Key events
Here’s our report from Portugal 1-0 Wales…
“‘Is there a clamour in Portugal to get him gone?’” returns Nelson Calvino, seeking to answer my earlier question. “I think the World Cup was the tipping point, but opinion is still very polarised. On one side are those who will support Ronaldo no matter what. On the other, increasingly a lot of people are demanding that, at the very least, he shouldn’t be starting for the national team. Crucially, what changed with the World Cup is that some of the Portuguese media are finally challenging his untouchable status, sometimes in strongly worded terms (the TV commentator for Portugal v Spain was going berserk). That NEVER happened before the World Cup and him getting all chummy with Trump and Musk has also damaged his reputation with a lot of people.”
The reification is mad, really, people abandoning what they know to be true to believe in a super-human who defeats all laws of nature and time.
“Great win, thanks in no small part to Tzolakis’ reflex save,” writes Chris Paraskevas. “Crazy to think that after the George Clooney (Antonis Nikopolidis) era of Greek goalkeeping that peaked way back in 2004, Greece just hasn’t produced a single top class shot-stopper for two decades. Now we have Tzolakis, Mandas and Vlachodimos. Hard to pick a weak spot in this Greek side. Very balanced, full of energy and youthful exuberance.”
Yup, agree. They might lack a properly world-class spine, but they’re going to be a lot of fun, at worst, but most likely a lot more than that.
“With Ruben van Bommel on for Holland,” says Louise Devries in an email I didn’t get to publish before events overtook it, “it’s a third generation playing for Oranje (grandpa Bert van Marwijk, father Mark van Bommel).”
I always found it funny that Van Marwijk managed Van Bommel, so had a first-hand look at the way he went about things, then Van Bommel married his daughter. But yup, some proper naches there.
FULL TIME: Serbia 1-2 Greece
A great contest, pilfered at the last by the better side.
FULL TIME: Norway 3-2 Denmark
Denmark did well to come back from 2-0 down, but ultimately Norway have Erling Haaland and they don’t.
FULL TIME: Netherlands 1-1 Germany
A fun game between two sides who are, let’s be real, way off it.
Veerman crosses, Til is there … AND HEADS WIDE! That should’ve been the winner!
FULL TIME: Portugal 1-0 Wales
A creditable performance for an under-strength Wales; same old from Portugal.
GOAL! Serbia 1-2 Greece (Douvikas 90+4)
Tsimikas hurtles down the left, crosses superbly, and Douvikas heads in a tremendous winner! These Greece boys are very, very serious.
GOAL! Netherlands 1-1 Germany (Gakpo 90+2)
Gnabry gives it away and Van Bommel, on as sub for a debut, drives forward down the left, crosses at an awkward heigh … and a flying Gakpo makes light of it, hurling himself at it to volley home a terrific equaliser!
Greece have been pushing hard for a winer but, in the final minute, Terzic bends low from the D … and hits the post, then Zivkovic crosses back in, Lukic head down … and Tzolakis saves improbably by kicking out a leg!
Both Xavi and Klopp have a lot of work to do; how do they elevate their teams without players compatible with their visions? Germany are not going to outrun and overpower every team they face, nor do they have elite attackers; Netherlands don’t have the midfield to control games, even when Frenkie de Jong is fit.
Are we seeing the stratification of international football? Spain, France, England and Argentina now seem a fair bit better than Brazil, Germany and Holland with the rate at which they’re developing quality young players likely to maintain that hegemony for the foreseeable.
A ball over the top and Johnson chases, chesting down and, almost from the by-line, lifting over Costa … and on to the top of the bar. But Koumas is there for the rebound, he shoots low … and Dias blocks! That should’ve been 1-1.
GOAL! Serbia 1-1 Greece (Tzolis 74)
It’s been coming for well over an hour and finally, it’s arrived, Pavlidis holding up before feeding Tzolis, who measures a low finish across Milinkovic-Savis and into the far corner.
GOAL! Norway 3-2 Denmark (Haaland 74)
A short corner, then a low pass to the near post – think Anderton for Sheringham, early-to-mid-90s – and Haaland turns in powerfully. He is rrrridiculous.
