Crucial match for Scotland and Croatia this evening
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NewsTranscript
00:00let's start with belgium against finland now roberto martinez made eight changes to the team
00:05but they won two nil
00:11hello and welcome to golf news kicking back i'm imran and that's matt and that's shamsir
00:16and we're here to talk about football as always let's bring you a little bit of news first matt
00:20this will interest you man city are ready to include brazil striker gabriel jesus and england
00:26forward raheem sterling in any bid for tottenham and england striker harry kane who is valued at
00:32115 million pounds would you like to see that happen mate yeah i've been saying for a long
00:39time that we need a big striker we've been lacking it ever since jaco disappeared so uh
00:44we uh we've always had aguero and then guys like that banging in the goals from everywhere but
00:49we've always been lacking that big striker and um if you can if you can keep injury free i think
00:54it'd be a brilliant addition yeah they won't they won't be they want they want they want to
00:59make the premier league as bundesliga that'll be an interesting one it's been a lot but how
01:08about this barcelona they want to pair cristiano ronaldo with lionel messi next season will they
01:14be able to persuade juventus to sell portugal forward we'll see but what a front two that
01:19would be amazing imagine that well they'd have scared you of backing them up as well
01:24oh yeah of course yeah i i can't see that happening at all mate it's all
01:31it's all rumors because that is not going to happen at all because why would cristiano ronaldo
01:36ruin his legacy with real Madrid he has got a legendary status we all want to see messi and
01:41ronaldo together it's going to be a great treat to watch but it's not going to happen no way
01:46you're right you're right there's a similar story happening with my team there everton
01:50we're obviously after a new manager being linked with rafa benitez quite heavily obviously
01:55liverpool's one of local's most successful managers i i couldn't see him there at all
01:59i just hope that doesn't happen but uh yeah well there's ronaldo missing i think we just
02:03want to see them play together up front but yeah i don't think it'll happen anyway there
02:07was four matches played last night and i'm sure there was a lot of channel surfing going on to
02:12try and catch all the best bids i know i kept trying and every time i switched over i kept
02:16missing all the goals but anyway starting with that's today's show tags yeah let's start with
02:24belgium against finland now roberto martinez made eight changes uh to the team but they won two nil
02:31but there was an unfortunate own goal uh from the finland keeper vermaelen's header hit the post
02:36hit the keeper and it went over the line and they needed a bit of luck to break the deadlock didn't
02:41they yeah i think it was to be expected because obviously the the belgian bench doesn't have the
02:47same sort of strength as some of the um other guys do as we saw italy have um the other day
02:53the the key to me is uh the determination they seem to have this season uh this season this
02:59competition uh they are uh they seem to have a will to win um and i think that that's what's
03:07getting them the results they know how to grind out results they're not relying on
03:10a pretty smooth flowing football they're just um they know how to get a head start and get the
03:15result and that's exactly what they did fortune played into their hands as you said with that
03:20goal but uh they uh they knew it was going to come and they know that and that they just want
03:26to get on to the business end of the tournament now yeah fin finland came into that game knowing
03:32that they they'll need just a point to qualify so they were trying to shut the shop and park the
03:37bus and absorb all the pressure but uh you know with this belgium scored having uh the likes of
03:43kevin de bruyne you cannot keep them at bay for for a longer time you know so it was an
03:48inevitable which has happened because kevin de bruyne was instrumental uh in both the goals
03:53they have scored uh one was with a one was with a corner kick and the other one was a delightful
03:59pass to lukaku so so i feel bad for finland now they have to wait for the other results in the
04:06other groups but i don't think they will progress with the with the goal difference that they have
04:12negative goal difference but belgium yeah like roberto martinez will be very happy with making
04:16all those changes still ground out that result which uh like having 100 percent uh win record
04:22in the group stages it's good for them it's good uh it's a morale boosting thing because i thought
04:27lukaku will be rested but he wasn't so that shows that uh he wanted all his big guys to play
04:32together like lukaku zed and hazard and kevin de bruyne all play together and they will be in sync
04:37to the to the next round uh which is good for belgium i look forward watching them yeah that's
04:42a good point about lukaku starting i thought uh like italy did that they would uh well they did
04:48the rest of the eight players but lukaku still got to start obviously martinez wants to keep some
04:52sort of rhythm going in the team uh but like matt said they're not really playing the best they
04:56grind at those results but they're uh they're advancing this is the first time in the history
05:01that they've won all three group games at a european championship so that's quite good from
05:05them you mentioned finland nation that's true at the moment they're waiting to see if they're
05:10going to progress at the moment i think switzerland and ukraine are ahead of them they've got a better
