Four goals in ‘difficult’ friendly before Euro 2024

Craig Gordon became the oldest Scotland international when he came on for his 75th cap at the age of 41, although the goalkeeper’s night was soured by conceding the penalty which afforded Finland, who have not qualified for the finals, a spirited draw.

Scotland v Finland ‘really difficult’

Despite having 64% of first-half possession, a lack of urgency and edge hindered Scotland on an occasion when manager Steve Clarke conceded many of his squad might have held concerns about accumulating injuries.

Even after Scotland’s second, there was a warning sign when Finland midfielder Robin Lod’s curled finish into the back of the net was disallowed.

“It’s a really difficult one because the players are human and they’re all thinking about what’s going to happen next week,” said Clarke, who revealed afterwards that Gordon and John Souttar have missed out on selection for the finals.

“The changes come, because I’m trying to manage the minutes, and it becomes a little bit disjointed towards the end, just because you make so many changes.

“The game drifted a bit and we lost two pretty poor goals. I’m not too sure on the penalty: [Gordon] gets a little touch on the ball and the referee’s decided to give it.

“It’s a decent exercise and some of the play was good. I’ve been excited since we qualified, I just never show it. It’s going to be great.”

After facing Germany at the Allianz Arena on June 14, Scotland face Switzerland on June 19 and Hungary four days later.

“We don’t want to stop at this one – we want to keep going forward and qualifying for major tournaments,” said Clarke. “The feeling within the dressing room is that if we play as well as we can, the results will come.”



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Three Lions stunned in final Euro 2024 warm-up match

England did not get the send-off they were hoping for ahead of Euro 2024 as they lost 1-0 to Iceland at Wembley.

It was a rigid and flat performance from the Three Lions, who registered just one shot on target at Wembley.

90,000 fans turned up to wave the players off before the tournament in Germany starts next week but many will have left less hopeful than when they arrived.

England are the bookies’ favourites to win the competition this summer having experienced heartbreak in the final against Italy three years ago.

But they may have slipped down the order of many punters after their embarrassing defeat on home soil.

It was a bright start from Gareth Southgate’s men, with Anthony Gordon and Cole Palmer looking particularly dangerous, but they were undone on the counter by Iceland.

Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson broke for the visitors and got the better of John Stones to fire in at the near post, leaving Aaron Ramsdale scrambling.

Harry Kane had a huge chance to equalise but fluffed his strike and there were no other real big chances for the Three Lions.

It means they have kept just two clean sheets in seven matches and opening Euro 2024 opponents Serbia will now be approaching the match with renewed hope that they can cause an upset.

England will certainly need to up the levels if they are going to get anywhere near the latter stages of the tournament.

How it happened

As it was England’s final warm-up game before the Euros, the Wembley crowd were expectant against the Scandinavian visitors.

It was a brilliant atmosphere in the capital ahead of kick-off but the players knew they were going to face a test similar to the one Bosnia and Herzegovina posed earlier in the week.

Iceland are notoriously resilient at the back but the Three Lions did fashion a few chances in the opening minutes through Gordon and Kane, but there was no end product.

The confidence was flowing on the pitch but it would be Iceland who struck the opening blow.

Thorsteinsson was being hassled by Stones in the box but managed to turn and get a shot away.

His effort caught Ramsdale by surprise and the stadium was silenced as 90,000 fans watched the ball hit the back of the net.

Perhaps the England backline and goalkeeper should have done better but they are going to find themselves in moments like that at the Euros and must learn how to deal with them in the moments that matter.

Southgate’s men nearly had a quick response through Palmer, who had a shot that looked destined for the goal but was blocked.

30 minutes in and the home side had only registered one shot on target and the frustrations on the pitch were being reflected in the stands, with the crowds no longer singing and the band no longer playing.

Captain Kane had a massive chance to level proceedings but failed.

The Bayern Munich man was fed by Palmer but skewed his effort wide on the six-yard box, even the man himself was shocked that he did not score.

Iceland had unsurprisingly sat in after going 1-0 up and aside from the Kane chance, they were limiting the Euro 2024 favourites, who were struggling to break them down.

Marc Guehi came to the rescue of his nation and prevented more embarrassment for England by blocking Arnor Traustason’s effort.

Boos rang out as the half-time whistle went and there were certainly words to be had in the dressing room after an uninspiring first half.

