Euro 2024 social round-up: What might have been for Wimbledon, UEFA turns 70

By Sports Desk June 15, 2024

Day two of Euro 2024 picked up the excitement where it left off, with a historic round of games on Saturday.

Switzerland joined Germany level on points at the top of Group A with an impressive 3-1 win over Hungary before Spain cruised to a 3-0 victory over Croatia in their Group B opener with three first-half goals.

Italy's European Championships title defence got off to a perfect start as they bounced back from conceding the earliest goal in the tournament's history (23 seconds) by beating Albania 2-1.

While the football continued to entertain, there was also plenty of action on social media. Here's a pick of some of the best posts.

What might have been for Wimbledon

AFC Wimbledon's official X account drew plenty of attention as the admin latched onto the hype over Jamal Musiala, following the Germany international's magical display against Scotland.

Musiala grew up in England, and represented AFC Wimbledon, via the Corpus Christi Primary School, in the EFL Utilita Kids Cup.

It's clear from the highlights of that match, in which Musiala scored a hat-trick and left defenders mesmerised - a bit like he did on Friday - that he was a special talent.

Embolo back on the scene

Breel Embolo endured an injury-hit campaign for Monaco, but he is back to fitness in time to feature for Switzerland, for whom he remains a crucial player.

And after coming on as a second-half substitute, Embolo sealed the three points as the Swiss beat Hungary 3-1 in the first game of the day. 

As the official Euro 2042 X account pointed out, Embolo has now netted in successive Euros tournaments for his nation.

Birthday boy

Pascal Gross is a newcomer to Germany's squad, and came on for his major tournament debut during Friday's 5-1 thrashing of Scotland.

The Brighton midfielder then celebrated his 33rd birthday on Saturday, with Germany's official X account sharing the celebrations.

That big win over Scotland, and his Euros bow, was surely a great way to welcome in his 34th year.

UEFA turns 70

Gross was not the only one celebrating a birthday on Saturday.

Indeed, UEFA marked the 70th anniversary of its founding, which came on June 15, 1954.

"It's a story of devotion, dedication and dreams..." shared the governing bodies' official X account.

Barcelona show pride of record-breaking youngster

Spain got off to the perfect start in the so-called 'group of death' with a rampant 3-0 win over Croatia on Saturday.

But, when the team sheets came out before the game, all the headlines quickly turned to Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest-ever player to appear at the Euros at 16 years and 338 days.

After an impressive performance by the youngster, Barcelona were quick to remind fans where he came from with a post on X: "He's very good... and he's ours."

Van Dijk, Simons and De Ligt put to the test

The Netherlands are yet to open their campaign in Euro 2024, but put aside their preparation to take some time to answer questions from young fans.

Xavi Simons was quizzed on which defender scares him the most - fellow Dutchman Virgil van Dijk - while the captain and Matthijs de Ligt rated their chances of winning the tournament.

Final preparations

England open their campaign when they take on Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on Sunday, and on Saturday, Gareth Southgate's team ran through their MD-1 training session.

All 26 players were involved in the session, with England allowing their fans to watch on live via a post on X.

Only part of the session was broadcast, however, so any Serbia spies could not garner too much information about Southgate's tactics ahead of the Group C clash.

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  • O'Neil heaps praise on Cunha after Wolves' first Premier League win O'Neil heaps praise on Cunha after Wolves' first Premier League win

    Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Gary O'Neil was full of praise for Matheus Cunha after his side earned their first Premier League win of the season with a 2-0 defeat of Southampton. 

    The Brazilian attacker's delightful pass had allowed Pablo Sarabia to open the scoring at Molineux with only one minute and 48 seconds on the clock. 

    It was Wolves' fastest-ever Premier League goal, eclipsing Matt Jarvis’ strike against Blackpool in February 2011 (1:56).

    But Cunha did not stop there as he wrote his name on the scoresheet with a stunning strike from distance to put Wolves two to the good six minutes into the second half. 

    "Cunha is huge for us. He has such ability but he is one of those players who drifts and takes up positions," O'Neil told BBC Sport after the game. 

    "We work very hard on him - on how it is to be a trusted team player when we don't have the ball. He's worked very hard on it after I spoke harshly to him after Brentford away.

    "It's a big win for us and Cunha had a big say in it."

  • Bournemouth deserved to topple Brentford in thriller, claims Iraola Bournemouth deserved to topple Brentford in thriller, claims Iraola

    Andoni Iraola was insistent that Bournemouth "didn't deserve to lose" as a 3-2 defeat at Brentford saw them travel back to the south coast with nothing to show for a decent performance.

