The Quarterfinals (Feat. CARL ANKA & ALEXIS GUERREROS)
It's a rare double feature to preview the last eight at EURO 2024 and Copa América.
Welcome to Quarterfinal Weekend. Copa América’s last eight has already begun, as ARGENTINA scraped past ECUADOR on penalties Thursday night in Houston despite Lionel Messi’s doinked panenka. EURO 2024 is back on this fine Friday with two gargantuan fixtures: it’s SPAIN vs GERMANY in a meeting of the tournament’s two standout teams thus far, followed by Cristiano Ronaldo’s PORTUGAL against Kylian Mbappé’s FRANCE. What a time, what a time.
CARL ANKA beamed into TFW HQ from Lisbon this week to chat about the EUROs, having covered the group stages on the ground for The Athletic. He’s got some great stories from Germany and some great insight on the fantastic fixtures ahead:
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And here to chat about the Copa knockout rounds is ALEXIS GUERREROS of The Cooligans podcast and Morning Footy on the CBS Sports Golazo Network. You might have seen this one on your podcast platform of choice yesterday ahead of that ARGENTINA-ECUADOR match, but there’s plenty more to come in the Tournament of the Americas:
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FRIDAY
SPAIN vs GERMANY
12pm ET, 5pm BST
This is the headline quarterfinal at EURO 2024. It arrives early in the weekend and, let’s be honest, early in the tournament. This one could have been the final with how these two have distinguished themselves in this competition so far, and it’s a matchup of thrilling young attackers—Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz for Germany, Pedri and Nico Williams and Lamine Yamal for Spain—backed by steely veterans like Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan, and Rodri. What a match this will surely be.
PORTUGAL vs FRANCE
3pm ET, 8pm BST
The Portuguese will be clutching the rabbit’s foot that got them here after a dismal performance against Slovenia. The penalties gaveth, but first they tooketh away: Cristiano Ronaldo missed one in extra time, and Portugal required heroics from goalkeeper Diogo Costa—both in the shootout and in extra time, where he denied Benjamin Šeško when the forward was clean through 1-on-1—to escape the Round of 16.
They will not get so many second chances here against the formidable French. Kylian Mbappé and Co. haven’t exactly shone in this tournament, either, particularly going forward: They’ve yet to score from open play, scooting through on two own goals and a penalty kick, and Didier Deschamps has been content to grind out results as they trundle, with sheer inevitability, deeper and deeper into this tournament. Still, they have vast firepower if they can get out of their own way. As Carl suggested on the pod, though, this one does not scream “goalfest.”
VENEZUELA vs CANADA
9pm ET, 2am BST
This is an unlikely Copa quarterfinal to say the least. The Venezuelans, more typically a baseball power, trounced all comers in the group stage, taking the maximum nine points. They’ve got some dangerous attackers in Salomón Rondón and Eduard Bello, though Darwin Machís is suspended.
On the flip side, Canada are flying the flag for North America with some distinction. In addition to Alphonso Davies, Ismaël Koné looks a classy player in midfield and Jonathan David is showcasing his technical level ahead of a possible summer transfer from Lille. Jacob Shaffelburg is also one to watch when he gets out there, but Tajon Buchanan has unfortunately picked up a very serious injury.
SATURDAY
ENGLAND vs SWITZERLAND
12pm ET, 5pm BST
Oh, England, England. Gareth Southgate’s side have been poor, no doubt about it, but having stuck around this long you get the feeling the Three Lions might just find themselves in the final. The draw has been kind to them, and their record against Switzerland is more than good, but this ain’t your father’s Swiss team. They are one of the best-coached squads still remaining, and Murat Yakin has the salt-and-pepper swagger to outfox Southgate on the key tactical questions. However, on the other hand, Jude Bellingham.
NETHERLANDS vs TURKIYE
3pm ET, 8pm BST
The Dutch are easing themselves into this tournament. They clung to life through a fairly difficult group and then dispatched Romania with minimal fuss in the Round of 16. Cody Gakpo led the way there and, as Carl and I discussed on this week’s show, he has a preternatural ability to perform for his country (rather than his club) in downright Klose-esque fashion. Xavi Simons hasn’t had the tournament he might have dreamt of, but Donyell Malen has grabbed a few goals now and there’s always Wout Weghorst.
On the other side, the Turks are this tournament’s great entertainers. Their Round of 16 encounter with Austria was an instant classic, end-to-end stuff where the very concept of midfield play was subbed off around 70 minutes. 19-year-old attacking maestro Arda Güler played a peach of a game at the heart of that helter-skelter scene, and he may just be breaking out as a global star here in a way he couldn’t quite manage at Real Madrid last season—despite securing himself a Champions League medal.
COLOMBIA vs PANAMA
6pm ET, 11pm BST
One scourge of the United States Men’s National Team meets another. Colombia battered the Americans 5-1 in a telling pre-tournament friendly, while their opponents here dealt the decisive blow that sent the U.S. packing from their home tournament at the group stage. Los Canaleros will be dogged and disruptive here, no doubt, and they’ve got a few players who can hurt you. José Fajardo simply smashed one high into the net against Bolivia on Matchday 3, and #9 Eduardo Guerrero got one himself with a sweet glancing header.
But the Colombians look like a serious proposition here, dispatching Brazil in their final Group D match through some stellar old-fashioned #10 play from James Rodríguez, and they’ve got powerful runners all over the forward areas for him to hit. Luís Diaz hasn’t always found end product in this competition, but he’s looking explosive again in his movement, and they’ve got steel farther back in midfield enforcer Jefferson Lerma, who’s paired well with box-to-box operator Richard Ríos. Colombia are a threat to anyone, anywhere. After all, they haven’t lost in 26 matches.
URUGUAY vs BRAZIL
9pm ET, 2am BST
This one’s the big one for Copa América so far. Outside the Colombians in their last match and (perhaps) the Argentines later on, Brazil will not face such stern opposition as this. Darwin Núñez has been bludgeoning defenses up front for Uruguay, but they’ve also got class and steel in midfield with Real Madrid’s Fede Valverde and PSG’s Manuel Ugarte. Above all, they’ve got head coach Marcelo Bielsa, whose ferocious, lung-busting, take-no-prisoners style is a perfect match for La Celeste, and they have everything required to make this a very uncomfortable evening indeed for the men in canary yellow.
It’s been a poor start to this tournament by the high standards of the Brazilian Seleção, who’ve been far short of their swaggering best. Their problems are compounded by the loss of Ballon d’Or candidate Vinícius Júnior, who’s suspended for this one after two yellow cards, although they have more than enough on paper to make up for it. Rodrygo won the Champions League alongside him in the Madrid front line, Raphinha slapped in a direct free kick to give them a brief lead against Colombia last time out, and Savio—soon to be of Manchester City—could come in and join them in the starting XI. He’s already showcased some astonishing dribbling technique at speed, a nightmare for any fullback.
Brazil might just be lacking a center forward, and their midfield of Premier League stars hasn’t launched too many flowing attacking moves so far. The defense is star-studded, but just a bit leaky, and there are concerns that coach Dorival Júnior is unable get the maximum out of his team in the way that Bielsa can. And yet it could all change in an instant if they find football’s Holy Spirit, which surely resides in Brazil, somewhere in amongst the luggage when they arrive in Las Vegas.⚽︎