Wales dump Turkey before Italy thump Swiss at Euro 2020
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00:00It was like 2016 all over again. It was the Ramsey and Bale show after they weathered the early storm.
00:09We're back for another episode of Gulf News Kicking Back. I'm Imran and I'm delighted to
00:14again be joined by Matt, Shams here and Sahil. Right, let's quickly bring you up to date with
00:19what's been going on at the Euros. This is a serious story. A bomb was discovered close to
00:24the Stadio Olimpico ahead of the Italy and Switzerland game last night and destroyed in
00:29a controlled explosion. It's been reported that the bomb was inside a car parked near to the
00:34arena. That's a frightening story. Moving on, UEFA have suspended Austria forward Marko
00:40Anatovic for one match after he was found guilty of insulting another player in Sunday's game
00:45against North Macedonia. And finally, after Ronaldo made headlines by removing bottles of Coca-Cola
00:51at a news conference, Paul Pogba, who as we know doesn't drink due to his Muslim faith,
00:56removed a bottle of beer from his table when talking to the press after France beat Germany
01:01and now that has gone viral. Good man. Okay, to yesterday's games. Russia secured a hard-fought
01:07win against Finland. The result leaves them both on three points. They've both got a real chance
01:12to qualify for the last 16. Marancsic got the early goal with a really neat finish into the
01:17top corner. He was surrounded by four or five defenders but he managed to get his shot away.
01:21That was the only real talking point. So let's move on to the next game which was Turkey against
01:26Wales. That was evenly matched for the first 10-15 minutes and Turkey had a big chance with,
01:32I think it was Ayaan had a header, was cleared off the line and then Anders saw his volley saved
01:36and then Wales began to take over, didn't they? What do you think, Matt? How do you think they
01:39played yesterday? It was like 2016 all over again. It was a Ramsey and Bale show after they
01:47weathered the early storm. After a fairly anonymous first game, they decided to really
01:57show that they can still contribute towards this Wales team and really turned it on.
02:02Turkey are no mugs and they managed to put out a pretty glossy scoreline in the end.
02:09Yeah, it was a proper Bale-Ramsey show. It was a brilliant execution because those two guys were
02:15absolute best and if Bale wouldn't have missed that penalty, he could have ended his drought with
02:21the Welsh side which lasted for like two years but he was instrumental for that victory. He was
02:28sensational. He was pinging passes with his eyes closed. It was brilliant to see and if Ramsey was
02:36a little more clinical, Bale could have had more assist and Ramsey could have added more goals to
02:42his tally but Wales were brilliant and Turkey looked really jaded because this was not the
02:49Turkey that we have seen in the qualifiers. They had only conceded like three goals. When you look
02:54at that Turkish side with Demiral and Soyncu at the back, you were expecting a lot more defensive
03:00stability from them. It's the manager's dream to have these two in the heart of the defence
03:04but then you have Salah Nolu and Burak Yilmaz. We thought that they could be the duo to watch in
03:12the tournament but they were hardly seen in the match. Even in the last match against Wales also,
03:20they were like absolutely... I don't know what happened to Turkey. Maybe it could be the
03:27expectation. When the expectations were there on the shoulder, they couldn't just perform
03:30but whereas Wales were really scintillating and it was completely underwhelming from the Turks.
03:38To be honest, at the start of the tournament, I thought Turkey could have topped the group.
03:44Like I had predicted in the first game, Turkey would beat Italy. If they cannot beat Italy,
03:48how will they beat Wales? Wales also killed them right now 2-0. As Shamsher said, it was a Ramsey
03:54show. Aaron Ramsey could have had a hat-trick himself. Gareth Bale could have had more assist
03:59and if Gareth Bale had not missed this penalty, it could have been hailed as one of the best
04:04individual performances of the Euro so far. Like how Paul Pogba had got it. Gareth Bale,
04:09if he just scored that goal, it could have been really fantastic. I feel like Wales' unsung
04:15hero so far has been Danny Ward, the goalkeeper. He made some good saves against Switzerland.
04:20He made some decent saves against Turkey, like important saves. Turkey were not bad. They had
04:25a few chances, but obviously, they did not get any goals. We have to give credit to Danny Ward,
04:29who has not played a league game since 2017. Am I right there, Imran?
04:34You might be right. He had a terrific game. He kept them out. He made some really good saves.
04:39But just going back to Ramsey, he has now scored more goals than Mark Hughes. He has got 17.
04:44That is incredible for a midfield player.
04:46He has really come on. Obviously, he had such great expectations at a younger age,
04:56and then he had a wee bit of a time in the wilderness. But whenever it comes to a big
05:02tournament, he just always seems to click for Wales. He just seems to know what he has to do.
