EURO Matchday 19 Preview

Quater-final day 2 is here. England face Switzerland in the hopes of making it one step closer to ending a 58 year wait for an international title, while the Netherlands face Turkey just hours later!

Quater-final day two is here. England face Switzerland in the hopes of making it one step closer to ending a 58 year wait for an international title, while the Netherlands face Turkey in a contest between two unheralded over-achievers just hours later!

England v Switzerland

England’s dreadful, yet successful, tournament drew on with a last-gasp triumph over Slovakia in the round of 16. England went behind in the 25th minute to an Ivan Schranz strike - the 30-year-old winger's 3rd goal of the tournament! - and looked absolutely harmless for the remaining 65 minutes of regular time. England had failed to register a single shot on target during the 90 minutes, and it was easy to draw parallels to the disastrous 2:1 defeat to Iceland at the same stage of the tournament in 2016. 

Yet, Jude Bellingham - the man for the special moments - had the last laugh with a spectacular stoppage time overhead kick that underlines his otherworldly talent and mentality. The 21-year-old had vanished from the spotlight since opening England’s campaign with a goal against Serbia, but in arguably the biggest moment in England’s modern history, The Birmingham boy stole the show once more. 

A demoralized Slovakia managed to rescue the game into extra time, but the spirit of Francesco Calzona’s side looked shot, and it took a mere minute for Harry Kane to head in the final goal of the match that steered England to the quarter-finals for 4th international tournament in a row. 

As for Switzerland, they have quietly developed into a sizable dark horse as this tournament has progressed. Their dreary qualification campaign, aging roster, and lack of attacking talent saw many question Switzerland’s potential to compete at EURO 2024, but Murat Yakın has laid these doubts to rest with a stellar tactical construct that has his side bouncing past the competition. 

In the final groupstage match against Germany, we saw Switzerland’s competitive qualities, and in their round of 16 tie with Italy, the Rossocrociati underpinned this message with a dominant performance. Yakın’s side allowed Italy just 1-shot on target, and thoroughly dictated the match from start to finish. Serie A veteran Remo Freuler opened the scoring after 37 minutes, while just 28 seconds into the second half, Ruben Vargas doubled the Swiss advantage with a spectacular curling strike into Gianluigi Donnarumma’s far post. 

Ruben Vargas, who has been with relegation-threatened Bundesliga club FC Augsburg since 2019, might not have been on everyone's radar before the competition. However, the 25-year-old is now making a compelling case for a summer transfer after his latest outstanding performance for the national team. While he must develop more efficiency in front of goal to replicate his talent on a consistent basis - Vargas has scored only 20 goals in 146 Bundesliga matches - his pure dynamism, creativity, and attention to defensive details make him an exciting talent to watch as this tournament, and summer transfer window, stretches on!

Prediction: Switzerland Win 

Netherlands v Turkey

In the Berlin Olympiastadion on Saturday night the quarter-finals commence with a fixture between the Netherlands and Turkey. The Netherlands endured a shaky groupstage that ended with a 3rd-place finish, but Ronald Koeman’s side have made amends in the knockout stages with a unifying 3:0 victory over Romania. The previously fruitless Donyell Malen scored two goals off the bench, but his wide counterpart, Cody Gakpo, truly stole the show again. 

Cody Gakpo provided a goal and assist, a game-high 4 shots, and completed the second-most dribbles on the pitch. Gakpo is now the joint-top goalscorer (3) and goal contributor at the competition, breathing life into a Dutch attack with his sensational ability to drift into the center of the pitch from the right wing. Though the great Arjen Robben did this from the left side of the pitch, it is nevertheless easy to draw parallels between the two players when you look at how Gakpo has scored his 3 goals at the competition. 

As for opponents Turkey, they called upon a more unconventional goalscorer to provide them safe passage into the final 8. In the space of an evening, the 26-year-old doubled his international goal tally with two almost identical headed goals from corner kicks. After scoring just twice in 47 international appearances, few would have had him on their bingo card to deliver Turkey glory, but the Fenerbahce youth academy product has an undeniable quality in these scenarios. Over 60% of his goals during his career have been scored via header, while in the national team, all 4 of his finishes to date have come via an aerial contest. 

Not only the goals made Demiral the undeniable man-of-the-match, but also a cleansheet from a Turkey side that had failed to hold the 0 at the back all tournament. Demiral’s game-high 6 defensive aerial duels showed again his elite ability to command the penalty box at both ends, but just as important was the veteran goalkeeper Mert Günok. The 35-year-old had enjoyed a shaky and error-prone tournament ahead of the all-important fixture with Austria. Günok had made a catastrophic error in the opening match v Georgia and was generally a constant liability with the ball at his feet. However, against Austria, he came up huge for his country. Günok made 4 saves, including a breathtaking stoppage time reflex to give Turkey safe passage into the quarter-finals. If Vincenzo Montella’s side wants to continue this remarkable journey with a spot in the semis, they will need the veteran goalkeeper to be at the top of his game once more. 

Prediction: Turkey Win