EURO 2024: Round of 16 – Day 1
Switzerland sent the Italians home, and Germany and its natural forces clashed against Denmark in Dortmund.
The fate of the former European champions also reached Italy.
Switzerland’s national team became the first quarterfinalist of the European Championship in Germany. The “Crusaders” rightfully dethroned their defending champion Italy, winning 2-0 in the first round of 16 matches of Euro 2024, played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin.
Remo Freuler (37′) and Ruben Vargas (46′) scored goals, and the latter assisted on the first goal.
Thus, the Swiss await the winner between England and Slovakia in the next round.
Murat Yakin made only one change among his starters after the 1-1 draw with Germany, which was necessary. This change involved today’s hero, Vargas, replacing the suspended Silvan Widmer. Vargas assisted both Dan Ndoye and Breel Embolo in the attack.
On the other hand, Luciano Spalletti made six changes to his starting lineup after the 1-1 draw with Croatia.
He reverted to the 4-3-3 formation, with Ricardo Calafiori, who was suspended, replaced by Gianluca Mancini in defense, and Matteo Darmian playing on the left due to Federico Dimarco’s injury. Alessandro Bastoni retained his starting position despite having the flu over the past few days.
Nicolò Fagioli and Bryan Cristante were preferred in midfield over Lorenzo Pellegrini and Jorginho. The attack was completely renewed, with Federico Chiesa and Gianluca Scamacca returning from the start, while Stephan El Shaarawy made his Euro 2024 debut.
This left Giacomo Raspadori and Matteo Retegui on the bench at the start of the match.
The first 10 minutes were controlled by the “Crusaders” but without any clear scoring opportunities. In the 12th minute, the match’s first shot came, but Dan Ndoye’s execution was disappointing. Slowly, the Italians entrenched themselves without threatening the opponent’s goal.
This continued until the 24th minute when the first major scoring opportunity came. Embolo was sent alone against Gianluigi Donnarumma, but the goalkeeper saved his shot, and attempts by Ndoye and Freuler to follow up were blocked.
Chiesa quickly responded with a low shot but was also blocked for a corner.
In the 32nd minute, Ricardo Rodriguez attempted a long-range shot that sailed over the crossbar. Five minutes later, the Swiss pressure paid off. Vargas sent a pass into the penalty area towards Freuler, who lifted the ball and volleyed it to open the scoring for the “Crusaders.”
At the end of the first half, Fabian Rieder could have doubled the team’s lead from a direct free kick, but Donnarumma pushed the ball onto the crossbar, aided by the nearby post.
Thus, the Swiss went into halftime with a deserved lead, which could have been larger.
Spalletti reacted during halftime by bringing in the hero from the previous match, Matia Zacagni, to replace El Shaarawy. Nevertheless, the “Crusaders” doubled their lead just 27 seconds into the second half with a splendid shot from Vargas from the edge of the penalty area.
In the 52nd minute, the “Azzurri” could have reduced the deficit as Fabian Scher nearly scored an own goal with a poor header clearance, but the post saved the Swiss in that instance.
Seven minutes later, Ndoye shot from a long distance but missed the target.
Only in the 73rd minute did Jan Sommer intervene after a weak shot from substitute Matteo Retegui. Seconds later, the Italians hit the second post after a close-range shot from Scamacca. This was followed by a long shot from Fagioli, which missed the target.
In the 76th minute, Scamacca shot from a great distance but did so rather poorly.
Immediately after, Dua entered the game in place of Embolo.
In the 79th minute, Freuler sought his second goal of the match, but the ball flew wide of the goal. In the 83rd minute, substitute Steven Zuber shot from a narrow-angle, but the ball went past the goal and stayed in play. Shortly after, Lorenzo Pellegrini, who had entered the field from the bench, fired a long-range shot but failed to score.
In the added time of two minutes, Chiesa made the last miss of the match.
Thus, Switzerland qualified for the tournament’s quarterfinals for the second consecutive time, equaling its best achievement in a major football event.
Switzerland will face England or Slovakia in the match in Düsseldorf, scheduled for July 6.
In this way, the “Azzurri’s” inglorious performance continued a trend seen in the previous two editions of the European Championship.
At Euro 2016, the then-reigning champion Spain was eliminated by Italy after losing 0-2 in their round-of-16 clash.
Three years ago, the tournament’s reigning champion in France, namely Portugal, was also dethroned at this stage after a 0-1 defeat to Belgium. Now, the “Azzurri” have followed their fate and were eliminated at the start of the eliminations.
This tradition continued with the introduction of the round of 16 eight years ago when the reigning champion was eliminated precisely at this tournament stage.
