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UEFA Euro 2024: Cenk Tosun’s last-minute winning goal puts Turkey into the Round of 16 following their 2-1 win v Czech Republic

by Sports Benches

After 36 matches, the 2024 UEFA European Football Championships across Germany is now moving onto the knockout stage beginning with the Round of 16 this weekend. We look back at the final group stage game in Group F between Czech Republic v Turkey as the first half was pretty quiet despite some Czech attacking dominance earlier on.The the Turkish did put one up ahead in the 51st minute by No.10 Hakan Calhaboglu before Czech finally found a way to level the scoreboard off Tomas Soucek sometime later where the game was almost bound to finish with a draw.  But at the end of the day however, it was substitute striker Cenk Tosun who saved the day with the win that broke the Czech hearts in the end 2-1 for Turkey.

So Turkey finished 2nd behind Portugal on equal six points but Portugal conceded the least goals of 3 compared to Turkey’s five. They are off to the Round of 16 nonetheless going into next Wednesday morning v Austria, if Turkey win they will either take on Switzerland or defending champs Italy in the last eight. Yeah, it was disappointing for the Czech to bow out without any wins – even though they were right in it every time they found the equaliser until they just couldn’t the job done other than the odd draw last week v Georgia. Leaving it so late isn’t the way to make the opposition hard to score – despite a good start to press on the counter-attack with hit and misses here and there as they finished last in Group F. Not even the poor discipline isn’t a good way to finish off early either with two red cards to Antonin Barak (20th min) & Tomas Chory (98th min).

Meanwhile, Turkey are through to the knockout stages for the first time in 16 years when they had a really good run last time up until the semi-finals by Germany 3-2. They really dominated the 2nd half where the Turkish found the net two times off the back of the Czech being tired who really want to hold this out without them picking up the win. Well, they’ve did it and what’s next for them is to try and go all in v Austria who topped Group D over France. If they can do that from start to finish, then Turkey will be in a good position to hopefully repeat their heroics past the QF by going one better if they do from Euro 2008.

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UEFA Euro 2024: Ricciardo Calafiori’s own goal gifted the Spaniards another win v Italy

by Sports Benches

Today’s back-to-back Week 2 matchday games in the UEFA Euro 2024 also might have been extremely quiet having witnessed Denmark equalising England to hold out a 1-1 draw in Group C but at least there was at least one winner out of this one between Spain v Italy in Group B. Now both teams might not have been able to find the net off the back of a few hit and misses as well as tremendous saves, but a costly mistake in the 55th minute that went to the other team’s own net by Italy have gifted Spain the win they need 1-0 thanks to centre-back Riccardo Calafiori. Spain are so far undefeated in their group with two wins on six points ahead of 2nd-placed Italy who is currently on three off the back of their 2-1 win the other day v Albania. Italy will need to be at their very best v Croatia (who drew with Albania 2-2 all earlier today) on Tuesday morning at 5am AEST and Spain on the other hand will look to close out Group B on a high v Albania also at the same time (5am AEST).

Unlucky from the Italians when you got Gianluigi Donnarumma stopping the always dominant Spanish ball play from slipping past his own net including some that went away out of goal, although he’s disappointed that his own defender accidentally kicked the ball right inside the net. Meanwhile, they had a few chances to try and get past the Spaniards whenever they had the ball but they were nowhere near inside the box to clearly take a real shot v the other team’s goalkeeper. Yes, defense is important but just need to get more ball right into the middle if Italy wants to defend their crown this time across Germany.

Looking at Spain and they’ve been always dominant in possession with balls flying into the centre that left the Italian defenses shaking at their own box. Okay, ending up with several hit and misses where Spain could’ve scored 1, 2 and 3 goals is something they need to work on having left without a goal of their own at all. Although some of the missed shot on goals might have came off weak every time Donnarumma was able to deflect the ball away from his in-goal, but the Spainards would be happy to take the win thanks to Calafiori’s own goal mistake. They got their Round of 16 place locked in against whichever one finishes 3rd from the other group of A, D, E or F; However, they just need to tone themselves a bit down when looking to get the job done inside the net on top of their excellent possession to dominate the Italians in the attacking third.

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Copa America 2024: Argentina def. Canada off the back of a strong 2nd half showing up front at Atlanta’s Mercedes Benz Stadium

by Sports Benches

The 2024 Copa America tournament has just started today with Argentina v Canada and yes, it’s been scrappy and quiet for the most part where there were a series of hit and misses that led into a scoreless 45 mins of play. But it’s still Argentina with the 2-0 win over the Canadians to kickstart Group A off the back of two 2nd half goals from Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez. They will both be back for the 2nd week all on Tuesday where Canada take on Peru while Argentina v Chile.