05:09I think, personally, it is great to see him back. Hopefully, he can go on and have a much better
05:13season on the back of this next year. We mentioned Ward making some good saves,
05:19but Yilmaz had a glorious chance in that second half. He smashed it high over the bar,
05:25and then Ramsey had another shot on the other side. It was an end-to-end kind of a game.
05:29But let us get to the penalty. It clearly was one, but as soon as Bale put the ball down,
05:34when he stepped back, the long pause between the actual taking the shot and then his run-up,
05:39the way he started up to it, I just felt he was never going to score. In the end,
05:42he blazed it high over the bar. I think the ball was still on the way to the moon.
05:46It was a really poor penalty. But overall, he had a really good game, didn't he?
05:52He did.
05:54Sorry, go ahead, Shamsher.
05:56Yeah, he did. Apart from that miss, it was a lazy penalty, like you have mentioned. But apart from
06:02that, the two assists were absolutely brilliant. Especially the second one, the lay-off to Connor
06:06Roberts. And it was not only a moment of brilliance, it was a moment of inspiration. Because
06:11that just absolutely killed the game. But he could have killed the game with that penalty
06:15score. But these are the big players, like these guys. Even if they miss a glaring opportunity,
06:22like what Ronaldo did the other day, even if they miss it, these guys never buckle down.
06:29That's what makes them world-class players. And Bale showed why he's one of the
06:33world-class players around the world right now.
06:36You know, I want to just make one point about Aaron Ramsey. You know, like you're saying that
06:41he's now equal with Mark Hughes' record of 17 goals. There's a reason. You know, here in Wales,
06:46he feels like a leader. Because let's all be honest, there are not many big stars in Wales.
06:50And Aaron Ramsey is now currently in Juventus. He's not hailed as a big star there. Right, guys?
06:56So here at Wales, you know, he's a leader with Gareth Bale. That's why he steps up and he plays
07:01well for his country. So we have to give credit to him for that, for sure.
07:06Yeah, he knows he has to carry a certain amount of weight and responsibility with this team. And
07:12maybe he's guilty of becoming a little bit anonymous, because he knows that responsibility
07:16is off his shoulders at club level. But yeah, no, I do agree that he knows he has to step up.
07:22And he also knows that a whole nation that he loves is watching him as well. So he has to deliver.
07:28And apart from Ramsey, we have to mention one more name. He was absolutely brilliant in that game.
07:34Who was Daniel James. He's a Manchester United player. He had a very underwhelming opening game.
07:40But this game, he was brilliant through that left flank. Especially when the team needed a relief.
07:46He was running with the ball. He was hithering and tithering down that touchline.
07:51It was absolutely brilliant to watch him. And we have to give him credit.
07:55Yeah, you're right, Shamsi. He showed us his blistering pace in that second half when he
07:59went on to the counter-attack. He did everything right. But then his crossing to the box was
08:04just too high for Wilson. But then like you say, Wales, they sealed it in injury time.
08:08Bale making up for his penalty error by ghosting past a couple of defenders, putting the ball in.
08:13I think it was Roberts who got the second and it was game over. But Sahil, I just want to go back
08:17to you. I remember you were saying before that these guys, Wales are your dark horse to get to,
08:22well, to progress. Do you think they can really progress and get to another semi-final, do you think?
08:29I don't think so they'll reach the semi-finals. But I just like them since like, you know,
08:33the 2016 Euros. They have a decent squad, but I don't think so they'll make it. Come on,
08:39let's be honest. There are way better teams there, out there in the Euros. But I like,
08:43I'm a huge fan of Gareth Bale since like, since I was a kid. That's why I just said it. But you
08:48know, I was very impressed with their performance yesterday after that Swiss performance. You know,
08:52I was stunned. They played brilliant football. But they are the dark horse.
08:57You might be right. So, you know, they could still do well. It showed Ramsey and Bale are
09:01coming into it a bit more. They've got James and other good players. But I think, well,
09:07me personally speaking, I was quite disappointed. I think Shamsuri mentioned it on Turkey's
09:11performance. That was another, you know, it wasn't a very, it wasn't a very attacking display.
09:17Never really saw much of Yilmaz. Under started the game, but he really couldn't get himself
09:21into it either. What do you think of it? How do you think they played yesterday?
