The UEFA Euro 2024 semi-finals lineup has been announced.
France and Spain secured their place in the semi-finals yesterday, while England and the Netherlands also won today.
Both quarterfinals were tense and dramatic in different ways. England once again looked tired and unimaginative against Switzerland, culminating in a brilliant individual goal from Bukayo Saka (which canceled out Blair Embolo’s opener) and some heroics in the penalty shootout Performance leads to advancement.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands advanced from behind against Turkey to reach the European Championship semi-finals for the first time in 20 years and face England in Dortmund on Wednesday.
Our writers break down key topics.
England’s penalty kick secret? It’s all about the bottle
At first glance there doesn’t seem to be much content.
Cole Palmer had just scored England’s first penalty in the shootout against Switzerland and Manuel Akanji was slowly moving forward to respond. England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford also started jogging over, then suddenly turned back.
Pickford forgot one thing – his water bottle, which was strangely wrapped in a towel. After picking up the bottle, he returned to the goal and placed it next to the side netting, still wrapped in a towel.
Pickford moved forward to check the penalty spot, leaving Akanji waiting for a moment before returning to the goal line. Akanji made a short run-up and struck with his right foot, but Pickford was one step ahead. He dived to his left and blocked the penalty, giving England an advantage they would never relinquish.
blessing? Not so much. This was actually a victory for the shenanigans of England and their analytics team, who studied all the Swiss players’ penalties, pointed out where they tended to place their penalties, and printed out their findings for Pickford to Stick it on his water bottle.
A photographer at the scene captured the analysis, but Pickford was not taking any chances in the moments before Akanji was awarded a penalty, so he decided to wrap the bottle in a towel.
England’s backroom staff are obviously doing a great job. They speculated that Akanji was likely to shoot from the right, so Pickford’s best way to maximize his chances was to swoop left – which he did.
Pickford’s water bottle with a description of Akanji’s penalty kick (we’ve circled it here)
Getting it right the first time, it’s surprising that Pickford didn’t follow the advice of his bottle on all penalties.
Fabian Schar took the second, but instead of pretending to dive to his right and then actually diving to his left – as his bottle instructed – Pickford Did the opposite, pretended to jump to the left, then to the right. Schar’s penalty unfolded just as the bottle predicted, with the net empty to his right.
Pickford did follow up his bottle with Switzerland’s last two penalties: Xherdan Shaqiri struck to the right, but was too well placed and his shot just escaped Pickford’s fingertips .
The only penalty that proved to be a bottle error was Zeki Amdouni’s on the fourth kick. Pickford held his ground and dived to the left as he had been briefed, but Amdouni outsmarted him by coming around to his position from the right.
Thankfully, for England, that save was enough. If Wednesday’s semi-final against the Netherlands goes as planned, don’t be surprised to see Pickford’s bottles and towels reappear.
Andrew Fifield
Saka stars – but where is Kane?
When Saka starts well, England start well too. He was Serbia’s best player in the first half of Euro 2024’s first game when he beat marker Andrea Zivkovic several times, and he was man of the match again today.
It’s no coincidence that today’s first half was England’s best since the start of the season nearly three weeks ago. Saka was pushed high and wide in possession, almost resembling a 3-4-3, with left-wing back Michel Aebischer playing against him. And he was defeated easily.
On many occasions in the first half, Saka took advantage of the fact that England were passing the ball to him much faster than they had been against Slovakia in the previous round. Saka got into a good position, crossed and forced a corner. The only frustration was that England were never able to convert these crosses into actual shots.
Bukayo Saka is England’s star (Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Forward Harry Kane, who had been sitting deep throughout the game, took up spots in defense in the second half, but he was unable to pick up any of Saka’s passes. Kane was substituted in extra time after an accidental touchline collision with England manager Gareth Southgate.
Without the ball, Saka had to run back to cover Ruben Vargas, but he did so hard. Saka scored the crucial equalizer when England needed him most, just when his side looked to have completely lost their minds.
jack peter brook
Can the Netherlands go all the way?
An incredible run, a manager that few convinced, a couple of come-from-behind wins and a feeling that being in the top half of the draw was the only reason they were in the semi-finals… for England , Reading Dutch.
But they reached the semi-finals of the European Cup for the first time since 2004.
Turkey exploited their weaknesses in today’s quarter-finals, particularly through set pieces and crosses, while Austria also exploited a poorly organized defense to keep them third in the group. But the Dutch also have many advantages.
The Netherlands celebrates defeating Türkiye (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Again like England, when they are confident, full of energy, showing composure and intensity, they perform brilliantly, as they did in the 3-0 win over Romania in the last 16.
Tonight, they must show determination, spirit… and the tactical intelligence shown by head coach Ronald Koeman in his second-half changes.
Three-goal Cody Gakpo was an obvious threat (Turkey handled him well until he snuck in at the back post to take advantage of some lethargic defence, through Mert Mert Muldur’s own goal assisted the goal), and if Jerdy Schouten, Tijjani Reijnders, and Harvey Simons get the chance to play in the midfield of time and space—and that’s not all.
Denzel Dumfries was always a threat at full-back and then there was big man Wout Weghorst coming off the bench to carnage in the air.
England will have a lot to think about.
As things stand, Wednesday’s semi-final in Dortmund looks evenly matched.
tim spears
Guler leaves…as a star
While Barcelona’s teenager – Spain’s Lamine Yamar – grabbed the spotlight for his stellar performances throughout the game, there was one player from their arch-rivals Real Madrid who was equally exciting.
Turkish player Arda Guler may not have made too many appearances for Real Madrid last season, mainly due to injuries, but he ended his debut at the Santiago Bernabeu in fine form (five goals in five games) and put that into perspective. One momentum carries over to Euro 2024.
Arda Guler becomes the star of Euro 2024 (Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)
His second assist against the Netherlands today was very nice. Turkey and Guler entered the game after a slow start with a series of threatening set-pieces that the Netherlands struggled to deal with, and the first goal was an extension of that.
Guler received a free corner kick on the right side of the penalty area and was eager to get the ball onto his favored left foot before firing the ball into the penalty area.
With no angle, the 19-year-old, who also hit the post with a free-kick in the second half, reluctantly swung his right hand… and delivered a perfect outswinging cross that completely confused goalkeeper Bart Werbrew Root, just like a person who has just crossed the road and sees a speeding motorcycle approaching, he flinches and hesitates.
Verbruggen neither jumped for the ball nor turned back to the goal line. He was helpless. Samet Akaydin advanced at the back post and headed into the net with ease after Merih Demiral came on through suspension.
Guller’s game may be over now, but you get the feeling it was just the beginning of an illustrious career for club and country.
tim spears
What’s next?
- Spain vs France (Tuesday, 8pm BST; 3pm ET)
- Netherlands vs England (Wednesday. 8pm BST; 3pm ET)
(Above: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
