OneFootball
Alex Mott¡7 July 2024
In partnership with
Yahoo sportsOneFootball
Alex Mott¡7 July 2024
Eight have become four but letâs see who impressed and who hasnât in the EURO 2024 quarter-finals.
Portugal came into this tournament as one of the favourites, boasting a veritable feast of attacking options all whilst being backed-up by an air-tight defence.
But coach Roberto Martinezâs seeming inability to move on from Cristiano Ronaldo completely stultified the Seleçao as they limped to the last eight and were eventually knocked out on penalties by France.
It was an inauspicious end to what could have been a glorious tournament, were it not for the ego of one man and the meekness of another.
Switzerland will surely be full of regret on Sunday morning, having failed to put away an England side who were there for the taking.
Murat Yakinâs men went 1-0 up in DĂźsseldorf but didnât quite have enough in attack to go all-out for a second and then conceded an equaliser with nine minutes of normal time to go.
In extra time it was the Three Lions who looked most likely to score and when Manuel Akanji missed his penalty, the game was up for this plucky Swiss outfit.
A gallant exit for TĂźrkiye but thereâs no denying that their defeat to Netherlands will sting for years to come.
Vincenzo Montellaâs side impressed in the first half in Berlin and really could have put the game to bed early in the second half.
But a quickfire double from the Dutch ended their hopes of making it to the semi-final despite a late surge.
TĂźrkiye have only made it to one other European Championship semi-final and itâs hard to shake the feeling that they wonât have a better chance for a second in a while.
England boss Gareth Southgate made changes to his formation for their quarter-final over Switzerland, but frustratingly seemed to learn all the wrong lessons from their plodding tournament so far.
A 3-4-2-1 was opted for but it provided no pace in attack, saw wing-backs invert rather than support from wide and kept Kieran Trippier in the XI.
Still though, the Three Lions limped to penalties where, when it mattered, they looked as calm and assured as any England side ever has from the spot.
France, quite simply, just arenât clicking at this tournament.
Didier Deschampsâ side have yet to score a goal from open play that wasnât from EURO 2024âs top scorer, Own Goal.
Les Bleus have looked blunt in the final third and almost completely out of ideas, replying on the twin brilliance of Mike Maignan and William Saliba to see them through.
They face Spain next â a task that seems insurmountable at present.
Ronald Koemanâs Netherlands make up the âbest of the restâ at this tournament with the Oranje now through to their first European Championship semi-final in 20 years.
The Dutch havenât looked brilliant but in Cody Gakpo have an attacker that seems to be peaking just at the right time.
Most top players at EURO 2024 look like theyâre almost completely out of gas â the Liverpool man meanwhile has been playing like a striker refreshed, revived and ready to take on the continent.
Netherlands now face England in Dortmund on Wednesday.
It really is one of the travesties of this European Championship that Germany had to play Spain at such an early stage.
By a distance the two best sides in the tournament, Germany were incredibly unlucky to be knocked out in the dying seconds of their quarter-final.
Perhaps coach Julian Nagelsmann will rue the fact that he left it so late to put on Niclas FĂźllkrug, or that Emre Can was picked ahead of Robert Andrich.
The Mannschaft though, can leave their home tournament with heads held high.
The best team at EURO 2024 and, at this point, itâs not even close.
Luis De La Fuenteâs side have been exceptional in every game so far and now go into the semi-final with France as clear favourites.
The suspended Dani Carvajal will be a huge miss for La Roja and if nits are to be picked, captain and centre-forward Alvaro Morata has still yet to impress.
But these are small details when Spain, as a whole, look so so good.