EURO 2020 Round of 16! (2021)

The knockout phases have blessed us with even more drama. Scripts were thrown out the window, and someone out there must have lost a ton of money. Lets see what went down in this dramatic round of 16!

Switzerland 3*–3 France

The World Champions face a resilient Switzerland side, who have shown their quality in the group phases. France haven't been at their best as of yet, but when they turn up the heat, they can really blow your socks off. 

You can rub your eyes all you want, but you read the scoreline right: Switzerland has KNOCKED OUT THE WORLD CHAMPIONS! Vladimir Petković and his men have pulled off one of the biggest upsets in football HISTORY, and they deserved it, too. Considering France's attacking talents, the Swiss were expected to drop deep the whole game but, instead, they bombarded France with attacks, throwing them off guard. 

Xherdan Shaquiri hasn’t been setting the world on fire during his club career, but he's been vital to La Nati. Shaqiri was everywhere, playing one-twos on the wing, or putting in dangerous through balls for his teammates. Granit Xhaka also needs to be mentioned. He was immense, his spirit and tireless style of play makes him one of the best midfielders in the world. While Shaqiri is more of a luxury with his flair and pizzazz, Xhaka is a hardworking no-nonsense midfielder that every team needs. Without them, the Swiss wouldn’t have been able to come back from a two-goal deficit.

Switzerland’s first goal was scored by Haris Seferović. France didn’t close Steven Zuber fast enough, and his whipped-in ball met the head of Seferović, who also wasn’t being challenged. The second goal was executed by Seferović again, following a perfect cross into the box by Kevin Mbabu who, like Zuber and Seferović, wasn’t being closed down. It really seemed far too easy, and again Seferovic seemed to have the most desire to get his head to it. Gavranovic received a through ball from Xhaka. He turned Presnel Kimpembe inside out like a schoolboy, then fired home an unbeatable strike. 

The game went to extra time, and even though it was France who laid siege on the Swiss goal, the Switzerland defense held on. The game eventually went to penalties, and in that instance it's all about holding your nerve. The Swiss did just that. Yann Sommer produced the game-winning save, and even though it isn’t the most orthodox way to go through, the Swiss won’t care.

France must have thought that it would be an easy win. Oh how they were wrong.  France didn’t look as cut-throat as they did in 2018; you could see it early on. France lined up with a 3-5-2, a big mistake in my opinion. France’s back 3 couldn’t cope with Shaqiri, who dropped right behind the two forwards, so he couldn’t be so easily dealt with. 

Usually N’Golo Kante deals with the number 10s, but he wasn’t anywhere to be seen. He didn’t cut out the passing lanes like he usually does, and didn’t make the tackles that his team needed. Disappointing, considering what he's capable of. Another disappointment was Hugo Lloris, who on the night wouldn’t have been able to save a Word Document. The person who DID catch my attention for France was Paul Pogba. He always performs well at the international level, because Deschamps lets him do what he does best. Along with scoring an absolute peach of a goal, he put in some really good passes, mostly to Kylian Mbappe, who wasted them. 

France's first two goals came from the man in form, Karim Benzema. On the hour mark, Mbappe played him in, and the 32-year-old clipped the ball over Sommer. It was a poor pass from Mbappe, but Benzema did ever so well to get the ball under control. Benzema put France in the lead, when he headed in a rebound off a Griezmann shot that Sommer had initially slapped away. Paul Pogba scored what SEEMED like the final nail in the Swiss coffin, with a super strike from outside of the box into the top corner. 

It should have been game, set, and match, but France’s usually reliable defense was SHOCKING today. I don’t say many bad things about Raphaël Varane, but he was nowhere to be seen. For the first Swiss goal, Clement Lenglet was supposed to be marking Seferović, but he didn’t even jump to head the ball away, as if saying to Seferović, “Take it!” In the end, France lost on penalties. I won't criticize losing on penalties, because spot kicks are always a gamble. However, Les Bleus should have killed the game off early.

The Swiss have shown why football is the best sport in the world. Anything can happen, even against the world champions. The French will not be kindly welcomed home, and you wonder if this marks the end for Didier Deschamps. 

Czech Republic 2–0 Netherlands

The Netherlands are looking to go far in this tournament, after failing to qualify for EURO 2016 and the 2018 World Cup. The Czechs are the underdogs, but their impressive performances make this a tasty match. 

The Czech republic have produced yet another incredible underdog story, in this soon-to-be legendary tournament! Despite their success in the group stage, few would have bet they could go toe-to-toe with the Dutch, never mind beat them. In response, the Czechs played the game of their LIVES. 

Jaroslav Šilhavý must have drilled the idea of simple football into his team. When they had possession, the Czechs would string together neat passes in midfield with such efficiency that the Netherlands’ midfield had trouble closing them down. Without the ball, the Nároďák would win the ball back as quick as possible. Tomáš Souček is integral to that style of play, as he is one of the best defensive midfielders on the planet. He's also a sublime passer, which is why he plays a more advanced role on the international level. The Czech defense isn’t the strongest of backlines, but whatever ball managed to get through the fortified midfield was easy pickings for the defense. 

The first Czech goal came in the 68th minute, when a free kick into the penalty area was headed into the 6-yard box by Tomáš Kalas. The Dutch defense was about as reactive as a wet cardboard box, but even a cardboard box still has some structure to it. Tomáš Holeš was there to head the ball into the net, 1–0. Four minutes later, Holeš pounced on a loose ball, raced through Georginio Wijnaldum and Denzel Dumfries before fizzing the ball into the box. Patrik Schick latched onto the ball, sending it low and beyond Maarten Stekelenburg. 

It was amazing to see how much hunger remained even though they had a commanding lead. Most teams in their position would hold onto the goal, and try to see the game out. But when you have someone like Schick, who seems to score goals for fun at this tournament, why wouldn’t you keep attacking? This team’s cohesiveness has really impressed me. If you simply looked at individual talent, you wouldn’t think much of this team. However, their teamwork more than makes up for it.

The Dutch forwards were toothless on the night. Because the Czech midfield was so resilient, the Netherlands were often forced to play long passes into the Czech penalty box, many of which were quickly dealt with by the defense. Whenever the Oranje would have a chance to line up a shot, they would falter at the final hurdle. The Dutch’s best chance of the game came in the 51st minute, when Donyell Malen weaved through the Czech defense, but when he tried to round the goalie, Tomas Vaclik dove in and got hold of the ball. Memphis Depay was nowhere to be seen today. He didn’t get into the goalscoring positions he normally does and, at 26 and in his prime, I think the whole world expected him to deliver. Overall, it was a wretched display. 

I think we were fooled by their group stage success against small teams, because we believed they could mirror those performances against the top dogs. With all due respect to the Czechs, the Dutch were knocked out by a small team. The whole world now sees that the Netherlands aren’t really as strong as once thought. 

Tonight the Czechs simply had more desire to win. As for the Dutch, they are sent home earlier than expected. I don't know whether they underestimated the Czechs, or if they were just too confident in themselves. Now the Czechs march on to the quarterfinals, where they will face Denmark. Only time will tell if the Dutch regroup and grow together, or if things take a turn for the worse.