EURO 2024 and Copa America 2024 Championships

I started a thread last time this came around, so it's time for a new thread.

England announced their provisional squad of 33 yesterday, and Scotland will be doing the same (naming 28 initially) today. All teams have to announce a final squad of 26 by June 7th. Initially it was going to be a 23 man squad, but teams lobbied UEFA to keep the increased squad size of 26 that was in place for the last Covid interrupted tournament.

England's squad looks very strong again, especially in midfield and up front, and they'll be contenders again and wanting to go one further than they did last time in losing to Italy in the final. Their defence still seems to be a question mark, and that's what could trip them up from going all the way. But with the likes of Kane, Bellingham, Foden and others, no-one will fancy playing them. Their manager, Gareth Southgate, is not a popular figure amongst fans though, with many thinking he's too defensive.

France, Spain and Portugal will be strong again, with France the favourites for the title. Germany...who knows, it's a home tournament for them, but they've been fairly poor recently, although I wouldn't write them off at all. They're bound to find form at some time, and a home tournament is the perfect place to find it.

Scotland are probably making up the numbers again. We did well in qualifying, beating Spain at home, and winning our first 5 qualifiers (a record for us), to qualify well before the final game, but recent friendly results have been disappointing. We're strong in midfield, but question marks at centre back and up front.

Scotland kick off the tournament against Germany on June 14th, and also have Switzerland and Hungary in our group. Getting out of the group and making the last 16 will be the aim, and something we've never done before in either Euros or World Cup.

Edit - thread title has been updated to also cover Copa America 2024, which starts around the same time as the Euro's

 

Scotland's provisional 28 man squad announced. Not too many surprises, Liverpool's Doak, at only 18 years old, maybe being the main one, but he's got a bright future and the manager will want to get him involved in the first team squad. Two will be cut from the squad on June 7th after the final two friendlies before the tournament. One of the goalkeepers and maybe a player not quite recovered enough from injury to be match fit (after being assessed in the friendlies) would be the most likely to miss out.

We're missing our top 2 right backs through injury, so that's a big area of concern. Plus no Lewis Ferguson, who was named Italy's Serie A midfielder of the year and also captains Bologna, who surprisingly have qualified for next season's Champions League after a great season. He suffered an ACL injury late in the season that will keep him out for most of the remainder of this year though, which is devastating for him and for Scotland.

Goalkeepers: Angus Gunn (Norwich City), Zander Clark (Hearts), Craig Gordon (Hearts), Liam Kelly (Motherwell).

Defenders: Andy Robertson (Liverpool), Kieran Tierney (Real Sociedad), Jack Hendry (Al Ettifaq), Ryan Porteous (Watford), Liam Cooper (Leeds United), Scott McKenna (FC Copenhagen), Grant Hanley (Norwich City), Greg Taylor (Celtic), John Souttar (Rangers), Anthony Ralston (Celtic), Ross McCrorie (Bristol City).

Midfielders: Callum McGregor (Celtic), Ryan Christie (Bournemouth), Billy Gilmour (Brighton & Hove Albion), John McGinn (Aston Villa), Kenny McLean (Norwich City), Scott McTominay (Manchester United), Stuart Armstrong (Southampton), Ryan Jack (Rangers).

Forwards: Lyndon Dykes (Queen's Park Rangers), Che Adams (Southampton), Lawrence Shankland (Hearts), Ben Doak (Liverpool), James Forrest (Celtic).

 

For balance sake, and so nobody thinks I don't really care (as if...), here's England's provisional 33 man squad. Seven players will need to be cut from this to get to 26 before the start of the tournament. As I said earlier, there's some array of attacking talent in England's squad, but the defence is the bigger question. Strange how many players are names as forwards too, with many of them clearly midfielders and not forwards!

Goalkeepers: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace), Jordan Pickford (Everton), Aaron Ramsdale (Arsenal), James Trafford (Burnley).

Defenders: Jarrad Branthwaite (Everton), Lewis Dunk (Brighton), Joe Gomez (Liverpool), Marc Guehi (Crystal Palace), Ezri Konsa (Aston Villa), Harry Maguire (Manchester United), Jarell Quansah (Liverpool), Luke Shaw (Manchester United), John Stones (Manchester City), Kieran Trippier (Newcastle), Kyle Walker (Manchester City)

Midfielders: Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Conor Gallagher (Chelsea), Curtis Jones (Liverpool), Kobbie Mainoo (Manchester United), Declan Rice (Arsenal), Adam Wharton (Crystal Palace).

