Euro 2024 Data Dive: Southgate rewrites England penalty history, Netherlands reach familiar ground

By Sports Desk July 06, 2024

Just four sides remain at Euro 2024 with the final in Berlin next Sunday now within touching distance. 

England came through another nerve-jangling affair, this time against Switzerland, needing penalties to confirm their place in the semi-finals. 

They will face the Netherlands in Dortmund next Wednesday, with Ronald Koeman's side coming from a goal down to knock Turkiye out of the competition. 

After another rollercoaster day of knockout football, we take a deep dive into the best Opta statistics from Germany. 

England 1-1 Switzerland (aet, 5-3 pens): Three Lions rewrite penalty history

Gareth Southgate marked his 100th game in charge of England with a win, in the end.

Trent Alexander-Arnold scored the decisive spot-kick following a 1-1 draw, having seen Jordan Pickford save Manuel Akanji's first penalty for the Swiss. 

Pickford's stop was his fourth saved from 14 penalties he has faced in shoot-outs at major tournaments, further proving why he is indispensable within this England team. 

Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka and Ivan Toney all scored their penalties before Alexander-Arnold's winner, showing nerves of steel from 15 yards. 

It was just the second time, in their 10th shoot-out at a major tournament, that England scored every one of their penalties (5/5), also doing so against Spain at Euro 1996 (4/4).

While Southgate has his critics, the Three Lions have now reached the semi-finals in consecutive European Championships for the first time. 

Since the group stage was introduced in 1980, the Three Lions had only got to that stage once before the appointment of Southgate, doing so in 1996 with Southgate playing in every England game at their home tournament.

But England's lack of attacking threat was concerning once again, with Saka's 80th-minute equaliser their first shot on target in Dusseldorf.

Saka's 11th international goal saw him become only the third Arsenal player to score for England at the Euros, after Tony Adams in 1988 and Theo Walcott in 2012.

Failing to get the job done in normal time has been a regular theme for the Three Lions at the European Championships. 

Since Euro 96, England have played 11 knockout matches at the Euros and eight of those have gone to extra-time, including the last four in a row.

Bellingham, England's hero from their last-16 clash against Slovakia, almost found another goal in extra-time, only to see his effort saved by Yann Sommer. 

The Real Madrid star won his 34th cap for the Three Lions, with all of them coming while playing for non-British sides (24 with Borussia Dortmund, 10 with Real Madrid). Only David Beckham (55) and Owen Hargreaves (39) have won more England caps while playing for non-British clubs.

For Switzerland, however, their woes in the knockout stages continued as they fell short once more. 

They have now been eliminated on all five of their major tournament quarter-final appearances: the 1934, 1938 and 1954 World Cups, and Euro 2020 and 2024.

Breel Embolo was a shining light for Murat Yakin's side, scoring his fifth goal at a major tournament for Switzerland, a tally only bettered by Xherdan Shaqiri (10) and Josef Hugi (six). 

Netherlands 2-1 Turkiye: Oranje return to familiar ground with new kids on the block

Once one of the powerhouses of European football, the Netherlands have risen to within 90 minutes of the top again with their latest triumph over Turkiye. 

The Oranje reached the semi-finals of the European Championships for the first time since 2004, with the help of their exciting forward line. 

Only Spain and Germany (11 each) have scored more goals at Euro 2024 thus far than the Netherlands (nine). 

Their equaliser came from an unlikely source, however. Stefan de Vrij’s header was his first strike for his nation since March 2015 against Spain – nine years and 97 days ago.

The turnaround was complete six minutes later, with Cody Gakpo believing he had gone out on his own in the race for the Golden Boot, only for the goal to be credited to Mert Muldur, who put through his own net under pressure from the Liverpool man.

It was the first own goal the Netherlands have benefitted from at the Euros since 2004 (Jorge Andrade versus Portugal).

For Turkiye, they can depart Germany with their heads held high, having reached the knockout stages of the European Championships for the first time since 2008. 

Arda Guler has been a shining light throughout their campaign. The 19-year-old provided his second assist of the Euros for Samet Akaydin's opener, becoming the second teenager to tee up multiple goals at this edition after Lamine Yamal (three).

There had been just two occasions on record (since 1968) of a teenager providing multiple assists at a single tournament in each of the 14 previous editions combined (Enzo Scifo in 1984, Cristiano Ronaldo in 2004).

 

Akaydin's header was Turkiye's fourth goal scored via defenders at Euro 2024, the most by any nation at a single edition of the European Championships. 

The Fenerbahce defender also became Vincenzo Montella's seventh different goalscorer at Euro 2024, the most different scorers (excluding own goals) they’ve had at a major tournament. 

Related items

  • Stokes out of first Pakistan Test through injury Stokes out of first Pakistan Test through injury

    England captain Ben Stokes is out of their first Test against Pakistan having failed to recover from a hamstring tear in time.

