Euro 2024 social round-up: What might have been for Wimbledon, UEFA turns 70

By Sports Desk June 15, 2024

Day two of Euro 2024 picked up the excitement where it left off, with a historic round of games on Saturday.

Switzerland joined Germany level on points at the top of Group A with an impressive 3-1 win over Hungary before Spain cruised to a 3-0 victory over Croatia in their Group B opener with three first-half goals.

Italy's European Championships title defence got off to a perfect start as they bounced back from conceding the earliest goal in the tournament's history (23 seconds) by beating Albania 2-1.

While the football continued to entertain, there was also plenty of action on social media. Here's a pick of some of the best posts.

What might have been for Wimbledon

AFC Wimbledon's official X account drew plenty of attention as the admin latched onto the hype over Jamal Musiala, following the Germany international's magical display against Scotland.

Musiala grew up in England, and represented AFC Wimbledon, via the Corpus Christi Primary School, in the EFL Utilita Kids Cup.

It's clear from the highlights of that match, in which Musiala scored a hat-trick and left defenders mesmerised - a bit like he did on Friday - that he was a special talent.

Embolo back on the scene

Breel Embolo endured an injury-hit campaign for Monaco, but he is back to fitness in time to feature for Switzerland, for whom he remains a crucial player.

And after coming on as a second-half substitute, Embolo sealed the three points as the Swiss beat Hungary 3-1 in the first game of the day. 

As the official Euro 2042 X account pointed out, Embolo has now netted in successive Euros tournaments for his nation.

Birthday boy

Pascal Gross is a newcomer to Germany's squad, and came on for his major tournament debut during Friday's 5-1 thrashing of Scotland.

The Brighton midfielder then celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday, with Germany's official X account sharing the celebrations.

That big win over Scotland, and his Euros bow, was surely a great way to welcome in his 34th year.

UEFA turns 70

Gross was not the only one celebrating a birthday on Saturday.

Indeed, UEFA marked the 70th anniversary of its founding, which came on June 15, 1954.

"It's a story of devotion, dedication and dreams..." shared the governing bodies' official X account.

Barcelona show pride of record-breaking youngster

Spain got off to the perfect start in the so-called 'group of death' with a rampant 3-0 win over Croatia on Saturday.

But, when the team sheets came out before the game, all the headlines quickly turned to Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest-ever player to appear at the Euros at 16 years and 338 days.

After an impressive performance by the youngster, Barcelona were quick to remind fans where he came from with a post on X: "He's very good... and he's ours."

Van Dijk, Simons and De Ligt put to the test

The Netherlands are yet to open their campaign in Euro 2024, but put aside their preparation to take some time to answer questions from young fans.

Xavi Simons was quizzed on which defender scares him the most - fellow Dutchman Virgil van Dijk - while the captain and Matthijs de Ligt rated their chances of winning the tournament.

Final preparations

England open their campaign when they take on Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, and on Saturday, Gareth Southgate's team ran through their MD-1 training session.

All 26 players were involved in the session, with England allowing their fans to watch on live via a post on X.

Only part of the session was broadcast, however, so any Serbia spies could not garner too much information about Southgate's tactics ahead of the Group C clash.

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  • Koeman, Van Dijk left frustrated over disallowed winner against France Koeman, Van Dijk left frustrated over disallowed winner against France

    Ronald Koeman and Virgil van Dijk believe Xavi Simon's disallowed goal should have stood after the Netherlands' goalless draw with France on Friday.

    The midfielder thought he had given his side the lead in the 69th minute after latching onto Memphis Depay's saved shot and picking out the bottom corner.

    However, a lengthy VAR check saw the goal ruled out as Denzel Dumfries was judged to be blocking Mike Maignan from getting to it.

    The Oranje were not happy with the decision at the time, and their ire continued into post-match, with a frustrated Koeman adamant they should have come away with all three points.

    "I think the position of Dumfries is offside, that's true, but he isn't disturbing the goalkeeper and when that happens, then it's a legal goal," Koeman said.

    "You need five minutes to check it because it's so difficult? I don't understand. He's not disturbing the goalkeeper. I think the goal should have stood.

    "I asked the referee, and he said it was offside, but I saw the clip about the offside. And after that, I have my opinion about the legal goal, but that was in the dressing room."

    A win would have ensured the Netherlands a place in the last 16 with a game to spare.

    Although four points are likely to see them through, it will go down to their final match against Austria on Tuesday to decide where they finish in the table.

    While Van Dijk echoed his manager's frustrations over the VAR decision, he remained optimistic about the result.

    "In my opinion, Xavi Simons' goal that was disallowed was a valid goal," said Van Dijk. "But one point is a bonus, we have to be that realistic.

    "We are playing against France, so I don't think it is strange that you have difficulty in some phase of the match. The fighting spirit we have shown is very positive.

    "Now we are on four points, and we continue towards Tuesday against Austria. We tried to remain compact at the back and still hurt France on the counter.

    "We almost succeeded a few times, but we didn't play it out well. We don't lose, and we still have everything in our own hands."

  • Buttler: Powerplay cost England against South Africa Buttler: Powerplay cost England against South Africa

    England captain Jos Buttler believes his side lost their match against South Africa in the powerplay after losing by seven runs in the Super 8s.

