The two games in the opening knockout round of Euro 2020 today were wild. That’s all that needs to be said. No need for a crafty into or a poetic buildup about the emotions that come with the beautiful game on the biggest of stages. These games delivered every bit of excitement and entertainment that you want from the second biggest tournament in international soccer. Both games had a heavy favorites, Croatia was a 5-1 underdog and Switzerland didn’t fair much better. Somehow though both games found a way to give us free football (I couldn’t resist the alliteration opportunity – I’m an American it’s soccer).
Let’s start off with the first game, Croatia against Spain. It wasn’t quite David vs Goliath, this Spain team hasn’t been the dominant force they were in the past, but Croatia isn’t the team that’s seen success in the past either. Spain dominated from the first kick, the Croatian defense was on its heels the entire first half. But a fluke own-goal on a misplayed pass back to the keeper gave Croatia the boost they needed early. No the game didn’t change, Spain continued to dominate and a sparky defense barely kept the ball out of their net. Somehow the game was level at halftime. In the second half though it looked like the game was out of reach, Spain got their own fluke goal catching a defender on the opposite side of the field grabbing a drink of water, turning that blunder into a breakaway goal that seemed to put the first half OG in a distant memory. Then, Croatia turned it up, a wild last 10 minutes of regulation – a cluster of players directly in front of the goal managed to stuff the ball in the back of the net and a great header in added time tied it up. No downtime between games today, we got free soccer. In the end Spain was the better team on the day and woke up in extra time to get the win. A wild, fun game that gave action from start to finish.
The second game, France came in as the favorite – but they knew it. Switzerland came out and took it to a France side that was likely looking ahead to their next game. A big mistake that left Switzerland in the lead at halftime. Hubris be damned though and France looked to be in the driver seat, scoring 3 goals in the first 30 minutes in the second half. The third goal was a thing of beauty curving around defenders and the keeper into the top corner of the net. But then France got arrogant, Switzerland kept coming back and cut the lead down to 1 with nine minutes left in regular time.
Before we summarize the next score, let’s jump ahead to what’s being said after the game. People are blaming Kylian Mbappe for France losing, penalty kicks are a high pressure mind game. Hit the ball on target and the kicker is favored to get the goal. Mbappe did just that, he can’t be blamed for the loss. He fell into Yann Sommer’s mind games. Sommer made an amazing save, nothing to blame on Mbappe, Sommer just was better on that play.
Let’s get back to the final minutes of the second half. Time has almost run out, the game is in the 90th minute. All France has to do is hold and control the ball, run out the clock, and they advance. That didn’t happen. I’m trying to find the game highlights to find out it was for France that turned the ball over and lead to the Mario Gavronovic goal, but I can’t find it at the time I’m writing this. If you want to blame anyone for the loss it’s that player who let an open field tackle turn into a fast break the other way and an easy goal for Gavronovic. That made up for the blunder Switzerland did earlier – allowing a defender to take a penalty kick. That decision lead to France getting their first goal and swung the momentum in the game.
Even though time was nearly up, France had one last chance to score. The final play of regular time – in the 4th minute of additional time, a great shot on goal beat everyone and looked to be on target. Unfortunately for France though, it sailed half a ball high, hit the crossbar and sailed out of play. That was it for France. Extra time was a defensive battle – chances were few and far between, but that gave us a penalty kick shootout for the first time this tournament. The shootout is fun, it’s exciting. Every kick is magnified and the hopes of your team rest on your keeper and one other player. This one was fun, every kick was on target. 5 scores for Switzerland, 4 for France and that’s when Mbappe comes in. The hopes of a nation are on his foot. Somme taunts him pointing his left, the side he already decided he isn’t going to dive. Mbappe took the bait. Somme made the save, but he didn’t realize it was the 5th kick. You see him hold up 5 questioning if that was it, next thing you know he’s mobbed by his teammates. Switzerland advances for the first time since 1954 (not sure on that stat, just saw it at the bottom of ESPN later in the day). Either way, it’s the first big upset of the tournament and the best game so far.
This is what you want from big tournaments in every sport. Close games, a flurry of goals to keep your team alive. It’s still early in the knockout rounds, but it’s hard to imagine another day to be more exciting than this one. Two games going to extra time, when neither betting lines showed it was expected to be close. A cinderella advanced, and another beat expectations. It’s called the beautiful game, and on a day like this it’s a moniker that’s hard to argue.