Turkiye's Merih Demiral produced a record-breaking opener before his second goal secured a 2-1 victory over Austria at Euro 2024, teeing up a quarter-final meeting with the Netherlands.
Ralf Rangnick's side topped Group D ahead of France and Ronald Koeman's Oranje, but came unstuck in the first knockout round on Tuesday in Leipzig.
Demiral scored after just 57 seconds for the fastest knockout-stage goal in European Championship history, before doubling Turkiye's lead, and his own account, after the interval.
Michael Gregoritsch offered Austria hope with his 66th-minute finish, yet Vincenzo Montella's men – saved by last-gasp Mert Gunok heroics – held on to progress into the last-eight clash in Berlin on Saturday.
Demiral struck first with less than a minute on the clock, smashing in from point-blank range after Patrick Pentz tipped away an Austrian deflection from Arda Guler's right-sided corner.
Christoph Baumgartner almost responded immediately, though, dancing towards the perimeter of the area before whistling a right-footed drive narrowly wide of Gunok's left-hand post.
Another chance fell Baumgartner's way moments later as Demiral failed to clear Romano Schmid's corner, though the stretching Austria forward was unable to get the decisive touch at the back post.
Those missed opportunities would come back to haunt Rangnick's side after 59 minutes when Guler delivered another corner onto the head of Demiral, who powered home from inside the six-yard box.
Substitute Gregoritsch halved the arrears just seven minutes later, steering in after Stefan Posch's flick-on before Baumgartner's header was denied by an expert Gunok stop in stoppage time.
That Gunok save will live long in the memory of Turkish supporters after progressing to the quarter-finals for the first time in 16 years.
Data Debrief: Turkiye living in Demiral dreamland
Demiral is the first Turkish player to score a brace at the Euros since Nihat Kahveci against Chechia in 2008, and the first-ever player for his country to do so in the knockout rounds.
Turkiye now have the earliest goal scorers in knockout rounds at both the European Championships and the World Cup (Hakan Sukur versus Korea Republic in 2002 - 0:11), since records began in 1966.
Austria's undoing came at the hands of a familiar foe, too, as Rangnick's men have now gone winless in their last six meetings with Turkiye, who will now hope to down the Netherlands in four days' time.
Deschamps launches defence of Mbappe as France forward aims for history at Euro 2024
Kylian Mbappe may not be firing on all cylinders but Didier Deschamps says the France captain is aiming for "even more history" at Euro 2024.
The Real Madrid-bound forward has scored just once at the tournament in Germany from 20 attempts, a penalty against Poland in Les Bleus' final group game.
Mbappe has managed just one goal overall from 34 shots at the European Championships, a contrast to his record at the World Cup, where he has scored 12 goals from 39 efforts.
Yet in this edition of UEFA's top international tournament, the former Paris Saint-Germain star has been hampered by a broken nose that has forced him to wear a protective mask when playing.
The 25-year-old has repeatedly cited his frustrations at wearing the protective equipment, which some have suggested explains a downturn in form.
Deschamps fired back at his critics, however, lauding the France international ahead of Tuesday's semi-final meeting with Spain in Munich.
"Don't you think he has already made enough history, with what he has done so far? He wants to make even more history," the France boss said, in an interview quoted by Telefoot.
"We did everything we could with him, with the medical staff, to get him to be here. During the preparation, he had a little back problem, too, but Kylian is here.
"Even if he's not 100%, I know very well that for the opponent, knowing he's playing makes them think and forces them to adapt."
Mbappe's form perhaps explains why there have only been four goals scored in France's five Euro 2024 matches (three for, one against), with those either penalties (two) or own goals (two).
Indeed, none of the 128 non-penalty shots have found the back of the net in those games (86 for France, 42 for opponents).
France are also the only team on record since 1980 to have more than 50 non-penalty shots at a Euros tournament without scoring with any of those attempts.
Deschamps and Mbappe will be desperate to end that drab run when Les Bleus face an in-form Spain side, battling for a place in the final against either the Netherlands or England.
Southgate's highs and lows as England manager passes 100 games
Saturday's Euro 2024 quarter-final clash with Switzerland was a memorable one for England fans, as the Three Lions enjoyed a rare penalty shoot-out success to reach the last four.
For the second successive match in Germany, England were staring at a humiliating exit. After Jude Bellingham took centre-stage against Slovakia, it was Bukayo Saka's turn to produce a rescue act.
Without Saka's heroics, Gareth Southgate's reign as England manager would surely have ended after exactly 100 games.
As it is, he'll be hoping he has at least two more to savour.
Southgate has always had his critics, but three semi-final appearances in four major tournaments under him – one more than England managed in their previous 17 – marks him out as his country's most successful manager in modern times.
As Southgate celebrates another huge win on a landmark occasion, we run through the highs and lows of his tenure.
Southgate's record
Southgate is just the third England boss to bring up three figures, after Walter Winterbottom (139 games between 1946 and 1962) and World Cup winner Alf Ramsey (133 between 1963 and 1974).
England have won 60 matches under him, drawing 24 and losing 16. His 60% win ratio puts him fifth among all Three Lions managers, after Sam Allardyce, who memorably won his only game in charge, Fabio Capello (66.7%), Ramsey (61.1%) and Glenn Hoddle (60.7%).