Eeesh, Dumfries nudges the ball away from Amiri – whose nickname, I trust, is Del – but, already committed to the slide, he tanks in to knock plough through the Inter man, knocking him off his feet. The challenge, though, is with thigh not stud, which is, I imagine, why there’s no red card.
Oh my complete and utter days! Summerville slides Dumfries in behind, he crosses low, missing out the keeper, and Meerdink slides in to finish into the empty net from almost under the bar … and somehow sends the ball wide! That is remarkable, a miss that defies the laws of physics and makes Adeyemi’s from earlier look like a composed tuck-away.
In Belgrade, Greece are dominating, but still can’t score – Milinkovic-Savic has just saved from Ionnidis, but he oughtn’t to have smelled it.
“I wonder does ex-dentist and current Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrímsson pack a bit of novocaine in his kitbag when fulfilling his professional duties these days,” asks Justin Kavanagh. “Watching the current squad for 90 minutes must be painful. Especially when you’ve three appointments scheduled within a week.”
Back in Dam, Netherlands are chasing an equaliser, Van Dijk having a header deflected over before the ref ruins an almighty scramble from the ensuing second corner, blowing up before Meerdink fires home.
GOAL! Norway 2-2 Denmark (Hojlund 60)
Dorgu swings a decent corner in and, though Hjulmand’s header is saved by Nyland, Hojlund pounces from close range. From 2-0 up and cruising, Norway have been pegged back.
NO GOAL! Portugal 1-0 Wales
Yup, you could see that with the naked eye, and Ronaldo can barely believe the effrontery of the system.
But was he offside? I think he was, you know…
GOAL! Portugal 2-0 Wales (Ronaldo 59)
Bruno disguises a lush ball in behind, striking across it and threading it through the near side of the defence, and Ronaldo slides across Ward and low into the far corner.
Timber powers through midfield and finds Gakpo … whose square-pass is poor. Holland’s lack of attacking class is remarkable – in 2004, say, they had Van Hooijdonk, Van Nistelrooy, Makaay, Overmars, Robben, Kluivert … and Andy van der Meyde.
“What could go wrong under Jesus?” returns Nelson Calvinho. “Exactly what you said, Daniel: he won’t get to develop players in international football. There’s also his hubris and stubbornness. At times his football is too attacking and leaves his teams exposed. He famously didn’t rate Bernardo Silva either, and played him at left-back at Benfica…
On the flip side, one thing that stopped him doing even better in his career is his combustible personality (Mourinho on steroids), which tends to grate on players after a while. That shouldn’t be much of a problem with the national side, as he won’t be with them day in, day out.
I still have high hopes for him as Portugal’s manager, purely because his tactical acumen is up there with the best in the world. All his teams, from Benfica and Sporting to Flamengo, have played incredibly exciting football. And yes, I was hoping Jesus would be the one with big enough cojones to leave Ronaldo out. Sigh…”
Is there a clamour in Portugal to get him gone? In England he’d have been hounded into retirement tiiiiime ago.
Footballers I’d rather not ruck (but obviously could take if I had to): Uncle Vanja Milinkovic-Savic.
“Portugal v Wales, and a painful reminder that one of the greatest month of my life was 10 (TEN!!!) years ago,” says Matt Dony. “The inexorable creep of time. Portugal looked so damn beatable in Euro 2016, but you can’t legislate for Ronaldo scoring that header. Of course he’s not the same player now, but the scars remain. Every time he touches the ball, I expect him to suddenly become the CR7 again. He’ll definitely score. Theres not a doubt in This Sullen Welsh Heart. (Thanks, Nicky Wire).”
Well, he’s just made a mess of a diving header for 2-0 but, on the plus side, it gave us a decent look at his yellow highlights.
We’re away again in Lisbon and Oslo; Belgrade and Dam soon come.
Half-time email: “Not a lot happening in Lisbon,” reports Gareth Rogers. “My personal highlight was the ‘You’re just a shit Gareth Bale!!’ chant from the traveling fans after Ronaldo spurned an easy chance to further pad his goal scoring stats against weak teams, threw his arms dramatically in the air and pointed at the imaginary divot. I will so miss him when he’s gone.”