Well played by the defending champs who turned things around well after the half-time break including some good use of the subs that helped gave them the 2nd goal that late to close out the match. Credit to the frontline being active all along to give the defenders a difficult time where Argentina eventually found a breakthrough. Yes, they gotta improve their first 45 when things couldn’t go their way despite having a lot of ball. But it’s better if they finish things knowing they can find the net at the right time rather than being a bit hesitant by just shooting for it and hope for the best. Meanwhile, Canada were relieved to get away from the Argentinian fast start earlier on while they made two early chances of their own to try and bag a goal. But not only they lack numbers to bring it home particularly when looking to go inside the box, their poor possession throughout the 2nd half was just too difficult to stop the Argentineans in the end. I know it’s not the easiest of starts but an unexpected lead with 1-2 early goals if Canada did score would’ve gave themselves up some confidence to try & shut them down.

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UEFA Euro 2024: Hosts Germany unbelievably dominant up front after an outstanding start v Scotland 5-1 at Allianz Arena in Munich

by Sports Benches

The 2024 UEFA European Football Championships has just taken lift-off at Allianz Arena in Munich where the hosts Germany was simply too good for the Scottish 5-1. Germany had a fantastic team effort from start to finish off the back of two early first-half goals including a successful penalty that puts them way in front ahead of half-time 3-0. Nothing has changed at all going into the 2nd half where the hosts continued to hold on up front & although they might have accidentally gifted Scotland their own goal to them in the 87th minute after that free kick deflection went so wrong but the Germans did however with the 5th and final goal to wrap up their first night and round of Euros. Germany’s next match will be against Hungary on Thursday morning AEST time in Stuggart while Scotland will look to bounce back v Switzerland next Friday.

Lots of attacking play and possession there from the hosts whom the Scottish just couldn’t stop them at their own end with goals after goals on the board. The wings have worked well for them including a few changes off the bench where the reserve striker has put up such a good threat against the keeper with one second half goal being bagged as the game goes on. Yes, they might need to be careful when looking to put away things next time rather than an own goal which is something the Germans will be tested in the knockout stages but so far, so good to kickstart the Euros campaign on home soil. Meanwhile, Scotland didn’t get what they wanted when they were really struggling to stop Germany in its tracks where that first goal should’ve easily been put away from the net but it went inside the goal instead. They were the only ones who couldn’t make the most out of their attacking opportunities despite the rare goal being gifted by centre-defender Antonio Rudgier off the free-kick not long before full-time. However, it’s just wasn’t their night unfortunately with lots more work to do in Group A.

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Borussia Dortmund’s early missed opportunities paved the way for Real Madrid to finish off with their 15th Champions League triumph 2-0 at Wembley Stadium

by Sports Benches

What a way to finish off the UEFA European club season at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium earlier this morning (our time) where Borussia Dortmund came back in the main event picture for the first time back in 2013 v the multi-championship winning Spanish giants Real Madrid. The first half was 0-0 with Dortmund leading the way up front where they had a couple of chances but couldn’t get away with a goal that gave Real a sigh of relief. The tug-o-war continued a bit longer going into the 2nd half before Real’s turnaround with the ball led to a series of advantages and that’s where they eventually cashed in two goals in return en route to full-time. One comes from a brilliant header by Dani Carvajal via a corner in the 73rd minute, while Jude Bellingham found the intercept off Ian Maatsen for Carlos Vinicius Jr. to process the finishing touches with the 2nd goal.  

Hard luck from Dortmund to fall short once again having made the best past of their first half performance with a really good threat to try & scare off Real Madrid up front. Unfortunately, they just couldn’t get themselves through the net with a couple of hit and misses here and there – including one that hit the crossbar before it deflects away from the in-goal. What they’ve done despite finishing 5th in the Bundesliga is that they’ve come from a long, long way to get they want to be as sure they will hopefully win back the league that would mean another good Champions League run next season. You got to credit the strong German teams performance across Europe that grants them an extra CL spot on top of the usual four at the best level.

Then congratulations to Real Madrid on their Champions League triumph for the 15th time including yet another major silverware being delivered by the head coach Carlo Ancelotti, which is his 2nd at the Bernabeu having last won it back in late May 2022 v Liverpool 1-0 at Stade De France in Paris, France. They’ve put in a excellent defensive display including a huge effort from the goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois following a really tough last 12 months when he was out for the majority due to an ACL knee injury before getting back out there a few weeks ago & to produce a world-class beater was incredible. Then Real was so fortunate enough to turn things around after half-time that gave them the upper hand – such as the dominant possession & winning penalties/corners/free-kicks that exposed the opposition’s poor defense in the end with the win.

The UEFA Euro 2024 tournament is not far away that will begin in two weeks time across Germany and then we will return later this year on top of the UEFA Super Cup between the best of the European champs (Atalanta from the Europa League v Champions League triumphs Real Madrid) with an expanded but new look Champions League that also applies with the Europa League and Conference League. Gonna be a brilliant few months ahead including the Olympics in Paris as well.

