Day 1 of the UEFA Euros 2024 Quarter-Finals was newsworthy, to say the least. France took on Portugal, and Spain took on Germany in two heavyweight bouts. This is what happened.
Germany vs Spain was the first quarter-final match, played in the MHPArena in Stuttgart. In the first few minutes of the contest, Toni Kroos, who will retire from football following this game, went for the ball but went through Pedri instead. While no cards were shown, the young Barcelona midfielder had to be substituted for Dani Olmo.
In what was an exciting first half, both teams created positive chances but failed to score. This was to change in the second half.
In the 51st minute, Dani Olmos, who didn’t even start the match but had to come in early, scored. Lamine Yamal cut in from the right side and whipped in a grounded pass. Olmo, who was present in the box, fired a low shot on the right of Manuel Neuer, 1-0.
The next few minutes saw the Germans scrambling for a goal. A brilliant chance came when, after taking a couple of shots, German midfielder Robert Andrich found the ball at the edge of the box and struck it hard, only for it to be saved by Unai Simon.
The hosts finally scored in the 89th minute. Maximilian Mittelstadt curled the ball at the far end of the box. Joshua Kimmich headed the ball towards Florian Wirtz, who fired the ball into the net, 1-1.
The game headed into extra time. In the second half of extra time, in the 107th minute to be precise, Jamal Musiala took a fine shot at the goal, only for the ball to be stopped by Spanish defender Marc Cucurella’s hand. But the penalty was not given as his hand was in a natural position and his eyes were away from the ball, showing there was no clear intent.
Still 1-1, Spain took the lead in the 119th minute when Dani Olmo lobbed the ball into the box, which was brilliantly headed by Mikel Moreno, 2-1. And that is how the first quarter-final ended, and the hosts were knocked out of the UEFA Euro 2024.
UEFA Euros 2024 Quarter-Finals: Cristiano Ronaldo & Co. Are Out
France vs Portugal was the second quarter-final of the night. This match was not as exciting as the other one. In the first half, both teams took a few shots from outside the box, not really threatening the keepers at all.
The fun started in the second half, at the start of which Kylian Mbappe took his first proper shot at goal and struck it straight into the hands of Diego Costa.
From this point, Portugal started getting a few attempts in, including in the 61st minute, when Bruno Fernandes found himself in the box from a brilliant ball by Joao Cancelo but could not score.
France’s Kolo Muani had the best chance of the game in the 66th minute, which was finely deflected by Ruben Dias. A few minutes later, Eduardo Camavinga came very close to scoring too.
With the score being 0-0 at the end of 90 minutes, both teams headed for extra time. In the 93rd minute, a ball by Francisco Conceicao found Cristiano Ronaldo in the box, who absolutely skied the ball.
With both teams getting more and more restless, a lot of chances came in the second half of extra time, but to no avail. We were headed for penalties.
France took the first shot, and Ousmane Dembele stepped up to put it in the net. Then came Ronaldo, who scored as well, 1-1. Youssouf Fofana then made it 2-1 for France, before Bernardo Silva made it 2-2. Jules Kounde gave France the lead before Joao Felix missed his attempt, 3-2.
Now with an advantage, France’s Bradley Barcola made it 4-2 in favour of the 2018 World Champion, and MNuno Medes made it 4-3. With a chance to win it all, Theo Hernandes scored France’s fifth penalty and took his team to the semi-finals of the UEFA Euros 2024.
With two quarter-finals in the books, the remaining two-quarters of UEFA Euros 2024—England vs Switzerland and the Netherlands vs Turkiye will be played tonight.
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