Euro roundup - Matchweek 4

Published on 01/07/21

Daniel James - Wales 4-0 Denmark (By Rhys James)

Daniel James had a difficult game versus Denmark. Wales started well in the first 20 minutes or so and it was the same with James, he made some good crosses early on and delivered a great ball from a free kick, for example.

However, Denmark were very quick to start to dominate after this period. After their goal at the minute , the Danes never looked back, and Wales were frankly awful for the remainder of the game.

James can’t really be blamed much. As was the case in the Italy game in the group stages, the red dragons struggled to get the ball into the forwards and James suffered from that. Despite this, James still managed Wales’ most key passes (2), most crosses completed (2) and had his teams only shot on target.

James will be disappointed with the way his team exited the tournament, with a 4-0 defeat, but he should hold his head high because he was one of Wales’ best players throughout the four games they played, and even in games like the one in question where his team played terribly, James was always the bright light.

We will see if he can carry this form into the upcoming season.

Paul Pogba - Switzerland 3-3 France, 5-4 on pens (By Dara O'Brien)

Monday’s round of 16 matchup between France and Switzerland was a rollercoaster of emotion for France and Paul Pogba. After a slow start and a generally poor first half from the French, they found themselves a goal behind at the break. In the second half however, France were lead to a comeback by Paul Pogba, with two goals from Benzema and a stunning third goal from Pogba.

As the ball broke 25 yards from the Switzerland goal, the United midfielder pushed the ball ahead of himself before whipping it into the far top corner, before celebrating in a way that would make Eric Cantona proud. The French looked certain to go through, dominating the Swiss, being two goals to the good with ten minutes remaining.

This wasn’t to be the case however, with Switzerland grabbing a goal back in the 81st minute through Haris Seferović, before scoring another in stoppage time after dispossessing none other than Paul Pogba in midfield and levelling the score. Pogba was brilliant throughout the second half, even besides his stunning goal. The midfielder created chance after chance for the French attackers, who surprisingly weren’t able to capitalise on them.

In the penalty shootout, it was Pogba that stepped up to take France’s opening penalty. He was cool the entire way, pausing after the referee blew his whistle before effortlessly rifling the ball into the left-top corner. Unfortunately for France, Kylian Mbappe was not able to replicate Pogba’s coolness at the spot, ultimately knocking Les Bleus out of the competition.

The stats provide further evidence of Pogba’s excellent showing, with the midfielder recording 1 goal, 100 touches, 72 successful out of 78 attempted passes, 4 key passes, 3 out of 5 accurate long balls, 10 out of 16 ground duels won and 1 big chance created.

Overall it was another brilliant performance from Paul Pogba, and although one could argue that he is at fault for Switzerland’s equaliser, it doesn’t come close to overshadowing the incredible attacking output that he provided. Paul Pogba was potentially France’s best player in this tournament, and could’ve gone on to be the tournament’s best if France had not been knocked out so early.

Harry Maguire - England 2-0 Germany (By Tom Cole)

Harry Maguire looked back to his very best as England took on Germany in their round of 16 match.

Maguire looked incredible comfortable as part of a back 3, patrolling the left hand side just behind Shaw. He was also a huge threat during set pieces, and probably should have scored in the first after directing a corner on target, requiring a decent save from Neuer.

It was vintage Maguire throughout the game, winning 100% of his aerial duels and stopping any German attacks from materialising. He was unlucky to get a yellow card as the referee was being very strict with heavy tackles, winning the ball or not.

Overall it was an incredible performance from Maguire, especially considering the lack of game time he has had in the last few months. The partnership with Stones is looking more and more solid and Maguire was rightfully given the Star of the Match award by UEFA.

Luke Shaw - England 2-0 Germany (By Tom Cole)

Luke Shaw showed his absolutely best as England beat Germany to book their place in the quarter finals of Euro 2020.

Throughout the game Shaw looked to be the best player at turning defence into attack, always looking to push the team up the pitch and create chances. His passing accuracy was almost perfect, up at 91%.

This didn’t stop Shaw from tracking back and defending well too. Germany didn’t have any chances of merit on Shaw’s side, and he made a couple of great tackles and clearances to stop any attacks building.

Late in the game England fans saw what United fans had been enjoying all season, as a textbook Shaw cross met the path of Sterling and put England ahead in a tight game.

Once again Shaw must be one of the first names on Gareth Southgate’s team sheet for the quarter final against Ukraine, his defending and attacking presence is unrivalled down the left hand side.

Diogo Dalot - Belgium 1-0 Portugal (By @Elitesolskjaer)

Overall performance

Dalot played a full 90 minutes for the first time for Portugal and had an okay game even if Portugal lost the game to Belgium. His defending had a lot to be desired sometimes, which would worry us united fans. This game shows us both sides of Diogo and could have been his audition for AC Milan. This game showed some of the reasons he won't get game time. The attacking side was not better. He didn't do anything wrong in the attacking areas, but as he is an attacking full-back, you would have expected him to have a better game attacking wise.

Stats

Attacking stats-wise, he had 46 touches but had no key passes. He accurately passed the ball 90% of the time. However, he only was accurate in the opposition half 77% of the time, defensively he had 0.5 interceptions, and he made 1.5 tackles, but he didn't win any possession from these tackles. He got dribbled past once and had the same amount of clearances.

Bruno Fernandes - Belgium 1-0 Portugal (By @Elitesolskjaer)

Overall performance

Fernandes came on in the 55th minutes and tried to get a struggling Portugal back into a game that they eventually lost to a better Belgium side. He created chances for the attackers. He was exhausted, which is understandable considering he has played non stop for nine months, and he hasn't had a break since last summer. People scapegoating Bruno don't understand how hard he has worked for both Man Utd and Portgual. He never backs down and always works hard for the team, whoever that might be.

Stats

Bruno had one shot on target in the time he was on the pitch. He had 31.0 passes and created one big chance in the game. He completed 2 key passes in the game and had a 91% pass accuracy in the 55 minutes he played, and in his half, he had 87% pass accuracy. These are all very impressive stats considering he only played 35 minutes of the half.

Team's performance

Portugal did not have the best night against Belgium, with the reigning Euro Champions crashing out against the Red Devils. Dries Mertens scored the game's only goal, and it was enough to see Roberto Martínez side go through. Ronaldo tried to play his game, but he could not bring team back from the edge. Portugal’s exit will mean a good long rest for Bruno and Diogo before they arrive back for pre-season