Every match day morning we look back at the past and the coming European Championship, give lessons in European football clichés and let a colleague from abroad take a look at this country. You will also receive these texts as “The Summer Mail” by email in the morning if you subscribe to our “What now?” newsletter here.
The scene of the previous day
In this case, it was more the non-scenes. Both games in Group D ended 0-0. Zero to zero, somehow strange. Tens of thousands come to the stadium, millions watch on TV, and in the end practically nothing has happened, everything is as before. Does anything like that happen in other sports? The results matched the deadly boring group. The extremely staid English team advanced, the Danes, who now play against Germany in the round of 16 thanks to the better fair play rating, and the Slovenians as one of the four best third-placed teams in the group. 0-0 and 0-0, I’m only mentioning this again to make the oldest of all sports journalist jokes: it could have ended the other way round in both cases.
All results:
France – Poland 1:1
Netherlands – Austria 2:3
Denmark – Serbia 0:0
England – Slovenia 0:0
The game of the day
When Slovakia plays against Romania (6 p.m., ARD), everyone will be watching closely. Did the striker miss the goal because he couldn’t do otherwise – or because he didn’t want to? Is this ball-pushing necessary or is it all a set-up? The constellation in Group E is extremely unusual: if both teams agreed to a draw, both would be in the round of 16. The teams assure that they want to play for victory in any case, but the scenario is still tricky. Older people will remember the 1982 World Cup, when Germany and Austria signed a non-aggression pact when the score was 1-0. Both advanced, but Algeria did not. The spectators in the stadium waved banknotes disparagingly. The game went down in history as the Shame of Gijón. Shame of Frankfurt am Main, sounds kind of stupid.
The other games:
Ukraine – Belgium (6pm, RTL)
Georgia – Portugal (9pm, RTL)
Czech Republic – Türkiye (9pm, ARD)
Who will be important today?
Willy Sagnol. The Frenchman played for FC Bayern for nine years. His crosses, which initially seemed a little unmotivated and were eventually named after him, surprisingly often found the heads of Bavarian strikers. He was a crowd favorite, which could be heard from the long drawn-out “Willyyyy” calls. Also because he smoked a cigarette in the toilet after every game. Now, as a coach, Sagnol has not only led little Georgia to its first European Championship, but also won its first European Championship point. A win in the last group game against Portugal would be the greatest possible sensation. Sagnol is entitled to a sip either way.
Phrase of the day
“In seven”
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(Into the Seven, Italian)
A shot into the top right corner of the goal. Because it looks like a seven, or more or less. It’s not surprising that goals into that area are one of the greatest Italian specialties. Right after spaghetti ice cream.
Who is already European Champion?
Norbert Kiss from Hungary. He won the 2023 European Truck Racing Championship. Racing in pimped-up five-ton trucks is something you have to think about. On the other hand, what six-year-old doesn’t dream of it? In any case, Kiss won the series consisting of eight races. The new season is already underway, and the trucks will be visiting the Nürburgring in mid-July. Or as we festival-goers say: Truck at the Ring.
What was the quote of the day?
“Oh, how beautiful!”
(Austria’s fans during the victory against the Netherlands, truly an international hit)
Every match day morning we look back at the past and the coming European Championship, give lessons in European football clichés and let a colleague from abroad take a look at this country. You will also receive these texts as “The Summer Mail” by email in the morning if you subscribe to our “What now?” newsletter here.
In this case, it was more the non-scenes. Both games in Group D ended 0-0. Zero to zero, somehow strange. Tens of thousands come to the stadium, millions watch on TV, and in the end practically nothing has happened, everything is as before. Does anything like that happen in other sports? The results matched the deadly boring group. The extremely staid English team advanced, the Danes, who now play against Germany in the round of 16 thanks to the better fair play rating, and the Slovenians as one of the four best third-placed teams in the group. 0-0 and 0-0, I’m only mentioning this again to make the oldest of all sports journalist jokes: it could have ended the other way round in both cases.