England took four minutes of the second half to turn up the levels.

Gordon fed Phil Foden, whose first-time attempt just missed the frame of the goal.

Palmer then sent a shot into the side netting and a few moments later he was in on goal but failed to round the goalkeeper and slot into an empty net.

Plenty of changes were being made throughout the second half, with the likes of Kane, Kyle Walker and Gordon being withdrawn and Bukayo Saka one of the fresh faces to come on alongside Eberechi Eze.

Thorsteinsson then had another promising chance for Iceland but he mistimed his shot in what really was a big opportunity for the visitors to kill the game.

Ramsdale then had some work to do as a looping Iceland effort looked to be dipping in under the bar, but the Arsenal stopper was able to push it over for a corner.

Entering the last 10 minutes, England had still only had one shot on target, it was certainly not the performance many had hoped for ahead of the tournament in Germany.

There were a few half-chances in the closing minutes, including an effort from Trent Alexander-Arnold that crawled agonisingly wide of the post.

But Iceland held firm to record a huge victory in London and dampen the mood in the England camp.



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Gross, Havertz goals give Euro 2024 hosts friendly win

Pascal Gross’s glorious late strike gave Germany a comeback win over Greece in the Uefa Euro 2024 hosts’ final friendly before they open the tournament against Scotland on June 14.

Brighton & Hove Albion playmaker Gross took aim masterfully from the edge of the penalty area to complete Germany’s revival in style in Monchengladbach.

Georgios Masouras had put Greece ahead when Manuel Neuer could not hold Christos Tzolis’s effort 12 minutes before the break.

Kai Havertz had a goal disallowed 10 minutes later but the Arsenal forward received Leroy Sane’s pass and span inside the box to draw Germany level 11 minutes after half-time.

Germany v Greece: Hosts pass test

Fan banners at Borussia Park had advertised their expectation that Germany will be European champions, which looked unlikely on the evidence of early exchanges offering far more encouragement to Greece.

Neuer denied Tzolis twice in quick succession during the opening minutes as the visitors, whose only defeat over 90 minutes in their previous six matches had been against the Netherlands, had the better of much of the first half.

Greece had only missed out on Euro qualification on penalties against Georgia and held France and thrashed Kazakhstan in their previous games in the campaign, so their stubbornness and threat – often on the break – was perhaps unsurprising.

Jonathan Tah headed a presentable chance wide and Toni Kroos lifted a shot over the crossbar before Havertz’s finish was ruled out because he was adjudged to have been offside when Jamal Musiala played him through.

Gross goal lifts Euro 2024 hosts

Germany lifted the mood around the stadium by asserting themselves far more from the midway point of the second half, when manager Julian Nagelsmann made four substitutions.

Benjamin Henrichs lifted a splendid shot against the crossbar seven minutes from time, and there was even better to come from Gross, whose goal was indicative of the quality he has shown during his latest inventive season with Brighton.

Gross’s brilliance was a fitting end to an unexpectedly dramatic send-off for the three-time Euro winners as they seek their first title since 1996.

Nagelsmann will be hopeful of a more assured win at the Allianz Arena next Friday. Die Mannschaft remain unbeaten in 2024 and also face Hungary and Switzerland in Group A.



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Spain leave Barcelona starlet out of final squad

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente has left teenage Barcelona defender Pau Cubarsi out of his final squad for Euro 2024.

The 17-year-old was one of three players omitted from the 29-strong provisional squad, along with Atletico Madrid midfielder Marcos Llorente and Girona midfielder Aleix Garcia, who has been linked with a move to West Ham and Bayer Leverkusen in recent weeks.

Cubarsi burst onto the scene in the second half of the season, making 19 La Liga appearances, the first coming on January 21, the day before his 17th birthday.

He also started both legs of Barcelona’s Champions League quarter-final defeat to PSG while he appeared off the bench in both of Spain’s international friendlies in March and set-up a goal in Wednesday’s 5-0 friendly win over Andorra.

Former Newcastle and Leicester striker Ayoze Perez, now with Real Betis, who scored the opening goal on his international debut on Wednesday, has made the cut and will travel to Germany.

Manchester City midfielder Rodri, Chelsea’s Marc Cucurella and Arsenal’s on-loan goalkeeper David Raya are the only current Premier League players to make the final 26.

