As the Quarter-Final's stage draws to a conclusion, and with the semi-finals shortly upon us, here is your round-up of all the results and match reports from the games specifically involving Leeds United representatives at Euro 2020.
Results
The full list of Quarter-Final's results is as follows, with games featuring Leeds United representatives marked out in bold;
Friday 2nd July
Switzerland 1-1 Spain (Spain win 3-1 on penalties) Belgium 1-2 Italy
Saturday 3rd July
Czech Republic 1-2 Denmark
Ukraine 0-4 England
Player Stats:
Kalvin Phillips continues to fly the flag for Leeds United and England at Euro 2020, and is again expected to start in the upcoming Semi-Final's, having seemed to be one of the first names on the teamsheet for Gareth Southgate.
Phillips boasts the best numbers of any England player for distance covered, tackles, ball recoveries and pressures at the tournament so far, and has completed the second-most minutes of any outfield Three Lions player, behind John Stones.
Sadly, Diego Llorente remains a periphiral figure in Luis Enrique's Spain squad, having yet to feature at the tournament. And, despite a mix-up between the first-choice centre-back pairing of Aymeric Laporte and Pau Torres, Llorente appears unlikely to get his chance in the Semi-Final's.
Match Reports:
Switzerland 1-1 Spain (Spain win 3-1 on penalties)
Spain rode their luck as they edged through their Quarter-Final meeting with Switzerland in Saint Petersburg on Friday, winning 3-1 on penalties (after initially being held to a 1-1 draw, despite having an extra man for the entirety of extra-time, plus the final twelve minutes of normal time) to progress to the Semi-Final's.
Leeds United defender Diego Llorente was, once again, an unused substitute for Luis Enrique's side, meaning the 27-year-old is still to feature for Las Rojas at Euro 2020.
Spain took a fortuitous early lead when Denis Zakaria inadvertently deflected Jordi Alba's strike from distance beyond a wrong-footed Yann Sommer on eight minutes.
Koke appeared to overhit Spain's first corner of the game, but instead found Barcelona full-back Alba in acres of space twenty-five yards from goal. With Alba's low half-volleyed effort heading slightly to Sommer's left at a comfortable height, an unfortunate nick off Zakaria's dangled leg sent the shot fizzing into the opposite corner to put Las Rojas into an early lead.
Both sides posed their most effective attacking threat via set pieces, with Alvaro Morata forcing Sommer into a routine save following another Koke corner, and Manuel Akanji nodding over Switzerland's best chance from Xherdan Shaqiri's dead ball delivery before the break.
Zakaria came close to redeeming himself with a header from Ricardo Rodriguez's corner, glancing inches wide of Unai Simon's post ten minutes after the restart. And, Steven Zuber came close to levelling the scores with a snap-shot from close range to test Simon, after Ruben Vargas tormented Cesar Azpilicueta out wide.
But, Switzerland drew level on 68 minutes, when Remo Freuler pounced on a mix-up between Spain's centre-back's, Aymeric Laporte and Pau Torres, to give Shaqiri the an unmissable opportunity.
The Liverpool man applied the finishing touch, rolling into the bottom corner from Freuler's cut-back, to hand the Vladimir Petkovic's side a lifeline.
Although Swiss joy, particularly that of Freuler, was shortlived. After a heavy touch, Freuler was shown a straight red card (upheld by VAR) for a desperate lunge on Gerard Moreno, leaving Switzerland a man light for the final thirteen minutes of normal time (plus extra time).
Switzerland held on to take the game to extra-time, and were made to sweat for the thirty extra minutes. Moreno could and should have wrapped things up in the opening two minutes of extra time, miraculously smashing an effort wide from point-blank range from Alba's perfect cross.
Moreno was then denied by Sommer moments before the midway point, volleying too close to the Borussia Monchengladbach 'keeper from close range, after Mikel Oyarzabal had struggled to bring down a long ball from Sergio Busquets.