Saturday's shoot-out success was his 24th major tournament match at the helm. His 13 wins in such games are the most by any England manager in history, while only Ramsey (66.7%) has bettered his 54.2% win rate in World Cup/Euros matches.
The most common criticism of Southgate relates to his safety-first approach, but only Winterbottom (383) and Ramsey (224) have overseen more England goals than his 210. The Three Lions' average of 2.1 goals per game under him tops their average of 1.98 under Ramsey.
The highs
Southgate's first tournament at the helm will always be remembered fondly, as his unfancied side went within a whisker of reaching the 2018 World Cup final, two years on from the nadir of Roy Hodgson's team losing to Iceland at Euro 2016.
With Harry Kane winning the Golden Boot and Harry Maguire providing a threat from set-pieces, England made supporters fall back in love with the national team as they reached the semi-finals, ultimately surrendering a 1-0 lead in an extra-time loss to a superior Croatia side.
The standout moment surely came in the last 16 as Colombia were beaten on penalties – England's first victory in a World Cup shoot-out and just their second in seven attempts at major tournaments at the time.
Coming after a 1-1 draw with stubborn opponents with the knockout draw opening up, Saturday's victory over Switzerland shared many similarities with the Colombia win.
Southgate has now overseen three shoot-out victories, with Switzerland also vanquished in 2019 as the Three Lions took bronze in the inaugural edition of the Nations League.
And while England's only penalty defeat under Southgate came in his biggest game in charge, their run to the Euro 2020 final was another high before heartbreak against Italy.
Most memorable of all was a 2-0 victory over Germany in the last 16, England's first competitive win over them at Wembley Stadium since the 1966 World Cup final. The semi-final versus Denmark, meanwhile, brought Southgate's only major tournament win to date over a top-10 nation in FIFA's world rankings.
The lows
The Euro 2020 final was, of course, a case of what might have been for England and Southgate. Luke Shaw's early volley sent Wembley into hysterics, but the Three Lions dropped deeper and deeper, inviting Leonardo Bonucci's equaliser and going on to suffer penalty heartache.
Southgate was fiercely criticised for losing control of the final, with England's 34.4% possession share their lowest at Wembley since a 2016 draw with Spain (34.3%).
Either side of that final, England went unbeaten in 90 minutes through 22 matches, but they then endured a dismal run midway through 2022, failing to win any of their six games in the 2022-23 edition of the Nations League as they were relegated from the top tier.
The low point of Southgate's reign came in a crushing 4-0 defeat to Hungary at Molineux that June, where supporters turned on the England boss for the first time after the team's heaviest defeat under him.
England recovered to impress in the group stage at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but more penalty agony awaited them in the quarter-finals, albeit not in a shoot-out.
With England 2-1 down but in the ascendency against France, captain Kane blazed a late spot-kick over the crossbar, becoming the first player to both score and miss a penalty in a World Cup match since Czechoslovakia's Michal Bilek versus the United States in 1990.
With many believing this tournament will be Southgate's last regardless of the outcome, he will hope the true high point of his tenure is yet to come.
The players
Although many players have won Southgate's trust during his eight years at the helm, one man stands clear of the rest.
Kane has been Southgate's most trusted lieutenant, his 79 appearances under him (69 as captain) putting him clear of Kyle Walker (68), John Stones and Jordan Pickford (both 66).
The striker's 60 England goals under Southgate, meanwhile, are more than treble the figure managed by his closest rival, Raheem Sterling with 18. Kane (16) also leads Sterling (13) for the most assists under Southgate.
No Three Lions player has ever scored more goals for the team under a particular manager, with Gary Lineker's 35 strikes for Bobby Robson putting him a distant second.
Only three players have won more England caps under one manager, with Billy Wright playing under Winterbottom 105 times, Bobby Moore appearing in 100 games for Ramsey, and Peter Shilton 83 for Robson.
Wimbledon: Paolini makes Italian history as Keys retires in round-of-16 clash
Jasmine Paolini advanced to her first Wimbledon quarter-final after an entertaining clash with Madison Keys was cut short when the 12th seed retired injured on Sunday.
French Open finalist Paolini progressed to the last eight with a 6-3 6-7 (6-7) 5-5 victory, though the Italian was on the brink of an exit before that.
The seventh seed trailed 5-2 in the deciding set before dragging back into the contest by winning two games, with Keys then calling for the physio and a medical time-out due to a thigh issue.
American Keys was visibly distraught after leaving the court for treatment, returning to concede another game and struggling to serve before retiring with the game finely poised.
Paolini will now face either Emma Navarro or Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals at SW19.
Data Debrief: Paolini's Italian pride
Paolini became the first Italian in the Open Era to reach the women's singles quarter-final at Wimbledon and Roland-Garros in the same season, having fallen in the French Open final to Iga Swiatek.
Having never won a match at Wimbledon before this year, Paolini has now won four straight, though this triumph came in unwanted circumstances.
Keys is only the second player in the Open Era to retire in the third set of a women's singles round-of-16 clash at a major, after Julie Heldman progressed past Billie Jean King via retirement at the US Open in 1973.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