    Bournemouth had taken the lead twice, first through Evanilson and then Justin Kluivert, but could not hold on either time.

    Yoane Wissa's brace and a goal from Mikkel Damsgaard handed Brentford the three points, as the Bees bounced back from their late capitulation to Fulham on Monday.

    Iraola's team had the better of the chances, creating 2.6 expected goals (xG) to Brentford's 1.5, and the Spaniard felt the result was not a reflection of Bournemouth's display.

    "I don't think we deserved to lose today. I think we were better for most of the game. Probably, they've been more efficient than us in the key moments, and they've made the difference," Iraola told BBC Radio Solent.

    "We had very, very clear chances to score. We played really well again. The problem is when you lose, people always say, 'No, but you lost.' Against Everton [a 3-2 win in August], we played much worse, but we won, and it looks much different.

    "Overall, we've been the better team, especially in the first half. I was very happy with the performance in the first half.

    "We hit the crossbar at the end, and I think there was a clear penalty to Evanilson to score and make it 3-3, but we couldn’t do it."

    Bournemouth's Brazilian striker Evanilson netted his third goal in as many games, making him the first Bournemouth player to score in three successive league games since Dominic Solanke in December last year.

    Evanilson had shouts for a penalty denied on the hour mark after it appeared Ethan Pinnock had caught his leg, and Iraola was not satisfied with the explanation he received from the officials.

    "They tell us he kicks himself, but he kicks himself because he was kicked. To me, it is very clear and obvious, but to them, they don't think so," he explained.

    Thomas Frank concurred with Iraola's assessment of the visitor's strong first-half performance but praised his side's fightback.

    "The bounce-back mentality was unbelievably good. Maybe even more impressive than if we had won 3-0 because we actually played badly in the first 20 minutes. Bournemouth were better than us," he told Sky Sports.

    "We gave them clearly the first goal and then one or two other chances. But after that goal we stepped up and we found some of that great bounce-back mentality."

    While Brentford are scoring plenty, they have shipped 12 goals in their last five games, though Frank is keen to focus on the positives.

    "The positive is that we are a very dangerous team going forward," he said.

    "We must be up there [as a team that's scored the most goals]. That is incredible. We are Brentford. I think that is insanely good. I think people don't understand how good it is.

    "But of course, I am also very ambitious and I would love us to win 3-0 today."

  • Lopetegui used to working under pressure amid West Ham scrutiny Lopetegui used to working under pressure amid West Ham scrutiny

    West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui said he always works under pressure as the Hammers' inconsistent form continued with a goalless draw against Everton.

    Reports earlier this week suggested Lopetegui was hanging on by a thread at West Ham, with the Hammers having made a poor start to their Premier League campaign.

    A flat performance for large parts on Saturday failed to offer the response West Ham fans will have wanted to see from their side following last week's loss to Nottingham Forest.

    The Hammers did, though, create the biggest chances during an improved second-half display, with Crysencio Summerville hitting the post and Jordan Pickford making a brilliant save to deny Danny Ings late on.

    West Ham faced some boos from their supporters at half-time, while there was a spattering of jeers at full-time at London Stadium, but Lopetegui claimed the pressure is not telling.

    "It's normal that the fans were not happy. We’re not happy with 12 points," he said.

    "At the same time, other teams who look fantastic, only have three or four more points than us. We can do better, we're not happy, but we can take positives. We want more, we are not happy, we will work 24/7 to achieve this.

    "Sometimes it's about the intensity, and to have the personality to do things. I think we have to improve in this. The players need to say 'Here I am and we are going to do this'.

    "I always work under pressure, this is not new. I'm very happy with the players, with the club. We are not happy with our position but we are sure we are going to be able to finish higher in May – a lot of things can change.

    "We are doing good things, but not enough of them to be consistent."

    Everton got back on track after suffering a 1-0 defeat at Southampton last week. The Toffees could have scored through Abdoulaye Doucoure, while Jesper Lindstrom saw a header kept out by Lukasz Fabianski.

    Sean Dyche said: "It's a good point, a good clean sheet. A solid performance.

    "We obviously couldn't find that bit of edge in the attacking third and the bit of devil that is sometimes the difference, but a solid feel to the performance.

    "We didn't really give much up, away from home in the Premier League, that’s difficult. In the end, we come away wondering if that’s one we could have won, but equally, Jordan makes a fantastic save."

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