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Rugby

Ayoub El Kaabi’s extra time goal consigns Olympiacos to a Conference League Final win v Fiorentina 1-0 with Jose Luis Mendilibar taking home another major European trophy 

by Sports Benches

It’s been an unforgettable moment to savour from Olympiacos on home soil in Athens tonight in the 2024 Conference League Final while Fiorentina fell short once again – even though the one and only goal took a bit longer to settle by the VAR. It was eventually confirmed as successful during the 2nd extra time period where Olympiacos’s main striker Ayoub El Kaabi was the hero with the winning goal after a quiet run by the two teams for nearly the whole 100-115 minutes up until this point. 

Now Olympiacos have won this trophy for the first time with head coach Jose Luis Mendilibar securing his 2nd major European honours after he got Sevilla home via penalty shootouts last year v AS Roma in the Europa League Final (1-1 with 4-1 in penalties). Olympiacos also won the UEFA Youth Cup a few weeks v AC Milan 3-0 as the last time they won a European trophy other than the Greek Super League & Greek Cup was back in 1963 with the Balkans Cup. Congratulations to them who kept the Italians quiet, especially in defense before they did enough to get the job done with the only and only goal at extra time. Next up is for them to dominate the league again for the first time in a while after they last won back in 2021-22.

Who knows? It could be with Mendilibar or a different coach. And to be a bit personal, let’s hope now ex-West Ham coach who helped beat Fiorentina last year David Moyes can take over a club that might be struggling domestically mid-season but also still the in running via the Europa League & try to win a trophy there. We’ve seen this happening before with Rafa Benitez back in 2013 at Chelsea in the Europa League for a short time as there’s not many out there & take over to finish off the job.

Meanwhile, heartbreak from Fiorentina once again who made it this far to hopefully go one better after they lost the first time 2-1 by West Ham last year. They just couldn’t make the most out of their conversions when the game dragged for so long before it was too little, too late. It’s tough to swallow yet again when the Italian Serie A team will have to attempt this for the third time next season after they finished 8th in the league where they won’t be able to reach anywhere towards the Europa League radar now maybe with a new coach as 46-year-old Vincento Italiano might want a new challenge elsewhere.

Two big finals done with Atalanta finally shut down Bayer Leverkusen’s unreal 51-game winning run last week in the Europa League Final and now Olympiacos winning the Conference League Final, there’s one more to go heading into Saturday night/Sunday morning here for the Champions League Final between Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid at Wembley Stadium.

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Manchester United finish off the 2023-24 season with the FA Cup win over Manchester City 2-1 at Wembley Stadium in London

by Sports Benches

It’s been a very different FA Cup Final on this Manchester arch-rivalry overnight at Wembley Stadium in London – also host of next Sunday morning’s UEFA Champions League Final between Borussia Dortmund & Real Madrid. It’s not Manchester City who couldn’t defend their crown but instead it went to Manchester United whose great start with two goals in the first half was enough to stop City from catching up as the game goes on despite seeing the late opposition goal in the end 2-1.

Interestingly enough, Man Utd now won both men’s and women’s tournaments all in the same season after the women also went one better a few weeks ago v Tottenham Hotspur 4-0. Surprise, Surprise there as City thought they can win this but seems they really need to hang on that Premier League trophy that left Arsenal settle second best once again after another Champions League shortcoming run in the Quarter-Finals. So no European Football at least for the Conference League spot unfortunately for Newcastle United despite finishing 7th with Chelsea getting the nod in 6th despite parting ways with their head coach. And Man Utd will be back alongside Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham (who finished 5th) in the Europa League for the first time since 2022-23 having played in the Champions League last season (unfortunately last in their pool group).

However, an underwhelming league performance still in 8th and a change of hands within minor upper management recently meaning they could see a brand new manager next season. Someone who won this and then get given the flick has happened before, so no surprise if this will happen again but this is a club who is a long way off from the good old glory days.

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Favourites & Unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen finally knocked down by Atalanta BC thanks to Ademola Lookman’s hat-trick with the Europa League Final victory at Aviva Stadium

by Sports Benches

We thought this was Bayer Levekusen’s game to win for yet another time having been unbeaten for so long after their outstanding Bundesliga season without losing a game (a draw doesn’t count) with the title, but unfortunately their series of hit and misses allowed Ademola Lookman to caplitalise on his unbelievable hat-trick for Atalanta BC whose Italian side was just being crowned the champions of the Europa League at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland. The final score was 3-0 after 90 mins.

