Euro 2024 social round-up: Tartan Army turns Cologne blue, no rest for Mbappe

By Sports Desk June 19, 2024

Day six at Euro 2024 brought more thrills and spills on the pitch, with Albania sealing a last-gasp draw against Croatia and Germany booking their place in the last 16 by beating Hungary.

Scotland, meanwhile, kept their hopes of progressing from Group A alive by earning a creditable 1-1 draw with Switzerland in the late kick-off.

There was also plenty going on outside the games, from the Tartan Army painting Cologne blue to Kylian Mbappe getting out on the turf two days after breaking his nose.

Here, we run through the best of Wednesday's social media posts from around Euro 2024.

Cologne turns blue for Scotland

One noticeable theme of this tournament has been the colour and noise brought by huge contingents of travelling fans, and an estimated 100,000 Scotland supporters brought the fun to Cologne on Wednesday.

"No Scotland, no party" was ringing around Munich last week, and on Wednesday, it was Cologne's near-800-year-old cathedral that played host to the Tartan Army.

#effzeh pic.twitter.com/R0fFFUnyEs

— 1. FC Cologne (@fckoeln_en) June 19, 2024

Those with tickets were then treated to a spirited performance as Steve Clarke's side went ahead through Scott McTominay, and they were arguably unfortunate not to win as they finished the game strongly after Xherdan Shaqiri's fine equaliser.

Cheesy humour from Swiss fan 

One Switzerland fan, meanwhile, took culinary inspiration for his outfit at the RheinEnergieStadion.

Fortunately for him, Murat Yakin's defence had fewer holes than the Swiss cheese he paid homage to, and they are now all-but guaranteed to make the knockout stages.

 

Hosts on the march

Germany strode into the last 16 of the tournament on Wednesday, a 2-0 victory over Hungary ensuring a top-two finish in Group A.

It's fair to say their performances have gripped the imagination of the German public, with Wednesday's fan march to the Stuttgart Arena a particularly impressive sight.

If Julian Nagelsmann's team can maintain their performance levels, they may just find themselves marching to the Olympiastadion on July 14...

Mbappe out on the grass 

It has only been two days since France captain Mbappe broke his nose in a nasty collision with Austria's Kevin Danso, but the forward is in no mood to rest.

He was out on the training pitch on Wednesday as Les Bleus prepare for Friday's clash with the Netherlands, wearing strapping across his nose.

His participation in that match remains in doubt, and a protective mask will be required for him to return to competitive action, but the sight of him going through his paces will have encouraged France's fans.

Cruyff turn celebrates big Five-O

France's next opponents also had something to celebrate on Wednesday, as it represented the 50th anniversary of Johan Cruyff first wheeling out his signature turn.

The Cruyff turn was born on this day in 1974, the Oranje legend having first performed the move on June 19, 1974, in a World Cup group-stage match against Sweden. 

Jan Olsson, the unfortunate defender on the receiving end of the move, probably remains bamboozled half a century on.

Gallagher in the hot seat

It was Conor Gallagher's turn to take part in England's diary room series on X, with the Chelsea midfielder discussing what he and his team-mates get up to on days off.

He then attempted to match a series of dogs with the Three Lions stars they belong to, posting a pretty good success rate.

The episode began, however, with Gallagher failing to prevent a Jenga set from crashing down around him. England will hope that is not a metaphor for their campaign...  

Memorable day for Gjasula

It initially looked like Wednesday would be a day to remember for all the wrong reasons for Klaus Gjasula. 

Having come off the bench with Albania 1-0 up against Croatia after 72 minutes, Gjasula saw Andrej Kramaric equalise before putting through his own net, all within just four minutes.

However, the midfielder – who plays his club football in Germany with Darmstadt – was in the right place at the right time to level five minutes into stoppage time.

His post-match Instagram post summed up how much it meant to him and his team-mates.

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    Dinthill Technical and Port Antonio High opened the second round of the 2024 ISSA/Wata DaCosta Cup with a goalless draw at Carder Park on Tuesday.

    For Dinthill, who finished second in Zone J of the first round on goal difference behind McGrath High, this was their second straight disappointing performance after a 1-2 loss to Charlemont High on Friday.

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    (Group 2) Ocho Rios High vs Black River High @Drax Hall

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  • Portugal lacked 'a little bit of magic' in Scotland stalemate, says Martinez Portugal lacked 'a little bit of magic' in Scotland stalemate, says Martinez

    Portugal manager Roberto Martinez was in a defensive mood following his team's goalless draw away to Scotland in the Nations League on Tuesday night. 

    After scoring in each of the Spaniard's first 12 competitive matches in charge of Portugal, the Selecao have since drawn a blank in four of their last seven matches. 

