Euro 2024

PHIL FODEN and his ­partner visited a mystic for a tarot-card reading before the Euros.Psychic medium Chloe Smith wouldn’t divulge exactly what she told the Footballer of the Year.Phil Foden struggled against Serbia on Sunday nightCredit: GettyBut after her palm was crossed with silver, it’s unlikely that she predicted a place on the subs’ bench for the knockout stage.But despite an extraordinary 27-goal season with Manchester City — in which he collected a sixth Premier League title before his 24th birthday — Foden’s position in England’s starting XI is up for debate.Foden’s club form has been so outstanding that his inability to replicate it with England has become another stick with which to beat Gareth Southgate.City are arguably the best team in the world and Pep Guardiola is widely regarded as the finest coach on the planet.READ MORE ON ENGLANDFoden has played all of his club football — 270 appearances — for Guardiola, who steadfastly refused to loan him out before he became a regular first-team starter.City play a very specific style and Foden fits in beautifully, after years of repetition.The idea that Foden should be exactly the same player for England as he is for City is a nonsense.Listen to the phone-in bores and social-media snipers and they’ll tell you that Southgate needs to release the handbrake, break the shackles, and then Foden will thrive.Most read in Euro 2024CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSIt’s just that nobody really knows what those things actually mean — especially as Southgate’s England have always scored plenty of goals.Foden, though, has netted just twice in his last 32 internationals — at Hampden Park last autumn and against Wales at the Qatar World Cup.Wyett ratings England v SerbiaAnd he has rarely, if ever, seized a game by the throat for his country as he so often does for City.It does not help Foden personally that England have Jude Bellingham — a generational talent, perhaps a once-in-a-century talent — playing in the No 10 role he is best suited to.In Sunday’s 1-0 victory over Serbia, Foden was vaguely anonymous.Meanwhile, Bellingham was absolutely everywhere, doing everything — a Jack of all trades, master of all trades.Plenty of pundits are suggesting that Southgate moves Bellingham into a deeper position in order to accommodate Foden.But the last thing England ought to do, having discovered a nailed-on future ­Ballon d’Or winner, is to play him anywhere but No 10.Great players should always be able to play together but, without two footballs, it’s not always easy.It has taken years of training-ground work and in-game experience for Foden and Kevin De Bruyne to be able to work so well in tandem for City. Southgate doesn’t have that amount of time.And Southgate isn’t a genius like Guardiola because, well, who is?There have been suggestions that Southgate has a problem with Foden — just as the Three Lions boss is supposed to have had a problem with most flair players — but the opposite is the case.Southgate has shown great faith in Foden, backing him despite the incident which saw him sent home in disgrace from Reykjavik after his England debut for a ­Covid-bubble breach with Mason Greenwood and two Icelandic models.It is now time for Foden to repay that faith.Footballer of the Year or not, he needs a big performance against Denmark on Thursday or Slovenia next Tuesday if Southgate isn’t going to look at starting more authentic left-wingers.The England boss has selected four in-form widemen, all tournament rookies, but all of whom might stake a claim.Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze are both obvious candidates on the left.READ MORE SUN STORIESCole Palmer and ­Jarrod Bowen — who was excellent when he came on as sub against Serbia — could also be in the running.Tournaments tend to take on lives of their own and squad players can emerge to become heroes in a way that even a tarot-card reader might struggle to predict.EURO 2024 LIVE: KEEP UP TO DATE WITH ALL THE LATEST NEWS FROM GERMANY More

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