International knockout football, there’s nothing like it. Stature holds no weight here, it disintegrates and fades away into oblivion.
Tactics take the backseat. Pulverising passion, oceans of emotion, gut-wrenching nerves, the hopes of an entire nation — these are the driving forces in the playoff rounds.
David, Goliath, Butch, Sundance, it doesn’t matter. It is all about these 90 minutes — a one-off tie with the highest of stakes and you have to leave it all on the pitch.
It is not the team that is most structurally sound nor the side with the highest possession that progresses. But it is the outfit that is the hungriest for the win, which will go to the ends of the Earth to give to its country the intoxicating ecstasy of progression that will prosper.
The best teams win leagues; not so much the case in Cup football. Knockout football, however, is decided by moments of magic, by players who embrace the pressure and step up, the biggest of names on the grandest of stages.
Stoppage-time bicycle kick, shock headers in the game’s opening moments, fingertip stops to win the game, controversial VAR calls to alter the course of the match, and an unprecedented hat-trick of penalty saves.
This is what elimination football promises, and it is exactly what an exhilarating round-of-16 delivered at the Euro 2024.
The prelude
There was drama in Deutschland well before the first elimination game even kicked off. There was an imbalance in the scales. One half was laden with several title-winners like an ornate necklace sporting several beautiful stones.
The other, crafted like a pendant flaunting one dazzling diamond, a centrepiece, hogging the spotlight from its supporting acts.
Germany was set to play, arguably and personally, the tournament’s strongest unit in a revamped Spain in the quarterfinal. Euro 2016 winner, Portugal was also on the same side of the draw alongside powerhouses France and Belgium.
On the other end of the draw, it seemed like a straight route to the final for underperforming England, with a Netherlands team that came third in the 2014 World Cup and defending champion Italy also present.
The draw also had its fair share of dark horses with a Slovakia side that beat Belgium, Ralf Rangnick’s transformed Austria, and spirited debutantes Georgia, off the high of a sensational 2-0 win against Portugal.
Swiss affair
The stage was set. The Olympstadion Berlin prepared to host the first pre-quarterfinal clash, and boy was it a cracker of a game!
Italy — which finished second only thanks to Mattia Zaccagni’s superb last-minute leveller against Modric’s Croatia — up against underdogs Switzerland which went unbeaten in the group stages and would have finished top of the group with three wins in three had it not been for an equaliser from Nicholas Fullkrug in the dying moments to clinch first place for the host.
Murat Yakin’s aggressive approach meant Switzerland had the upper hand right from the start. The side deservedly took the lead after Ruben Vargas’ pass from the edge of the box was cleanly volleyed into the bottom corner by Remo Freuler.
Italy skipper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s heroics in goal saved the title-holder’s blushes as he produced a stunning save to deflect Fabian Reidler’s freekick onto the post moments before the whistle blew for half-time.
Assister then turned scorer as Vargas sent a mouth-watering shot curling into the top-right corner to book Switzerland’s berth in the last eight, ending Italian hopes in what was a lacklustre performance from Luciano Spalletti’s men.
The Azzurri’s closest sight of goal came when Swiss defender Fabian Schar almost headed the ball into his own net with custodian Yann Sommer left watching as the ball hit the post and was cleared out of harm’s way.
Italy’s loss marked the third successive Euros where the reigning champion bowed out in the last 16, following Spain in 2016 and Portugal in 2020.
“If we failed, we failed. And we failed because of my team selection. And in terms of the way I conducted myself, it’s never down to the players,” said Spalletti.
While the Euro 2020 winner crashed out in its first knockout game, the runner-up barely scraped through to the quarterfinals in a tense encounter against a Slovakian team that was playing in the European knockout stages for only the second time as an independent nation.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man
The undeniable favourites going into the tournament, the Three Lions were staring at yet another unsuccessful outing as England went behind in the 25th minute.
Slovakia put Gareth Southgate’s men in a chokehold in the game’s early minutes, coming agonisingly close to bulging the net twice, and the constant attacking pressure finally bore fruit when David Strelec found himself with an abundance of space and time to play a perfectly weighted pass to Ivan Schranz who buried it in the bottom corner to score his third goal of the tournament.
The star-studded English outfit went into half-time humbled by the 45th-ranked Slovakia. The second 45 minutes were better for England, relatively at least. Phil Foden did manage to put the ball in the back of the net within five minutes of the restart, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
Southgate needed a spark to revive England’s title charge. In search, the English manager brought on attacking dynamites Cole Palmer and Eberechi Eze in the 66th and 84th minutes hoping to effect change.
