Latest news with #Euros
Daily Mirror
38 minutes ago
- Sport
- Daily Mirror
England U21 vs Germany U21 prediction, odds and betting offer
The European Championship U21 final finds old rivals England face Germany with both sides equally matched as the Young Lions look to secure back-to-back U21 titles England's U21 team stands on the brink of history, just one victory away from becoming the first side since Spain in 2013 to clinch consecutive U21 European Championship titles. This opportunity arises after a thrilling 2-1 triumph over the Netherlands, thanks to Harvey Elliott's crucial double, propelling the Young Lions into Saturday night's final. Under Lee Carsley's guidance, England's journey has been a rollercoaster. They began with a promising 3-1 win against the Czech Republic but then faced challenges, drawing 0-0 with Slovenia and losing to Germany in their final group match. However, they found their stride in the quarter-finals, defeating Spain 3-1 in a repeat of the final from two years ago in Georgia. The Young Lions aim to secure a standalone third place in the all-time list of U21 European champions. Their previous successes were in the early 1980s, and they ended a long title drought by lifting the trophy again in 2023. Germany has been dominant throughout this year's tournament, winning all five of their matches, including a victory over England in the group stage. Antonio di Salvio's squad is riding high on an unbeaten streak of 20 matches since their last defeat, which coincidentally was to England. In this summer's competition, Germany opened with a commanding 3-0 win over Slovenia, followed by a 4-2 triumph over the Czech Republic. They capped off their group stage with a 2-1 victory over the defending champions. Their path to the semi-finals included an extra-time win against Italy after conceding a late equaliser but eventually securing a spot in the last four. Germany's semi-final against France was straightforward, as they surged to a 2-0 lead within the first 15 minutes and concluded with a decisive 3-0 win. England has bested Germany in two of their last three encounters at U21 level under Carsley's leadership, although their most recent clash in this tournament ended in Germany's favour. Saturday night promises an electrifying showdown as these two powerhouses meet once more in the U21 Euros final. England enters as slight favourites due to their knockout stage experience and arguably stronger squad depth, despite having already suffered a defeat to Germany earlier in this competition. England U21 vs Germany U21 Odds England - 13/8 Draw - 27/10 Germany - 13/8 18+ | Gamble responsibly | | Odds subject to change England U21 vs Germany U21 Betting Tips Both teams to score - 1/2 Harvey Elliott to score anytime - 3/1 18+ | Gamble responsibly | | Odds subject to change England U21 vs Germany U21 Betting Offers If you are on the lookout for the latest free bet offers, then look no further. Here, not only do we bring you numerous free bet offers, but all from the very best betting sites in the industry. Each bookie we recommend is fully licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, so you know you are always betting on a safe and trustworthy site. Check out the Mirror Betting Hubs Free Bets offers here. Gamble responsibly Article continues below Reach plc is committed to promoting safer gambling. All of our content and recommended bets are advised to those aged 18 or over. Odds are subject to change too. We strongly encourage our readers to only ever bet what they can afford to lose. For more information, please call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or visit
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 hours ago
- Sport
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Belarus Qualifying for European Soccer Event Forces UEFA to Find Third Co-Host Nation
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA changed the hosting plan for its 2026 European Championship for indoor soccer on Friday because Russia's military ally Belarus has qualified for the finals tournament. Co-hosts Latvia and Lithuania 'prohibit the organization of matches involving Belarusian teams on their domestic territories,' said UEFA, which added Slovenia as a third host for the 16-team futsal event. Slovenia, the home nation of UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin, will now organize more than half of the four-yearly tournament that opens on Jan. 20 and includes Ukraine. UEFA said Belarus will be drawn to play in one of the two groups moved to Slovenia's capital Ljubljana, which also will stage two quarterfinals, both semifinals and the final. One group will be played in each of Riga, Latvia's capital, and Kaunas in Lithuania. 'Each city will also host one quarterfinal, reaffirming their central roles in the tournament,' UEFA said, giving no details of how Ukraine will be separated from Belarus in the draw. Russian teams have been banned from international competitions by UEFA and FIFA since the full military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. UEFA's move in 2023 to reintegrate Russian under-17s teams was stopped by a backlash from Ukraine and other member federations. National and club teams from Belarus have continued to play, though must host 'home' games in neutral countries with no fans in the stadium. Belarus will start qualifying for the men's 2026 World Cup in September in a group with Denmark, Scotland and Greece. Belarus is playing home games in Hungary. The previous futsal Euros played in the Netherlands saw one of the last soccer matches between teams from Russia and Ukraine, in the quarterfinals on Feb. 4, 2022. Russia won 3-2.