05:15goal difference will they progress we'll have to wait and see but what belgium's win means is that
05:20england czech republic sweden and france are all guaranteed to progress because they've all
05:26they've all got four points already so that's a relief a relief for all four of them isn't it
05:33yeah they are we talked about this at the start of the tournament that um three may be enough
05:39to get you through but four would be the magic number in order of uh getting into the last 16
05:43though because there's so you know like there's so many um avenues of being that third place team
05:49in different scenarios that you know some some groups you might see it's enough to finish second
05:54um and have less points than some of the teams that are finishing third um but if you want if
06:00you want to get at least third place and get into the last 16 you'll need four points and i think
06:05that the guys that are sitting on three will end up missing out by the time you get to the end of
06:09the end of group f yeah i don't know i don't like this new format to be honest you know it takes the
06:15charm out of the tournament it you know the the chaos and dramas in the last group stages it's not
06:22there you know like now now what we have seen with those two results like uh like all teams
06:28with four points have qualified automatically uh even portugal if if if they can even lose 1-0
06:35against uh the french team they can still qualify uh it's it it looks really absurd to me but yeah
06:42that's that's the rule so we have to go with it you're right this new rule it's uh taking all the
06:49drama right it's like a bar in a funny way you know you're waiting for a decision to happen
06:53uh an incident's already happened like the games have all been played but there's still chances
06:57for some of these teams to advance it's kind of slowed the whole thing down and you're right it's
07:01taken the um taking some of the the excitement away uh but that's what it is that's what it
07:07is so we'll have to just wait and see for the rest of the games let's move on to the denmark
07:11against russia game because we've got four games to cover so we can't dwell too much on them this
07:15one finished 4-1 to denmark and they're going to meet wales in the last 16 and i think everyone's
07:20going to be pleased that they've progressed especially after that christian ericson incident
07:26yeah i mean obviously i got it right on the hands when i said russia would win that yesterday
07:30um they uh um they yeah they've narrowly lost 4-1 and the yeah they uh yeah i think you like to see
07:40every neutral and everybody that's got even half a heart knows that they've got um a soft spot for
07:44denmark now um uh and the they definitely earned it they definitely um looked as though they uh
07:51that they're not they're not just playing for passion they're not just playing with the hearts
07:54and the sleeves you've got out and out talent there i mean obviously erickson is a big miss for them
07:58but uh the yeah they did more than earned a spot there and i think that um
08:04yeah we'll also be up against the american yeah you mentioned the dams guard yesterday
08:11and he came up with a superb goal didn't he he did he did it was a wonderful goal from the
08:16from the kid you know and uh it was a packed stadium the atmosphere was electric in copenhagen
08:23you know but the game didn't start uh particularly well for for denmark it was very slow they
08:28registered the first shot on target with a with a long ranger from hoiberg in the 30th minute or so
08:34but then then that little magician that little fella just produced a magic and it was a brilliant
08:39goal to score and uh ever since that russia didn't look comfortable at all and in the second half
08:45they came blazing and uh there was drama in the second half you know when uh there was obviously
08:51the gift from the russian defender uh to paulson to score their second goal denmark's second goal
08:56but then after that you could see the stadium was in absolute elation when they heard the news that
09:00uh belgium had scored their goal against finland but then only to know that it was uh it was denied
09:07by the var and simultaneously denmark considered a penalty so there was a bit of drama and uh
09:14then russia scored from there but then denmark was in a beast mode they wanted to win at any
09:22cost it was that kind of an attack and they were shooting from all ranges and then one particular
09:27goal came from a chelsea boy andreas christiansen what a screamer what an absolute screamer that was
09:34you know he hit it so true so hard you know it just blew off his foot like a rocket you know it
09:40was absolutely brilliant what a strike so yeah denmark like what we have all mentioned you know
09:46they they were playing for more than a but they shouldn't have been in this situation because
09:50if they were allowed to play on the next day after the christian erection incident i thought
09:54they would have won the game against finland but anyway they finished second in the group and now
09:59they'll be playing uh wales right that's gonna be yeah they have every chance to progress in
10:04the tournament now which is great we're seeing some great goals all of a sudden yesterday we saw
10:09shakiri score a lovely long ranger they've been spread the day before and turkey getting a finally
10:15scoring their first and last night a couple of goals from denmark looks like uh you know players
10:20are just going for it now obviously with all to play for hopefully we'll see some more great goals
10:25again tonight okay but let's move on uh to austria who reached the knockout stages for the first time
10:31after being ukraine 1-0 yesterday uh bangart has finished was enough to earn them a wembley meeting
