Our coverage of the pre-Euro 2024 friendlies continues here, with a round-up of Friday’s international action.
Premium Members of Fantasy Football Scout may not know this but they can get official Opta data on the majority of the pre-tournament friendlies.
In the Match Centre, click on ‘International Friendlies’ in the drop-down menu to view the latest matches.
It’s all part of the offering that subscribers to our site get, so sign up today to gain access to the all-important stats you need for this summer’s Euro Fantasy game.
Fantasy Football Scout’s exclusive Premium Membership offer is still available – but get it while you can, as it will soon expire!
Our special pre-season package is a 40% discount to our full-price Premium Membership, so for only £3.25 per month (billed annually), you get access to our unique Premium Members Area and the official Premier League data in it.
Plus, there will be all the usual benefits like team reveals, strategy tips and more.
This offer will soon cease, so sign up while you can!
SIGN UP TODAY
ENGLAND 0-1 ICELAND
In their final friendly before Euro 2024, England slumped to a disappointing 1-0 home loss against Iceland.
Harry Kane (€11.0m) should have done much better with his effort inside the box after a lovely Cole Palmer (€7.5m) cross, but the Three Lions looked rusty throughout, registering just one shot on target.
Phil Foden (€9.0m), deployed in his favoured number 10 role, was particularly quiet.
He will surely start against Serbia on Sunday, but it is more likely to be in a wider role, with Jude Bellingham (€10.0m) set to step up his Euro 2024 preparations this week, having been given additional time off.
As for Bukayo Saka (€8.5m), he made a substitute appearance after missing much of England’s recent training, with Palmer deputising well on the right up until that point.
Defensively, however, it was a bit of a shambles.
Iceland were able to cut through England’s midfield far too easily, with little protection offered to centre-back pairing John Stones (€5.0m) and Marc Guehi. The latter is the favourite to partner Stones in Matchday 1 and costs just €4.5m in the official game.
Stones was replaced at half-time after getting a knock to his ankle, although Gareth Southgate told BBC Radio 5 Live that the reason to replace him was “mainly precautionary”.
“He took a bit of a knock to the ankle really early in the game, but at half-time there was no point taking any chance. We’re too close to the start of the tournament, there’s no point risking it.” – Gareth Southgate on John Stones
Meanwhile, the introduction of Trent Alexander-Arnold (€5.5m) for Kyle Walker (€5.5m) in the second half meant England were immediately more threatening.
The Liverpool man racked up three key passes in just 26 minutes.
“We learned a lot. We know the performance wasn’t good enough. Equally, so many of the players needed the game. A lot of players… we’re managing their minutes. They’ve had a break since the end of the Premier League and we’re trying to refresh them, but they’re out of the rhythm of playing. And so, it was obviously a disjointed and disappointing performance and we didn’t show enough character.
“But, actually, I think it’s a really good focus for us ahead of the tournament. People are saying we’re going to go there and walk through with no problems. The reality of international football isn’t that. We’ve got to be far better without the ball than we were today, and we’ve got to show more composure with the ball.
“We didn’t get our pressing right. We were too stretched without the ball and there were questions asked that we weren’t able to answer. No matter how much talent you have with the ball, if your out-of-possession game isn’t right, it can make it feel like you don’t have a foothold in the game. But we’ll be ready. Tonight hasn’t gone as well as we hoped, but we have to stay very calm.” – Gareth Southgate
England XI (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; Walker (Alexander-Arnold 64), Stones (Konsa 64), Guehi, Trippier (Gomez 64); Mainoo, Rice; Palmer (Eze 77), Foden, Gordon (Saka 65); Kane (Toney 64)
GERMANY 2-1 GREECE
- Goals: Kai Havertz, Pascal Gross
- Assists: Leroy Sane
Germany emerged victorious in their 2-1 friendly win over Greece.
The visitors took the lead shortly before half-time, but Die Mannschaft hit back, with second-half strikes from Kai Havertz (€7.5m) and substitute Pascal Gross (€7.0m).
Julian Nagelsmann made two changes to his starting XI from last week’s draw against Ukraine.
Antonio Rudiger (€5.5m) swapped in for Waldemar Anton (€4.0m) at the back, while Toni Kroos (€6.5m) took the place of Gross in the engine room.
However, it was the second-half substitutes which proved to be the difference, with Leroy Sane (€7.0m) in particular impressing. He assisted the first German goal after finding Havertz in the box and continues to push for a Euro 2024 starting berth.