Scottish Sun
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Thomas Tuchel set to make last-minute 5000-mile trip to Slovakia to watch England U21 in Euro final
Julian Nagelsmann will also fly in to watch TUCH AND GO Thomas Tuchel set to make last-minute 5000-mile trip to Slovakia to watch England U21 in Euro final Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THOMAS TUCHEL is making the 5,000-mile trip to cheer on England Under-21s, hoping to spark a golden year ending in World Cup glory. The senior England boss jets in from the Club World Cup in America to watch the Young Lions in tomorrow's Euros final against his home nation Germany. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 England head coach Thomas Tuchel will fly to Slovakia to watch the U21s in the Euros final Credit: Getty Lee Carsley has backed this crop to kick off a new Golden Generation with a second straight title in Slovakia. U21s boss Carsley said: 'The travel arrangements have been made for him to get to the game, hopefully he gets here on time. He's been a great support for myself. 'He's very interested in the players, he's committed to the Under-21s. 'He was very supportive when I was picking the squad and the information about what he may need for obviously two games himself in the summer. READ MORE ON ENGLAND BECK 'N FALL Moment Beckham broke wrist for England - leading to secret op 22 years later 'We'll look forward to having him here. I've not known him long but he's a very nice guy. We look forward to welcoming him here. 'He's been there whenever I've needed him in terms of on the phone or a message. Same with the rest of the staff. We've got a good relationship.' On his Young Lions side, ex-Everton player Carsley said: 'It helps that they've got that experience of winning with England. We believe they can. I've got a lot of belief in them. 'They're an exciting team, they've grown as the tournament's gone on. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS 'Hopefully they get what they deserve.' SunSport exclusively revealed senior German boss Julian Nagelsmann is taking time out of a holiday in Majorca to attend. Thomas Tuchel discusses England future after World Cup Now Tuchel is following suit after leaving Florida. Tuchel was Stateside to watch Manchester City smash Juventus 5-2 but has now boarded a flight and is travelling back across the pond. Should his schedule go to plan, Tuchel will land in Slovakia tomorrow afternoon. He will then be in the stands alongside Nagelsmann, the man he replaced at Bayern Munich in 2023, in the VIP seats at the Narodny Futbalovy Stadion. Tuchel has been in the US to watch a number of his international stars, combining the trip with a recce ahead of next summer's World Cup there. England captain James McAtee said: 'I didn't know he was coming. If he does it'd be extra motivation for the lads to win.' Manchester City's star, 22, has no problem missing the Club World Cup. He said: 'It's a tough one to answer — but I do not regret my decision at all. 'I'm happy, I'm here and my focus is now on this, it's not on the Club World Cup. 'The highlight was definitely on the pitch against Spain in the quarters, the opening goal. But I am hoping I can add a more special highlight.'
The Irish Sun
6 hours ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
Thomas Tuchel set to make last-minute 5000-mile trip to Slovakia to watch England U21 in Euro final
THOMAS TUCHEL is making the 5,000-mile trip to cheer on England Under-21s, hoping to spark a golden year ending in World Cup glory. The senior Advertisement 1 England head coach Thomas Tuchel will fly to Slovakia to watch the U21s in the Euros final Credit: Getty U21s boss Carsley said: 'The travel arrangements have been made for him to get to the game, hopefully he gets here on time. He's been a great support for myself. 'He's very interested in the players, he's committed to the Under-21s. 'He was very supportive when I was picking the squad and the information about what he may need for obviously two games himself in the summer. Advertisement READ MORE ON ENGLAND 'We'll look forward to having him here. I've not known him long but he's a very nice guy. We look forward to welcoming him here. 'He's been there whenever I've needed him in terms of on the phone or a message. Same with the rest of the staff. We've got a good relationship.' On his Young Lions side, ex-Everton player Carsley said: 'It helps that they've got that experience of winning with England. We believe they can. I've got a lot of belief in them. 'They're an exciting team, they've grown as the tournament's gone on. Advertisement Most read in Football CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS 'Hopefully they get what they deserve.' SunSport exclusively revealed senior German boss Thomas Tuchel discusses England future after World Cup Now Advertisement Tuchel was Stateside to watch Should his schedule go to plan, Tuchel will land in Slovakia tomorrow afternoon. He will then be in the stands alongside Nagelsmann, the man he replaced at Tuchel has been in the US to watch a number of his international stars, combining the trip with a recce ahead of next summer's World Cup there. England captain Advertisement 'I'm happy, I'm here and my focus is now on this, it's not on the Club World Cup. 'The highlight was definitely on the pitch against Spain in the quarters, the opening goal. But I am hoping I can add a more special highlight.'