09:25You can see, Chalonolu, we have praised a lot about Chalonolu and Yilmaz,
09:30that partnership could take a blistering thing about this tournament. But you know,
09:33what happened to them? Chalonolu has been the most creative player in Europe, having created
09:39most chances among any player, any other player in the world, in Europe. But we could have,
09:45we hardly seen him in the game. Turkish side looked like a disjointed side. They were finding
09:52it difficult, even ping passes. I don't know. It could be the pressure, nothing else. Because
09:58everyone was, see, for every other guy, they were the dark horses and they couldn't take it.
10:04But the hopes are not died yet. But the five goals they have conceded, that could be a huge
10:11blow for them, even if they win against Switzerland in the last game.
10:17Yeah, they look as though they've got a bit of trouble ahead and they may actually get out of
10:22a group that they really would have had high hopes of finishing at least second.
10:29Now that they've got to deliver, probably fairly, get at least a few goals in this last game,
10:35and it's not going to be an easy task.
10:38They're on a minus five goal difference now. So we know that the third best team can still
10:44qualify, even if they were to win their last game. It looks unlikely. I think they've been
10:50quite a disappointing tournament so far. Anyway, let's move on to Italy against Switzerland. This
10:57one finished 3-0 again to the Italians. Before the game, they were belling out the national anthem.
11:03It was brilliant to see. They're clearly taking this tournament very seriously. Mancini's side,
11:08they were really impressive in their opener and they were really good again last night. In fact,
11:12the more you see them, the more you feel convinced that they're going to go all the way.
11:17They could win the entire thing. What do you guys think?
11:21Yeah, I think that everybody's been raving about how Mancini has brought together this
11:27team without a superstar. I think he's got 11 superstars. As I said yesterday,
11:32this is a team that knows how to gel. A team can't work if you've got guys not working as
11:37part of a team. They all seem to know where everybody else is on that pitch at all times.
11:44There's just such a mutual awareness. They're like a colony of ants. They just seem to know
11:51everything. They just ooze confidence. They've got such trust in each other.
11:56From the goalkeeper through to the back four, they're like one
12:00solid unit. The midfield and the strikers just move as one as well. They're a joy to watch.
12:08The Azzuris, man. They were at the box in the very first minute of the game against Switzerland.
12:13They were pinging passes with a lot of swagger and a bit of arrogance and fluidity,
12:18flair, everything that could associate with football. They were that confident.
12:23And arguably, when you look at that, if you keep the French midfield aside, the Locatellis,
12:29Jorginhos and Barelas midfield is the best in the current competition. They were absolutely
12:35balanced. And when you look forward, you have a talismanic figure in Insigne who is with his
12:42improvisation and uncertainty. It's a joy to watch. I couldn't take the eyes off this Italian
12:49side. They were playing some brilliant possession football. Roberto Mancini,
12:55Matty might be knowing, being a Manchester City fan, that the 4-3-3 that he deploys
13:00is an absolute joy to watch.
13:03Surely. I remember Shamshir talking about Locatelli in the start. Because I have not
13:09seen much of Serie A football now, I can understand what Shamshir was saying. He's
13:12a fantastic player. Maybe, yes, not only because he scored two goals. Overall performance,
13:17we have to look at that for a midfielder. He was outstanding. And this Italian team,
13:23oh my God, each individual was brilliant. But will they worry about Chiellini coming off?
13:28I don't know. Achebe had come on for them and he played brilliantly again. So,
13:33is it a worry though? Maybe, maybe.
13:36Yeah, good point. It looked like it might have been a thigh strain. If it's a hamstring,
13:41that could rule him out. Not too sure what he actually had. But let's just talk about
13:46that first goal. We may have seen the pass of the tournament. You mentioned Locatelli there.
13:50He started the move with an incredible volley out wide to Barad. It was such a great pass.
13:56And then the cross came into the box and he was on hand to finish off the move. But
14:00just how good was that pass?
14:03When you talk about the passing of Locatelli, oh my goodness. You have to see the stats about
14:09Locatelli who has been racking up passes in the Serie A for the last season. Because I've
14:15been noticing this guy for Sassuolo. All the big, big teams are looking to sign this guy.
14:20Because he can pick up a pass. Because he has that eye of a pass in him. But you wouldn't
14:28see that this guy… When you play for Sassuolo, you wouldn't think this guy can score a lot of
14:32goals. But he can pick up passes. That we have seen. That pass to Berardi was outrageous, man.
14:38It was unbelievable. And then from Berardi, he made that dancing around on the right-hand
14:45side and then put the ball back into the box. And look who was there. After making like 50,
14:5060-yard stride. It was Locatelli who had a tap-in. That was incredible. What a brilliant
14:55box-to-box midfield play from the boy. And this Italian side, man. It's an absolute joy to watch.
