England omitting Grealish and Rashford 'good news' for Serbia, says Matic

By Sports Desk June 07, 2024

Nemanja Matic believes Jack Grealish and Marcus Rashford's omission from England's Euro 2024 squad can only be good news for Serbia. 

Gareth Southgate confirmed his 26-man squad for the upcoming tournament in Germany on Thursday, with a number of high-profile names set to watch the Three Lions' bid for a first international trophy in 58 years from home. 

From the preliminary squad, James Trafford, Jarrad Branthwaite, Jarell Quansah, Harry Maguire, Curtis Jones, James Maddison and Grealish have all been dropped ahead of the Three Lions' final friendly fixture against Iceland.

Manchester United forward Rashford was not included in the initial 33-man party, having managed just seven league goals for Erik ten Hag's side this season.

He will miss his first international tournament since he was first called up to the senior England team in 2016. 

Matic, who retired from international football with Serbia in 2020, believes the absence of his former United team-mate – as well as that of Grealish – will only benefit his nation when they face England in their Group C opener in Gelsenkirchen on June 16. 

The former two-time Premier League winner wrote on X: "I would always like to have players like Marcus Rashford and Jack Grealish in the team, players who can decide the game with one move! Not selected, good news for us."

Grealish has made 10 appearances in the last two major tournaments, nine of which came from the bench as he was deployed in the role of an impact player. 

All 36 of his England caps have come under Southgate, but a stop-start campaign with Manchester City saw the 28-year-old limited to 20 league appearances in 2023-24, after he provided five goals and seven assists as City won the treble in 2022-23.

Despite helping his side lift the FA Cup for a 13th time last month, Rashford was unable to replicate the form that saw him score 30 goals in all competitions during the 2022-23 campaign, meaning he will not be able to add to his 17 England goals in Germany. 

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    Minnesota United "justified the work" they did in preparing for a penalty shootout after beating Real Salt Lake, so says Eric Ramsay.

    Loons coach Ramsay invited the club's office staff to attend the training ground and jeer his players during penalty practice ahead of Minnesota's playoff opener against Salt Lake.

    After a 0-0 draw, Minnesota came away with a 5-4 shootout victory to take the edge in the best-of-three series, meaning a win at home on Saturday would get them into the next round.

    And Ramsay believes his unorthodox method of preparation paid off.

    "I would like to think that probably, without that, the players wouldn't have had the level of conviction they largely showed," Ramsay said.

    "It was a bit of fun. There was a real sense of us being intentional behind that.

    "I was really pleased that we included that as part of our prep.

    "I don't think there were big chances given up either way.

    "I sort of felt like as we opened up, we started to leak a little bit more space that wasn't there in the opening stages.

    "[Goalkeeper] Dayne [St. Clair] was called into action a couple more times, and so was [Salt Lake goalkeeper] Zac MacMath. So I think it was a very even game, and given that we're coming here as the away team under challenging conditions, that's hats off to us.

    “It felt like if we if we won, it would have justified the work. If we lost, there wouldn't have been anything we could have done differently.

    "We were very solid, very disciplined, and that's one goal allowed in six games, which is very difficult to achieve at this level.

    "I'm pleased with the defensive effort. I was also pleased that we were able to start to find a foothold in the game with the ball and create a couple of really good chances."

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

    Minnesota United - Dawyne St. Clair

    St. Clair made six saves in Game 1, and has been in fine form as of late.

    United has allowed only one goal in their last six matches going back to the end of the regular season, going unbeaten in that time (W4 D2). This is the first time in club history that the Loons have allowed just one goal in a span of six matches in all competitions.

    Real Salt Lake - Cristian Arango

    Arango attempted five shots in Game 1, the most shots attempted by a Salt Lake player in a postseason match since Damir Kreilach had six attempts against Sporting Kansas City in the 2018 playoffs.

    MATCH PREDICTION: MINNESOTA WIN

    Salt Lake have managed just four wins in 21 all-time away playoff matches (D7 L10) including going winless in four straight (D2 L2). RSL lost on penalties in each of the last two away matches that ended in draws (2022 at Austin FC, 2023 against the Houston Dynamo).

    After Tuesday's win on spot-kicks, Minnesota have been involved in seven penalty shootouts in all competitions since joining MLS in 2017, winning six of them, including the last four in a row.

    The last five meetings between Minnesota and Salt Lake have been drawn after 90 minutes.

    Including playoffs, the only matchup that has been drawn six straight times in MLS play is between the Chicago Fire and the New York Revolution, who played in six straight draws from 2021 to 2024.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

    Minnesota United - 44.5%

    Real Salt Lake - 28.6%

    Draw - 26.9%

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    Campion College and Hydel High booked their spots in the Inter-secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA)/Digicel Manning Cup quarterfinal round after both registered 1-0 wins over St Jago and Wolmer’s Boys in their respective second round group encounters on Friday.