The Guardian
6 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Alexia Putellas: ‘The cruciate, the meniscus: you've closed that cycle. Done. I felt free'
'It wasn't my knee that hurt, it was my soul,' the Queen says, but now she is back. There is a look in Alexia Putellas's eye, a light. 'You know that feeling, that sense of security when it's like you're capable of anything?' the double Ballon d'Or winner says, leaning forward on a sofa at Spain's Las Rozas HQ. 'At that moment, I felt it. And now I've got that feeling once again. I'm happy; the desire for these Euros is huge. I can't wait to start, to go and give my everything.' And Alexia Putellas's everything is everything. These are her third Euros – she scored a 94th-minute winner against England on competitive debut in 2013, aged 19, although she does not remember if she was given the goal – an indicator of how far she has come. Not only since 2013 but since the last time too. Switzerland stands as a kind of redemption, a reclaiming of her place after an English summer, and so much more, was taken from her by a torn cruciate suffered at Bisham Abbey a day before Euro 22 began. It was, she says, an hostia, the worst of blows. 'I had felt really good, and then … I knew the moment it happened. I heard a sound like a branch breaking. 'No, not now.' You never expect it, but at that moment. It's the day before.' Putellas had arrived as the world's best player, the tournament's greatest icon, but when the selección kicked off in Milton Keynes she sat by the touchline in a baseball cap and Virginia Torrecilla's shirt, crutches at her side. Two hundred and ninety-nine days would pass until she played again. Two years passed, two more operations – a World Cup, two league titles and a Champions League, attention and affection turned elsewhere – before Putellas was Putellas again, not just physically but emotionally. 'People don't know that with injuries you train more than when you're healthy but you don't get the reward of playing,' she says. 'I'm competitive and you set yourself challenges: 'When can I start walking?' 'A month.' 'OK, in three weeks, I'll be there.' But at first there's nothing. Just pain. And I felt a lot of pain. I couldn't sleep. I didn't have any appetite. It was a vicious circle. To even move, you have to …' Putellas hauls her leg on to the sofa, a demonstration of the dead weight. 'Post-op I had a very bad time,' she says, and it is not as if what followed was much easier either. 'You go from playing at a stratospheric level to not being able to walk, not knowing how, learning aged 27, 28. 'You get to the gym, which is at least your habitat. Then the pitch, where you think you're progressing but frustration comes because your last memory playing was like that and now you can't play a pass, can't turn, can't control. There are times you wonder [if you ever will].' 'They warn you that the day you get the medical all-clear, play again, it's still not done: you need time, adaptation, competition. Don't think you'll be the same; that's just not real. You still have three, six months. You have to try to give yourself that margin, control your emotions. And right in the middle of that period is a World Cup.' Putellas returned in late April 2023, after 10 months out. But given the final minute of the Champions League final, reward after her rehabilitation, she arrived at the World Cup having made six appearances, all as a substitute, and those warnings are not always easy to hear. 'You don't go thinking: 'I'm in that three-to-six month period'; you go thinking: 'I'll give my best.' 'Two years later, I see it: my level is completely different, even if at the time you don't realise. You're not the same physically as before. There are things going on, too. I arrived feeling confident; then came [defeat to] Japan and I was the head cut.' Did she feel singled out? 'No, not singled out. I understand that if things aren't working the coach has to change someone and it was me, and that's that.' That wasn't that, however. Putellas played an hour in the semi-final and a minute in the final. Spain's historic win, secured by a squad including only three of 15 players who had pulled out demanding improvements, was overshadowed by the Spain federation's president Luis Rubiales's unsolicited kiss of Jenni Hermoso. Again, Putellas took the lead, which was not to say it was welcome, rather that responsibility demanded it. 'I wish it hadn't happened,' she says. 'You try to tell yourself: 'It's great, we've just won the World Cup,' but you see the press, people, everything, and the focus isn't there. It was a shit situation, unpleasant, a burden.' In November Putellas underwent another operation, this time on her meniscus, a common consequence of cruciate tears. She missed 21 matches through to March, the doubts increasing, people saying her moment had passed, that she wouldn't ever be the same. 'I'm not going to lie: it gets to you,' she says. 