Athletic FC ⚽ is AthleticismDaily football (or soccer, if you prefer) newsletter. Sign up to receive it directly in your inbox.
On my way:
⭐ Guler and Georgia stars pack a punch
🤿 Mbappé and LeBron masked
📺 Alexi Lalas throws shade on TV
🎯 Man Utd target Joshua Zirkzee
Eurozone: Georgia in my thoughts
There are an awful lot of things that governing bodies, like UEFA, get wrong, particularly when it comes to their habit of interfering in competitions. But you know what they say about broken clocks.
Six years ago, UEFA launched the Nations League, a concept which, whatever its true intentions, offered more minor nations an alternative route to the European Championship. Bravo to Georgia for this initiative, which allowed this country to contribute to the most electric game of Euro 2024.
The mechanism is by no means perfect. Norway and Erling Haaland were in the same qualifying group as Georgia, performed better, but failed to make it to Germany. The Nations League gave a second chance to Georgia, who had never participated in a major tournament before.
But what’s the harm in that when it gives visibility to a team we otherwise wouldn’t have paid any attention to? A team whose pace, fluid movement and intricate passing brought Turkey closer yesterday?
True, Georgia lost 3-1, but only after shaking Turkey and hitting a post and the crossbar before conceding on the last kick of the ball. It was chaos and it was glorious, carefree.
Georgian Willy Sagnol was happy to have presented “such a beautiful picture of Georgian football” – and in a sport where nothing is secret anymore, watching them was a magical mystery ride.
More of this, please.
Giddy Guler – and another long-range beauty
Another day, another miracle that makes you feel your age.
BBC
Another day, another miracle that makes you feel your age.
Arda Guler, the Real Madrid midfielder with the “drop-out physique and altar boy look”, to quote James Horncastle, spoke of a magnificent goal for Turkey, the long-range striker who strangely costs ten cents in Germany.
He is 19 years old and the first teenager to score at a European Championship since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2004. Give him time and he will also challenge some of Ronaldo’s records at the Bernabeu.
Something about the water makes boys men in this sport. And when Guler will be the Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti texting him after full time, he’s hardly going back anytime soon.
Well Ron, VAR!
Ronaldo is not one to let a 19-year-old put him in his place and Portugal’s best player came close to scoring his 131st international goal last night.
It was late in a dull, damp encounter with the Czech Republic (the German weather seemed appalling), which Portugal beat 2-1 thanks to a stoppage-time winner. A header chance that Ronaldo would normally take in his sleep came back off the post before the rebound arrived, but it turned out he was still offside – by a tiny fraction.
I’m not here to promote video assistant refereeing (VAR), but the speed with which UEFA’s semi-automated technology eliminated this attempt, in a matter of seconds, is impressive. This bodes well for the Premier League, which will introduce a similar system next season. But when it comes to VAR and the Premier League, don’t hold back.
The man in the mask
We are awaiting confirmation of how many matches Kylian Mbappe will miss due to his broken nose. Rumors suggest we might not see him again until after the group stages.
“Crack, it’s not a broken leg,” said Athleticismof columnist Alan Shearer, who missed his vocation as one of the Incredibles. But is it easy to play with a broken nose? Just grab a mask and shout “avante”?
This has already been done in many sports. A protective mask made LeBron James look like a superhero. A less flattering design made Paul Gascoigne look like Hannibal Lecter. They can’t all be winners.
A nasal specialist we spoke to said he would recommend at least a month of inactivity for Mbappe.
Not. A chance.
Catch a match
(ET/UK times): Group B: Croatia vs Albania (9am/2pm) — Fubo, FS1/ITV1, live blog; Group A: Germany vs. Hungary (12 p.m./5 p.m.) — Fubo, FS1/BBC One, live blog; Scotland vs Switzerland (3 p.m./8 p.m.) — Fubo, Fox/BBC One, live blog
In pink: Kroos, a new jersey and boots he has worn for a decade
(Sébastien Widmann – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Toni Kroos. Warm feet, hot looks.
Basically, a marketing department’s dream – unless you’re Adidas and you’re trying to sell boots.
Because Kroos has stuck to the same line of boots – the Adidas Adipure 11Pro (yes, those above) – for over 10 years. They haven’t been on public sale since 2014 and the only factory sole size left is his.
Commercially, he completely missed the memo, but sometimes you like what you like. Anyway, who is going to dispute his results?
However, I’ll tell you what a marketing dream it is: Germany’s pink jersey for Euro 2024. It was hammered a bit when it was released (not German enough, or something), but the critics are in the mud. It became the best-selling German away jersey in history.
I saw that at Leeds United. Everyone at Leeds has been clamoring for a traditional yellow away kit, but when the club released a charcoal and pink effort for the 2019-20 season, it flew away. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and all that.
(Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Copa Corner: Lalas doesn’t care about likes
Football will not see a more iconic goatee than that of Alexi Lalas in the 1990s; the Carlos Valderrama of beards.
In the spirit of getting noticed, the former USMNT defender reinvented himself as a hip-shooting soccer pundit for Fox Sports. As the Copa America approaches, Adam Crafton went to meet him and discussed Lalas’ gift to piss off viewers.
“Life is too short, and fuck them,” Lalas told Adam. This is the level of diplomacy I like.
Another Copa man who may have to ignore public opinion is Brazilian Lucas Paqueta. He is part of the national team despite the threat of a harsh ban for multiple alleged betting offenses in the Premier League.
Athleticism tracked down another footballer, Kynan Isaac, who was banned for fixing in an English FA Cup tie in 2021. Isaac denies any wrongdoing but received 10 years in prison for a single offense – which is all the warning Paqueta needs about where this could end up. for him.
“Unicorn” Zirkzee: Man Utd are keen on the 23-year-old striker
Joshua Zirkzee was at Walt Disney World in Florida last week when a letter was sent to him asking him to join the Dutch team. He could never have been happier to see work ruin a vacation.
Injuries brought him to Germany, as did his 11 goals for Bologna in the Italian Serie A. These goals could go even further by offering him a summer transfer to Manchester United, who seem rather interested in the 23-year-old player.
There’s almost nothing they don’t need at Old Trafford, but more support for Rasmus Hojlund from the start would be a start. Zirkzee’s “unicorn skills” present him as a new breed of centre-forward: tall at 6ft 4in (193cm), but skilled and a mobile dribbler of the ball. Stay informed about this offer. Like him, we think he has legs.
Chelsea are trying to spend again. They have offered £27 million ($35 million) for Atletico Madrid striker Samu Omorodion. Don’t worry if you have to search for him. We do too.
Have a question/comment? Email us: [email protected]
(Top photo: Marvin Ibo Guengoer – GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)
