Calculators and rules are put away until the next Euro, from Saturday until the end of the tournament, the rules are simple: the winner goes, the loser packs his bags.
Exciting during the first two matches of “its” Euro-2024 at home against a very weak Scottish team (5-1) and a more dangerous Hungary (2-0), Germany experienced its first free warning against Switzerland in Frankfurt, snatching a draw in added time (1-1) to maintain first place.
“It’s good to win all these group matches 3-0, it can give confidence, but in the end, it’s important for the team to have had to deal with difficult situations,” stressed coach Julian Nagelsmann in a press conference on the eve of the match.
The pressure, which was already high when playing the opening match against the Scots in Munich, takes on a new dimension for this round of 16, because the Germans remain on three consecutive major tournament failures, missing the quarter-finals each time (exits in the first round of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, and in the round of 16 of Euro-2021).
– Maintain hope –
“Only a victory will allow the German Federation’s choice of Julian Nagelsmann as coach to be considered a success,” said the Munich daily Süddeutsche Zeitung in its weekend edition.
The excitement in Germany behind Ilkay Gündogan’s teammates is back, but hopes of a new summer fairy tale, like the 2006 “Sommermärchen” (World Cup at home and a long-term adventure to the semi-finals), would turn into a nightmare in the event of an early exit.
The Germans will face a well-established Danish team, which has only conceded two goals since the start of the Euro, but which has also only scored two. “I consider Germany one of the favorites for the title, it’s just a shame for them that they face us on Saturday,” said Danish coach Kasper Hjulmand.
500 kilometres due east of Dortmund, it is the Italians who are starting the knockout phase of Euro 2024 in Berlin.
Title holders, the Nazionale are the great miracle of the group stage. With four points, the Italians snatched second place in their group at the very end of the match, in the eighth minute of added time against Croatia (1-1), rushing star Luka Modric (38) into international pre-retirement .
– “We must do better” –
Without this equalization, Italy would have fallen by the wayside in the game of the best third-placed groups, because a negative goal difference (-1) would have been fatal.
“We have to do better than what we have done so far, to progress to the quarter-finals,” admitted Italian coach Luciano Spalletti. “But now that we have qualified, we will play liberated, because it is a decisive match,” he added.
“Make yourself loved!” was the headline in the Italian sports daily TuttoSport, while Corriere dello Sport said “Make or break.”
The match against Switzerland will bring back glorious memories for the tifosi, as their team returns to the Olympic stadium in Berlin, the site of their fourth world title in 2006.
The Swiss, for their part, will want to repeat the experience of 2021, when they eliminated France, the reigning world champion, on penalties in the round of 16, after being down 3-1 ten minutes from time.