Forwards: Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Jarrod Bowen (West Ham), Eberechi Eze (Crystal Palace), Phil Foden (Manchester City), Jack Grealish (Manchester City), Anthony Gordon (Newcastle), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), James Maddison (Tottenham), Cole Palmer (Chelsea), Bukayo Saka (Arsenal), Ivan Toney (Brentford), Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa).

 

It's maybe best to combine them, I'm not sure either on its own will get a load of posts so might as well keep them together.

I'll edit the title to show it's for Copa America too.

 

I don't mind starting with Germany tbh, gets the hardest game out of the way, and the only chance Scotland will have to get something out of the game is if somehow we catch them cold or with a case of opening night jitters....you never know, unlikely as it is!

Edit - Scotland, under their current manager Steve Clarke, have proven to be a frustrating team to play against too in some of their games against top class opposition. Spain in particular got very annoyed when we beat them at home, Rodri especially seemed to think we should just let Spain show everyone how good they were. His after match tears were delicious . Every neutral agreed we deserved to beat them too.

 

Scotland's unofficial fans anthem is "no Scotland, no paaaarty", which we've sang for a while as didn't qualify very often. So this tournament will be a party

 

Scotland down another player, with Lyndon Dykes injured in training camp yesterday and now ruled out of the Euros. He's a bit of a limited striker in that he doesn't score a load of goals, but he's done a good job for Scotland recently in doing the dirty work of holding the ball up for others to score the goals. He'll definitely be missed as an option in the finals.

I expect they'll add another forward to the squad, rather than him just being one of the two to miss out on the final squad, as we only really have Shankland and Adams as out and out #9's left at the moment.

 

Scotland warmed up for the Euros with a laboured 2-0 over Gibraltar today, the 204th (or something like that) ranked team in the world. We were dreadful, loads of shots but next to nothing actually on target. Only consolation is we've got an awful record in friendlies, something like 2 wins in 19 in recent years, but do far better when it's a game with something on the line...I can only hope.

One more friendly to come, against Finland this Friday, before facing Germany a week on Friday in the first game of the tournament...<gulp>

I don't know why I bother watching friendlies, much like NFL pre-season games they are rarely any good.

Germany are currently playing Ukraine in a friendly, and England are playing Bosnia-Herzegovina, both are 0-0 mid way through the first half. Croatia warmed up earlier with a 3-0 win over North Macedonia.

 

Grealish and Maguire apparently haven't made the final 26 man squad for England. And Maddison has already been sent home too.

 

Ben Doak was sent home from the Scotland squad earlier this week, apparently not recovered enough from the injury that kept him out for Liverpool since December.

Tommy Conway, an U21 striker for Scotland, was called up to the squad as a replacement for Dykes, and Lewis Morgan was called up from NY Red Bulls as a replacement for Doak. Which still leaves 2 players to be cut by the end of tomorrow.

 

Various reports prior to the official announcement at 6pm BST is that apart from Grealish, Maguire and Maddison, the others to miss out from the England squad are Curtis Jones (already confirmed), Jarell Quansah, Jarrad Branthwaite and James Trafford.

 

Clarke has said he's made his decision on the 26 for the finals, but won't say until after tomorrow's friendly. I've seen people say that Craig Gordon and John Souttar are the ones to miss out though. One was always going to be a goalkeeper, so makes sense it was Gordon, even though he's Scotland's most experienced keeper...but he's 41 now, and isn't the future, so not a lot of point in taking him as the 3rd GK. Souttar's been injured, so maybe is the one missing out as not recovered enough from injury....plus he's been ****e for Rangers

Edit -thought ****e might get through the profanity filter as it's got an 'e' on the end of the usual profanity. Guid (good) Scots word though

 

Scotland and England squads for the Euros confirmed, and are as per the posts above this re the players that missed out.

