ANOTHER LOOK AT SOME OF THE EXCITEMENT FROM THE EUROS 2024 -17/06/2024 (LUKAKU KICKS THE BALL OVER THE LINE)

IF THERE’S ONE THING WE LEARNT FROM THE EUROS 2024, IT WAS TO EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED, AND THAT ANY PRECONCEPTION WHICH ONE MAY HAVE HAD ON HOW THE TEAMS WERE GOING TO PERFORM COULD ALL BE THROWN OUT THE WINDOW, BECAUSE THE CLASS OF 2024 WERE A TOTALLY DIFFERENT BREED!

MBAPPE AND FRANCE CELEBRATE 

THE MATCH BETWEEN AUSTRIA VS FRANCE WAS FULL OF DRAMA YESTERDAY!  WITH MBAPPE PLAYING AN INTEGRAL PART THROUGHOUT THE MATCH, UNTIL HIS UNFORTUNATE INJURY, WHEN HE JUMPED HIGH FOR THE BALL AT THE SAME TIME AS KEVIN DANSO, BUT ENDED UP COLIDING WITH DANSO’S SHOULDER ON THE WAY DOWN, AND BREAKING HIS NOSE.  BUT IT WAS ALL-ACTION EARLIER ON, WHEN MBAPPE WHEN TO PASS THE BALL IN FRONT OF GOAL AT 38 MINS., ONLY FOR AUSTRIA’S MAXIMILIAN WOBER TO RECEIVE IT AND HEAD IT INTO THE GOAL, RESULTING IN AN OWN GOAL, MEANING THAT FRANCE WERE NOW 1 – 0 UP.  (WOBER LOOKED DISTRAUGHT AFTERWARDS, BUT WAS IMMEDIATELY CONSOLED BY HIS TEAM.)  AND THEN CAME A FURTHER 14 SHOTS FOR FRANCE, WITH 3 ON TARGET (MBAPPE WAS QUICK ON THE BALL BUT UNABLE TO FINISH AT TIMES), AND A FURTHER 5 SHOTS FOR AUSTRIA, WITH 3 ON TARGET, SO ALL GREAT STUFF!  AUSTRIA WILL NOW PLAY POLAND ON FRIDAY 21 JUNE AT 17.00, AND FRANCE WILL PLAY THE NETHERLANDS ON THE SAME DAY AT 20.00 – SO STAY TUNED….!  (WE WISH MBAPPE ALL THE VERY BEST FOR A FULL AND SPEEDY RECOVERY.)

EUROS 2024 – AUSTRIA VS FRANCE – 17/06/2024

BELGIUM WILL EITHER BE KICKING THEMSELVES ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM YESTERDAY, OR SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS! IN THESE COMPETITIONS IT’S ALWAYS GREAT TO SEE WHAT THE SUPERSTAR FOOTBALLERS DO BEST WHICH MAKES THEM SO MAGICAL, AND IN MY MIND, ROMELU LUKAKU’S TWO GOALS WERE BOTH MAGICAL. VAR WERE EMPHATIC THAT BOTH OF THEM WERE INVALID. THE FIRST FOR BEING OFFSIDE, AND THE SECOND AFTER THE BUILD-UP TO THE GOAL INCLUDED A HANDBALL FROM LOIS OPENDA, (WITH HIS RIGHT-HAND BEING IN AN ‘UNNATURAL’ POSITION! WHAT ELSE WAS HE SUPPOSED TO DO WITH HIS HAND – PUT IT DOWN HIS PANTS?)  BUT HEY, HO! THIS IS FOOTBALL, AND NO DOUBT EVERYONE WILL BE DEBATING THE VAR’S DECISION AD INFINITUM. BUT WE KNOW SPECTACULAR FOOTBALL WHEN WE SEE IT – AND THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS AT THE END OF THE DAY! THE GAME CULMINATED IN A 1 – 0 WIN TO SLOVAKIA, AFTER SOME COMPLICATED REBOUNDING AND BACKWARDS-AND-FORWARDSING AT ONLY 7 MINUTES INTO THE MATCH, CULMINATING IN AN EXCELLENT QUICK-THINKING GOAL BY SLOVAKIA’S IVAN SCHRANZ! THERE WERE A TOTAL OF 16 SHOTS, WITH 5 ON TARGET FOR BELGIUM, AND 10 SHOTS, WITH 4 ON TARGET FOR SLOVAKIA, SO IT WAS A THOROUGHLY ENTERTAINING AFTERNOON!  SLOVAKIA WILL NOW GO ON TO PLAY UKRAINE ON FRIDAY 21 JUNE AT 14.00, AND BELGIUM WILL PLAY ROMANIA ON SATURDAY 22 JUNE AT 20.00.

EUROS 2024 – BELGIUM VS SLOVAKIA – 17/06/2024

ON A BRIGHT, SUNNY DAY, WITH A AN EXTREMELY LIVELY CROWD, ROMANIA CLAIMED THEIR FIRST VICTORY IN A EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP FOR 24 YEARS, IN THEIR MATCH AGAINT UKRAINE YESTERDAY. IT WAS NICOLAE STANCIU WHO SCORED THE FIRST GOAL AT 29 MINS., FOLLOWED BY HIS TEAM-MATE RAZVAN MARIN A WHILE LATER AT 53 MINS., AND WITH DENIS DRAGUS SCORING ROMANIA’S LAST GOAL AT 57 MINS. THE GAME CULMINATED IN A 3 – 0 WIN TO ROMANIA. HOWEVER, THERE WAS MUCH MORE EXCITEMENT THROUGHOUT WHEN FURTHER SHOTS CAME ALSO – WITH 9 SHOTS, INCLUDING 5 SHOTS ON TARGET FOR ROMANIA – AND 13 SHOTS, INCLUDING 2 ON TARGET FOR UKRAINE – (CHECK OUT THE GREAT EFFORTS OF MUDRYK, WHOSE GOAL WENT JUST OVER THE TOP, AND YAREMCHUK, WHO HIT THE TOP OF THE BAR), SO IT WAS ACTION-PACKED RIGHT TO THE VERY END OF THE MATCH! ROMANIA WILL NOW PLAY BELGIUM ON SATURDAY 22 JUNE AT 20.00 AND UKRAINE WILL PLAY SLOVAKIA ON FRIDAY 21 JUNE AT 14.00.

EUROS 2024 – ROMANIA VS UKRAINE – 17/06/2024