An international level, that song is true of almost everyone. At club level, brilliant though he was, in the company he kept I felt Bale lacked a bit of guile and finesse. But I can’t think of many better international footballers than him.
HALF-TIME: Netherlands 0-1 Germany
There’s a pleasing tetch to this one and a growing sense of injustice in the Dutch ranks. The second half should be decent.
“First half report from Kosovo is that Kosovo are all over Ireland like a duck on a junebug,” says JR in Illinois. “That they’re not up at least 3-0 is bordering on the miraculous.”
Ireland are drawing 0-0 in Kosovo at the break.
HALF-TIME: Norway 2-1 Denmark
Since Denmark halved the deficit, they’ve been the better team – this is another really fun contest.
HALF-TIME: Serbia 1-0 Greece
Greece has been excellent since going behind, but Serbia had a great chance to make it 2-0 in what is really enjoyable game.
HALF-TIME: Portugal 1-0 Wales
Portugal are much too good for Wales, but only have a one-goal lead to show for their superiority.
Back to Nelson’s email, you don’t really get to develop players in international football – it’s more about picking a team that works. I’d like a bit more pace up front, though I suppose not many teams squeeze high, and I’d definitely like Joao Neves in the team – I’d put Neto up front instead of Ronaldo and work it out that way.
Amiri lifts a fine ball over the top for the marauding Brown and, rousting into the box, he might shoot himself, but instead makes sure, squaring for Adeyemi … who somehow shoots over the top! Klopp can only laugh, before applauding the approach-work. That was some miss.
“As much as I dislike Jorge Jesus as a person,” writes Nelson Calvinho, “the truth is he’s an elite ‘teacher’ manager, whose attacking, demanding, micromanaging style dramatically raises the tactical awareness and technical quality of his players. He’s absolutely obsessed about details. UK media just don’t rate him highly enough, or completely ignore him, because he’s never managed in one of your so-called big five leagues.
But when you think of the players he developed or revitalised into elite footballers (Di Maria, David Luiz, Matic, Ramires, Rafael Leão, Fábio Coentrão, Oblak, Bruno Fernandes, Enzo Perez, Axel Witsel and more, many of whom have publicly called him the best coach they ever had), it’s hard not to dream about what he’ll make of this Portugal side. If we can’t do it with Jorge Jesus, we probably never will.”
You never know how international football will work, but as long as he’s picking Ronaldo, I can’t see Portugal winning anything.
PSA: earlier today, Eoin Morgan said that Sri Lanka’s total was “in and around par”. It’s such a buzz to see groundbreaking stuff like that.
Brobbey is replaced by Mexx Meerdink who, if nothing else, has a tremendous name. Which of us wouldn’t love a dub-X?
GOAL! Netherlands 0-1 Germany (Nmecha 32)
With Brobbey down and wanting treatment, having done his hammy running, Germany play on, Kimmich lifts a cross-kick over to the right, Treu crosses low, and though Adeyemi can’t turn in at the near post, Nmecha arrives on the scene to punch in the opener. As youj might imagine, Van Dijk is now even less dignant than previously, and there’s minor argy-bargy before we get going again.
Back in Belgrade, Jovic has just blasted over from close range – that should’ve been 2-0. And, in Amsterdam, Ebnoutalib hammers a rising shot from a tight angle that Verbruggen has to beat away.
Havertz walks off without much limping, but goes straight down the tunnel; Younes Ebnoutalib replaces him.
Timber accidentally treads on Havertz, who doesn’t enjoy it all; I fear that may be his evening done. On the plus side, I also enjoy Germany’s kit.
As promised, those Netherlands tops.
GOAL! Norway 2-1 Denmark (Damsgaard 25)
A free-kick 22 yards out goes over the wall and in, but it wasn’t even close to the corner; Nyland doesn’t move never mind dive, and I’ve no idea why.
GOAL! Portugal 1-0 Wales (Joao Felix 22)
It’s been one-way traffic until now and Mendes moves forward with the ball, finding Felix 25 yards from goal and unmarked. He advances, Davies opting not to close him down, and when the shot flicks off him, Ward is slow to dive, perhaps because of the deflection, but really, he should be stopping that.