Gotta feel sorry for the Levekusen fans who saw these dreams turn into reality when you got former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso at the helm as head coach and thought a series of changes later on with a deeper squad would turn things around like it was before. We just didn’t see this happening despite having the most possession as they failed to make the most out of their conversions at least inside the penalty box and instead had balls flying everywhere which didn’t work. There’s no way they can drop out from the Champions League to the Europa League again from now on since the competition format is gonna change going into next season as his next chance would have to wait at another time with Levekusen or another club.

And for Atalanta BC, every time they had the ball they absolutely controlled well whenever they had it to steer clear of the Levekusen defenders thanks to Teun Koopmeiners and their front three before Lookman got the job done from the left wing and voila – back-to-back goals earlier in the first-half plus a 3rd strike later in the last 45 mins from someone who hails from England, played in the Premier League and is a Nigerian International through his parents’ heritage. Hats off to him who made his team’s supporters night something special to cheer about wherever they are including his team-mates and of course, the head coach Gian Piero Gasperini who has never won a major trophy before until now with this one at age 66 – how good!!

We had first-time Europa League winning coaches in the last few editions like 46-year-old Oliver Glasner (now Crystal Palace coach) for Einchart Frankfurt back in 2022 v Rangers and also 61-year-old Jose Luis Mendilibar (now Olympiacos coach who is in the running for next week’s Conference League Final v Fiorentina) last year for Sevilla v AS Roma & sure we’ll see many more to come after Gasperini. Both winners have already qualified for the Champions League next season with Levekusen via their championship league position in the Bundesliga & Atalanta either way with the Europa win tonight (now guaranteed) and the extra league position for the Serie A in 5th (which will then hand over the extra winning Europa to Champions League slot to the 6th-placed side) with two games to spare against Torino and Fiorentina. So that’s it from Aviva Stadium on what has been a cracking game where the top ranked team was crushed by the Italian Atalanta side as can’t wait for the Conference League Final (next Thursday morning) and Champions League Final (next Sunday morning on June 2) throughout next week.

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2024 Super Bowl 58 review, Kansas City Chiefs win once again by 3 points v 49ers before CBS’s new drama Tracker accidentally made its quick cameo on Australian TV

by Sports Benches

Yesterday’s Super Bowl 58 was so unreal to watch where the Sam Francisco 49ers & Kansas City Chiefs have gone side-by-side right from the start to the very end through overtime at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. It was quiet for a bit over the first quarter by both teams before the 49ers got away with their first scoring touches off the boot & the big score while the Chiefs took a little longer to finally get themselves going before they earned a lifeline with not long left on the clock in the fourth quarter. So that leaves one last round to fight on the run home in extra time but still one team will have to take home the Vince Lombardi Trophy for the World Championship. At the end of the day, the winning belongs to the Chiefs once again thanks to a championship-winning setup by Patrick Mahomes to Mecole Hardman, who caught that golden pass in the end for the touchdown by just 3 points with 3 secs to go on the overtime clock. The final score was 22-25.

As said, great start by the 49ers but a few hit and misses later on gave a great opportunity for the Chiefs to catch up whilst leading. Unfortunately, that became their tipping point at overtime where the game was eventually won by the Chiefs & it’s a bitter pill to swallow when being second best. Not a bad season though where they made all the way to the main event which is never easy as it will be exactly three decades now since the 49ers last won a World Championship. Meanwhile, congratulations to the Chiefs on what has been an incredible performance from behind after they came back to haunt the 49ers so late it was enough to take home the trophy. It was a final that was never going to be so easy as it was up to them to stop the 49ers in their tracks and they did so to bring back another huge of silverware in front of their fans and hometown too. Looks like the Chiefs are setting the benchmark now, having won three World Championships in the last five years after a long drought & shortcomings that goes way back to Super Bowl IV (1969). Speaking of the Chiefs, let’s see if a Super Rugby in Waikato, New Zealand, will win at last this season that will begin next Friday. They dominated the round robin part almost undefeated until they fell short in the Final at home (FMG Stadium) by the still unbeatable Crusaders team yet again.

And finally straight after the Super Bowl coverage on TV here, Seven have accidentally showed a bit of CBS’s new drama show called Tracker (based on The Never Game novel by Jeffrey Deaver) for 10 seconds before they quickly moved on to their normal programming for the rest of the day. Not sure if they have the rights to that show since 20th Television handles the International Distribution as would love to see a simulcast or even same day airing of first-run US shows here.  It won’t be possible unfortunately due to the time difference worldwide where we all work during the day while some sleep at the same, so don’t think it will make a difference. Not even in a million years that we will get to watch a live simulcast TV drama or comedy ever that can shared by everyone worldwide from its original country of origin other than just the US and Canada legally unlike news, special events and sports coverage. Plus, reality TV shows lead the way these days which isn’t expensive to produce and have it on the air. For now, bring on Super Rugby again soon starting next Friday while a few more scripted shows have returned with more on the way in the next few weeks to resume & finish off this unusual prime-time TV season.

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