Euro 2024: Uefa says ‘no delay’ in treating Varga, Shaw trains with England – live news | Euro 2024

“The Slaven Bilic-era checkerboard certainly,” says Charles Antaki on kits, “and certainly not that time when they jazzed it up into wonky diamonds. The simple and elegant Polish shirt is a classic, and the Belgian maroonish-red pretty good too. England’s, not too riff too much on the existing pain, is, as usual, indifferent and indistinguished. Of the unspeakable German change strip, that is wooden-spoonery of the champion sort. Also if we have time for a peeve or two, Turkish should bring back the Middlesbrough white strip across the chest, and Portugal should definitely go back to shirts in sinister oxblood.”

I can’t get too upset about any kit based on these.

“I agree with Ally Berry,” says Rick Harris. “We need 3-5-2 as Walker and Guehi are speedy centre backs and Stones has proved reliable in the middle. I would keep Saka on the right flank however and bring in Gordon as he will stretch the Slovenian defence down the left flank where we have so far lacked any threat at all. Bellingham has excelled for Madrid playing almost as a striker, so if Kane can stop doing a late career Wayne Rooney and thinking he has to be ‘Roy of the Rovers’ all over the pitch and just stay up top as a centre forward, Jude can play off him with these surging runs in behind. Foden, Rice and Mainoo for me in the midfield. Eze, Palmer, Wharton, TAA and Watkins as fresh legs around 60 to 70 minutes in. My worry is that Southgate thinks stubborn adherence to a plan that isn’t working will yield results.”

I’d bring Wharton in, I think – he’s a specialist no6 who can take the ball off the defence and pass it forward. I don’t mind Kane coming deep, but if he does, he needs runners attacking space in behind, and I’d also like to see Cole Palmer get on the pitch whether as a starter or sub. I guess the problem with 3-5-2 is that you lose wingers – Alexander-Arnold would be on the right and if fit, Shaw on the left. But I’d be surprised if Southgate changed formation at this point.

Back to Suker, though, is it just me who thinks he’s a dead ringer for Take Hart’s Mr Bennett?

This, from Euro 96 and modelled by Slaven Bilic, is also up there.

Croatia are playing tonight, so let’s recall the absolute beauty of this kit from France 98.

Love this. Don’t understand why people do it but reluctantly glad they do it.

Which was the last great international side we saw? Spain 2008-12 I guess, but it feels like a while till we’ll see another. France perhaps have the players but not the manager; the others seem to have too many holes.

Brilliant, Sky now reporting, as news, that Newcastle won’t be buying Dominic Calvert-Lewin. More as we get it!

Ahhh, this is nice.

“Scotland’s last three major tournaments have all followed a familiar and ultimately depressing pattern,” writes Simon McMahon. “Defeat in the opening game, a battling draw in the next, then hopes of qualification dashed with another defeat in the final group game. Final tally of one point on each occasion, three draws and six defeats in total, combined goal difference of minus 13. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, the third time it’s enemy action. Or incompetence. Or an over cautious approach. Or fear. Or the manager. Or players. Or bad luck. Or, oh I don’t know anymore. The only surprise is that anyone is surprised.”

Yup, I’m afraid they were poor here, and you could see last evening coming the moment Steve Clarke fist-pumped at full time of the Switzerland game. There was lots of blather but not much else, though the team are improving. If only they could find a striker.

I really like Switzerland, and their performance last night was tactically the best I’ve seen since we had two belters in a week: Atalanta’s v Leverkusen in the Europa League final and Man United’s v Man City in the FA Cup final. What they do really well is cover ground, helped by fantastic spacing – to defend that high, but get that many men back to clutter up the box requires a lot of drilling and extreme fitness. Most likely, they play Italy next, and I’d make them favourites if so.

Luke Shaw, then. Real talk, I’ve not a clue how you compile a squad of 26 players and decide to take just one specialist left-back, who is both injury-prone and injured, but here we are. England badly need him to get on to the pitch tomorrow because they’ll want to start him in the last eight, should they get there – they’ll hope to manage without until then – so him back in training is good news. His ability to carry the ball, go on the outside and keep the width is one of the many things the team is currently missing.

Also going on for you:

Also not Euros-related, but Ruud van Nistelrooy played in them, so.

The Scotland squad, meanwhile, have departed their hotel with a band playing My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. That must’ve cheered them right up!

On the plus side, Scotland may have lost the football but they might just be winning the anthems – so far. And it’s not been forgotten that the other night, just as it was time for Il Canto degli Italiani, ITV cut to break. Dizgraze.

