Why England must be wary of dark horses Switzerland
Switzerland are without question the tournament’s dark horses. They have mustered just 46 attempts at goal, with Saturday’s opponents England the only team to register less shots than them at Euro 2024 (45).
Meanwhile, Switzerland’s passes (1,543 completed of 1,872) and completion percentage (82.4) are the lowest of the eight quarter-finalists and they are also the only remaining team with less than 50 per cent possession in their games so far (46.8).
But they are undefeated and have proved their credentials at this tournament, earning wins against Hungary and well-fancied Italy. Bologna striker Dan Ndoye could be one for England to watch, with the 23-year-old enhancing his burgeoning reputation with a goal against host nation Germany.
Dev Trehan
Baby-faced assassin Guler epitomising Turkey’s unrelenting energy
Having arrived at Fenerbahce aged just 13, Arda Guler was hailed as the ‘Turkish Messi’. At Euro 2024, he is making a name for himself.
The start to his Real Madrid career was blighted by a knee injury, but he returned stronger to become the youngest player to score on their European Championship debut with his goal-of-the-tournament contender in Turkey’s opening group game against Georgia – breaking a record held by Ronaldo.
There is a self-confidence and maturity to Guler behind his restless, indomitable will to win on the grandest stage. Through the heavy rain, the hostility and the hailstorm of beer cups, it was 19-year-old who conducted a masterpiece in how to embrace the pressure against Austria.
Head coach Vincenzo Montella said it took ‘soul’ to reach the last eight, and with their partisan supporters now descending on Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate will be painted red. The momentum is reminiscent of how Morocco reached the World Cup semi-finals in Qatar.
One of Turkey’s greatest strengths is an intangible, unrelenting energy from the stands, but their 18 yellow cards to date is only one shy of a tournament record. Montella will look to Guler to provide a calming influence.
With Xavi Simons playing so well centrally for the Netherlands against Romania, this quarter-final could again demonstrate how Germany ’24 has been the Championship owned by the next generation of playmakers before their time.
Ben Grounds
Netherlands forward Cody Gakpo heads into Saturday night’s quarter-final clash with Turkey in Berlin as the joint-leading goalscorer at Euro 2024, although that will not come as any surprise to Liverpool fans.
That is because Gakpo also finished last season in impressive form for Jurgen Klopp’s side and was one of the few standout players in the stuttering end to the Reds’ league campaign, contributing two goals and two assists in their last six Premier League games.
The 25-year-old has continued where he left off for Liverpool, scoring three and assisting another in the Oranje’s passage through to the last eight, meaning he and Musiala, who also has three goals to his name, are the favourites to win the tournament’s Golden Boot.
As Gakpo continues to light up Euro 2024, take a look back at our picks of his best Liverpool goals in the Premier League
Gakpo has been a real threat so far at the Euros cutting in from his starting position on the left-hand side of the Netherlands’ front three, from where he has scored all his goals, including a 121km-per-hour strike that flew past Romania goalkeeper Florin Nita at his near post to open the scoring in Tuesday’s last-16 win in Munich.
All of which means Gakpo has now joined former greats Johnny Rep (1974 and 1978 World Cups) and Dennis Bergkamp (Euro 1992 and World Cups in 1994 and 1998) as just the third Netherlands international to score three or more goals in two major tournaments after also netting three times at the 2022 World Cup.
In fact, across the past two international tournaments, the only European with more goals than Gakpo’s six in nine games is Mbappe, who has nine in 10 matches.
Richard Morgan