10:37with italy now how do you think they're going to get on with them that's going to be a tough one
10:42they've been very businesslike so far in austria they've done they've gone about their job um
10:47let's say they've not been hitting the headlines like some of the other teams have um
10:51through surprises let's say like the czech republic and things like that but uh they are
10:57but they're all right but i think that their tournament's going to be over very soon because
11:00italy are just going to yeah they're going to do what italy do they're just they're just going to
11:05come out and stomp them and the game will be over inside 40 minutes you know um at least that's the
11:10way it should be but uh as we know when you get into the knockout stages uh one slip up one referee
11:16decision and they can all change um but they yeah but uh in theory italy should just be able to just
11:23breeze past these guys uh they've they've done well to get out of the knockouts but i don't think
11:27they'll be going any further yeah i was i was really disappointed with ukraine yesterday because
11:33uh their big game players like uh the yaromchuk's malinowskis and zinchenko's everyone was misplacing
11:40passes man it was it was horrible yeah especially in the first half they couldn't pick like few
11:46passes together that was absolutely horrible to watch but in the second half they got it
11:52austria could have finished the game in the first half itself but then the second half
11:55ukraine played a little better but it was a nervy ending but for austria you know that particular
12:00man david alaba he was absolutely brilliant you know the the crosses that he was into the box and
12:06everything was absolute joy to watch and he created i think nine chances in that game which
12:11is incredible for a player and uh yeah austria for the chances against italy on paper i don't think
12:17they stand any chance but you know the game is so unpredictable you never know what's going to
12:21happen but uh we all have to go with the italy win against austria but whatever austria has
12:26achieved so far which is great for them for a nation they can be all proud of that achievement
12:31you know but uh i would really be disappointed if italy do go out i mean we want to try and keep
12:37the most attacking exciting teams in the tournament for as long as we can
12:41like we've said austria were very business-like they haven't really excited but i mean yesterday
12:45they had uh in the first half i think 13 attempts that goal so they're really in for it and if they
12:50can play like that i mean uh not sure how they'll how they'll feel how they'll approach the italy
12:54game because italy will make all those changes again there is those eight players um in their
12:59last match or they'll be back they'll be facing them at full strength uh it's going to be uh it's
13:04going to be a very interesting exciting game but i'm rooting for italy i hope that they go through
13:09yeah for the good of the tournament exactly yeah exactly all right and last but not least
13:16there was uh two goals from winaldum and one from depay to help netherlands beat north macedonia
13:22three nil uh depay's now got nine goals in his last 10 games for netherlands he's on real form
13:28isn't he yeah he's looking like uh he's looking like the player that um the we hoped would have
13:34let uh would have let up the premier league but he he didn't quite show up when he was there
13:40and the the one thing for me that was uh you know like the the plucky underdog story again uh
13:47north macedonia could have been two nil up uh they uh they had a goal then ruled off for a toenail
13:53um by var and then they hit the inside of the post shortly after and it was like
13:59you know it's that great um devil may care let's come but let's give us let's give it all we've got
14:06and uh again that talent just um got got uh got the netherlands over the line at the end because uh
14:14there's no way that north macedonia could sustain that over 90 minutes and
14:18um in in the end the netherlands uh they rode that early storm and then the uh their talents
14:24shone through yeah for for dutch you know they're very exciting going forward but they are very
14:30suspect in defense you know if north macedonia and ukraine can break that defense with so much ease
14:36i'm worried for them uh going forward in the tournament you know against the bigger teams
14:40they'll struggle a lot especially defensively but they're an absolute joy to watch going forward
14:45you know the the link-up play with depay malin and and wijnaldum is absolutely brilliant
14:51especially wijnaldum he he with his lung bursting runs from the midfield and a lampardesque kind of
14:57finishes you know all these things are very very interesting to watch and now he has uh surpassed
15:04van basten in the number of goals scored for netherlands which is incredible for a player
15:08who plays in the deep midfield role yeah yeah which is great so he's such a versatile guy who
15:14has got an engine and who has got a very intelligent uh footballing brain you know he can
15:18play in multiple roles he can play a deep midfielder he can play as a in a box-to-box midfielder he can
15:24come into the box at the right time and he can score goals he what a what a poach by uh poach
15:30in fact you know for for psg it's a brilliant poach so he's gonna have a great player if he
15:36if he can play uh wijnaldum in this forward role he's gonna score tons of goals for psg in in the
15:43french league you're absolutely right i mean for liverpool uh we've seen him play in a more
15:48reserved defensive role he never really ventures forward we know he's got a lovely touch uh he's
15:52a good football player but uh for netherlands he gets to play this advanced role and he really
