After two days of break, Euro-2024 returns to the stadiums on Saturday, to launch the round of 16 with the Italian title holder against the ambitious Switzerland in Berlin (6 p.m.), and the German host country against the solid Denmark at Dortmund (9 p.m.).
Published on: 06/29/2024 – 09:15Modified on: 06/29/2024 – 10:03
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Italy, the defending champion, who failed to convince in the first round against a Switzerland in top form and Germany, who have not tasted the joys of a quarter-final of a major competition for eight years against Denmark: the round of 16 of Euro 2024 starts on Saturday June 29 after a two-day break.
Out for the third day of the group stage, the calculators and the points of regulation are now put away in the cupboard until the next Euro. From Saturday until the end of the tournament, the rules are simple: the winner goes through, the loser packs his bags for an early holiday.
Exciting during the first two matches of “its” Euro-2024 at home against a very weak Scottish team (5-1) and a more dangerous Hungary (2-0), Germany experienced its first free warning against Switzerland in Frankfurt, snatching a draw in added time (1-1) to maintain first place.
“It’s good to win all these group matches 3-0, it can give confidence, but in the end, it’s important for the team to have had to deal with difficult situations,” stressed coach Julian Nagelsmann in a press conference on the eve of the match.
“A knockout match is still something special, because you can’t afford to make a big mistake. We want to satisfy the huge expectations of the whole country,” he added.
The pressure, which was already high when playing the opening match against the Scots in Munich, takes on a new dimension for this round of 16, because the Germans remain on three consecutive major tournament failures, missing the quarter-finals each time (exits in the first round of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and in the round of 16 of Euro-2021).
Also read: The schedule for the round of 16 of Euro 2024
Miraculous Italy
The excitement in Germany behind Ilkay Gündogan’s teammates is back, but hopes of a new summer fairy tale, like the 2006 “Sommermärchen” (World Cup at home and a long-term adventure to the semi-finals), would turn into a nightmare in the event of an early exit.
They will face a well-established Denmark side, who have conceded only two goals since the start of the Euros, but have also scored only two. “I consider Germany to be one of the favourites for the title, it’s just a shame for them that they’re playing us on Saturday,” Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand quipped.
500 kilometres due east of Dortmund, it is the Italians who are starting the knockout phase of Euro 2024 in Berlin, the start of a new tournament as the players like to repeat over and over again.
Photo combination, with on the left the Dane Christian Eriksen during a match against Slovenia in Stuttgart on June 16, 2024 and on the right the German Manuel Neuer, against Scotland in Munich on June 14, 2024. Denmark and Germany face in the 8th final of the Euro on June 29, 2024. © DAMIEN MEYER, Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP/Archives
The defending champion, the Nazionale, is the great miracle of the group stage. With four points, the Italians snatched second place in their group at the very end of the match, in the eighth minute of added time against Croatia, forcing star Luka Modric (38 years old) into early international retirement.
Without this equaliser, Italy would have fallen through the trapdoor in the game of the best third-placed team in the group, because a negative goal difference (-1) would have been fatal for them.
“We have to do better than what we have done so far, to progress to the quarter-finals,” admitted Italian coach Luciano Spalletti. “But now that we have qualified, we will play liberated, because it is a decisive match,” he added.
The match against Switzerland will bring back glorious memories for the tifosi, as their team returns to the Olympic stadium in Berlin, the site of their fourth world title in 2006.
The Swiss, for their part, will want to repeat the experience of 2021, when they eliminated France, the reigning world champion, on penalties in the round of 16, after being down 3-1 ten minutes from time.
With AFP