News on last night’s unfortunate collision:

So what about tonight’s games? Croatia v Italy should be a banger, though I doubt it’s free-flowing. The holders might be OK even if they lose, but they’ll want to make sure they come second and try and restore momentum after their 1-0 slapping by Spain, while Croatia are so good at finding ways to get it done they’re hard to back against. But might this be the end of their road?

Not Euros-related but important.

More disagreement between England’s pros and ex-pros registered on Gary Lineker’s pod: “Could you imagine if we went on and said, ‘Well, actually, I thought they played really well’?” he asked. “We’d be lying, for a start. Because they didn’t play well. And Harry knows they didn’t play well.

“I understand where he says, ‘But they have responsibilities being ex-England players and they should know, they know what it’s like, it’s not like they’ve ever won anything’, or words to that effect.

“Fine. And he’s absolutely right. But I will say one thing, the last thing in the world we want to be is downbeat and critical. We want the England team to perform well on the pitch. The best punditry of all is when England play well and we’re excited and we’re enthusiastic about them.

“We don’t want to be critical but we have to be sometimes. We have to say it.”

Lineker – and Alan Shearer – also had thoughts on Kane’s tactical thoughts:

“The draw’s been made for a while now, so I’m sure they’ve been planning to play against a three. So, even those words were slightly worrying, I guess. But you always get the right of reply as players and the team. You go to the next game, you win the game, and you just carry on and move on. That’s tournament football.”

Er, Lil Mikey Dean is now on telling us it was a penalty before giving us his opinion on … how Scotland played? I’m afraid I need some exhibition gesticulation before I can consent to such overreach.

On Sky, they’re still banging on about the penalty Scotland didn’t get (no footage). I was on Germany v Switzerland last evening, so had that game on my second screen, and even out the corner of my eye I could tell it was a stonewaller. I do, though, think it’s important to note that the reffing has been excellent so far and this feels like only the second major controversy after Netherlands’ disallowed go.

Nice bit of pluralisation from Declan Rice here.

You cannot make it up*. First, Gareth Southgate decides a right-back who’s been found out – though yes, he remains a beautiful passer – can learn how to play midfield on the job in a tournament. And now the resultant lack of control is a problem, he replaces him with chaser, leaving two players of serious class – Adam Wharton and Kobbie Mainoo – left sat at the side.

*you can make it up

But

Thanks John and hi everyone. We are Football -6.59 hours.

Right, that’s me done on the news blog. Daniel Harris is next man up.

Historic defeats, managerial upheaval and turmoil at the federation have plagued the Brazilian national team for two years. This summer is a chance for a reset.

Likes to put it about does Big Toni.

This was a gruesome moment.

A statement from the Hungarian Football Federation said Varga was ‘stable’ in a Stuttgart hospital. He was understood to have been unconscious on the field and to have concussion and will undergo surgery on a cheekbone broken in several places.

Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer have hit back in their “war of words” with the England camp, using their Rest Is Football podcast to say the following:

Lineker: “I actually thought he answered it fine with one or two bits in there, but it’s not easy when you’re thrown that kind of thing.”

Shearer: “We’ve both been there as England captains when you’re sat in front of the media when England have not played well at all, or you as an individual.

“And I would have answered the question in exactly the same way as England captain as Harry did yesterday. He just said they are entitled to their opinion, I understand they also have a job to do – and we do, we have to tell it.”

Lineker: “Can you imagine if we went on and said ‘well, I thought they played really well’? We’d be lying for a start because they didn’t play well and Harry knows that they didn’t play well. And there’s one bit there – which, you know, I understand – where he said ‘they have responsibilities being ex-England players and they should know, they know what it’s like. It’s not like they’ve won anything’ or words to that effect.

“Fine – and he’s absolutely right. But I will say one thing: The last thing in the world we want to be is downbeat and critical. We want the England team to perform well on the pitch, the best punditry of all is when England play well and we’re excited and enthusiastic about them and say ‘this performance was great, that performance was great’. We don’t want to be critical. But we have to be sometimes. We have to say – but we did it balanced as well.”

Shearer: “I’ve no problem with what he said. And I wouldn’t take anything back we said. They were really poor and I think the vast majority of journalists and the country – and even the boys themselves in the squad will know – they were awful against Denmark.”

This was a painful goal to mean Scotland were the second team sent home. Still awaiting details on when that flight might be.

Looking ahead to today’s big game from which Italy require a result.