    Stokes suffered the hamstring injury in August playing in The Hundred and has not played since, missing England's three-match series against Sri Lanka last month.

    England said last week that the 33-year-old was "on track" to participate in the tour and trained away from the rest of the team in their first session.

    Stokes confirmed he will miss the first Test, which begins on Monday in Multan, and Ollie Pope will continue to deputise as captain in his absence.

    "I tried my hardest to get myself fit for this game but have taken the call to miss this one because I've not quite managed to get game-ready," Stokes told BBC Sport.

    "There is a lot that has to go into my rehab programme. We got to a certain point, but looking at the picture of what we've got coming up and physically where I'm at, I'm not quite ready to play.

    "It's always frustrating to miss out. I've got some good things to focus on, so even though I'm not playing, I've got a goal in mind."

    The second Test starts on October 15, but the all-rounder admitted he was not sure whether that was a realistic target for his return.

    "I've pushed myself incredibly hard and worked really hard with the medical team to get to where I'm at now. I think I'm further ahead than what we expected," he added.

    "I'll be working just as hard over the next 10 days to try to get myself fit for the second Test."

    In his absence, Durham seamer Brydon Carse will make his England Test debut.

    He has previously played 19 ODIs and four T20s for England and will make his red-ball bow just over a month after completing a three-month ban for historical gambling offences.

    England XI for first Test against Pakistan: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope (captain), Joe Root, Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Chris Woakes, Gus Atkinson, Bryson Carse, Jack Leach, Shoaib Bashir.

  • Eidevall slams 'amateurish' WSL after Arsenal fixture congestion Eidevall slams 'amateurish' WSL after Arsenal fixture congestion

    Arsenal head coach Jonas Eidevall slammed the "amateurish behaviour" of the Women's Super League, who he feels are damaging English teams' chances of success in European competition.

    The Gunners are one of three English teams competing in the Women's Champions League group stages this season, along with Manchester City and Chelsea.

    All three are due to commence their campaigns in midweek, but while Arsenal and City are in WSL action on Sunday, Chelsea's scheduled clash with Manchester United was postponed due to player welfare concerns.

    Eidevall's side, who face Bayern Munich on Wednesday, then take on the Blues three days later, and the head coach feels his side are at a "sporting disadvantage" with their fixture congestion.

    "It's not a good situation," he told reporters during his pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday's clash with Everton. "There are 16 teams involved in the Champions League, how many teams are playing on Sunday, October 6?

    "We are, that is one. If it was only us, it would be an Arsenal problem - but it's also Man City. The only two teams that are playing are English teams. The only other team scheduled to play was Chelsea.

    "[It's the] first time that three [English] teams reach the group stage. [It] should be celebrated, but it's now a problem. It's very important for the whole league that we are successful in Europe.

    "Now, obviously, it's worse for us because of the amateurish behaviour of no plan and taking away the game like Chelsea.

    "It puts us into play on Sunday, then Wednesday away at Bayern Munich, who don't play Sunday, then we return to play Chelsea on Saturday (October 12).

    "[That is] less preparation than our opponents. We have been handed a sporting disadvantage in two huge games for us."

    Nevertheless, Eidevall insists his players will tackle the busy period head on, rather than feel sorry for themselves.

    "We won't lie down and give up because the situation is tough," he said. "We will dig deeper than we ever have before, but what needs to change is the approach to Champions League football and respect to the supporters.

    "It's not good enough to blame UEFA, the only one who hasn't acted on the information is the WSL."

  • Premier League rejects Man City request to delay 2025-26 season start Premier League rejects Man City request to delay 2025-26 season start

    The Premier League has rejected a request from Manchester City to delay the start to their 2025-26 campaign to allow for more recovery time after the Club World Cup.

    As 2022-23 Champions League winners, City are one of two English clubs – alongside Chelsea – to have secured a spot at FIFA's first 32-team Club World Cup, which will be held in the United States next year.

    The tournament's expanded format has proven extremely controversial, provoking widespread criticism for denying players rest time during the off-season.

    Players' union Fifpro has started legal proceedings against FIFA over the scheduling of the tournament, claiming the fixture schedule has become "unworkable".

    The Club World Cup is set to run from June 15 to July 13, with players involved unlikely to receive substantial rest time before the domestic season begins in early August.

    Speaking ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Fulham, boss Pep Guardiola revealed City had already seen a request to delay their opening game knocked back.

    "The Premier League has not allowed us to postpone the first two games for our recovery," Guardiola said. "Thank you so much.

    "I think the club asked the league to postpone one or two or three weeks so we can have a holiday after the [Club] World Cup but it is absolutely not allowed. 

    "Would the Premier League say yes to us? No. Absolutely not. They won't postpone these games so there will be a moment of, 'what do we do?

    "I don't have an answer right now but we are going to take a decision with common sense."

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.