15:04I can't say enough of these guys. We can keep on talking about these guys forever.
15:13Locatelli's pass was so good. That's why he continued his run. He was like,
15:17I'm getting on the end of that. I'm going to make him a goal-of-the-season contender
15:22right here. He's definitely going to be on to bigger and better things soon.
15:28Yeah, it was such a great ball out wide. And like you say,
15:32he continued his run into the box. Some players would have just hit that pass and just sat back
15:35and just admired it. But he had the sense to venture forward, get into the box. And
15:40he was at the end of that cross there. Let's speak about their defence now, because we know
15:44we've been impressed by their attack. They've got six goals already. But Donnarumma, the goalkeeper,
15:49he didn't have a save to make in the first half. Italy was so dominant. But when he was called
15:53into action, he made a very good save in the second half. He ensured that they got their
15:58tenth consecutive clean sheet now. I mean, look, they score goals,
16:01they create a lot of chances, and they don't concede any. They've got to go all the way, surely.
16:08All the way is a tricky one in this competition. As we said before it started, it's one of the
16:13most wide open that we've had in a long, long time. There's so many contenders. Maybe Germany
16:18have been found out a little bit by France. But Belgium, we could be saying the same about them
16:24tomorrow if they go and score another three or four goals. France, they've got at least another
16:30four gears like them. And England, they've got all this hope advantage, and they've already got that
16:35first crucial win in the bag. It's way too early to say all the way, but they're definitely going
16:41to be in the running. They're not going to win it. There you go. Scotland?
16:54I've never heard of them.
16:58This Azuri side is both relentless in attack and defense. That makes them
17:05completely different from any other side apart from France. And like what Imran mentioned,
17:12they haven't conceded a goal in 10 games, and it's like 10 shutouts with scoring 31 goals.
17:19That's incredible. And like we have mentioned earlier, they could be breaking a record which
17:26is inside, which has been set like a hundred years ago, which is the 30 games unbeaten run.
17:31So all these things are there inside, and these guys are relentless, man. Absolute joy to watch.
17:38You know, I'm sure we wouldn't mind an England versus Italy final, right, guys?
17:42Ooh, that would be a tasty aim.
17:46They can definitely make it. Come on.
17:49But one thing we have to make, like what Sahil mentioned, Cellini's miss is going to be a
17:54massive one for them. Because not as a player alone, as a leader, I think he's going to be
18:00a major miss. Hopefully he's not out for long ago, because he can take rest for the next game,
18:05and if his hammy is good enough, he can come over and play for the knockout stages.
18:11He's one of the veterans of that team now, and I know that Mancini won't be relying on these guys
18:20all the time, because things like this can happen. So I know they'll have a plan B and a plan C of
18:25who's going to slot right into that position. Yeah, for sure. I mean, he was having another
18:30really rock-solid game. He actually scored a goal that was disallowed for offside.
18:35Do you think that was a handball? I mean, he jumped up in the air, looked like Shaka pushed
18:39his hand onto the ball. Anyway, it was ruled out.
18:43It was a handball, because it led up to the goal. It's a rule in VAR. If it touches your
18:49hand and it ends up in a goal, it's not counted. It's been there for a while now. Very bad rule.
18:54But I absolutely despise that rule, man. It was completely unintentional.
18:59Completely unintentional. What he could do with that.
19:03Nothing. But that's a rule.
19:05He jumped up to hit the ball and I think gets a shove in the back from Shaka. So his arm goes up
19:09and the ball hits him on the arm. And anyway, he came off injured. But then Locatelli got his second
19:15of the night, 20-yard strike. It was a fabulous hit. And then Immobile got a long-range strike
19:21as well for the third. That put the icing on the cake for Italy. It was a really good goal and he
19:26deserved it for his performance, didn't he? Immobile?
19:31Yeah. He's one of these unsung heroes sometimes in domestic football. He's there while other
19:42people take all the plaudits. But his goal per game ratio is still excellent. And again, he's
19:48quite happy to be the non-Cristiano Ronaldo. Get on with his job, do his things, stay out of the
19:55limelight and just get the job done. And that's exactly what he did again. He would say,
20:02yeah, maybe man of the match, but I'm just looking forward to the next game.
20:06Not wanting an open-top bus. He's a nice, grounded player, I think, is what I'm trying to say.
20:12Workman-like, I think, isn't he? He's quite a workman-like player.
20:16Yeah, he is. See, the other thing that favoured for Italy was that the game was played in Rome.
20:24The home crowd was absolutely incredible once again. And like you've mentioned, Immobile,
20:31these guys, for these guys, you know, Immobile and Locatellis and all these guys, it's a big
20:36stage for them to perform and they're just delivering for their juries.