Sommer was required again in the second half of extra time, acrobatically denying a bending shot from Oyarzabal in the final moments to take the game to a nerve-wracking penalty shootout conclusion.
Busquets missed Spain's first penalty to hand the early advantage to Switzerland, but a number of saves for both Simon and Sommer, and a horrendous miss from Vargas left Oyarzabal with the chance to book Spain's tickets to the semi-final's.
Spain won the penalty shootout 3-1, and will now face Italy in the final four on Tuesday 6th July at Wembley Stadium, after their 2-1 victory over Belgium in Munich on Friday.
Ukraine 0-4 England
England will march on to their first appearance at European Championship semi-final since Euro 1996, after the Three Lions finally announced their arrival to the party, hammering Ukraine 4-0 in Rome on Saturday night.
A brace from skipper Harry Kane, coupled with a header from Harry Maguire, and a first senior international goal for Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, saw Gareth Southgate's side record a statement win to breeze into the final four.
Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips made his thirteenth senior international appearance, completing 65 minutes before making way for Jude Bellingham, to avoid any opportunity of collecting the booking that would've ruled him out of the meeting with Denmark at Wembley.
Only Jordan Pickford (450) and John Stones (439) played more minutes for England than Phillips (425) at Euro 2020.
England took the lead inside the opening four minutes and never looked back.
Raheem Sterling's confident run at Mykola Shaparenko and brilliantly-executed reverse pass to Kane, leaving the Tottenham Hotspur striker one-on-one with Ukrainian 'keeper Heorhiy Bushcan, saw a duel with only one realistic outcome.
Kane won the race with Bushcan, and stretched to toe-poke England into an authoritative, early lead in Rome.
Pickford, aiming to become the first goalkeeper in European Championship's history to keep five consecutive clean sheets in one tournament, was infrequently tested. Although, when called upon to make a smart save from Roman Yaremchuk's effort on seventeen minutes, reacted reliably well.
England threatened to double their lead on a number of occasions before finally doing so. A flurry of goal-mouth action on the half-hour mark saw Kane misplace a header, before Sterling's dribble set up a thundering drive from Declan Rice, which stung the palms of Bushcan, and Mason Mount denied by a last ditch block on the rebound.
Shaparenko did have a glimpse of an opportunity for Ukraine before half time, but sliced an ambitious volley well wide.
Shortly after the restart England began to assert their dominance, doubling their advantage within the opening ninety seconds of the second half through a powerful Maguire header, after outjumping Mykola Matvienko to meet Luke Shaw's pinpoint free-kick delivery.
And, Shaw was at it again moments later, drifting down England's left flank to float in another irresistable cross for Kane to nod in a third from close range. Kane's second, a and England's third, drew the skipper level with previous top scorer Sterling on three goals, and breathed added confidence into an already strutting side.
With Southgate's side purring, and the manager beginning to take precautionary action with his forward-planning substitutions, England were in the mood for more.
Kane will still be ruing Bushcan's acrobatic save denying him not only a well-deserved hat-trick, but also a goal of the tournament contender. Bushcan reacted smartly to pull off a fine save from Kane's wicked, moving, left-foot volley from distance, which look destined for the top corner.
England added a fourth just after the hour mark with Henderson's first international goal, heading in Mount's corner only minutes after coming on off the bench.
Henderson's goal was England's third from a set piece versus Ukraine, highlighting the signifcant threat the Three Lions pose from dead ball situations.
So, England strolled through the Quarter-Final, and have finally began to justify the tag as "favourite's" with an historic result. Could it really be coming home this time?
Southgate's men will now host Denmark, conqueror's of Wales and Czech Republic in the knockout stages, at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday 7th July. Denmark beat the Czech's 2-1 in Baku on Saturday, courtesy of goals by Thomas Delaney and Kasper Dolberg.
So, that's your review of this game week's results at the Euro's. Check back at the end of the next round of fixtures to see how the boys got on in our Euro 2020 Review, and keep an eye out for our preview of the Semi-Final's.
We've got all your Euro 2020 covered on AllLeedsTV.
Comments