MANCHESTER, England-- England's Bukayo Saka netted a hat-trick in a 7-0 rout of North Macedonia as they tightened their grip atop Group C in Euro 2024 qualifying on Monday with a fourth consecutive victory. Captain Harry Kane, with his 57th and 58th goals for his country, Marcus Rashford and Kalvin Phillips all scored at Old Trafford in a game the hosts dominated as predicted. "This is a feeling I can't really put into words. There's nothing I can say to describe it. I'm just so happy," Saka told Channel 4.
Manager Gareth Southgate revealed that Saka's tremendous performance had come despite a nagging Achilles injury. "He's had it for a few weeks," Southgate told a news conference. "It is an injury that just needs managing... when you've had one of the best nights of your life, it's a reminder that it's worth going through these things." England look set for next year's finals after amassing a perfect 12 points, having also beaten Ukraine, who are second on six points from three matches, Italy and Malta. Saka's scoring heroics came in a flurry straddling halftime. His first goal in the 38th minute was an angled shot into the top corner. His second just after the break came after he chested the ball down and struck a left-foot volley. Saka completed his treble in the 51st after running on to a through ball from Kane and then was swamped by joyous team mates.
Southgate wrapped the grinning 21-year-old in a bear hug when he was substituted minutes later. Saka, who left the pitch after the final whistle clutching the game ball, is the first Arsenal player to score a hat-trick for England, and the youngest since Theo Walcott in 2008 against Croatia. On the heels of a brilliant season for Arsenal, Monday also marked a high after he missed the decisive penalty kick in a shootout loss to Italy in the 2020 Euro final -- held in 2021. "It's been a really long season. I couldn't have ended it in a better way," Saka said. "Time to relax and have a break. We're really happy with the way the fans turned out and supported us." Kane opened the scoring in the 29th minute and the Tottenham star added a second with a second-half penalty kick. Rashford tapped in a cross from Jordan Henderson just before halftime, while Manchester City's Phillips scored in the 64th minute. "Tonight was a really special display that we put out," Saka said.
"Of course, with me and (Rashford) running down the wings, we were really direct and they couldn't really handle us. I enjoyed playing out there today." Three days after their 4-0 away win over Malta, the thrashing of North Macedonia added to England's dominant run of Euro qualifying that stretches back to 2016. They have won their last 12 home qualifiers by an aggregate score of 47-4. England next play Ukraine on Sept. 9 when fourth-placed North Macedonia, who are struggling to match their qualifying high of Euro 2020 and have three points from three matches, host Italy. The Italians are third with three points from two games.
ENSCHEDE, Netherlands-- Italy claimed the consolation bronze medals at the Nations League finals, and added to a disappointing week for hosts the Netherlands, as they edged the Dutch 3-2 in Sunday’s third place playoff tie at the Twente Stadium. Federico Dimarco thrashed the ball home at the far post in the sixth minute and Davide Frattesi doubled the score from in front of goal in the 20th minute to give Italy a comfortable halftime lead. But the Dutch launched a concerted second half comeback, making three attacking changes at the break, laying siege to Italy’s goal and seeing Steven Bergwijn pull a goal back in the 68th minute. Federico Chiesa restored the two goal advantage at the end of a 73rd minute counterattack but there was an exciting conclusion as Georginio Wijnaldum got a second for the Dutch in the 89th. But even though nine minutes of stoppage time was added on, Italy held out under home pressure for victory. Italy made a quick start as they put together a sequence of quick passes with Giacomo Raspadori backheeling the ball to Dimarco for a thunderous finish. The shock of the goal silenced the home fans and there was hardly any noise 14 minutes later when a fortunate rebound fell for Frattesi to score, as he chested the ball down before squeezing it home. The transformed Dutch side tested Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the second half. He made an impressive block to deny Cody Gakpo, who had missed a glaring first half chance. Gakpo did contribute, however, as he set up Bergwijn for the home side’s first goal, with the substitute showing composure as he dragged the ball from his right to left foot before rifling home. Five minutes later Chiesa broke from inside his own half down the left flank and squeezed his shot inside the far post as the Dutch were caught out pushing up in search of a second goal. Wijnaldum’s late goal renewed hopes of a comeback but it was not to be for the Dutch, who had high hopes of home success in the tournament but were beaten 4-2 in extra time by Croatia in Wednesday’s first semi-final. Italy lost to a last-minute goal in their semi-final against Spain on Thursday. Croatia and Spain contest the final in Rotterdam later on Sunday.
ROTTERDAM-- Croatia scored twice in extra time to beat the Netherlands 4-2 in their Nations League semi-final in Rotterdam on Wednesday and advance to Sunday’s decider. Croatia will play either Italy or Spain, who face off in the second semi-final in Enschede on Thursday, for a first major title as they continued their form from last year’s World Cup in Qatar, where they finished third. Substitute Bruno Petkovic curled home a stunning shot from the edge of the penalty area eight minutes into extra time to put them on their way and Luka Modric made sure of Croatia’s triumph with a late penalty, their second of the game.