    South Africa registered their second-most productive powerplay in the tournament so far, with Quinton de Kock proving invaluable with 49 runs during that time.

    In England's powerplay, they managed to get just 41 runs, their lowest such tally of the year, and though they pushed late on, they came up just short in the chase.

    Buttler admitted that in hindsight, it was South Africa's start that cost England in the end, despite giving themselves a reachable target.

    "I'd say it was lost in the powerplay," Buttler said. "Quinton de Kock came out and played with really good intent, and we couldn't really match that. I think we were about 20 behind them at the end of our first six.

    "The wicket did slow up, which allowed us to pull it back in the middle, and we were happy to be chasing 160. But yeah, that innings was the difference.

    "It's still a good pitch but a little slower than we probably expected. I'm proud of how we responded with the ball after their good powerplay, and Brook and Livingstone had an excellent partnership there to take us so close.

    "At one stage, we were favourites but T20 cricket is never that simple, and credit to South Africa for closing it out.

    "We know we're still in it. We played well today; we just didn't quite get over the line."

    De Kock, who finished on 65, was named Player of the Match for his impressive turn – he equalled the fastest half-century of the tournament (22 balls, level with USA's Aaron Jones), and broke his own record for the most runs in a powerplay by a South Africa batter at a men's T20 World Cup.

    South Africa remain unbeaten in the tournament so far and have put themselves in a good position to qualify for the semi-finals, and De Kock was pleased with how they got the win on Friday.

    "My plan was to just bat as long as I can and score as many runs I can," De Kock said. "That was pretty much it. I don't really carry or lose confidence; I just get on with my game. So that is what I focused on.

    "I thought we bowled really well, especially in the powerplay. We controlled it really nicely. Overall, we were pretty solid and to defend on 160 on a decent pitch is a good effort."

  • Netherlands 0-0 France: Simons denied as spoils shared at top of Group D Netherlands 0-0 France: Simons denied as spoils shared at top of Group D

    Xavi Simons saw a potential winner controversially disallowed as the spoils were shared in a 0-0 draw between the Netherlands and France in Group D at Euro 2024.

    A VAR check led to the Dutchman's 69th-minute strike being chalked off for offside, stopping the Oranje from booking their place in the round of 16 with a game to spare.

    Antoine Griezmann squandered a host of chances for France, who struggled in front of goal with Kylian Mbappe relegated to the bench due to a broken nose.

    Both sides move onto four points, and after Austria's win over Poland earlier on Friday, it is all to play for between the top three on the final matchday, with Poland the first team to be officially eliminated from the tournament. 

    The Netherlands came flying out of the blocks, with Jeremie Frimpong forcing a fingertip save from Mike Maignan with less than a minute on the clock.

    France soon found their footing though, with Griezmann, wearing the armband in Mbappe's absence, failing to scramble it in from six yards after Adrien Rabiot's lay-off before he drilled another effort just wide of the post.

    Maignan was required again when Cody Gakpo cut inside from left before whipping a firm shot across goal, as the goalkeeper got a strong hand to it.

    Just before the half-hour mark, Marcus Thuram looked set to break the deadlock after beating the offside trap, but one-on-one with the goalkeeper, he sliced his effort over the crossbar.

    After a slow start to the second half, France rallied on the hour mark, with Aurelien Tchouameni flashing a header over before Griezmann saw another glorious opportunity smothered by Bart Verbruggen at his near post.

    Against the run of play, Simons thought he had given the Netherlands the lead by picking out the bottom-right corner after latching onto the rebound of Memphis Depay's saved shot, but Denzel Dumfries, in an offside position, was judged to be impeding the goalkeeper and the goal was ruled out after a lengthy VAR check.

    Toothless France struggle without their talisman

    All the pre-match talk centred on whether Mbappe would be fit to play after suffering a broken nose against Austria.

    The answer: he was not. Instead, he started on the bench, with Marcus Thuram tasked with playing as the main forward in his absence.

    Griezmann provided their foremost threat though, appearing in his 11th consecutive game at the Euros for France – Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo (18) and Germany's Toni Kroos (13) are the only outfielders on longer such streaks for their nations.

    It was a record-equalling appearance for the stand-in captain too, his 32nd at major tournaments, the most for a French outfielder along with Lilian Thuram.

    However, the forward had four of France's five first-half shots, finishing with five overall, but failed to lead Les Bleus to a statement victory.

    Still, France's wait for a win without Mbappe in their starting lineup goes on, as they have failed to come out on top in any of their last seven such matches (four draws, three defeats).

    Netherlands smother Les Bleus

    After losing both meetings in qualifying for Euro 2024 by an aggregate score of 6-1, the Netherlands were likely not too happy to come up against Les Bleus once more.

    However, in the absence of Mbappe, who has scored six goals in five matches against the Dutch, the Netherlands were able to hold firm.

    At the Euros, the Oranje have now avoided defeat in all three of their group-stage meetings with France (2000, 2008, 2024).

    Defensively, they stood strong. Despite France having 13 shots, only three were on target as they created 1.4 expected goals (xG).

    Virgil van Dijk led by example, making the most clearances (seven) of anybody on the pitch as the Netherlands protected their clean sheet.

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