After yet another miserable international tournament display at Euro 2016 in France, the Swedish national team decided it was time to gamble. Back home, a recently promoted side, IFK Norrköping, had just won the Allsvenskan for the first time in 26 years. Their manager, Janne Andersson, had only coached two sides before that unprecedented title…

“It was a fight, and it wasn’t easy. We gave them the two goals from mistakes. We tried to win it. It means we’re top and that’s the best position. We’re going to appreciate it and recover now as a new competition is starting.” French manager Didier Deschamps stated in his post-match interview. A game…

Heading into the final matchday of the group stages, Group F had lived up to its billing as the “group of death” with all four spots still up for grabs on the final day. It certainly wasn’t about to disappoint. An instant classic was on our hands as Hungary and Germany faced off for only…

Following Slovakia’s Group E fixture against Sweden, Newcastle United goalkeeper Martin Dubravka received mountains of criticism for his role in the Sokoli’s defeat. Penalised for fouling Robin Quaison in the penalty area, the 31-year-old was powerless to resist Emil Forsberg’s well-struck effort from 12 yards.   Thus, having been widely blamed for his side’s 1-0…

Coming into this final Group D game at Hampden Park, the stakes were high for both Scotland and  Croatia and the terms were as clear as the Glasgow skies; win and advance to the next round, draw and both get knocked out. The importance of the game was evident in the urgency displayed early on…

England and Czech Republic met at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday evening to decide top spot in Group D after both teams had already secured qualification by means of results elsewhere. The two sides met in their qualifying group for the tournament, with England winning the first meeting 5-0 before losing 2-1 in the corresponding fixture. …

As a nation drenched in footballing history, the Netherlands were left distraught and embarrassed having failed to qualify for the last two major tournaments in 2016 and 2018. Alas, it’s fair to say their current crop have endeared themselves to the Dutch faithful with three vintage group displays in Amsterdam.   Whilst their success isn’t…

For the first time in the nation’s history, Austria have secured qualification for the knockout stages of the European Championships, following a thoroughly deserved 1-0 victory over a rather disappointing Ukraine. In what started as an end-to-end affair, it was Austria who quickly asserted dominance on the game, who were rewarded with a breakthrough goal…

The final game of group B in Euro 2020 saw Finland needing just one point to guarantee safe-passage to the Round-of-16. Unfortunately, they faced a Belgium side who had won 10 out of their last 11 tournament group games since 2014. Within 25 minutes, the tone had been set.   Finland set out to defend…

It was no goal or assist which garnered the greatest cheers, but the confirmation of another game’s end, as Copenhagen’s Parken Stadium erupted upon the completion of Finland’s bout with Belgium, which unfolded over 1.5k kilometres away. In fact, it was affairs off the pitch which often took precedent for the fans, over the Danish…