The knockout rounds of the European Championship have begun, and the round of 16 is just over halfway through, and there has not been much "upset". Italy's exit seemed like a "given" thing, and England went through a stormy storm to qualify and continue to challenge for the first title in the team's history. In the quarterfinals, Germany and Spain, the best performers in this European Cup, will face each other directly, which is known as the "final" staged in advance.
On the first day, Germany easily defeated their opponents to advance, while Italy suffered a complete defeat. Judging from the process of the game, the defending champion's exit was not unexpected, facing the powerful team Switzerland, Italy was suppressed by the opponent throughout the game, and there was not even a shot on target in the first half, and the result of the defeat can only be said to be inferior. In fact, if it weren't for Zakagni's 97th-minute goal against Croatia in the final round of the group stage, Italy would have replaced their opponents and could not have finished third in the best four groups and were eliminated from the group early. Now that it is in the round of 16, it can only be said that what should come will come, and it will take time for Apennine football to regain its glory.
The next day, England took the lead and almost caused an upset in front of Slovakia. Slovakia took the lead by one goal first, and in the second half, the "hanging goal" almost scored, leaving England in a cold sweat. As in Italy's group stage, England struggled to equalise late in second-half stoppage time with a brilliant barbed goal from Jude Bellingham. Perhaps, Bellingham's goal can seal the best goal in this European Championship, not only beautiful and excellent, but also valuable.
In extra time, it was Kane's turn to make a move, and it took less than a minute to complete the lead, helping England seal the victory, beat Slovakia, and advanced to the quarterfinals. In this game, Southgate showed the demeanor of a "famous coach", constantly "correcting mistakes", and England's lineup finally became unrecognizable, which can only be described in four words: messy. Let's take a look at what the manager who has been in charge of England for almost eight years has done.
When Kieran Trippier left the pitch due to injury, Southgate, who insisted on not bringing a left-back, could only make a cameo appearance at right-back Saka at left-back. Southgate, who had been falling behind and really had no choice, finally remembered that he still had a striker, and Toni was ordered to replace Foden with only two minutes left in the game. Unexpectedly, without Foden and with one more Toney, England had a new look, not only quickly equalised, but Toney also provided an assist in extra time to help Kane hit the nail on the head. In the last 15 minutes, Kane, Bellingham and Foden were all off the pitch, and if a penalty shoot-out did happen, it would be a very interesting thing.
England continued Gareth Southgate's good fortune with a good result, also falling behind by one goal, while Spain showed enough convincing. In the first half, Lenormand was unfortunate to set himself up as Georgia scored first. However, Spain did not panic and soon relied on Rodri's brilliant goal to equalize. In the second half, Spain did not give the opponent any chance, and used a flowing performance to make everyone feel that this is the style of the champion team, not England. In the end, Spain won easily and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.
Judging from the situation in the past few weeks, Spain and Germany are two more prominent teams, Germany has scored 10 goals in 4 games, and Spain has scored 9 goals in 4 games, and their attacking ability is not weak. Spain's own goal was the first goal conceded by the team since the start of the season, and even against Croatia and Italy, they were able to keep the door clean and have a strong defensive ability. Spain, without the passing style, can also have enough strength to attack the championship. In particular, in the final moments against Georgia, the whole team seemed to be helping Yamal to score, and there was more unity than England.
Think about it, 10 years later, Yamal is only 26 years old, and he is definitely capable of becoming another "Neymar", Nico, who scored goals, is only in his early 20s, and the rise of the younger generation has made many teams quite envious, especially Italy, if it can have such a rookie, how can it be out?
In the upper and lower halves of the quarterfinals, a set of matchups has been decided, and in the upper half, the host Germany faces Spain, which is the team with the most European Championship titles, and competes with each other. In the second half, England faced Switzerland, I don't know if Southgate, who has been tested, will be a phoenix, and from then on spread his wings and fly high to impact the championship, after all, the strength of the players is not bad, but England's biggest weakness, I believe everyone knows it.
England are lucky to have a difficult road to the title, while Spain and Germany have to knock out one team. France, Belgium and the Netherlands, who can go further, Rangnick's Austria, may be a real dark horse.