    Portugal did have their chances, however, registering 14 shots during the contest, though only three were on target, ending the night with an expected goals (xG) total of 1.52.

    Martinez faced criticism for lacking a plan B after his side struggled to break the Scots down.

    "Our talent of our players, is plan A, B, C, D, E," he told De Sporto after the match.

    "We have players inside, outside, we are talking about a team that did not take risks, that defended very well.

    "We are talking about a team [Portugal] that reached 53 times in the last third. We have to give credit to Scotland and to us the fact that we managed to keep a clean sheet."

    It was a frustrating night for Martinez and fans alike.

    Despite Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota among other big hitters starting, they were unable to find a way past 41-year-old goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who made some impressive saves when they did get in on goal.

    When asked what was missing from the performance, he alluded to a lack of individual quality.

    "A decision, a little bit of magic in the area. We had a lot of desire, we worked very well without the ball," Martinez said.

    "It was a dangerous game because we could have possession of the ball, but Scotland have little need to score a goal. We showed freshness, but we lacked freshness in the last third.

    "You also have to give credit to Scotland, they had a lot of players in front of goal, their goalkeeper also made a spectacular save."

    Following the performance and result at Hampden Park, there have been further questions about Martinez's selection policy for Portugal.

    The most high-profile query of all remains whether 39-year-old Ronaldo should continue, having had a difficult night on his 200th start for his country.

    "The national team always has an open door, but now we are talking about a very, very large group of players," said Martinez.

    "It is a question of continuing to connect and synchronise what we can do. Now the game in Porto is to celebrate qualification in front of our fans."

    Scotland manager Steve Clarke, meanwhile, was much happier with the evening's result, which ended a four-game losing run for Scotland.

    "It's not about turning a corner, it's just about working hard and not letting the country down. You could see that tonight," he said.

    "The point was important for us after the work the group put in to get off the mark."

    The result also marked Scotland's first clean sheet since beating Gibraltar 2-0 seven games ago in a pre-Euro 2024 warm-up friendly.

    The performance at the back was another thing that pleased Clarke.

    "Defensively sound, the shape of the team was good," he said. 

    "We denied a lot of space in behind. Good concentration in the box, determined defending at times, some really good blocks, which you need against sides like Portugal.

    "Everyone contributed to earn the point."

    Despite taking an unexpected point, Scotland are still bottom of their Nations League group, while the draw means they are winless in 10 matches - their longest ever run.

    But Clarke feels the players will take a lot from Tuesday's match that will help them going forward.

    "Everyone keeps talking about confidence, but they know they can play well," he said. 

    "We maybe didn't play as well as we could on the ball, which could be down to fatigue. But I don't think they lack confidence. Tonight's point will give us more confidence."

  • Morata predicts bright future for 'special' Spain after Serbia triumph Morata predicts bright future for 'special' Spain after Serbia triumph

    Alvaro Morata expressed his excitement about the future of the Spanish national team after they confirmed their place in the Nations League quarter-finals on Tuesday. 

    Morata netted Spain's second goal in their 3-0 win over Serbia, having missed a penalty 11 minutes earlier, with Aymeric Laporte and Alex Baena also on target for La Roja. 

    Luis de la Fuente's side have now won 12 of their 15 matches in all competitions this year (D2 L1), equalling their most victories in a single calendar year since 2013. 

    Despite missing seven of their regular first-team players, including the likes of Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Dani Olmo, Spain made light work of Dragan Stojkovic's side in Cordoba.

    And their latest victory has captain Morata looking forward to the future, with the Milan striker confident of building on their Euro 2024 success. 

    "We are in another final stage of a major tournament and that is something to be proud of," captain Morata told Spanish public television TVE.

    "It seems easy because we are always there in the final stages but sure it isn't so we have to understand how special it is and give it the proper value it has.

    "We have several injured players, we missed them but we have to look at the positives that are young players stepping up.

    "What we have created is special, and we have to keep going forward. Spain has an incredible future."

    De la Fuente, however, was more measured in his assessment of proceedings. 

    The Spain manager watched on as his side registered 30 shots, 10 of which were on target, ending the contest with an expected goals (xG) total of 2.92. 

    They also restricted Serbia to just one attempt throughout, though De la Fuente insisted he still wants to see improvements from his players.

    "Blessed problem. God willing that it continues like this for a long time. When you have a lot of winning streaks you are closer to losing than winning," De la Fuente said. 

    "We are not satisfied. This team is insatiable sportingly, it wants more and more. We do it with so much joy, we already enjoy it so much that it is difficult not to be like that.

    "Let's try to see how far we go. When it is not achieved, one day it will not be achieved, because we will have to understand that this is how sport is.

    "We will begin another cycle. Whoever wants to beat us will have to do very well."

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