'There are those close to you going through it, suffering, thinking you won't make it. I understand because the reality is there are cases where players don't get back, and it's not personal. [But] people don't know.' In part that goes with being Putellas: the world's best player, a footballer of huge symbolic significance, subjected to an exposure unimaginable before. A leader in the fight for professionalisation. A Ballon d'Or winner too, The Queen. 'It's been hard for me to come to understand that,' she says. 'I see football collectively, everybody equal. At first, it was difficult to manage the attention. I was very introverted. And when the individual awards started arriving it was like: 'I don't understand this'. With time, I came to feel: 'Well, they've put you there, fate wanted you there: use it.' A lot of what I did wasn't for me, but to make the game grow. 'Take the Prime documentary: I didn't want to do it. I said no four times. I watch a lot of sports documentaries and one day I was looking for one about a sportswoman. I only found Carolina Marín, the badminton player. That was the click. And I said: 'Do it'.' Did you like it? Putellas smiles. 'They might kill me for this, but I haven't seen it. I mean, I saw it, but before it was finished. I know how I am. I don't have the ego to watch myself. Sign up to Moving the Goalposts No topic is too small or too big for us to cover as we deliver a twice-weekly roundup of the wonderful world of women's football after newsletter promotion 'It's not that I'm saying I'm nothing, but there have been many times I've felt like wearing No 11, being Alexia, is different and it [shouldn't be]. Starting with the management of this injury, the management of expectation, the management of the pressure and everything. But for better or worse, I'm Alexia. 'Now I handle that better. I don't focus on the [eulogies] or those who want to kill me. A friend said: 'I don't know how you do it but they either love you or hate you.' I try not to focus on either.' Well, most of the time, motivation found in those who doubted she would return. 'To tell the truth, that was also fuel, petrol. A challenge,' Putellas says. 'Like: 'You'll see.'' Oh, they see. Putellas arrives at the Euros as one of the continent's outstanding players, scorer of 22 goals last season and provider of 17 assists, directly involved in a goal (score, assist) every 44 minutes for Barcelona. Voted player of the season in Liga F, she has created more chances than anyone in Europe's top five leagues. AS summed it up: 'The best Alexia is back, or maybe even better.' When she returned to a struggling Spain side in February, six months later, she led a hammering of Portugal, a glorious roulette drawing a standing ovation from Vigo's Balaídos stadium. Defeat to Arsenal in the Champions League final hurt – it still does – but en route she had scored or assisted against every European opponent. It has been coming a year since the previous season's final, a refound consistency positioning her as a Ballon d'Or candidate again at 31. 'There's a moment I feel liberated and that's Bilbao,' she says. With five minutes remaining in the 2024 Champions League final against Lyon, she was sent on to protect a one-goal lead; instead she scored the goal that secured the title. Barcelona were European champions again and she was bowing before fans, 697 days after her cruciate tore. 'Physically you can be good, but if mentally you're not there, you're tense, you can't control yourself as you did. It's not that I came off the pitch that day thinking: 'I can do it,' so much as: 'That's it,' 'time's come.' The cruciate, the meniscus, the whole injury: you've closed that cycle. Done. I felt free. And from there, I've felt super good.' So here she is, 12 years on from her first Euros, three from what should have been her last, a legacy already left and more to leave. She gestures towards the end of the corridor, to the dressing room. Their dressing room now, their own place. Small details, she says, but ones that matter. 'I remember the first time [in 2013] perfectly. There's a goal that hit my pony tail and we won 3-2,' Putellas recalls. 'I picture myself as a girl, I hardly knew where I was. Everything has grown. I've developed as a woman too. That day, I would never have imagined how things are now, for me or women's football. 'That was a moment of transition, and I lived both eras. However much I wanted to be a footballer, if everything isn't [in place], you won't be; you couldn't plan this career. I like this sport so much I'm enjoying it being professional. It's nothing like then. It's a joy now here; I hadn't lived this, ever.' 'I think these Euros will be unique. It's the trophy we're missing, and we feel it could be now, but we're facing very good teams and we know it's a hard, hard journey,' Putellas says. 'The cruciate was one day before it started last time, which was very tough to take. And on top of that just when I had felt really good, too. It's been a long time, and people really have no idea what you go through but this year I have that feeling again. The challenge for me now is to keep going or even get better in these Euros. I just want to play football.'
