Euro games reports

[Brin]

Oops, late reporting on this one.

Almost half an hour gone and it's 0-0. Will Mitrovich bag anything today? Let's see.

[Brin]

Here we go again in our second games of the competition.

So what do the Three Lions need to advance to the last 16?
Simple. Gareth Southgate's side will book a place in the knockout stage, with a game to spare if they defeat Denmark. Also, they will be confirmed as group winners if they win and Slovenia do not beat Serbia.

If England win the group, they return to Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, 30 June to face a third-placed team from either Group D, Group E or Group F. If England finish second in the group, they face the winners of Group A - currently hosts Germany - in Dortmund on Saturday, 29 June. Nothing hard there then!

I'd like to see Southgate being more brave in this match by dropping Trent Alexander- Arnold (TAA), starting Gallagher and not being afraid to use either Toney, Palmer or Gordon and rest Foden. Same applies to Kane, if he's not doing it, sub him. It's all about progressing to the next round and you only have one chance to do so.

Thing is with Southgate and his new 'experiment' using TAA in midfield, he won't want to change it having only used it once, this may well be the weakness where we get exploited and Southgate and his stubborn ways may cost us.

We need to win this, not draw and definitely don't lose. Let's have another 3 points and keep that confidence riding high!

COME ON ENGLAND!!!!!

[crashbang]

1 nill Slovenia, they go top.

[Brin]

Yes, he took it well and the underdogs of this game have approx 25 minutes to hold on to their lead or, build on it. They've done it once can they do it again?

[Brin]

This should be a cracker of a game!

Italy manager Luciano Spalletti said his side will play as elegantly as if they were dressed in their Giorgio Armani suits during their meeting with Spain.

"We wear Giorgio Armani and Giorgio Armani is known around the whole world," Spalletti said on Wednesday when asked if the game with Spain would test his ability to give Italy a new style.
"We will wear the same suit, we will try to be the same. Of course we really want to play the game our way and to measure ourselves against one of strongest teams, we will be there, well dressed but ready to get our clothes dirty if needed."

Spain's Manger Luis de la Fuente hopes this game will also live up to its all-star billing, despite taking place in the group stage.
"They're contenders in every international competition," de la Fuente said of Italy. Spain versus Italy is a classic game, it could very easily be the final''.

"They have great players, a great coach, and a real football culture. They're one of the great national teams."
Lamine Yamal, who at 16 became the youngest player in Euros history against Croatia, is in contention to start once again.
"We all know what a great player he is," international team mate Fabian Ruiz said. "He's only 16 but he doesn't show that on the pitch. He's extremely direct, he's so good one-on-one and he's very important for us. He's going to be a great option for us to try and win this game."

Some pre match stats :

This will be the 11th encounter between Spain and Italy at a major tournament, a record between two European nations. It’s the fifth consecutive European Championship at which they’ve met, going back to 2008.
Penalty shoot-outs excluded, Italy have lost only one of their 10 matches against Spain at Euros and World Cups – that was a 4-0 defeat in the final of Euro 2012.

Spain have won all three of their previous European Championship meetings with the reigning champions of the competition, reaching the final in each edition they did so – 2-1 v Soviet Union in 1964, 1-0 v West Germany in 1984 and 2-1 v Greece in 2008.

Spain have only lost one of their 11 competitive games under Luis de la Fuente (W9 D1), and have won each of the last seven in a row. They last had a longer winning streak in competitive fixtures between October 2016 and October 2017, winning eight in succession.

Italy have only lost one of their last 12 matches across all competitions – 3-1 away to England in Euro 2024 qualifying last October.

Like I said, it should be a cracker.

[Brin]

Ref's getting a tad shirty.....chill out man

[Brin]

Wow! What a heartbreaker for Slovenia.......

A game saver for Serbia. Maybe now, their fans will stop launching objects down onto the pitch.......idiots!

Full time 1-1

If we win today, we're clean through to the next round.

[Grist_To_The_Mill]

Get forward, ignore the Southgate recycle the ball borefest

We've got some very good exciting players, let's use them to their strengths

Unchanged team

[Stansmate]

Looks like same borin back passin walkin around stuff

Cant stay like this again surely?

[gru]

Nothing to moan about England leading! Not the most exciting of games.