Scotland, England and Germany are not going into the Finals off great, encouraging results in the final friendlies they've played. Scotland drew with Finland 2-2 after leading 2-0 with 20 minutes to play, England lost to Iceland 1-0 at Wembley after beating Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-0 earlier in the week in a score that flattered them (2 goals in last 5 mins put a gloss on it), and Germany salvaged a win over Greece 2-1 with a late goal after drawing with Ukraine 0-0 earlier in the week. Still, they were all friendlies, so can't read too much into them, although I'm sure the teams would all have preferred better performances.

Some more friendlies still to be played by other teams today/tomorrow, then it's on to the real stuff starting next Friday.

 

Seeing as it's the team I know best (for obvious reasons!) I thought I'd do a breakdown of the players in the Scotland squad for the Euros.

Goalkeepers
Angus Gunn (Norwich City - 10 caps): the no.1 for Scotland currently. Decent keeper, but had a poor ending for the season for Norwich
Zander Clark (Heart of Midlothian - 4 caps): Backup to Gunn. Another decent keeper, who will deputise ably if called upon, if not really threaten Gunn for his spot
Liam Kelly (Motherwell - 1 cap): Same age as Gunn, 28, but 3rd choice and likely won't play. He's not had a good season at club level

Defenders
Anthony Ralston (Celtic - 9 caps): The top 2 options for Scotland at RB/RWB, Hickey and Patterson, are both out injured, and Ralston is the likely beneficiary. Doesn't even play every week for Celtic...so could be in for a tough time
Ross McCrorie (Bristol City - 1 cap): The other beneficiary of Hickey & Patterson's injuries. Got his first cap against Gibraltar this week, and did ok...ish
Jack Hendry (Al-Ettifaq - 31 caps): Experienced central defender, who is likely to start or be first defender off the bench
Grant Hanley (Norwich City - 50 caps): Likely starter at the centre of a back 3/5. Favourite of the manager...but I don't rate him. He's slow and gets caught out far too often for someone of his experience
Ryan Porteous (Millwall - 11 caps): Possibility to start on the right side of a back 3. Decent footballer, but can get caught up in the occasion sometimes and give away needless fouls
Scott McKenna (FC Copenhagen - 35 caps): An option to start in the middle of the defence. Good physical defender, who's fallen out with the management team of Nottingham Forest for some reason, hence spending last season on loan in Denmark
Liam Cooper (Leeds Utd - 19 caps): Older, experienced defender, captain of Leeds. Probably will be on the bench
Kieran Tierney (Real Sociedad - 45 caps): And now we get to the strength of our defence, the left side. Top class player, who surprisingly is out on loan from Arsenal, and not in their future plans. Will be a good player for whoever he moves to
Andy Robertson (Liverpool - 71 caps): Arguably our best player, captain of the team and a stalwart for Liverpool too
Greg Taylor (Celtic - 14 caps): Backup at LB/LWB. Even Celtic fans don't think he's good enough for them, so hopefully he doesn't have to step in during the Euros!

Midfielders
Scott McTominay (Man Utd - 49 caps): Now we get to the overall strength of the Scotland team, the midfield. Great player for Scotland, who was our top scorer in qualifying with a forward's like return of 7 goals
John McGinn (Aston Villa - 66 caps): Villa's captain, all round midfielder and one of our best players. Has an eye for goal, with 18 goals from his caps, and the highest scorer at International level of all the players in the squad
Callum McGregor (Celtic - 60 caps): Experienced defensive midfielder who does a good job of breaking up play and releasing other players. Likely starter alongside McTominay, McGinn and player below
Billy Gilmour (Brighton and Hove Albion - 27 caps): Younger defensive midfielder who is a class act. Should be playing for Scotland for years to come
Ryan Christie (Bournemouth - 49 caps): Attacking midfielder who's had a great season for Bournemouth and is on form. Less likely to play if we're playing a top team and being more defensive (ie. against Germany!), but he'll definitely play during the tournament
Stuart Armstrong (Southampton - 50 caps): Another experienced attacking midfielder. Probably won't start games, but might come off the bench
Ryan Jack (Rangers - 20 caps): Defensive midfielder, who I just don't rate, but Clarke likes him for some reason. Hardly played for Rangers this season...so I'm not even sure how he made the squad!
Kenny McLean (Norwich City - 39 caps): Another one who is more likely to come off the bench. He's been around for a while picking up caps here and there, and still can do a job if called upon. Hero of Scotland's win over Norway (and Haaland) in qualifying.

