Euro 2024

FRANCE were beaten black and bleu by Austria but battled through to being with a win.Kylian Mbappe suffered a broken nose as Austria dished out a kicking but were undone by Maximilian Wober’s own-goal.Maximilian Wober scored an own goal to help France to a 1-0 winCredit: ReutersMbappe created the goal from a crossCredit: GettyBoth teams had the same amount of shots on targetIt was not a vintage France display, Austria ensured that through their mixture of tough love and tireless work off the ball.They could be a threat if they spend more time playing rather than brawling.Didier Deschamps had joked that all of his players were handsome chaps ahead of their opener – and it seemed their opponents were intent on denting their good looks in Dusseldorf.Ralf Rangnick’s men sought to kick lumps out of Les Bleus but were incapable of denying the French the perfect – albeit uncomfortable – start.Read More on Euro 2024Rangnick had sounded confident of his side’s ability to muzzle Mbappe & Co by pressing France hard ahead of this one.But it was just the second minute when the soon-to-be Real Madrid star was treated to his first kick of the evening – delivered by Bayern Munich’s Konrad Laimer.Austria were not just being aggressive in their pressing, but their challenges too, chopping down France’s fierce front line whenever the chance arose.It was working to an extent – the chances for the favourites were not free flowing, but they were not shut down altogether.Most read in Euro 2024CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSWilliam Saliba impressed for France in defenceInside ten minutes Mbappe got his first sniff of goal, breaking quickly down the left and forcing Patrick Pentz, the Austria keeper, to tip the ball into the side netting.Rangnick’s theory of stopping the French talisman, by starving him of service, was a sound one – but putting it into practice when faced with the Parisian can defy logic.Fans blown away by Kylian Mbappe’s English accent in his biggest interview yet as they say ‘this feels like AI’ Mbappe does not dominate games in the style of Jude Bellingham, sucking all the action into his world and dictating from there. The forward hangs around, picks his moments and can be deadly when he intervenes.Austria were making a decent enough fist of keeping him at bay down the left, but within moments of the No10 wandering over to the right he had played a huge hand in the opener.After a clearance fell to Ousmane Dembele, who was also relentlessly kicked, he handed it to his captain and watched him set off.Mbappe strode past Phillipp Mwene, already on a booking, with a quick step-over and change of pace, before cutting the ball back where a dumbfounded Wober headed into his own net.The fact that it had come just two minutes after a golden chance for Austria – with Christoph Baumgartner denied by Mike Maignan – made it all the more painful, especially given France were awarded a goal kick despite the save.Rangnick will have his complaints about the decision – but the fact his players were so poorly disciplined should be of more concern.Mbappe was forced off with a horror nose injuryCredit: GettyThe striker was shown a yellow card after returning to the pitch without permissionCredit: AFPBut there was no sign of restraint after the break, as Antoine Griezmann was barged into the advertising boards by Wober within a minute of the restart, leaving him with a gash on his head.Instead of winning fouls, Mbappe decided to start riding the challenges and should have made it two shortly after the restart.After Adrien Rabiot lumped the ball forwards, Mbappe evaded Kevin Danso’s desperate lunge before exploding past Wober to go one-on-one. That appeared to be it, until he unfathomably bent the effort just wide.The let off was enough – Rangnick withdrew Wober while also sending on Marko Arnautovic.When Austria ditched the martial arts and started playing football, they looked a side who could cause problems, ballers and not just bruisers.Their anger at Spanish ref, Jesus Gil Manzano, was increased when Marcel Sabizter was smartly played into the box only to be barged down by William Saliba. Manzano waved away all penalty protests.But even when they started playing pretty football there was still an edge, Baumgartner sliding to strike Laimer’s smart through ball only to plant his boot in Maignan’s face.Laimer then went back to roughing up Mbappe, planting a hand in his face as the winger looked to move into the box – it was soft but cynical.Mbappe and the whole of France then really had something to worry about when their skipper bent his nose out of shape following a clash of heads with Danso.READ MORE SUN STORIESFrench hopes may rest on whether he can continue with a mask in the coming games.He will not be the only Frenchman nursing bumps and bruises this morning.EURO 2024 LIVE: KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM GERMANY More

ONE England fan’s trip to watch his nation’s Euro 2024 opener against Serbia lasted much longer than he was anticipating.A travelling supporter has claimed he woke up inside the Gelsenkirchen stadium at 4am the next day, having fallen asleep following the chaos after the game.One England fan claims he fell asleep inside the stadium last nightCredit: X/awaydayladsfsThe supporter woke up at 4am the next dayCredit: X/awaydayladsfsHe showed an empty stadium in the videoCredit: X/awaydayladsfsIn a clip circulating online, a tired looking fan films himself in an empty stadium saying: “I’ve just woken up, It’s 4 o’clock in the morning”.The supporter pans his camera around to show that not a soul can be seen inside the Schalke ground.The unbelievable claim would mean that the sleepy fan went unnoticed by security and staff for well over five hours.Fans couldn’t believe what they were seeing in the viral video and reacted in the comments.READ MORE ENGLAND NEWSEURO 2024 LIVE: KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM GERMANYOne wrote: “This is what happens when you watch Sleepy Southgate ball!”While another added: “Probably better than being stuck on the Gelsenkirchen trams.”A third joked: “Just one beer too many.”And a fourth commented: “Probs still took him another 4 hours to get home”.Most read in Euro 2024EURO 2024 FREE BETS AND OFFERSEngland fans were stranded in Gelsenkirchen for hours after the full-time whistle with travel chaos causing mass delays.Fans will be hoping for fewer travel issues on Thursday when Gareth Southgate’s brave Lions take on Denmark in Frankfurt.England fans stranded in Gelsenkirchen for hours after Euro 2024 win over Serbia as they slam ‘absolute disgrace’ England have given themselves a strong foundation to build on after a 1-0 win over Serbia last night.The Three Lions will now be hoping they can maintain their spot on top of the table with another three points against the Danes. More

