2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Thursday's Day 2 Takeaways
The Under-21 European Championship continued to surprise, excite and exhilarate on its second day, as Sweden shocked five-time winners Italy 2-1 in the early kick-off before Portugal downed England in a close encounter later on.
We saw two more red cards—both in Italy vs. Sweden to add to Christian Gunter's on day one—and our first two penalties of the tournament.
After another action-packed day, here are our takeaways.
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1. Italy lacking in finesse
Italy's shock opening loss to Sweden was made all the worse because their opponents played much of the game with only 10 men. The Azzurri are one of the strongest teams in the competition on paper and will feel embarrassed by their display in Olomouc on Thursday.
Sweden have shown a knack for upsets, and in our pre-match preview, we highlighted their apparent giant-killing gene as a pivotal factor in deciding this group. But Italy conceded from a bonehead set piece, saw Stefano Sturaro sent off for raising his hands to an opponent's face and conceded a penalty in the closing stages after goalkeeper Francesco Bardi rashly tore off his line to bring down Mikael Ishak. That's a textbook self-destruction.
But aside from their defensive shortcomings, which can likely be fixed with a spittle-fuelled team talk from manager Luigi Di Biagio, it's the creativity (or lack thereof) that is cause for most concern. Italy's touch was well off in their opener, with almost every killer ball hit too heavily.
Andrea Belotti, Italy's No. 9, made four or five superb runs in the first 60 minutes, only for his team-mates to overhit their deliveries. He stole in behind the defence to win the penalty and force Alexander Milosevic's red card, and if more of the passes into his path had been accurate, the Azzurri may have found a second goal.
Quizzically, Di Biagio removed Belotti in the second half and sent on Marcello Trotta, who suffered from the same problem Belotti did: a lack of accurate service. Fix the midfield, Luigi, then perhaps your strikers will start scoring.
2. Sweden's never-say-die attitude the joker in the pack
So it turns out Sweden's 4-3 aggregate beating of France in the play-off to reach this competition was not a one-off. In fact, it could be argued that if every team in this competition has a definable trait, theirs is a remarkable togetherness, team spirit and tenacity.
On paper, this is not a star-studded squad. Coach Hakan Ericson knows this, and it's why he demands 100 per cent from every single player. It's also why he's fallen out with a few of the more naturally talented players in this national age pool, blocking their path to the setup.
If you play for Sweden under Ericson, you work hard, do your job and graft for your team-mates. That's exactly what they did today, and it's a big part of how they ground out a 2-1 victory over Italy despite carrying poor performances from Filip Holender and Abdul Khalili, losing Milosevic to a red card and conceding early to a Domenico Berardi penalty.
"The players showed how they could handle the tactical instructions. We decided to preserve the situation [after Alexander Milosevic's 38th-minute red card] until half-time and then we decided to go for it," Ericson told UEFA's website. "We went back to two forwards and three central midfielders. This was a different way to work but we fixed things. I tried to give energy to the players as that's my way to coach."
John Guidetti was substituted late due to cramp (exhaustion-induced), Joseph Baffo switched from left-back to centre-back and played superbly, the two Oscars in midfield never stopped running, and the two banks of four suffocated the space on the pitch.
It wasn't pretty from the Scandinavians, but it sure was effective. No one will want to come up against this rugged, direct, physical and workmanlike outfit.
3. Bernardo Silva stars
England fell to Portugal in their opening fixture, but despite boasting several good performances of their own, it was one of Os Seleccao's midfielders that truly stole the show—and the adoring tones of B/R's Stefan Bienkowski:
Bernardo Silva, Monaco's playmaker extraordinaire, tore England's lines to shreds from his position at the tip of Portugal's diamond, jinking in and out of space, creating overloads and starting attacks using penetrative passing.
Rui Jorge's odd 4-4-2 diamond system is not often found at this age level, so it was always going to be an extremely tough test for Gareth Southgate's men. Despite Nathaniel Chalobah's best efforts, they simply could not get to grips with the four vs. three advantage in the centre.
A number of Portuguese players impressed on the evening—William Carvalho dominated in the anchor role, Ivan Cavaleiro caused Carl Jenkinson problems, and goalscorer Joao Mario linked play superbly between the lines—but it was Bernardo who did the damage.
His shot hit the post in the buildup to Mario's tap-in winner, and his movement opened up avenues for Jorge's speedsters to attack. What a player.
4. England impress despite setbacks
Twitter represents a swirling cauldron of negativity every time England play, and it's become popular to slate the side's performance regardless of age group and, well, performance.
The truth is, the Three Lions played well on Thursday against a superior Portugal side, but they lost by a narrow margin. Six of the Seleccao starters are senior regulars, including William Carvalho, Raphael Guerreiro, Silva and Mario, while none of England's are. It was very much a bout between the master and the novice, and the novice fared well.
Every single one of Harry Kane's shots went straight at Jose Sa's gloves, each of Nathan Redmond and Jesse Lingard's raking efforts fizzed just wide, James Ward-Prowse came within inches of finding the net with a super free-kick, and a number of excellent corner deliveries were dealt with superbly by Portugal. In short, they went close to upsetting the applecart on a number of occasions.
Southgate's men played well, created chances and held their own against a superior side. The result was still a loss, granted, but there's a lot to take from this 90-minute performance—particularly since Saido Berahino and John Stones, two of the very first names on the teamsheet, were lost before kick-off.
Portugal deserved their victory, but England will prepare to face Sweden knowing they severely tested one of the best teams in the competition on Thursday and even had them on the ropes at the end.
