeme Souness has slammed England captain Harry Kane after his anonymous showing against Scotland saying: “Football isn’t coming home with this squad.”
The England captain, 27, went missing yet again as Gareth Southgate’s team were booed off the pitch after deservedly being held 0-0 against Scotland.
Kane struggled against Croatia on Sunday and barely had a sniff against the Scots either.
England now sit second in Group D behind Czech Republic on goal difference and will need to win their final game to win the group.
And ex-Liverpool and Scotland midfielder Souness took particular aim at Kane for his lacklustre showing in front of goal.
Speaking on ITV, Souness said: “The centre-backs had an easy night again him.
“Harry Kane looks a shadow of the player we know he is. In two games, he looks leggy, lacking enthusiasm…”
But Kane added: “A centre-forward is 90 per cent relying on the passes he’s getting and he’s not getting a great deal from that midfield.
“I don’t care what anyone says; that ain’t working.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
