Euro 2020: Stage Set For The Big Boys

The Euro 2020 has reached the quarter-finals stage. This is the point where the boys are expected to have been separated from the men.

But this tournament has taken an unexpected twist. World champions, France, and defending champions, Portugal, were sent packing by Switzerland and Belgium, respectively.

READ: What next for Cristiano Ronaldo after the European Championships?

No doubt, both Portugal and France are among the top-ranked teams. But the recent development in the competition shows an increase in technical skill and talent is beginning to catch up on the ‘big boys’.

All from group of death sent home

The group of death in Euro 2020 lived up to its name as all the qualifiers – France, Portugal, and Germany – have now left the tournament. We are left with the Czech Republic that shocked the Netherlands, Ukraine, and Denmark, who qualified as one of the best losers. Also in the running are England, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and Belgium.

However, Spain have now sent Switzerland packing. Even though they ended the game with 10 men, Switzerland held Spain to a draw till the very end. The subsequent nail-biting penalty shootout ended with Spain winning 3-1.

And in the other quarter final match of the night, Italy beat Belgium by two goals to one. Belgium’s best position in the tournament was as runners-up in 1980. Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku, Kevin De Bryune will be 30+ in the next edition. Having finished third in the 2018 World Cup, hopes were high for this golden generation to lift silverware. But it wasn’t meant to be.

Euro 2020 is the biggest opportunity for England

The departure of some of the big teams has given England the opportunity to win the title. The best position England has ever got to in the history of the tournament was third place in 1968 and semi-finalists in 1996.

In front of the Three Lions, the present hurdle is Ukraine, who defeated Sweden in the last minutes of the extra time. On paper, England should defeat Ukraine at the Stadio Olimpico. However, in this tournament, write no one-off, and being overconfident can land any team in trouble.

Defeating Germany in front of the fans at the Wembley Stadium provides a spark for Gareth Southgate’s men. They must give their all and concentrate throughout the game, as a slight lack of focus can be costly.

England is also expected to be high on confidence going into the tournament with clean sheets in four straight games. Now that Harry Kane has finally found the back of the net, they are expected to offer more threats in the future. If they turn up their game, it might be hard for Ukraine to stop them.

Ukraine will be proud of its achievement – its first quarter-finals in the history of the tournament. So, being defeated by England would still be a job well done by Andriy Shevchenko.

Don’t write off Italy and others

No one should write off the Azurris as they finished their group game with a perfect record. But Austria revealed some of their frailties in the last 16 clash. Roberto Mancini needs to tinker the team further for the likes of Chiellini, Bonucci to bow out in style with a trophy.

We could yet witness further shocks in Euro 2020 as witnessed in the last two editions which saw Greece and Portugal lift the trophy. Until then, we look forward to more display of talent and skill. And as they say, ‘may the best team win’.