15:57does shine doesn't he man yeah i think that you just you absolutely nailed it there um the uh
16:03liverpool uh might have missed a trick in where they were playing him because um there was uh
16:07times last season when they were not firing up front and they had lots of costly lots of costly
16:12draws and silly losses in the few few occasions and uh had they decided uh you know what for me
16:18no he's not doing it let's get wijnaldum up there and then it could have been an entirely different
16:21story um he's uh yeah he he's going to be an absolute he's going to an absolute um themed
16:29for psg next season he's just gonna have fun i mean if you look at some of those weaker french
16:34teams he's just gonna he's gonna have fun uh him and him up front just like would be a pretty
16:40awesome yeah it will be all right so that means the dutch are going to face the third place
16:45finisher from group d e or f there's some good teams in those groups so that uh first game for
16:52the dutch in that round of 16 could be could be england could be scotland could be france germany
16:57portugal could be anybody it could be uh it'll be a good game it should be a very good game but
17:01there's a nice moment in yesterday's game when the macedonian captain uh goran panda was given
17:06a guard of honor by his teammates when he was substituted to bring the curtain down on his
17:12international career he's 37 years old he'll probably move into management we'll probably
17:16see managing the team in the next tournament if they get through yeah it's a great thing for the
17:23for the man right you know like a 37 year old talismanic figure who came out of retirement to
17:28play this uh that's right playoff final then he scored the most important goal for them in the
17:33playoff final then after that he scored their only goal in the euro championship well he deserves
17:39a guard of honor and he did that it was brilliant brilliant watch football makes all these emotions
17:44you know it's all football makes these things you know very very interesting you know we feel good
17:50moments yeah definitely he's been a bit of a legend in um in cdi he's like uh he spent most
17:59of his career there except for when he was a young lad uh and uh you know he's been playing
18:03for like these uh teams like spezia and genoa and things he's never he's never been a juventus
18:09man or anything like that but uh everybody knows everybody in italy knows who he is and they've all
18:13got uh you know he's he's they've all got a memory of him whether it's a crunching tackle or a great
18:20goal it doesn't matter but uh yeah he's a he's one of these uh cult heroes you know that people
18:26you know will remember in years to come and go remember that guy and it'll be like a pop quiz
18:30question say what country did he play for and everybody will go i don't know but you know
18:40it's good that you got a goal as well in the tournament it was a it was an open goal that's
18:43happened but uh he'll remember this one quite fondly i'm sure all right we've got two group
18:48d games today england against czech republic uh as we probably have heard ben chilwell and mason
18:54are gonna miss the game because they're self-isolating because they came in close
18:59contact with scotland's billy gilmore who has tested obviously positive as we know for covid19
19:05but even if they were both available and judging by the way we've been playing i don't think we
19:09would have won i think uh i think this game had a draw written all over it all over it from the
19:14start and i still see it being a kg1 one draw what do you think well yeah i mean both teams are
19:21through um i don't see anybody risking their um uh key players i think chilwell probably would
19:28have started in place of luke shaw um but uh and mason mount probably would have been rested
19:36uh given that they would want to give some of their other guys a run out maybe a rashford or
19:40something and um the yeah i i do think this is going to light up the tournament this game i
19:47think that both guys know that they're they're through and uh who they face is out of their hands
19:53because they don't know what's going to happen in the other group whether it's portugal france or
19:57germany or even hungary um and uh they so they're not going to be any necessary advantage of finishing
20:05first so it's screaming nail mill another nail but i i think this is a chance for south k to to try
20:16and test something else you know something different from what we what they have tried in
20:20the last two games you know he can bring in someone like greelish from the beginning or
20:25someone like sancho and an absolute stellar season in bundesliga i i have no clue why he hasn't got
20:31in any minute under his belt so far because he's a terrific player he should be given chance because
20:37he offers something different from what phil ford and mason morn gives because he offers base and
20:43flair and a bit of everything so if gareth southgate things you know logically he should
20:49be giving chances to these guys and see how they're going to perform and for for czech republic yeah
20:55they can they can just decide if they drew if they draw the game i think czech is going to be
21:00finishing the top of the group right yeah yeah so it's it's all in england's hands now like whether
21:06they want to finish top of the group or runners up so i don't know what matt says though like matt
21:13says we just don't know now with all the other games all the other groups still to play if you
21:16finish first or second you know you're obviously trying to plot your path and make it as easy as
21:22possible you might just face one of the tougher teams by finishing second or third so that's
