Euro 2024 hits and misses: N'Golo Kante in vintage form for France but Belgium fail to live up to the hype

Kante's Classic Performance Rolls Back Time

France has a lot of youthful midfield potential from Eduardo Camavinga, Aurelin Tchouameni and Warren Zaire-Emery, but they still opted to choose N'Golo Kante.

A lot of people were taken aback by the call since the player in question, who is 33 years old, is currently playing for Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia. However, after watching France's first match against Austria at Euro 2024, which ended in a 1-0 victory, it became evident that Didier Deschamps' decision was correct. This is not the first time he has made the right decision either.

Kante had an impressive performance that seemed tiring to those watching from afar. Among his teammates from France, he had the most successful tackles as a midfielder. Additionally, he had the second-highest number of ball recoveries and successful possessions in the defensive and middle parts of the field, with only William Saliba doing better.

The crucial moment occurred just before the game ended when Patrick Wimmer managed to steal the ball from Saliba and make a run for it. However, Kante quickly recovered and caught up with him. This was an essential move that helped secure the game.

The midfielder from France managed to create three opportunities for his teammates to score against Austria. His exceptional talent for being extremely versatile and present in both the attacking and defensive positions on the field has not diminished.

Roy Keane commented that Kante's performance was reminiscent of his younger self. This younger self had previously secured a World Cup win with France six years ago. Kante's skills and abilities may be integral to achieving victory in the European Championships.

Austria Hopeful After Rangnick's Pressing Tactics

So far in this European Championship, only Belgium has faced a setback among the highly favored teams. It is positive to observe that very few teams adopt a defensive strategy, waiting to counterattack. Austria arrived with a determination to implement their gameplay against France.

It was apparent why their Group D opener was their first loss after winning 15 previous games. This team was refreshed under the leadership of former Manchester United temporary coach Ralf Rangnick. The German coach had clearly done an excellent job in training the team.

During the first half of their game against France, Austria tackled more than any other team in this tournament has done in a full match to date. This showcased their proactive strategy on the pitch. However, they were unable to cause an upset due to a shortage in personal ability.

France faced a tough challenge throughout the game, which made it much more interesting to watch. Kylian Mbappe had some room to maneuver, however, the only thing that set the two teams apart was Max Wober scoring a goal on his own team. Christoph Baumgartner had a great opportunity to score but unfortunately missed the mark.

Austria shouldn't feel disheartened with upcoming games against Poland and the Netherlands. They have a good chance of advancing out of Group D if they can sustain their level of play. The tournament will benefit from their efforts.

Lunin's Mistake Leads To Defeat

Carlo Ancelotti had a major decision to make prior to the Champions League final that took place recently. He had to choose between Andriy Lunin, the Ukrainian goalkeeper, and Thibaut Courtois.

It was a talking point among the media, but Ancelotti remained tight-lipped ahead of Real Madrid's match against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley.

During the game, Courtois was given the responsibility of being the goalkeeper, and he proved why the Italian coach puts him first on the team sheet when he is available. Sadly for Lunin, his weaknesses were made obvious by an unstoppable Romania squad in his first match after being removed from the starting lineup at Madrid.

When under extreme pressure, the young player made mistakes while controlling the ball which led to Nicolae Stanciu scoring a powerful goal into the upper part of the net.

His next error was even more inexcusable because he let in Razvan Marin's hopeful shot slip under his body.

Serhiy Rebrov's team suffered a serious setback due to their incapability to take advantage of their early possession by creating significant opportunities for scoring. Romania absorbed the pressure and countered by snatching the ball from Ukraine in their defensive half.

During the previous European Championships, Ukraine reached the quarter-finals, even though they lost two out of three of their group matches. Rebrov expressed optimism despite the setbacks. However, he needs to make a decision soon regarding whether to maintain or change his strategy for Lunin.

Romania's Dragusin Leads Team To Historic Victory

During a rather uneventful January in the Premier League, the biggest transfer deal was Radu Dragusin's transfer to Tottenham for a staggering £26.7 million.

The defender only started four league matches after joining the team. However, after Romania secured their first victory in a major tournament in 24 years, Tottenham supporters understood why the club spent a lot of money on the Genoa player.

Dragusin was excellent during the match in Munich. Whenever Ukraine tried to make a threatening move, they encountered the powerful 22-year-old blocking their way.

He managed to clear the ball away from danger 10 times during the match. This was double the amount of clearances any other player made. Throughout the game, he was always in the right spot to prevent Mykhailo Mudryk, Artem Dovbyk, and Georgiy Sudakov from causing harm to his team.

Not only Dragusin, but the entire team of Romania followed the game plan efficiently. They gave up their opportunity to control the ball and focused on protecting their territory with excellent determination. They took advantage of the mistakes made by Ukraine and scored their goals.

There are definitely harder challenges on the horizon, as Belgium is also part of Group E. However, these opponents might have a difficult time scoring against Romania with Dragusin playing so well.

Can Belgium Fulfill Its Hype?

Maybe Belgium is jinxed or just hasn't been fortunate enough. The highly regarded 'golden generation' may not be as impressive as advertised or their impressive third-place ranking by FIFA. Regardless, they haven't managed to deliver on the grandest stages of them all, and the reason for this remains unclear.

Romelu Lukaku failed to make the most of his opportunities, Kevin de Bruyne was not performing well and Leandro Trossard was not effective. In every part of the field, Domenico Tedesco's team fell short, even though they had four significant chances to score and an xG of 1.91.

With every match, Belgium's image as one of Europe's top teams is gradually fading away. The team is made up of distinct individuals rather than a cohesive group of champions.

However, it did seem a bit unfair that they lost their first game. Even though there were obvious problems, Lukaku managed to score two times. Unfortunately, the first goal was deemed offside, so there isn't much to debate.

The next choice was much more unsettling. It's the kind of refereeing that makes people doubt and question the fairness of the Premier League. Some believe it's like the game is being refereed again, which can be argued for or against.

Did Lois Openda touch the ball with her hand? It's not entirely clear whether it's handball or not since the rule is open to interpretation. However, some people view the VAR system's involvement in these incidents as negative for the sport. The verdict is still up in the air.

In any case, Belgium needs to enhance their performance if they want to steer clear of a repetition of what happened in Euro 2022, when they were eliminated in the group stage of the competition.

Slovakian Veterans Deliver Tournament's 1st Shock

The beginning of Euro 2024 was so interesting, but it needed a surprising outcome that would give hope to the weaker teams. Finally, in the ninth game, it happened.

It is true that Belgium had two potential equalising goals disallowed after the use of VAR, however, their offensive performance during the game was lacklustre and they are partially responsible for this outcome.

Slovakia achieved a remarkable outcome by recording their initial victory in 4 tries against Belgium. This success has now provided them a strong opportunity to progress into the playoff rounds of the tournament.

Moreover, they accomplished this incredible feat by selecting three players who were 35 years old or above in their starting line-up, making them just the second European Championship team to do so.

In the Euro 2008, France succeeded in achieving this feat with players Gregory Coupet, Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram. And now, Slovakia has replicated this accomplishment with Peter Pekarik (37), Juraj Kucka (37) and Martin Dubravka (35) by playing full-time in Frankfurt.

Pekarik performed well in the right-back position, and Juraj Kucka provided a satisfactory level of offense in midfield. However, the standout player was Dubravka from Newcastle, who made five saves that prevented the Red Devils from scoring 1.03 goals.

Francesco Calzona's Falcons managed to pass their toughest group stage test with luck on their side, proving that age is just a number as their experienced players rose to the occasion. Dan Long wrote about this in the blog section.