David Raum (€4.5m) also replaced Maximilian Mittelstadt (€4.0m) for the second period.
“The second half was a lot better than the first. We were losing the ball too easily for long periods of the first half, playing too ponderously and too much through the middle. I made that clear at the break. We just needed a bit more bite all over the pitch in order to win the match. We brought the two wingers more into the game in the second period, which opened up more space in the middle.” – Julian Nagelsmann
Although Germany won the game, Manuel Neuer (€6.0m) and Ilkay Gundogan (€7.0m) both came in for criticism in the media after the match.
It was the former’s error which contributed to Greece’s goal, in a display which saw Germany concede four big chances.
Germany XI (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Kimmich (Henrichs 68), Rudiger (Schlotterbeck 68), Tah, Mittelstadt (Raum 46); Andrich (Fullkrug 69), Kroos; Musiala, Gundogan (Gross 68), Wirtz (Sane 46); Havertz
SCOTLAND 2-2 FINLAND
- Goals: Arttu Hoskonen own goal, Lawrence Shankland
- Assists: Andrew Robertson x2
Scotland rounded off their Euro 2024 preparations with a 2-2 draw against Finland.
The Scots allowed a two-goal lead to slip at Hampden Park, but still, there were positives to take. Steve Clarke’s troops played well in the first half, for example, with Andrew Robertson (€5.5m) especially influential.
Playing as a wing-back, he was lively down the left flank and provided a couple of trademark deliveries that led to both the hosts’ goals.
Robertson was withdrawn from training on Monday but assistant coach John Carver explained “It’s just a precaution really”, easing any fears.
“It’s just a precaution really. The ball just caught his ankle and he will train tomorrow. He’ll be fine. At this stage we are being extra cautious. He’s okay and looking forward to tomorrow.” – John Carver on Andrew Robertson
Elsewhere, Lawrence Shankland (€5.5m) popped up with a goal, nodding in Robertson’s delivery. He took four shots overall and will now compete with Che Adams (€5.5m) for a starting spot at Euro 2024.
Scotland’s only win in their last nine matches was against Gibraltar but Clarke is clearly excited about the prospect of facing Germany in Friday’s opener.
“It’s a really difficult one because the players are human and they’re all thinking about what’s going to happen next week. The changes come, because I’m trying to manage the minutes, and it becomes a little bit disjointed towards the end, just because you make so many changes.
“The game drifted a bit and we lost two pretty poor goals. It’s a decent exercise and some of the play was good. I’ve been excited since we qualified, I just never show it. It’s going to be great.” – Steven Clarke
Scotland XI (3-4-2-1): Gunn (Gordon 69); Hendry, Hanley (McKenna 79), Tierney; Ralston, Gilmour (Jack 69), McGregor, Robertson (Taylor 63); Christie (Morgan 79), McGinn, Shankland (Conway 63)
ROUND-UP
Poland recorded a 3-1 win over Ukraine on Friday, with both sides choosing to field experimental line-ups.
Sebastian Walukiewicz (€4.5m), Piotr Zielinski (€6.5m) and Taras Romanczuk were on the scoresheet for the hosts, but it wasn’t all good news: Arkadiusz Milik (€7.0m) went off early in the match with an injury and will now miss Euro 2024.
As for Ukraine, Artem Dovbyk (€7.5m) got the goal, pulling one back for Ukraine just before the end of the first half.
Elsewhere, the Czech Republic cruised past Malta, thumping them 7-1.
Vladimir Coufal (€5.0m) registered a couple of assists, while Mojmir Chytil (€6.0m) found the net in each half. Czech coach Ivan Hasek chose to rest a number of key figures, including Tomas Soucek (€6.0m) and Patrik Schick (€7.0m), so given the changes, will be pleased with the outcome.
However, Michal Sadilek (€5.0m), who captained the Czech Republic here, has since been ruled out of Euro 2024, having suffered a “laceration in his leg” following a bike fall.
Finally, Nedim Bajrami (€6.0m) grabbed a goal and assist during Albania’s 3-1 win over Azerbaijan, where Armando Broja (€6.0m) started over Mirland Daku (€5.5m) up front. As for Romania, they largely dominated against Liechtenstein but failed to score and drew 0-0.
1 month, 16 days agoWell this Turkey lineup didn’t help