Euro Cortado #15: Saved by the... Rod
Georgia were briefly in dreamland; Slovakia were a brief moment from staying there permanently
On day two of the Round of 16, we came within seconds of a huge upset and had the sniff of another. Yet in the end, one midfield star saved his side’s bacon, while another kept his team cooking.
Spain and England progress to the quarter-finals, let’s see how they did it, while also singing the praises of Slovakia, Georgia and (for once) UEFA.
It’s all in your Monday morning edition of Euro Cortado!
Southgate must swallow pride
England are in the quarter-finals. The failing upwards mission that they seem to have given themselves is more than half done, three more games of dire football and they will lift the trophy.
One moment of brilliance in the 95th minute from Jude Bellingham saved them from another “Iceland 2016” against Slovakia, who were good value for their lead from Ivan Schranz and defended resolutely until almost the very end.
Nothing about the English turnaround was pretty; the winner from Harry Kane, in the first minute of extra time, came as a result of lumping the ball into the box, while a long throw was required to set up Bellingham’s bicycle kick.
Having not made a substitution until midway through the second half, Gareth Southgate finally threw not just caution to the wind, but threw on a second striker when his employment status was slipping through his fingers.
With Eberechi Eze, Cole Palmer, Bukayo Saka, Ivan Toney and Kane all on the pitch at once, England even survived late pressure as Slovakia chucked the kitchen sink at them late on, proving they do not need an ultra-conservative line-up to see out a result.
So, here comes the moment for Southgate to swallow his pride ahead of the meeting with an impressive Switzerland side. It would be easy for him to name an unchanged, “winning” team, but surely even he cannot fail to admit are a brighter prospect with Palmer and Eze in the team, to name just two?
Switzerland will have been licking their lips at the prospect of facing Slovakia or that England XI for a place in the last four. But a more balanced version of the England XI that finished yesterday’s game? That will give Murat Yakin a few sleepless nights.
Ice, Ice, Rodri
Well into the first half, trailing by a Robin Le Normand own goal to nil, it looked as if Spain were going to treat us to one of those knockout match performances - think vs Russia in 2018 and vs Morocco in 2022.
The team of the group stage were at risk of being humiliated by the lowest-ranked team in the competition until I realised on 38 minutes that Rodri was actually on the pitch. Rodri does not lose football matches, and therefore I knew Spain would recover. 30 seconds later, Rodri steered the ball into the bottom corner to level the scores.
He took control of the attack in the first place, and when the chance eventually fell to him, he held his nerve to score a very Rodri-style goal. From that moment on, Spain looked far more settled, mixing their old and new styles of possession-domination with rapid wing play, adding second-half goals from Fabián Ruiz, Nico Williams and Dani Olmo in a 4-1 win.
The win has set up what will surely be the tie of the round; Germany vs Spain, and as England cannot continue to rely on Bellingham’s individual brilliance in the latter stages, neither can Spain afford to rely on Rodri to settle their nerves in front of a hostile crowd desperate to see the hosts make a major statement.
Underdogs are tournament’s best friend
As we say goodbye to Slovakia and Georgia, I want to praise not only the decision to expand the tournament to 24 teams, but the inclusion of the UEFA Nations League into the qualifying process.
Both have had countless critics, but in these two teams - among others - lies there success.
Slovakia finished second in qualifying Group J, behind only Portugal, amassing 22 points, a number not bettered by any fellow runner-up. Under the 16-team tournament format, that would have only got them a play-off spot, where a meeting with Switzerland, Austria or Netherlands could have been their undoing.
After coming only fourth in qualifying Group A, Georgia were winners of the Nations League C play-off path to book an unlikely place in Germany. They would still look generations away from a major tournament under the old rules.
Yet, given their chance, they produced the top scorer and one of the best playmakers and goalkeepers the finals have seen to date. They beat Portugal, took the lead against Spain, and produced two edge-of-the-seat performances against Turkey and Czechia.
Slovakia caused the shock of the early rounds by beating Belgium and came so, so close to a huge upset against England.
The decisions made by UEFA are never solely for the love of the game and the stories it creates, which cynics will be quick to tell you, but without those decisions, we would have never heard the Slovak and Georgian stories in their summer of fun.
Anthony Tomas is a football writer and commentator, who writes for Flashscore and World Soccer Magazine.