6 months ago
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ENGLAND will secure a route into the last-16 of Euro 2024 TONIGHT… if they are done a favour by a rival.
The Three Lions are top of Group C on four points after a 1-0 win over Serbia and 1-1 draw with Denmark.
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RexWith the final group game against Slovenia tomorrow, Gareth Southgate‘s side could end up in third place if they lose the game and Denmark beat Serbia.
Even if Serbia win their match and equal England‘s tally of 4 points, the Three Lions’ win over them in game one gives them the advantage on head-to-head record, which would put Harry Kane and Co in second.
However, thanks to the four best third-place teams progressing to the Round of 16, they may not need to worry about the result of the game depending on results tonight.
That is because England may have already secured a spot in the knockout stages following the Group B clashes of Spain vs Albania and Italy vs Croatia tonight.
The current standings in the group have Spain on six points, Italy on three and Albania and Croatia on one point.
Only one of Italy or Croatia can end on four points or more.
And this means the only other way the third place team in Group B can end on four points is if Albania cause a shock defeat of Spain.
England’s tally is already superior to that of Group A’s third-place nation Hungary, who sit on three points after a last-gasp winner against Scotland last night.
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Therefore, if La Roja avoid defeat against Albania, England will secure qualification to the next round as one of the best third place nations at the bare minimum.
England captain Kane has admitted the team have struggled in their opening games.
Southgate has put this down to a lack of physical fitness in the team which has hindered pressing and intensity, while also bemoaning the lack of a Kalvin Phillips profile in midfield.
Should England top the group they will be drawn against a third-placed side in Group D, E or F – who at the time of writing are Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
'We're struggling with and without the ball', admits Harry Kane
HARRY KANE admits England “haven’t been good enough” at the Euros.
Here’s what skipper Kane said after the disappointing 1-1 draw with Denmark:
“We’re struggling with and without the ball.
“The pressing in both games hasn’t been quite right. We haven’t been good enough, from top to bottom, from me to Picks (Jordan Pickford).
“Everyone is dropping below their level a bit, in terms of retaining the ball, playing under pressure.
“We know there’ll be a bit of noise and disappointment back home.
“But it’s a time to stay calm and we’ll get there step by step.
“It wasn’t our greatest game but we got away with draw.
“We are starting games well. But when the teams are dropping a few players deeper we are not quite sure how to get the pressure on, and who is the one who is supposed to be going.”
“In the second half, we changed it with me and Jude (Bellingham) playing in front of their two midfielders. But it was difficult.”
A runner-up finish would set up a grudge-match with the winner of Group A, Germany.
Meanwhile, a third-place spot would leave England to face the winners of Group E or F, with Romania (though Belgium are expected to secure this spot after game three) and Portugal currently top.
Euro 2024 fans have found genius new way to taunt each other, writes Piers Morgan
FOR a moment, I feared the worst, writes Piers Morgan.
Albanian football fans squared up to their Italian rivals on the streets of Dortmund before their two teams were due to play each other in the Euros.
They’d been taunting and hurling jibes at each other for hours as the alcohol flowed, and now it threatened to escalate into violence.
Then an extraordinary thing happened.
One of the Albanians suddenly produced a packet of uncooked spaghetti, and brandishing it in both hands, he marched fearlessly towards the enemy.
An Italian fan dropped to his knees in front of him and begged him for clemency.
But the merciless Albanian duly snapped the spaghetti into tiny pieces and then flung it into the air in a brazen act of desecration towards Italy’s most beloved and iconic national foodstuff – to wild cheers from his mates.
And at that point, all the fans, on both sides, cheered and fell about laughing, and later they were even seen dancing the traditional Albanian line dance, called the Valle, together.
The hilarious pasta-wrecking moment quickly went viral on social media, and sparked an unprecedented food war that has become a joyous antidote to the usual ugly scenes of hooliganism that have blighted most previous European Championships.
Read Piers Morgan’s column in full.
Or check out all of Piers’ articles.
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