England’s Harry Kane, center, smiles during a training session in Blankenhain, Germany, Saturday, June 29, 2024 ahead of the round of 16 soccer match against Slovakia at the Euro 2024 soccer tournament. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Bhaichung Bhutia feels that England have had a relatively easier draw and can all the way to the final despite playing ‘boring’ football in the European Championships.
With EURO 2024 entering the knockout stage of the competition, the path to the final has become clear.
In the first match-up of the round of 16, Switzerland, known for causing upsets will face the defending champions Italy. The Azzurri clinched their Round of 16 spot scoring a dramatic equalizer in the stoppage time against Croatia. Next up, the host nation Germany, having scored the most goals in the group stage, will go head-to-head against EURO 2020 semi-finalists Denmark. Later, England, one of the favourites of the tournament will face Slovakia, who upset Belgium in their campaign opener.
Spain, the only team to have won all their matches in UEFA EURO 2024 will face debutants Georgia, who defeated Portugal in the final game of the group stage to secure their Round of 16 qualification. In a high-stakes encounter, Kylian Mbappe-led France will square off against Belgium, a battle of the heavyweights making it a must-watch for football fans. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal will face a stern test against a stubborn Slovenia.
Romania topped a difficult group comprising the likes of Belgium and Slovakia and will look to continue their dream run against the Netherlands. Finally, Austria under the tutelage of Ralf Rangnick also topped their group and will look to face Turkey in the Round of 16.
Former India star Bhaichung Bhutia, who is an expert for Sony Network, feels the grand final may involve England and hosts Germany.
When asked by this reporter about the two halves of the draw and if England may have had it easier in terms of opponents, the Indian football legend, during a press interaction, said: “From the same half, I think I remember England had a similar, I think either it was I think the World Cup where they had very easy knockout stages to go to the semi-finals and finals or finals with that. And I think this Euro has been the same for them.”
“I think they are one of the best teams still despite not performing and not getting the right combination. But they’ve been very lucky in terms of being in this side because if you look at the teams that are playing good quality football and are likely to go and win the Euros are Germany, Spain, which is on the other side.”
“But again, in a knockout tournament, no match is going to be easy. Every team is going to be difficult, and we saw that with smaller countries like Georgia defeating Portugal itself is one of the big examples. So it’s not going to be any easy matches. But yes, given if you, if you tell the England side and Gareth Southgate, I think he’s very happy being in this part of the pool and not being with Germany and Spain that I’m sure you would take that anytime,” he added.
Bhutia though feels the England manager has got it all wrong.
“This year in Euros, like before the tournament, they were one of the favourites and although they have reached the next round they still have been playing very boring football. I think one of the reasons has been the wrong formation, wrong set choice of players,” he said.
“The biggest I think mistake what England team is doing is, is Gareth Southgate as a manager, because he’s been there for four or five years now and still not been able to get the right formation, right choice of players. Which is I think so unfortunate because if you look at the England side, they’ve got the best players in the world in every position. They’ve got some of the best attacking players and they’ve proven that they play wonderful attacking football with their clubs whenever they’re played and they’ve been successful with their clubs in every league they played.”
“But I think Gareth Southgate has not been able to get that right formation and the right choice of players to really make them one of the best teams in the world,” he added.
Watch UEFA EURO 2024 – Round of 16 LIVE on Sony Sports Ten 1 HD & SD, Sony Sports Ten 2 SD & HD, Sony Sports Ten 3 SD & HD (Hindi), Sony Sports Ten 5 SD & HD (Malayalam & Bengali), Sony Sports Ten 4 SD & HD (Tamil & Telugu) from Saturday, 29th June 2024, 8:30 PM IST onwards.
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