So far this tournament, the favourites have all done their job. Germany saw off Scotland with ease, Spain cruised passed Croatia, Netherlands got the job done against Poland and England BATTERED Serbia 1-0. So, with Ukraine, Belgium and France all strong favourites on matchday 4, it seemed like we knew what the script will be.
BUT it’s not football without a few twists, turns and surprises. Here’s what went down on the most shocking day of Euro 2024, and what it meant for our Adidas v Nike Boot Battle.
Romania Secure Largest Ever Euros Win
From the outset, Romania seemed up for this. Like, really up for it. Flying into challenges, winning every second ball. What’s more, they were entirely buoyed by their army of loud fans within the stadium, cheering their every move.
Nicolae Stanciu made their pressure tell after 30 minutes. A poor clearance from Andriy Lunin fell straight to Dennis Man, who teed up Stanciu, who unleashed an absolute demon of a shot. It faded beautifully away from the keeper and smashed into the top corner.
Romanian Party
The Romanians had hit the bar directly from a corner, before Răzvan Marin fired first time from range into the bottom corner. Yet another stunning goal at this Euros, and another goal that sent the Romanian fans into absolute raptures once more. Denis Drăguș added a third later on, as Ukraine switched off from a short corner. The forward had the easiest of finishes, tapping home into an empty net from close range. Ukraine struggled to land a glove on their opponents, but Mykhailo Mudryk went close late on and with minutes remaining, Roman Yaremchuk’s lob glazed the top of the bar.
You’d have thought Jesus had landed in Bucharest the way the Romania fans and players celebrated. There were tears from the eyes of players, parties in the stands. They face Belgium next while Ukraine play Slovakia.
Adidas
Ratiu (Clean Sheet): 2
Nike
Drăgușin (Clean Sheet): 2
Bancu (Clean Sheet): 2
Dragus (Goal): 2
Stanciu (Goal): 3 (MOTM): 4
R. Marin (Goal): 3
Running Total: Adidas 35 – Nike 44
Slovakia Shock Sloppy Belgium
Belgium have this magical ability to somehow maintain a ridiculously high position in the FIFA rankings, while continuously underachieving in every tournament they play. Surely they couldn’t slip up in their Euro 2024 opener against Slovakia though, could they?
They looked very bright early on, with Romelu Lukaku failing to convert a good chance from close range. Jeremy Doku was looking unplayable at times, but it was his mistake that lead to the opening goal. He overplayed from the back, and the Slovakians latched onto his mistake, ending with Ivan Schranz converting from a tight angle. Both sides had further chances in an open game, and to Slovakia’s credit they weren’t afraid to attack the Belgians. They pressed high and their passing was crisp.
Lukaku 0-2 VAR
Lukaku wasted several other opportunities, but thought he’d finally score, tapping home a header from Amadou Onana to equalise. VAR got involved and deemed it to be offside. It was a tight one but he was just off. Late on, the nomadic forward once again thought he’d levelled the scoring. After nice work from Loïs Openda on the left wing, he tucked it back to Lukaku who finished it clinically. However, much to the amusement of any non-Belgian, UEFA brought out some cricket-esque sound thingy (*this may not be the exact scientific term) and it was ruled Openda handled the ball in the build up.
Slovakia held on for a deserved win and put themselves forward as potential dark horses for the tournament. Meanwhile, Belgium will have to be more clinical if they are to do anything in this tournament.
Adidas
–
Nike
Vavro (Clean Sheet): 2
Pekarik (Clean Sheet): 2
Dubravka (Goal): 2
Lukaku (DOTD): -5
Lobotka (MOTM): 4
Running Total: Adidas 35 – Nike 49
Austria Give France a Bloody Nose
It was quite literally a bloody battle between Austria and France, full of strong challenges, hard tackles and yellow cards. It was a much-anticipated match between one of the favourites and a team that has seen renewed vigour since Ralf Rangnick took the helm.
Austria Kylian Mbappe looked sharp early on and went close when his shot from the left was pushed around the post by Patrick Pentz. He was involved minutes later in the opener, where his drilled cross struck Maximilian Wöber. The poor guy was just chilling, thinking about his wife, having bangers and mash for dinner, the Roman Empire when suddenly BAM, the ball hits him and he’s just put his team 1-0 down against France in the Euros. Before the goal, Christoph Baumgartner should have converted from close range, but Mike Maignan pulled off a fantastic stop to thwart him.
Mbappe’s Night Goes Downhill
Mbappe got the assist for the goal, but that would be the highlight of his game. He raced through one on one 10 minutes into the second half and looked certain to score. The Austrians had turned to take kick off, Pentz was on his knees begging for mercy, but Mbappe instead of slotting home in his usual fashion unjustifiably put it wide.
He was later involved in a clash after winning a header. He got a shoulder in the nose, and we later found out it was broken. He will now channel his inner Petr Cech and wear a mask for the remainder of the tournament, and it looks optimistic that he will feature in Les Bleus next match.
Adidas
Kante (MOTM): 4
Kounde (Clean Sheet): 2
Nike
Maignon (Clean Sheet): 3
Upamecano (Clean Sheet): 2
Saliba (Clean Sheet): 2
Running Total: Adidas 41 – Nike 56
Boot Battle Standings (Adidas 41 Nike 56) – Matchday 4:
Nike are back in the game! A Nike-dominated Romania and Slovakia side put them back into the lead after two impressive performances from the underdogs. Lukaku did his best to limit Nike’s progress, as we awarded him DotD, perhaps somewhat harshly. Just his unorthodox style looks so clanky and the fact that he scored and celebrated two goals that were later disallowed, we felt we had no other choice.
Tomorrow sees another heavyweight team lead by one of the best to ever play the game, Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo, open their Euro 2024 campaign against Czech Republic. Minnows Georgia also face Turkey, but can Adidas get back into this Boot Battle?