21:28good and also also when it comes to performances you know like you if you if you play for a draw
21:32it's fine it's not an issue but you cannot just switch on like that and play attacking football
21:37in the next game or you know you need to have that continuity that's the reason i think even
21:41netherlands you know played their strongest eleven like only made like two changes because he frank
21:46devore wanted that continuity to flow in like even for belgium you know they played the big players
21:50so you need to have these guys to click in together if you're going further in the tournament you
21:55don't want just to switch off and switch on it's not going to happen in football yet as we have
21:59seen in club competitions many times that's right i mean the players need time but uh i mean to be
22:04honest if uh if we gave uh harry kane a rest i wouldn't be surprised he really hasn't looked
22:09good at all uh there's plenty of plenty of guys on the bench that could step up and uh dominic
22:14albino i think could uh could do well if he was given a chance so uh we'll see how that goes but
22:20anyway we're guaranteed a place in that last 16 because of yesterday's results but scotland
22:25have to beat croatia in the other game today and as we've mentioned gilmore's tested positive so
22:29he's out uh and this will be a tricky one for scotland because croatia can sit back
22:34and they can hit scotland on the break a draw is good enough for them
22:38but uh i hope scotland win i'm going for a one nil win for scotland
22:43well that means we have to score
22:47in order to win we have to actually find the back of the net um the yeah the gilmore's obviously a
22:52massive miss uh he was pulling all the strings in the midfields in the uh the first half against
22:58the checks and then also uh we had a great game against england um so yeah it got it just got a
23:04bit more difficult but um going on the way that the group has panned out we thought that the checks
23:10might have been the easiest game but this might actually be an easier game because the croats
23:16have been fairly disappointing um they they will i think the croats will have to go for it as well
23:25though because they know that they've got they've still got they've still got a lot to play for and
23:29a lot to prove um and they're playing at hamden scotland will have their fans there so hopefully
23:35that can make up for the um missing uh a gilmore but also it means that um i'm not quite sure who
23:44clark will bring in um because there's about four or five guys of the same level in that midfield
23:49um so it's a bit of a lottery so you'll come in but it gives them a chance to prove
23:54themselves in front of that one crowd at hamden and if anybody's going to get them up for that
23:59game it'll be steve clark because you don't want to make him angry he's a scary looking guy
24:04very scary in those interviews after the game isn't he
24:08yes yes for uh for the tartan army you know billy gilmore is going to be a major miss for them
24:20i think he had a terrific game in the last game against england and it'll be a heartbreak moment
24:25for the kid to miss such an important decider game for scotland see it's like a knockout game
24:31it's a decider because draw is not good enough for both the teams they have to go for it if you
24:36win you guarantee the position in the round of 16 so it's going to be a have a it's going to be
24:41how like a decider kind of a game but uh you know for scotland i think that like i mentioned the
24:49miss of billy gilmore will actually uh you know make mcgean and mcgregor in the midfield and maybe
24:55stewart armstrong a little further forward i think that's going to be the tactic from clark but they
25:01will do a a lot of uh confidence with one goal in the tournament they haven't scored one goal
25:06yet in the tournament if they can score one goal that will be enough for the to win this game
25:11against croatia i think because croatians are not really great going forward but we don't know how
25:17which croatia is going to turn up but when you look when you look at their form it's not great
25:22for them also because they have only like won two games in the last 11 appearances which is uh
25:28which is absolutely not good enough for a team like croatia and uh their form in the tournament
25:33we have seen they are not playing like a like a team they're very very slow in their attack
25:38and uh if scotland can bring the same performance that they made against england i think they can
25:43win but i think billy gilmore is going to be a major miss so i'm going for a croatia win now
25:48oh scotland out hey yeah because i i wanted scotland to go through with with a billy
25:55gilmore performance but now he's out he's going to be a major miss for them because
26:01yeah oh yeah gilmore was going to be a big miss but uh i think i think we're going to see mcginn
26:05get into this game a lot more because uh he was man marked out the last one against the
26:09czech republic i think sucek was on him well over in this one they'll be paired up against
26:14modric who's obviously going to be trying to advance forward himself so i think there might
26:17be a little bit more space in that midfield but as matt says they really haven't got any decent
26:22strikers up front to put these chances away good thing is they are creating chances um
26:28but i don't know there'll be this will be a really interesting game actually it's going to be uh
26:32it's going to be i don't think there'll be too many goals although we can't be sure but uh i just
26:36hope they go through they'll just make the tournament more interesting all right that's
26:40enough for today thanks to my guests and remember to log into golf news.com for the latest news and
26:44we'll catch up again tomorrow cheers guys