    The win for Campion College saw them finish second in Group One on six points, behind reigning champions Mona High, who blanked many times champion St George’s College 3-0 to finish on maximum nine points.

    St George’s placed third on three points and missed out on the quarterfinal along with St Jago, who ended without point. However, both will have a shot at the Walker Cup knockout title.

    The same is true for perennial semi-finalist St Andrew Technical High School (STATHS) and 10-time winners Wolmer's Boys, who were both eliminated from the Manning Cup.

    Wolmer’s Boys’ loss to Hydel saw them finish at the foot of Group Three with a point, while STATHS’ 1-0 win over group winners Kingston College was not enough to see them through. They finished third on four points, as Kingston College and Hydel took the top two spots with six points each.

    Kingston College, Campion College, Mona High and Hydel are joined by Group Four leaders St Catherine (six points) and Group Two leaders Excelsior (six points) in the quarterfinal, with Jamaica College, Tivoli Gardens and Eltham on the hunt for the other two spots.

    Friday’s results

    Campion College 1, St Jago 0

    Mona High 3, St George’s College 0

    Hydel High 1, Wolmer’s Boys 0

    STATHS 1, Kingston College 0

    Saturday’s fixtures

    St Catherine vs Jamaica College

    Calabar vs Charlie Smith

    Excelsior vs Jonathan Grant

    Tivoli Gardens vs Eltham

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    Brian Schmetzer believes the Seattle Sounders are in control of their playoff destiny after edging out the Houston Dynamo in Game 1 of their best-of-three series.

    After a goalless encounter, the Sounders held their nerve in the shootout, scoring all five spot-kicks before Erik Sviatchenko's miss proved costly.

    They also stopped their opponents from registering a single shot on target, marking the fourth time the Sounders have achieved that milestone in a playoff match, and will be looking to do the same in their second encounter.

    "Right now it doesn't matter how we played, really. We're in control and we won,” Schmetzer said. "This was going to be a tight series because the two teams are very good defensively.

    "We've had our challenges this year sometimes scoring goals. Did we create enough? Those are all valid questions. Again, I would just repeat that those guys put the effort in. We were close on a couple of occasions."

    Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei is also on the verge of history, with his shutout in the first game his 14th playoff clean sheet, needing one more to go level with LA Galaxy’s Kevin Hartman for the MLS record.

    "Stef has an opportunity in Houston to tie for number one [all-time]," Schmetzer pointed out.

    "So that's a goal that he can reach, he can attain, and let's see if he can do that. Because that would give us the best chance of ending the series in Houston."

    For Houston, meanwhile, their cruel defeat in Game 1 was partly down to their own doing, so says head coach Ben Olsen.

    The Dynamo boss acknowledged his side did not do enough in the final third, not helped by Adalberto Carrasquilla’s red card, which will see him miss the upcoming encounter.

    Though the performance did not come as a surprise to Olsen, given the two sides’ defensive record in the regular season, he wants to see improvements at the Shell Energy Stadium this time around.

    “It was hardly surprising. They are the best defensive team in the league. We are also one of the better defensive teams in the league, but then you add the playoffs to it,” Olsen said.

    “It’s a heightened game of being alert defensively. You have these kind of games in the playoffs. We didn’t do enough to create better opportunities for ourselves to win that game.

    “Some of that is our doing, some of it is that we’re playing a good defensive team. I said this leading up to the game, we are not going to get a lot of chances.

    “We may get a few big ones and you have to finish them. It will be a similar situation at home, they are not going to turn into a bad defensive team overnight.”

    PLAYERS TO WATCH

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    In a team that is not filled with goals, Bassi has impressed for Houston, with his 10 goal involvements (three goals, six assists) in the regular season, a total only bettered by Ibrahim Aliyu (10) for the Dynamo.

    The Moroccan also created more chances (79) than any of his team-mates, and his creative flair will be needed to unlock the Sounders’ defence.

    Seattle Sounders – Albert Rusnak

    Rusnak has played a starring role for Seattle this term, with only Jordan Morris (17) scoring more goals in the regular season for the Sounders than the Slovakian.

    Despite not hitting the back of the net in Game 1, Rusnak notched four goal involvements (two goals, two assists) in three games heading into the postseason.

    MATCH PREDICTION: HOUSTON DYNAMO WIN

    The Dynamo have lost only two of their 18 all-time home playoff matches (W12 D4), though one of those defeats was against Seattle in the 2017 Conference Finals. Houston won nine of their first 10 home playoff matches but have won just three of eight since (D4 L1).

    Seattle, however, have won six of their last seven away matches, including the last three in a row, all with clean sheets. This is the second time they have kept three straight away clean sheets in all competitions since joining MLS in 2009, also doing so between June and July 2011.

    They have also lost only two of their last 23 matches against the Dynamo in all competitions, including securing a shootout win after a scoreless draw at home in Game 1. Houston have also failed to score in 12 of their last 18 meetings with the Sounders.

    OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

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    Draw – 26.7%

    Seattle Sounders – 31.2%

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