ENGLAND legend Alan Shearer has explained why Harry Kane played a “different role” against Serbia on Sunday.The Three Lions clinched a 1-0 win over the Eagles thanks to an early goal from Jude Bellingham.Harry Kane was limited to just one shot against SerbiaCredit: AlamyThe striker was man-marked throughout the matchCredit: GettyKane didn’t see too much of the ballHowever, captain Kane – who scored 44 goals in 45 appearances for Bayern Munich last season – managed just one shot.Shearer claims the striker was forced to keep away from much of the action in order to create more space for his team-mates in midfield.That’s because he was being man-marked by Serbia’s back three.In his column for BBC Sport, Newcastle icon Shearer wrote: “Harry Kane’s role in Sunday’s Euro 2024 win against Serbia was different to what we are used to seeing him do for England, but it was just as important for the team.Read More on England”We know Kane can drop deep and play wonderful passes forward for runners to get behind the opposition but, whether we were on top in the game or under pressure, he had another job to do in Gelsenkirchen.”As he explained afterwards, he stayed high early on because Serbia were defending deep and marking man-to-man.”If he had dropped into midfield he would have brought a defender back with him, when we wanted to give our midfielders and other forwards as much room and time on the ball as possible.”The plan was to leave the midfield to it because, although Kane was not getting the ball, he was still drawing defenders to him, which allowed our other players more space.”Most read in Euro 2024CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSKane was limited to 24 touchesTrent showed he’s a central character for England… he deserves to keep spot, says Wilshere

THIS game felt a bit like an audition for Trent Alexander-Arnold in centre midfield, writes SunSport columnist Jack Wilshere.
I think he passed it and deserves another chance to show all the qualities that he can bring to the role.
I was pleased when I saw Trent in the starting line-up.
It’s a little bit braver than we have normally seen from Gareth Southgate and I like that.
It was: ‘Go on, go and play!’ It didn’t necessarily work out like that but that wasn’t Trent’s fault.
Southgate was experimenting with him in there, seeing if it worked.
If we get later in the tournament against the big teams, you will need someone who has played in there a few times and understands the position a bit.
The combination between Trent, Kyle Walker and Bukayo Saka is a promising one.
You see Trent naturally drift over to that right side and receive it almost like a full-back.
It’s interesting what happens then with Walker.
He was still getting involved in and around the outside, which was good to see, and it was Walker who got forward to help create the Jude Bellingham goal.
That link-up is something we need to exploit more. We should probably have used it more last night as well.
At the start, he was a little bit shaky. He gave the ball away a couple of times, and one of them led to that decent chance for Aleksandar Mitrovic.
When he plays for Liverpool he comes inside. But it’s different when you’re in there from the start. It’s 360 degree pressure, from all sides.
I always found international football that bit quicker. You’ll often receive it with your back to the game and you’ve scanned, but you need to get more on the half turn to see what’s coming.
But it was difficult for Trent, especially in the first half, for him to show his range of passing. When you’re playing against a back five, with four in front, and they’re stubborn and just waiting . . . it is very hard.
There’s no space in behind, they’re very tight and organised.
And when the ball is going over your head, your job then becomes jumping on second balls, disrupting and trying to shield the big two up front.
Trent’s positioning was good and he made some good interceptions. I think he can — and should — hold on to the ball a bit more, draw the pressure, and then play the ball forward.
If someone comes to him, that frees up space for  someone else. And he and Declan Rice have the ability to find Bellingham and Phil Foden through the lines. I would like to have seen more of that. As the game opens up, Trent is a player who can pick the right pass.
Especially in transition, like he did with a lovely one down the side for Saka in the first half and another early in the second.
It was also good to see him get forward for a decent long-range shot.
But Trent was not helped by England’s performance in the  second half. We weren’t aggressive enough, we didn’t press well enough.
Trent’s audition lasted just under 70 minutes in the end. I believe  it is something Gareth should  persist with.
He is more than intelligent enough to work it out. And as the tournament goes on, I’m sure he will be fine in there.

He went on to add: “He was better off staying high up the pitch, holding the ball up and protecting it, and winning free-kicks – and he did that well later in the game.”Speaking after the match, Kane told BBC Sport: “We knew it was going to be a tough game, Serbia pose a lot of threats and have some good players.Alan Shearer’s croaky voice goes viral during the BBC’s live coverage of Euro 2024″They will make it a battle for you and I think we dealt with it really well.”There was a spell in the second half where we got camped in our box and we found it hard to get out but it was an important win tonight.”It’s a tough game. They are a tough team and have good players. We stood up to it well and it is good to get the three points and [for us] to progress. It’s good that we got the win today.”England next face Denmark on Thursday, while Serbia take on Slovenia.EURO 2024 LIVE: KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM GERMANY More