Forwards
Ché Adams (Southampton - 30 caps): It'll be between him and Shankland for the one striker to play in Clarke's favoured formation. Both will no doubt play each game, either starting or off the bench. Adams has a good all round game, but not the most prolific scorer
Lawrence Shankland (Heart of Midlothian - 11 caps): Has always been a prolific scorer at club level, but has improved his all round game hugely in the last couple of seasons. Scotland's player of the year in the Scottish Premiership. Lacks pace, or he would be playing at a much higher level. Started both friendlies this week for Scotland, so would seem to have the inside track to be the main striker in the finals
Tommy Conway (Bristol City - 1 cap): Called up to replace Lyndon Dykes. Might not see any playing time in the tournament unless there are injuries, but clearly one for the future at just 21 years old, and who has been doing well at U21 level
Lewis Morgan (NY Red Bulls - 3 caps): I don't really know much about him, but seems to have been doing well in the MLS for NY, and Miami before that. A winger mainly, which Scotland lacks a little, so could well see game time
James Forrest (Celtic - 39 caps): A player who's been off the boil for a while, but found form at the right time for him at the end of the season for Celtic. A winger, like Morgan, so could see time off the bench

 

I know how the US feel re playing Brazil. Scotland have played them 10 times, and 2 draws have been our best results. And the last time we drew against them was in the 1974 World Cup. Another glorious failure that was for Scotland too, didn't lose in the group stages (1 win and 2 draws) but went out via goal difference. And 50 years later, we're still to get out of the group stages at a WC or Euros

 

Starting lineups for the kickoff of the Euros tonight in Munich in just under an hour:

 

As a Hearts fan, I'm disappointed that Shankland isn't starting, but I totally understand it. Adams is the more mobile striker, and Scotland are not going to have a lot of the ball to create chances for a striker (which Shankland would be more likely to convert), so they need someone to harry the Germans and create mistakes for someone else to, hopefully, take advantage of. Shankland will likely come on with 20 minutes to go or something...or earlier if we're already 3 down

 

Well, that first half was way worse than even I feared!

This could be 6 or 7 for Germany by the end.

And what did i say about Porteous a few days ago! Yes, he had to make a challenge, but going in with 2 feet in the penalty box is just the type of rash decision he makes. Clear red card and penalty. On to Switzerland already for Scotland...

 

Well, that was humiliating for Scotland. Not just losing so meekly, but not one shot on goal (not just on target, but 0 shots full stop)...and they were lucky to get that much, lol. 20 shots for Germany, and they probably should have won more than 5-1 (yeah, Scotland's late goal was an own goal by Germany, so not a shot on goal). Still, the fans seems to be enjoying themselves, celebrating the own goal like we'd won the Euros

Still in it, of course, but they'll need to improve massively to get a result against Switzerland or Hungary. They can't be as poor in those games.

On to tomorrow's games, with Switzerland-Hungary the other game in Group A, plus Spain-Croatia and Italy-Albania in the group of death, Group B. Spain-Croatia is the pick of the games and should be a good one.

 

First time we've conceded 5 goals since another 5-1 defeat....to USA in 2012!

 

Spain doing a Germany to Croatia's Scotland, as now 3-0 up at half-time. The scoreline is where the similarities end though, as Croatia have had chances to score.

 

Spain-Croatia finished 3-0 to Spain. It means a mountain to climb for Croatia, with Italy still to come in the group and already at a -3 goal difference.

The other games today finished Switzerland 3-1 Hungary, which puts Switzerland in pole position to finish top 2 in group with Germany, after their 5-1 win over Scotland.

Italy beat Albania 2-1, despite Albania scoring the fastest goal in Euro Championship history after 23 seconds. Italy should have scored again to make it more comfortable, but Albania kept it close and almost equalized near the end. "Easier" games to come for Albania against Spain and Croatia though

Tomorrow's games see Poland (without the injured Lewandowski) play the Netherlands, Slovenia play Denmark in the same group, and England, who are one of the favourites for the title, open against Serbia.