Scoring many goals in a 'basket' is still eliminated, not 'knowing' how to score then...

Substitute player shines

Germany and Spain promised an exciting quarter-final. But it turned out to be the match with the most fouls (39) since EURO 2016. There were 15 yellow cards, 2 of which were converted into red cards. That still seemed not to be enough. Pedri (Spain) was "knocked out" by Toni Kroos (Germany), had to leave the field in the 8th minute, and may have to sit out the rest of the tournament. Kroos escaped a card for that brutal foul.

Dani Olmo (10) shined after coming off the bench to help Spain reach the semi-finals

Replacing Pedri, Dani Olmo opened the scoring for Spain early in the second half, then assisted another substitute, Mikel Merino, to make it 2-1 in the 118th minute. That was one of the outstanding phenomena of this EURO: a substitute coming on and scoring a late goal. Germany's equalizer in the 89th minute was also scored by substitute Florian Wirtz. How important is squad depth in a major tournament like the EURO!

This is the first time in history that the German team (3 times champion, 3 times runner-up) has stopped at the quarter-finals of EURO. The Mannschaft has always been famous for its tradition of always going far in major tournaments because it is always the team with the highest efficiency. Especially, when it comes to deciding the winner by a penalty shootout, the Germans are number 1. That situation was almost repeated when Niclas Fullkrug's header missed the post by a hair's breadth in the last minute of extra time. If Germany had equalized 2-2, it would have been a no-brainer: few people thought they would lose in the penalty shootout.

The problem here is that the tradition of "efficiency" has now disappeared, and Fulcrum's last-minute failure is just one of many examples. Germany had more chances to shoot at the goal than Spain. Fulcrum alone had 6 shots, with an "expected goal" index of 0.99, but still no goals (in football, the "expected goal" index is often much lower than the actual number of goals). Kai Havertz missed 2 good chances, when the score was 0-0. In previous matches, Germany scored quite well, with diverse "firepower". But at the decisive moment, the weakness of "lack of good strikers" harmed the Mannschaft.

FRANCE STILL CAN'T SCORES!

The importance of the bench will be discussed further when Spain meets France in the semi-finals. In stark contrast to Spain and Germany, the Portugal-France match was dull, with no goals for 120 minutes, as both sides relied too much on their stars who were out of form, with almost no "plan B".

Cristiano Ronaldo has finished a major tournament without scoring for Portugal for the first time. Yes, Portugal were eliminated because Joao Felix missed a penalty when everyone else scored. They were eliminated because Leao, Fernandes, Vitinha all missed. But Ronaldo's presence on the pitch, taking a lot of shots but not scoring, has been a clear reality for many games. Goncalo Ramos or Diogo Jota have been waiting on the bench, but have not been given a chance.

Unlike Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe of the French squad proactively asked to leave the field "because he was too tired". The essence of the problem is still the same: if Mbappe does not shine, France will be considered incapable of scoring. France has now advanced to the semi-finals without scoring from an open situation. A penalty (by Mbappe) and 2 own goals are all that Didier Deschamps and his team have achieved since the beginning of the tournament.

If they win two more matches like that, France will become an unthinkable case in top-flight football: winning a major tournament without scoring from open play? Let me emphasize: what they showed in the match against Portugal shows that France actively played like that!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/euro-2024-hai-suat-ban-ket-that-trai-nguoc-185240706202712323.htm