Interestingly, in the last edition, before introducing another elimination round at the Euros, namely Euro 2012, Spain became the only team in history to defend their European title successfully.
Shortly after, Germany became the second team to qualify for the quarterfinals of Euro 2024.
The tournament hosts defeated Denmark 2-0 in their clash between the two teams in the round of 16 after a quite stormy evening in Dortmund. It was literal and figurative, as in the middle of the first half, a tremendous thunderstorm swept over the stadium, causing the match to be stopped for nearly 25 minutes.
And figuratively, because the match was a fantastic spectacle with many chances at both ends, incredible saves, disallowed goals, and crucial interventions from VAR.
Nevertheless, the Bundesteam imposed their will and achieved success with goals from Kai Havertz from a penalty in the 53rd minute and Jamal Musiala in the 68th minute.
Julian Nagelsmann started the match with Kai Havertz at the top of the attack and Leroy Sane and Jamal Musiala on the wings. Ilkay Gundogan operated behind him, partnered in midfield by Toni Kroos and Robert Andrich.
On the other hand, Kasper Hjulmand preferred Rasmus Hojlund as an advanced forward, with Christian Eriksen and Andreas Skov Olsen behind him. Joachim Mele and Alexander Ba acted as half-backs, with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Thomas Delaney as the two holding midfielders.
Germany started the match vigorously and could have opened the scoring as early as the 4th minute.
Nico Schlatterbeck sent the ball into the net after a corner, but Joshua Kimmich’s attacking foul disallowed the goal.
In the 6th minute, Kimmich unleashed a powerful shot from a long distance, forcing Kasper Schmeichel to make an important save.
The ensuing corner brought further trouble for Schmeichel after another header from Schlatterbeck, but the goalkeeper was again in the right place.
In the 10th minute, Germany had another good attack.
This time, Kai Havertz received the ball behind the defense and decided to volley, but Schmeichel made another great save.
Afterward, Robert Andrich headed the ball from the corner, and again, the Danish goalkeeper was in the right place to catch it.
A minute later, Jamal Musiala tried his luck with a long shot that went wide of the target.
Gradually, Denmark subdued the enthusiasm of their opponents, and in the 24th minute, they reached their first scoring opportunity in the match. Christian Eriksen found Joachim Mele in the penalty area, and he shot on the move but over the crossbar.
The weather also decided to intervene in the middle of halftime. A tremendous thunderstorm appeared over Dortmund, and Michael Oliver signalled a temporary halt to the game in the 35th minute.
Shortly afterward, both teams returned to the locker rooms.
The rain stopped after nearly a 25-minute break, and the match resumed. Germany again started better, and in the 37th minute, Kai Havertz found himself in a good position and headed the ball, but Schmeichel again made a brilliant save.
Then Schlatterbeck took a shot, but it went wide of the goal.
Denmark also had a great chance in the 41st minute when Rasmus Hojlund stole the ball near the goal and immediately shot but missed.
“Red Dynamite” created an even better opportunity in the 45th minute when they organized a counter-attack; Thomas Delaney led Rasmus Hojlund, who failed to beat Manuel Neuer, who came out well and blocked his shot.
The second half began with a shock for Germany.
“Red Dynamite” scored through Joakim Andersen in the 49th minute, but even that goal was cancelled after VAR intervention due to an offside during the attack.
Less than a minute later, events shifted to the other end, and Joakim Andersen was penalized for the visitors. During a cross by Raum, the ball struck his hand.
The situation was reviewed by the video assistants, and Michael Oliver pointed to the penalty spot.
Kai Havertz converted the penalty to make it 1-0.
In the 59th minute, Havertz had a chance to double the lead. He leaped behind the opponent’s defense and elegantly chipped the ball over Schmeichel, but it went wide of the goal.
Germany orchestrated another brilliant attack in the 64th minute, involving Havertz, who set up Sané, but he missed from a good position. However, there was an offside in the situation.
Denmark continued to search for a way to threaten Neuer and did so in the 66th minute when Rasmus Hojlund broke free in the penalty area and shot, but the home team’s goalkeeper made an excellent save.
The hosts largely settled the match in the 68th minute. Niko Schlotterbeck played a beautiful long pass to Jamal Musiala, who outpaced his marker and remained calm to score past Schmeichel, making it 2-0.
In added time, Germany scored another goal through Fabian Wirtz but was disallowed due to an offside.
Shortly after, Kai Havertz again stood out with another incredible miss in a one-on-one with Schmeichel, who once more made an incredible save.
Nevertheless, Germany did the job and achieved the much-needed victory, taking another step forward in the tournament.
The German national team awaits the winner between Spain and Georgia for their next match.