The Dutch, hosting the four-nation tournament, had forced extra time with a last-gasp equaliser to ensure it finished 2-2 after 90 minutes despite being largely outplayed in front of their home fans at the Feyenoord Stadium. Donyell Malen handed the hosts a 34th-minute lead before Andrej Kramaric equalised from the penalty spot 10 minutes into the second half. Croatia then went ahead through Mario Pasalic in the 73rd minute before Noa Lang side-footed the ball into the roof of the net to equalise six minutes into stoppage time. The Netherlands’ first goal came against the run of play, but at the end of a swift series of passes that saw both quick feet and precise thinking. Cody Gakpo set it up by winning possession and five passes later, Mats Wieffer teed up an unmarked Malen to fire home.
But it was the street-smarts of Croatia captain Modric that got them level, stealing the ball in the Dutch penalty area from Gakpo, whose instinctive reaction was to tug at the 37-year-old veteran who went tumbling to the ground to win a penalty. Kramaric tucked it away comfortably, after which Luka Ivanusec played a pass into Pasalic, that he fired home on the turn despite a host of Dutch defenders around him to give Croatia a 2-1 lead. But a desperate last attack saw the Dutch take advantage of Croatia’s failure to clear their lines with Lang perfectly placed to equalise and force the game into extra time.
Parity, however, did not last long. Modric’s pass put Petkovic through on goal and he curled the ball into the net with a shot worthy of winning any cup tie. Modric completed the win with the late spotkick to seal another outstanding individual performance. The Netherlands now have to play in the third-place playoff game against Thursday’s losers in Enschede on Sunday. The final is in Rotterdam later that day.
ENSCHEDE, Netherlands-- Substitute Joselu scored a fortunate winner three minutes from the end as Spain booked their place in a second successive Nations League final with a deserved 2-1 victory over Italy on Thursday. Coach Luis de la Fuente’s side will meet Croatia in Sunday’s decider in Rotterdam having lost to France in the final two years ago.
Italy take on hosts Netherlands for the bronze medal. Spain capitalised on a defensive lapse to take the lead inside three minutes as Yeremy Pino produced a cool finish, but when debutant Robin Le Normand handled the ball in the box, Italy’s Ciro Immobile scored his first international goal in two years from the penalty spot. Extra-time looked inevitable as both teams ran out of ideas in search of a winner, and perhaps fittingly it came in bizarre circumstances when Rodri’s fierce shot bounced off two defenders and fell kindly for Joselu to poke home from four yards. Spain now face a Croatia side who they beat 5-3 after extra-time in the last 16 at the Euro 2020 finals. "The team played a great game," Joselu told reporters.
"We dominated almost the entire second half, just the goal was missing. "I was alone after Rodri's shot, it fell (to me) and I was confident I wasn't offside. I'm happy for my goal because we're now into a final with a chance to win a trophy." Thursday's result in Enschede was a repeat of the 2021 Nations League semi-final between the teams and became a battle of Spain’s possession game versus Italy’s ability to hit them on the counter-attack with swift breaks. Spain enjoyed 61% of possession but as has been the case for them in recent times, they struggled to make use of it.
They were gifted the opener when Leonardo Bonucci was caught in possession by Yeremy, and the Spaniard slid the ball into the far corner. But Italy struck back straight away with good fortune of their own. They were awarded a clear penalty when debutant centre back Le Normand handled the ball in the box and Immobile sent Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon the wrong way from the spot. The game fell into a lull in the final 20 minutes before Joselu, who had only been on the pitch three minutes, was in the right place at the right time to guide Spain into another final. "Spain deserved it, even if they only found the goal right near the end. We set up slightly differently, but we couldn't do much in the second half," Italy coach Roberto Mancini told RAI.
ENGLAND- - Even a thunderstorm could not dent Manchester City's rousing victory parade on Monday as the players and manager Pep Guardiola celebrated completing the long-awaited treble after winning the Champions League trophy over the weekend.
City players soaked their already drenched fans with champagne during the delayed open-top bus parade that marked the club's most successful season -- when they followed their victorious runs in the FA Cup and Premier League with a 1-0 win over Inter Milan that secured them their first European Cup title. The blue side of Manchester were all euphoric as the team and fans also celebrated becoming only the second English club to win the treble, equalling the 1999 milestone of their fierce rivals Manchester United. "What a parade, what an afternoon, it had to be the best parade with this rain, otherwise is not Manchester.
We don't want sunshine," said Premier League manager of the year Guardiola in front of thousands of fans. Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan, who scored twice against United to claim the FA Cup title nine days ago, each showed off one of the trophies they won. "Basically for the past 24 hours, I've had the best day and night. To be fair, I don't think I've slept," said Grealish before Kalvin Phillips poured some alcohol into his mouth. As the players left the stage, the celebrations seemed far from over for the City fans who were ready to party on long into the night.