While there was a more direct approach, the increased threat did not materialise.
He later brought on Ivan Toney for Foden in the fourth minute of added time, a bittersweet consolation, it seemed for the Brentford forward.
It looked like it was all over. The headlines were all typed out. ‘English tears, Slovakian jubilation’. An upset for the ages was within touching distance for Slovakia.
And there it was — a speck of gold in a barrel of dust. A deep throw-in from Kyle Walker into the box in the fifth minute of stoppage time, a Marc Guehi flick backwards with his head, hoping, searching, praying for someone to be on the receiving end.
True greats shine in the darkest of hours, and how he did! Like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Number ten on his back. “Who else?”, he mouthed as he put his arms out and celebrated in trademark fashion. Reminiscent of that David Beckham free-kick versus Greece. The Golden Boy, Jude Bellingham took to the air to execute an inch-perfect bicycle-kick and restore parity, as he rescued his country from the depths of despair.
From there it was England’s game to lose. Slovakia, still recovering from Bellingham’s devastating blow, went behind in the first minute of extra time.
A flick-on from substitute Toney following a scuffed Eze volley was enough for captain Harry Kane as he headed England home and into the last eight.
Slovakia did respond well, but it wasn’t enough as Kane & Co. held on to their lead for dear life as the full-time whistle blew. England was through. Milan Skriniar’s men left their hearts out on the field and deserve to walk with their heads held high.
Turkish delight
Everyone loves an underdog story, and the final round-of-16 fixture witnessed two of the tournament’s biggest ones battle it out as Rangnick’s riveting Austrian side square off against Vincenzo Montella’s men.
Austria impressed everyone after it beat the formidable Netherlands to top a group that also had 2018 World Cup winner France.
Turkiye qualified in second behind Portugal on goal difference after a solid group stage show, which also included a 3-1 win over Georgia.
It didn’t take long for the drama to unfold as an Arda Guler corner fell right in front of the Austrian six-yard box, a few ricochets here and there and Merih Demiral thundered the ball into goal in the 57th second — the second fastest goal in the Euros.
Austria responded almost immediately as Christoph Baumgartner came close twice in the next couple of minutes. It was shaping up to be another quintessential international knockout fixture.
This was never a match-up that promised compact defending or an impenetrable structure. Though, it did have in-store end-to-end football where chaos was the currency.
It was a beautiful anarchy.
Since going down, or from the first minute if you want, Austria tore Turkiye apart. Attack after attack, Rangnick’s men hurled everything they had at the Turks.
Against the run of play, the same duo combined once again for Turkiye’s second as Demiral headed home another goal to give his team some much-needed breathing space.
The game resumed in similar fashion, and a vital touch by substitute Michael Gregoritsch in the 66th minute from an Austrian corner halved the deficit at last.
Baris Yilmaz was in on goal in the last seconds of added time but a terrific save by goalkeeper Patrick Pentz kept Austria in the game.
The ball went up the field and was put into the Turkish box by Alexander Prass, and in, potentially, the most important save of his career, Mert Gunok produced a heart-stopping save off of Baumgartner’s header from close range to confirm Turkiye’s place in the elite eight.
Amidst the incessant Leipzig rains, Mert Gunok stopped time, and Austria, to cement his place as a cult hero.
It was excruciating for Austria but that is the beauty of international football. Rangnick’s men, much the better team, were on a flight back home after two moments of Turkish delight.
Spain too hot to handle
On the other side of the draw, Spain utterly outclassed Georgia despite going behind in the 18th minute as Robin Le Normand was unable to get out of the way of a dangerous cross.
Goals from Rodri, Nico Williams, Dani Olmo, and Fabian Ruiz were enough to crush any glimmers of hope Georgia may have had.
In a tournament where all the big names have been misfiring, Alvaro Morata’s men have been impeccable.
The tiki-taka style of play that has been the hallmark of the Spanish football for long has been replaced by free-flowing, flashy football best exemplified by young guns Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.
The quality Spain possesses combined with the sheer dominance it has shown makes for a combination that seems unstoppable.
Germany will be looking to put an end to the fiery La Roja, but chances look slim as Spain seems favourites to take the reign once again.
Could we be seeing a sequel to the Spanish era of 2008-2012?
The usual suspects — Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, and France — all progressed to the quarterfinals, with Belgium’s golden generation crashing out, maybe for the last time, in a 0-1 loss to France.
The European Championship has a long way to go before the final in Berlin on July 14th, but the way the first round of knockouts has gone, we seem to be in for a tournament for the history books.
