After three weeks without much emotion, Euro 2024 is getting down to business with two magnificent matches for the first quarter-finals: Spain-Germany and Portugal-France on Friday.
Prestige. These four teams alone represent nine of the sixteen Henri-Delaunay trophies won since the creation of the competition, three for Germany (1972, 1980, 1996) and Spain (1964, 2008 and 2012), two for France (1984 and 2000) and one for Portugal (2016).
The only one picked up by the « Selection » eight years ago left a very bitter memory for Didier Deschamps’ Blues, beaten in their Stade de France (1-0 aet), and they would like to take their revenge.
In addition to the French coach, some of the players from this match will also be on stage in Hamburg.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who went off injured early in the final, is still there, at 39, as is Pepe, at 41, in central defense.
On the French side, Antoine Griezmann, the hero of Euro 2016 with his 6 goals, is also in the game, while Olivier Giroud is only a substitute.
Frenchman Antoine Griezmann, July 1, 2024 in Düsseldorf, Germany / OZAN KOSE / AFP/Archives
More « Grizi » is not in great form at this Euro. He did not score, missed opportunities and his hybrid position on the right side against Belgium (1-0), in the 8th final, was not a success.
No excuses for Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé acknowledged that Griezmann was “in a slightly harder time”but he regretted that his partner was “a little butchered” by critics.
The captain of the Blues himself admits that “not having found all (his) legs” and not “not being 100%” before facing the Portugal of his childhood idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, but « Look » doesn’t want it to be ” an excuse “no more than the mask that protects his broken nose.
And if Mbappé only scored one goal on penalty, against Poland (1-1), CR7 did not score any. He even missed a penalty against Slovenia (0-0, 3 tab to 0), cried, before converting the first penalty of the series.
The offensive sluggishness remains the big problem of the French team in this Euro, it did not score any goals in the game, two own goals complementing Mbappé’s penalty for a meager haul of 3 goals.
French striker Kylian Mbappé (left) and France national team coach Didier Deschamps, June 27, 2024 in Paderborn, Germany / FRANCK FIFE / AFP/Archives
On the other hand, his defense, in the great tradition of Didier Deschamps, is almost impenetrable: only one goal conceded, a penalty from Robert Lewandowski.
But to beat Portugal, the efficiency slider will have to be significantly raised.
Spain won all their matches
Spain and Germany have no particular difficulty in scoring goals, with the two best attacks in the competition so far: 9 goals for the « Roja »10 for the host country.
This quarter-final in Stuttgart is also a rematch of a final, but older. In 2008, Spain of Fernando Torres, Xavi and Andres Iniesta beat Germany (1-0) of Philipp Lahm, now tournament director, in Vienna.
Luis de la Fuente’s team left the strongest impression, they are the only ones to have won all their matches since the start of the competition. They were almost never in danger, except when Georgia briefly led in the round of 16 before suffering the Spanish law (4-1).
Parisian Fabian Ruiz (two goals) is in the form of his life, and the victory in the 2023 Nations League has given confidence to this team.
Germany showed themselves to be solid, fielding one of the most attractive players of the tournament, Jamal Musiala, joint top scorer with 3 goals, but they experienced some turbulence.
Switzerland gave them a hard time in the last group match (1-1) and Denmark came within a hair’s breadth of leading in the round of 16 before falling (2-0).
Combo created on July 3, 2024: the Spaniard Rodri (left) and the German Jamal Musiala, respectively in Gelsenkirchen on June 20, 2024 and in Dortmund on June 29, 2024 / Alberto PIZZOLI, Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP/Archives
The winners of these two big matches will meet in the semi-finals on Tuesday 9 July in Munich and will be able to watch the other two quarter-finals on Saturday: England-Switzerland (6 p.m.) and Netherlands-Turkey (9 p.m.).