Although Spain’s 1-0 win looked marginal on paper, Bastoni admitted it had been a “shellacking”. Italy will be more imposing against a possession-hungry ­Croatia, ­he suggested, although a side schooled in Spalletti’s fluid style will not be kicking them off the park. “That’s something you did about 50 years ago,” the Internazionale defender said. “You left a marker on someone, you gave them a kick. You’ve got to take the sting out of the opponent with your approach. It’s about being bold and daring.”

Some reaction to Germany’s draw with Switzerland, as secured by Niclas Füllkrug’s late goal, per Reuters.

Manuel Neuer: “You should never write off a team, especially ours, especially with the substitutions we were able to make. The players who came on were a breath of fresh air and the result feels a bit like a victory. The Swiss did well, they were always tight and pressed us.

Joshua Kimmich: “We weren’t quite as good over the 90 minutes (as the first two games) and I think a draw was a fair result. We can be satisfied with the point.”

Maxi Beier said the halftime message from coach Julian Nagelsmann was to move the ball quicker: “Let the ball run faster to make the gaps bigger, that worked better in the second half. The Swiss are a good opponent, they didn’t make it easy for us.”

Alan Shearer has made additional remarks to those that seemed to have perturbed Harry Kane. These are from The Athletic:

“It is not a case of leaving Harry out. Instead, you get legs around him – runners off the ball. I don’t care how experienced you are, all players need a little bit of help now and again and I’m sure he and Gareth will have been analysing the performance since Thursday. Harry is brilliant at coming deep – he loves doing it – but he did it too much against Denmark. The issue is that he is coming into traffic and getting in the way of his own players when he does come into midfield areas.

“If he is going to drop deep, we know he needs runners ahead of him. How many times did we see him picking passes for Son Heung-min bursting beyond him in a Tottenham Hotspur shirt? The same has been true at Bayern Munich this season, with the best example being Alphonso Davies’ goal against Real Madrid in the Champions League semi-final.

This is why I think Anthony Gordon would be really good on the left side of the attack, with (Bukayo) Saka staying on the right. Then you have pace either side with both players who want to run in behind. It might suit Harry’s game more and create more balance in the team because Phil Foden is a fantastic player but he is so much more likely to drift inside and come towards the ball himself.”

Shaw back in training for England

WSL news.

Everton are set to sign Nigeria forward Toni Payne and Spain midfielder Inma Gabarro, both from Sevilla.

The duo are understood to be on the verge of completing their moves to the WSL club, where they were highlighted early in the year as being key targets for this summer’s transfer window. They have been with Sevilla since 2018 and 2019 respectively.

Johnny Bennett gets in touch: “As an Englishman, a Grant Hanley, Kenny McLean and Angus Gunn (i.e. Norwich City) fan with a Hungarian wife and children and as a resident of the city of Budapest, I clearly have divided loyalties.

”But isn’t it a bit rich of the Scots to complain they weren’t awarded a penalty after Armstrong threw himself across the ball into Orbán and grabbed hold of his shirt, when another collision at the other end left a Hungarian striker in hospital with a broken face?

“In my humble opinion, Scotland have only themselves to blame for starting so well and then fading badly like their southern neighbours. Hungary, at least, went for it.”

Some Copa América news:

Varga update

Lovely photo essay from Tom Jenkins here.

Let’s go off to the England camp where the squad who said last week they paid no attention to the coverage back home are, er, kicking back against the critics back home.

Should Hungary go through, they are likely to be without their forward.

Sunday’s other game saw the hosts show both their weakness and determination.

And so in a way this was a kind of hazing: a stress test under laboratory conditions, with qualification already secure but a number of flaws that required the scrutiny of a strong Swiss side to expose. How would this team – which until recently was actually very bad – deal with its first big setback, its first indifferent crowd? How would that defence hold up against a team unafraid to run at them? And what happens if you really, really need a goal in the 91st minute?

Was it a penalty? Personal view: in the Premier League that would have been but the Uefa expediency means the game is played on once the refs have waved play on, and the doubt needs to be greater.

Their hearts were broken, sorrow sorrow. Ewan Murray was our match reporter.

Scotland huffed and puffed. Hungary’s play generally broke down 25 yards from goal until stoppage time, when a basketball match broke out. Steve Clarke and the Tartan Army will be wounded by what transpired here but the harsh reality is over the course of three games they have looked short of the levels required. Scotland promised to have learned lessons from the Euros of three years ago. An identical points return, one, raises questions over that.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/audio/2024/jun/24/scotland-crash-out-of-euro-2024-football-daily Hear Ewan on Euro 2024 Daily too.

Jonathan Wilson on a night when the party ended.

“No Scotland, no party,” they sang. Let’s see about that.

Preamble