Spain will face Northern Ireland on Saturday in their final warm-up match before before they begin their Group B campaign on June 15 against Croatia.

They will also face defending champions Italy and Albania in the group stage.

Spain squad

Goalkeepers: Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao), Alex Remiro (Real Sociedad), David Raya (Arsenal – on loan from Brentford).

Defenders: Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Aymeric Laporte (Al-Nassr), Nacho Fernandez (Real Madrid), Robin Le Normand (Real Sociedad), Dani Vivian (Athletic Bilbao), Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea).

Midfielders: Rodrigo (Manchester City), Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad), Fabian Ruiz (Paris St-Germain), Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad), Pedri (Barcelona), Alex Baena (Villarreal), Fermin Lopez (Barcelona).

Forwards: Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid), Joselu (Real Madrid), Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Ayoze Perez (Real Betis), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona).



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Lionel Messi not hopeful that MSN reunion with Suarez and Neymar will happen at Inter Miami

Lionel Messi admits it is “difficult” to see a reunion of the famed MSN strikeforce at Inter Miami in the near future.

Two-thirds of the trio that carried Barcelona to a brilliant 2015 Champions League success, scoring 27 of their 32 goals in the competition, as part of a domestic and continental treble that also included La Liga and the Copa del Rey – Messi and Luis Suarez – are already in place.

The third member, Neymar, is plying his trade in Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal, albeit a serious knee injury sustained on international duty with Brazil has derailed his career.

The 32-year-old has been linked with a move back to Santos – something he says is not part of his plan at the moment, although he does admit to wanting to return to his boyhood club at some stage.

Messi feels it would be difficult to get him to Miami but his contract situation does offer hope.

The Argentina World Cup-winner told infobae.com: “No, I don’t know. The truth is that it’s difficult now, he’s in Saudi Arabia, he has one year left on his contract, I think. 

“He has had a difficult year, where he was injured for a long time, couldn’t play the games in Saudi and is also out of the Copa América as well.

“Now it’s difficult. Then I don’t know, the truth is life takes so many turns that everything can happen, but I think that today, no.”

Messi remains in a WhatsApp group with Suarez and Neymar and says they “talk often”.



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Gareth Southgate ‘excited’ about England’s attacking talent

England head coach Gareth Southgate says he is excited to see his side’s attacking talent in action at Euro 2024.

The Three Lions boss named his final squad for the tournament in Germany, cutting his provisional list from 33 to 26.

James Maddison, Harry Maguire and Jack Grealish were among the names left out but there are still plenty of heavy hitters among the final cut.

England came so close to glory at Euro 2020, losing on penalties in the final to Italy and shattering the hearts of thousands who had flocked to Wembley Stadium to watch their nation play for a major trophy.

The island nation have not won a tournament since the 1966 World Cup but there is a different feeling around the squad heading into the event in Germany.

A mix of youth and experience will lead the attack, with Harry Kane captaining the side and having the likes of Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham supporting him.

But England now have plenty of capable replacements should they need them, with Jarrod Bowen, Anthony Gordon, Cole Palmer and Eberechi Eze all included.

And Southgate is buzzing to see them play for the pride of their nation.

Speaking after announcing his squad, he said: “I’m excited! The other night we had a lot of experienced attacking players not starting and we still had a lot of goals in the team.

“We were still able to bring people off from the bench to score goals, which in my head, in the attacking sense is really crucial.

“Lots of teams could win. It’ a very open tournament. We’re excited about our prospects, we’re experienced, but we know we have to deliver in this moment.

“We’re excited about what we have. Obviously we are going into a tournament with the unknown to what will play out.

“But we have a lot of experience in the group in tournaments but also big matches at club level. All of that adds into the mix of us being a really good team.”

The key to this England side is going to be utilising the experience they have to guide the younger players – some playing at their first major tournament – to where they need to be.

Southgate says he will be calling on his leaders to make a difference this summer and hopes he has made the right call by blending the squad together.

He added: “Leadership is an very important part of any successful team.

“We still have a lot of players with 50 or more caps, Jordan Pickford, Kyle Walker, John Stones, Declan Rice and Harry Kane.

“Kieran Tripper is very close to that figure. We have young leaders as well, so we’ve always been blessed that we have leaders in the group.”

England’s Euro 2024 campaign gets underway on June 16 against Serbia.

 



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