Kickoff chronicles

England vs Switzerland

The 3rd quarter final of the 2024 Euros saw England take on Switzerland at the Dusseldorf Arena. England had qualified for the final 8, beating Slovakia in extra time while Switzerland knocked out Italy 2-0. England dominated Switzerland in the 1st half, coming close to scoring on multiple occasions. Their best chance occurred when Kobbie Mainoo had a shot blocked from point blank range after Bukayo Saka, England’s most dangerous man, made a dancing run into the penalty area. The half finished 0-0 with everything going to plan for Switzerland so far. 

Switzerland started to come back into the game and find their feet with front man Breel Embolo involved in most of their chances. Finally, in the 75th minute, Switzerland stuck one foot into the door of the last 4 when Embolo scored his 2nd of the tournament. One of the other focal points in the Swiss attack, Dan Ndoye, was the creator of the goal. Fabian Schar played a neat reverse pass through to Ndoye who had space to run into the right side of the English penalty area. Ndoye played a perfect pass across the 6 yard box which all the England defenders could not reach. Sliding in at the back post was Embolo who made just enough contact to find the back of the net. England needed an instant response if they were to send this game into extra time. Gareth Southgate made a bundle of changes to impact the fixture, including Cole Palmer, Eberichi Eze, and Luke Shaw. Only 5 minutes later, England found a much needed equaliser. Up for the task was Bukayo Saka who was looking threatening every time he had the ball at his feet. The Arsenal winger cut in from the right wing and drilled a shot from outside the penalty area, watching it curl into the bottom left corner and tie the game at 1-1. This was the last action of normal time as yet another game progressed into an additional 30 minutes. 

England dominated the first 15 minutes of added time, the best chance coming in the 95th minute. A ball was cleared from inside the Swiss penalty area but only as far as Declan Rice. From 30 yards out, the Arsenal midfielder cracked a shot, drawing a spectacular save from Yann Sommer who made an acrobatic dive to his left. Switzerland were on top in the second 15 minutes with Xherdan Shaqiri rattling the woodwork. He tried to catch Jordan Pickford out in the 116th minute with a cheeky corner. It had Pickford panicking as it just brushed the crossbar and fired back into play. After 120 minutes, neither team could conjure up a final moment of greatness, meaning this last 8 tie would be decided on spot kicks. 

England’s first penalty taker was the young Cole Palmer who had made a habit of scoring goals for Chelsea in the Premier League. He kicked off the shootout wheel for England, slotting it into the far left. Maunel Akanji was Switzerland’s first taker. Unfortunately for the Manchester City centre back, his penalty was weak and poor as Pickford chose the right way to save the first Swiss penalty. Jude Bellingham then converted for England, placing the ball calmly into the bottom right. Newcastle defender Fabian Schar then scored for Switzerland, finding the bottom right corner too. Capping off a brilliant performance, Saka then made it 3-1 to England when he curled the ball into the bottom corner, redeeming himself for his infamous miss in the 2020 final. Shaqiri stepped up next for the Swiss, making no mistake when smashing the ball into the top left. Substitute Ivan Toney then put the ball on the spot for England. With his short run up and intimidating stare, he put England up 4-2, rolling it into the bottom right corner. Zeki Amdouni was Switzerland’s 4th taker, knowing he had to score. He dispatched it well, slotting it down the middle. Trent Alexander-Arnold then stepped up as England’s 5th taker. He drilled it into the top left corner, winning the game for the Three Lions and booking them a place in the final 4 against either Netherlands or Turkey. Switzerland will leave Germany upset, knowing they came so close to a first ever major tournament semi final, but they will take home with them some amazing memories. 

Netherlands vs Turkey

The last Quarter final fixture saw the 1988 winners Netherlands take on the 2008 semi finalists Turkey at the Olympiastadion Berlin. Ronald Koeman’s Dutch army made a dominant start, with front men Coady Gakpo and Memphis Depay missing big chances in the opening 20 minutes. Totally against the run of play, Turkey found the opener in the 35th minute via another set piece. A corner was cleared from one side of the Dutch penalty area to the other where it fell to Arda Guller. The young Real Madrid star whipped in a ball with his left foot which was perfectly headed home by centre back Samet Akaydin at the back post. The half finished 0-1 with Netherlands needing to put in a tough shift if they were to turn the tie around in the next 45 minutes. 

Turkey came close to doubling their lead 10 minutes into the second period when Arda Guller saw his free kick from 25 yards hit the frame. Turkey were the better team in the 15 minutes that were to follow but they failed to find a 2nd goal that would potentially set up a final 4 fixture with England. After soaking up all the Turkish pressure, Netherlands started moving the ball further up the pitch with confidence. They finally found their greatly desired equaliser in the 70th minute through a well planned set piece. Netherlands played a short corner where Denzel Dumfries crossed the ball right into the danger zone. Unmarked and free to head in the wonderful delivery was Stefan De Vrij, who made it 1-1. 6 minutes later, Koeman’s team completed the comeback when Mert Mulder unfortunately put the ball into the back of his own net. Dumfries was once again the architect, drilling the ball along the Turkish 6 yard area. Gakpo played a big part in the own goal, running up behind Mulder who slipped, causing the ball to bobble into the far corner. The Dutch then sat back on their lead with only a quarter of an hour left to play. Turkey came so close to drawing the game level, prevented only by a goal line block from Micky Van de Ven and some superb saves from keeper Bart Verbruggen. The full time whistle was finally blown, allowing the Dutch end to celebrate with their players as they had made their first semi final in 20 years. Turkey fell at the last 8, coming so close to beating the 1988 champions but it was not their night in Berlin.

Written by Ollie Wade