20:43All right, let's wrap things up. We've got three more games for today. Predictions,
20:47as always, this is quite exciting to do. Denmark against Belgium,
20:50I'm going to go with Belgium. What do you guys think?
20:53It's not exactly the toughest one to call.
20:57Come on, Denmark. Come on.
20:59Sahil's going for Denmark. Okay.
21:01Oh, that's incredible. I think even I want to see a good performance from Denmark,
21:08especially they have decided to take a minute of applause after 10 minutes,
21:13showing in respect to the guy, Eriksen, which is a good sign. But I think Belgium will have
21:20too much, too much. De Bruyne might not play, but he might come on in the second half,
21:27but Axel Witsel is going to be playing and that's going to be a good boost for these guys. And I
21:31think Belgium will be too strong for Denmark. I think if Finland can beat them 1-0, Belgium
21:40are going to have, Belgium are going to wait for the 10 minute applause and have their bit of
21:45respect for Eriksen. Then they'll go, right, lads, let's have some fun. 3-0, 4-0.
21:50But Denmark, with that loss against Finland, everything is tough for them now. I had them
21:56as my dark horses apart from the Italy side. And if that result was in their favour, they could
22:02have progressed in the tournament, but that loss against Finland could prove to be very vital for
22:06them. Yeah, unfortunately, their tournament's in a bit of a mess, unfortunately. We know the reason
22:11why. But yeah, I think Belgium is going to be a bit too strong for them. What about Ukraine
22:17and North Macedonia? I'm going to go with Ukraine.
22:23Can't say I know a lot about these teams. Yeah, I think going on the fighting spirit that
22:30North Macedonia scored, I don't think that Ukraine will have it all their own way. But
22:34the fact that the way that they fought back against the Dutch, sorry, not the Dutch, sorry,
22:40the Netherlands, Belgium, in the opening match, they were 2-0 down, back to 2-2. And
22:48I think that, yeah, they've got the shooting boots on. And I think that Ukraine will be too
22:52strong for them once again, and North Macedonia will be glorious in defeat once again.
23:02For Ukraine, I think both these teams, they might be feeling hardened by the last games because
23:09Ukraine lost a game, pretty last minute of the game. And North Macedonia, they lost that game
23:14in the last 10 minutes of the game. So these two sides would like to show a reaction. But I think
23:21Ukraine with the likes of Malinowski and Yarmolenko and Zinchenko and Yaramchuk, these guys
23:27will be too strong for the North Macedonians. I think Shevchenko's flair, brave side is going to
23:34absolutely go for a hiding against North Macedonia. I think it'll be 3-0 or 4-0 for Ukraine.
23:43I definitely have to go for Ukraine. Like, no reason why. I'm just being honest here. I got
23:48to go for Ukraine. I think, yeah, I think we're all agreed there. What about Netherlands against
23:54Austria? That could be an interesting game. I'm going to say, I still think Netherlands,
23:59I think they'll be wary, though. I mean, we know about their defence. They were 2-0 up against
24:05Ukraine in the last game, and they managed to pull it back to 2-2 before Dumfries
24:09got the winner. So they can score, but they can concede as well. So I'm going to go with a 2-1
24:14Netherlands. Yes, sorry about that. I was getting my Belgians and my Netherlands mixed up there.
24:20I just couldn't recall which one it was. But yeah, no, I think the Netherlands look to be
24:26in their stride as well, and they've shown that they've got that fighting spirit. Again,
24:32they may be missing a couple of guys, but they should be comfortable winners and then be looking
24:38forward to the last 16. A game involving Netherlands is going to produce a lot of
24:43goals because last six games where Netherlands have been involved, there have been 27 goals,
24:47but they have conceded eight. And I don't think Frank de Boer is going to change his system or
24:53style of play. So there will be goals in this game, and it could be a score draw or a Netherlands
24:59win. I got to go for the Dutch. I like them since a long time, and I'll be supporting them. So
25:07definitely, they should get the better of Austria. And even Marco Arnaut, which is ruled out,
25:13so a king, it will be a big loss. But yeah, the Dutch have to win. Look at that midfield.
25:18So come on. And they have one positive news about Mathia's delete is going to come back,
25:26which is a big news for the Dutch side. He could provide that solidity in the defence.
25:31Huge addition. Yeah, that's what they need.
25:34Yes. Okay, we'll see how all those games go today. That's all from us for today. Be sure
25:40to log into gulfnews.com for all the latest news. I will catch you tomorrow. See you then.