The first round of Euro 2020 fixtures for the three Home Nations competing in the tournament have just been completed, and all three had different results- Wales drew against Switzerland, England beat Croatia while Scotland went down to the Czech Republic at Hampden.
Wales secured a point against the Swiss thanks to a fine header from Kieffer Moore that cancelled out Breel Embolo’s effort. The Swiss dominated the game and had more chances, but their grip on the fixture loosened after Xherdan Shaqiri was subbed off, and the Dragons took advantage to come away with an excellent point at the end.
England were the only of the trio to win their first-round fixture. It was a tremendous result for manager Gareth Southgate, who went in with a fairly experimental lineup against the 2018 World Cup runners up- a team that had also beaten England in the semifinals of that very tournament.
Despite having two specialist left backs in Ben Chilwell (a Champions League winning LB) and Luke Shaw (EL runner up) in his squad, Southgate asked Kieran Trippier, primarily a right back by trade, to play on the left side of defence. The Trippier decision was perhaps influenced by the fact that his opposite number on the day was Atleti team mate Sime Versjalko.
With Harry Maguire injured, Tyrone Mings was given the task of partnering John Stones in the heart of defence as Southgate opted for four at the back, instead of potentially going 3 ATB and playing two wingbacks as was rumoured in the press a few days before the game.
There were more surprises in the form of starting XI spots for both Kalvin Phillips and Raheem Sterling, with Jack Grealish only on the bench and Jadon Sancho not even making the match day squad.
Fortunately for Southgate, it went perfectly to plan as England beat a lacklustre Croatian outfit 1-0. The only goal of the game was scored by Sterling, with Phillips playing a vital role in the move.
With this result, England have beaten their toughest opponents in the group and going by how both Scotland & the Czech Republic played in their opener, the Three Lions seem well placed to top it according to the current Casumo betting odds for Group D. A win for England in their next game will also all but see Scotland knocked out of the tournament.
Speaking of Scotland, they were very disappointing at Hampden Park. With a passionate home crowd backing them, many expected Steve Clarke’s men to get the better of the Czechs, who are a shadow of the strong team they were in the early part of this century, when the likes of Jan Koller, Milan Baros, Vladimir Smicer and Tomas Rosicky played for them.
Clarke’s decision to start Lyndon Dykes upfront ahead of Che Adams seemed baffling and Scotland struggled to create any real opportunities of note in the first half, with the exception of captain Andy Robertson’s fierce effort that was tipped over by opposition goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik.
The Czechs seemed content to soak up the early pressure and then struck just six minutes before half time. Scotland were caught napping by the overlapping run of full back Vladimir Coufal, and the West Ham defender’s cross was met by an excellent header from Patrick Schick, who beat two Scottish defenders to nod into the far corner.
The header was all-class, but Schick scored an even better goal seven minutes after the interval. The Czechs had the ball on the counter and Schick, spotting David Marshall off his line, hit an instinctive, outrageous first time shot from near half way that beat the despairing keeper and found its way into the back of the net.
Schick’s wonder goal seemed to deflate the Scots and despite Clarke emptying the bench and sending on the likes of Adams and Kevin Nisbet, the home side were unable to find a goal and slumped to a 2-0 loss.
Scotland will always be expected to be up for a clash against England, and will need to be at the top of their game, or risk elimination. The Czechs, on the other hand, will be brimming with confidence against Croatia, who need to pull up their socks after a flat showing at Wembley where they rarely troubled Jordan Pickford in the opposition goal.
