Key events
Thank you Xaymaca, I hope you have a good lunch. I will be taking you through the next hour, while I snack on chicken stay skewers. If you have any thoughts on the skewers, lunch or the football you can email me (sarah.rendell.casual@theguardian.com) or message me on X (@rendellx).
Thank you for checking the page so far. I’m handing over to Sarah Rendell who will continue updating you on EURO 2024.
Luke Shaw also chimed in. “When he’s on the pitch he makes other players feel positive,” Shaw said. “I think we all feel very positive when he’s on the pitch, because he’s our leading goalscorer. At any time he can score a goal and make that difference. He’s a very important player, he’s our captain.”
Harry Kane has faced criticism for his performances throughout the tournament but his teammates have been quick to jump to his aid. Trent Alexander Arnold said: “Anyone who is facing England would like to see Harry Kane not playing. You just know he is a threat. Anything in and around the box, you need to be on red alert. He can finish it from every angle. I always say he is the best finisher I’ve seen or played with. He can drop down and build play up and his hold-up play is incredible too.”
Back to the England camp now. There’s some team news courtesy of PA:
England’s full squad trained on the eve of the Euro 2024 semi-final against the Netherlands. Gareth Southgate’s side are preparing for their third semi-final appearance in four major tournaments as they seek to reach the country’s first men’s final on foreign soil.
Harry Kane was among those in action having been substituted during extra-time of Saturday’s quarter-final triumph against Switzerland after clattering into the dugout area.
Ben Fisher
“It’s an incredible honour for me to be given the opportunity to lead my country and it’s the proudest moment of my career,” Bellamy said. “It was always my ultimate dream to become the Cymru head coach and I am ready for the challenge.”
Away from the Euros, Wales have appointed Craig Bellamy as their manager. Their former captain will be hoping to lead the team to the next World Cup and European Championship.
Sid Lowe
I always watch games back, whole. Especially if I think there are things that can be done better. I watch them alone. You see lots of things you didn’t see on the pitch. The feeling you have watching it is different to how it felt at the time. I often find there are things I don’t even remember having happened. I like to analyse the game, not just mine, but the rest of the team. In my mind, I see moments. My feeling is that we produced a very complete performance against a team that’s similar to us, a talented, physical team. There were moments we suffered, when solidarity was key, when we had to close off. It’s important to see those moments, understand them. Knocking out the hosts, Germany, is one of the hardest things there could be. In the end, we did it.
A less surprising starter is Manchester City’s Rodri. Learn more about the midfielder here.
A more surprising mainstay in the Spain starting XI is the Chelsea full-back Marc Cucurella. Read about how the big-haired left-back made himself indispensable to de la Fuente.
Lamine Yamal has been one of the breakout stars at this year’s tournament. He’s the youngest player ever to feature in the Championships at 16 and 338 days old on his first Euros appearance. Since then he’s been a star player for Luis de la Fuente with three assists already.
Message from Kári Tulinius:
In comparison to their risk-averse play, the French players really went all out in their politics. I can’t think of many cases like this, where footballers involve themselves in party politics and come out of it with their reputations enhanced. It’s been really life-affirming. Hopefully they’ll take some of that joy into tonight’s match, though as Jonathan Wilson has pointed out, Deschamps’ France tend to be at their best when their backs are against the walls, such as in their two classics against Argentina.
Monfort, 56, who works as a freelance photographer for the Associated Press and others, said the photoshoot took place in the visitors’ locker room at Barcelona’s Camp Nou in the autumn of 2007, when Lamine Yamal was just a few months old.
“We made the calendar with the help of Unicef,” Monfort said. “So Unicef did a raffle in the neighbourhood of Roca Fonda in Mataró where Lamine’s family lived. They signed up for the raffle to have their picture taken at the Camp Nou with a Barça player. And they won the raffle.”
On the other hand, Spain have been the most exciting team left in the tournament. The winger duo of Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal have gone viral for their skills, dance moves and now their baby photos?
France’s top goalscorer so far is Mr Own Goal. The only goalscorer on their team is Mbappé who scored his spot kick against Poland in the group stage. Maybe we’ll see a return of the forward’s World Cup final spirit in the game tonight.
Check out the full golden boot list below.
Should politics and football mix? Not according to Rabiot who said: “I have always said that sport and politics don’t always go well together. We have a semi-final to play and I think we needed to put the politics to one side. We told people to vote, because democracy would decide. There were many who voted – it was the highest turnout. We leave the analysis to those that are good at it. I am a footballer. A good thing or a bad thing? I don’t know. Let’s see what the future holds.”
France at large may also welcome the boring the games in light of the political uncertainty that comes with their recent election result. The France midfielder Adrien Rabiot said: “We didn’t watch [the elections] together. We got back from training, had dinner at 8.15pm and then everyone went to their own rooms. We were concerned about the results of the elections and we have other things on our minds as well but it is not something we mentioned. Some players have spoken on social media but we have not talked about it collectively. A lot of people felt relief after the result.
Deschamps might actually be welcoming the boring games after his side’s thrilling World Cup final defeat to Argentina in the last World Cup. I’m sure he’d take a 1-0 victory on the road to the EURO 2024 final over an entertaining 3-3 draw and defeat on penalties.
Sid Lowe
The coach joked that a Swedish journalist must be “French really, disguised as Swedish” when it was put to him that, with the quality of players at his disposal, his France team are dull. “If you’re getting bored, watch another game,” he said. “You don’t have to watch – it’s fine. It’s a special Euros. It’s very difficult for everyone, with fewer goals. It hasn’t been the same as in the past, but we share the desire to make French men and women happy through the results we have been getting, especially in a period that has been hard for our country. But if the Swedish are getting bored, it doesn’t bother me much.”
The French manager Didier Deschamps hit back at critics in a recent press conference. “If you’re getting bored, watch another game,” he said.
There are mitigating circumstances — Kylian Mbappé’s broken nose is chief among them, but more worrying is a lack of end product from Marcus Thuram and Randal Kolo Muani. Ousmane Dembélé has hardly been better, even if he did provide a bravura display off the bench in the quarter-final against Portugal on Friday. France continue to look starved of answers in attack but, at this stage of the tournament, the question should perhaps be not “what’s the problem” but rather “does it matter?”
In all fairness to France, their defending at this year’s tournament has been exemplary. Read more about France’s faltering front line here.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to this EURO 2024 live blog.
Spain play France in the opening semi-final at 8pm. Before the tournament I might have viewed a clash between the European titans as an exciting game, but has there been a truly exciting game involving France thus far? Maybe the liveliness of Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams and err … Marc Cucurella will spur on Kylian Mbappé and co. Let’s hope so.
Keep refreshing this page as we build up to that game and provide you with updates from the England and Netherlands’ camps as they prepare for their semi-final tomorrow night.
