EURO 2024 officially out of the gate
Hi! It's Tuesday, June 18th, and EURO 2024 is in the thralls of NOSEgate, VARgate, HAIRgate, and PICKLEgate. Oh, and the 2024/25 Premier League fixtures are out, and Jose has some new trainers. Enjoy!
We can’t wait for COPA America to start for some serious soccer, and here’s an old USMNT WCQ against Guatemala in 1989 to whet your appetite, but in the meantime, we’ll keep with the EURO 2024 circus.
Make sure to check this UEFA page for the broadcast schedules of every country.
Monday was a day of high drama and great soccer, though.
Looks like Mbappe will miss the game against the Netherlands, which is handy for the TV folk as they wouldn’t know whose nose to focus on - his or Ronald Koeman’s.
While the tournament favourites didn’t look as unconvincing as England, albeit against better opposition in the form of Austria, Mbappe still didn’t manage to register his first goal at the Euros after missing a gilt-edged chance to finish the game off, breaking his nose, then getting booked.
Thankfully, the BBC has done a round-up of players who have had to wear masks in the past so we don’t have to.
But if you thought Les Bleus were unlucky with Nosegate, spare a thought for Belgium, who had a woeful time losing 1-0 against 48th ranked Slovakia. The Belgians had two Lukaku goals chalked off by VAR, the second by the new ball ‘snickometer’, referred to as a ‘bullshit decision’ by Gary Lineker - not on TV, of course.
Ukraine also had a terrible day at the office, beaten 3-0 by a very good Romanian performance, their first Euro win in 24 years. (Reuters)
In Other EURO 2024 News
The footballing world thought it had eradicated the more egregious old-school haircuts, and while there are still outbreaks of the Bundesliga müllet, especially in Australia, the combover hasn’t been seen since Sir Bobby Charlton played a charity five-a-side in 1986. That is until Landon Donovan.
He seems to have taken it in his stride, but we’d still like to make Landon feel a bit better by reminding him of the honey badger and mother of all combovers, Burnley, Tottenham, and England winger, Ralph Coates.
Speaking of England. No, you didn’t see Kieran Trippier inject himself with steroids in Sunday night’s 1-0 win against Serbia.
But he was juicing - pickle juicing.
Stat of the Day
Romelu Lukaku is the first player to have two goals disallowed by VAR in a EURO Championship finals.
Opening Weekend EPL Fixtures
Yes, they’re out; and here’s your first weekend including the mouthwatering mid-table match-up of Man Utd v Fulham on the Friday:
Aug. 16 20:00 Manchester United vs. Fulham
Aug. 17 12:30 Ipswich vs. Liverpool
Aug. 17 15:00 Arsenal vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Aug. 17 15:00 Everton vs. Brighton
Aug. 17 15:00 Newcastle vs. Southampton
Aug. 17 15:00 Nottingham Forest vs. Bournemouth
Aug. 17 17:30 West Ham vs. Aston Villa
Aug. 18 14:00 Brentford vs. Crystal Palace
Aug. 18 16:30 Chelsea vs. Manchester City
Aug. 19 20:00 Leicester City vs. Tottenham
BBC Sport have done a decent deep dive, and there’s even a digital calendar for people who like that kind of thing.
Jose Mourinho launches his own pair adidas Sambers 'made up in a tonal khaki colorway with a hairy suede upper,' that draw on 'quintessential footballing aesthetics' while he is photographed against a backdrop of 'quotidian Portuguese life'.
While the trainers/sneakers launch prior to his first game in charge of Fenerbahce on June 27th, you can get the ball now at all good dollar/pound stores. (DailyMail)
The Daily Soccer Quote of the Day
“Dallas has one of the smartest defences. We had to be creative to counter them. Pep [Guardiola] helped me in transitions and how to move guys…”
- Boston Celtics’ coach, Joe Mazzulla, on Pep giving back to the NBA
