Tag: Slovakia

Ian Darke went bananas over Jude Bellingham’s breathtaking bicycle kick goal to save England at Euro 2024

Jude Bellingham to the RESCUE!!!

England’s uninspiring play at Euro 2024 continued on Sunday during a grueling Round of 16 game against Slovakia. It sure seemed like the Three Lions, a heavy tournament favorite, would really be upset by the massive underdog from Central Europe.

Then superstar midfielder Jude Bellingham had a say. Because of course he did.

With England fighting for its tournament life in the last moments of stoppage time, Bellingham got off an incredible bicycle kick that found the back of the net and tied the game at 1-1. Given the stakes, it will likely be remembered as one of the greatest goals in English history.

You can hardly blame English announcer Ian Darke for losing his mind over Bellingham’s remarkable “rescue.”

“Jude Bellingham! A rescue! It had to be him, didn’t it?”

Any time you see Bellingham, one of the best players in the world, play like a star when their team needs him most, you should count yourself lucky. And any time you can hear someone like Darke capture the moment perfectly, you know you’re living large as a soccer fan.

Mere moments later, in extra time — 192 seconds to be exact — Harry Kane gave England the lead on a header:

If the English go on to win, this stunning two-goal sequence from Bellingham and Kane will be firmly etched as one of the most iconic moments the Euros have ever seen.

Featured image courtesy of Fox Sports

These 2 VAR decisions were key in Slovakia pulling off the biggest upset in Euro history

VAR singlehandedly broke Belgium’s heart in the biggest Euro upset ever.

The current iteration of Belgium men’s soccer already wasted its latest golden generation. Monday’s humiliation at the hands of Slovakia in its Euro 2024 opener was an insulting cherry on top.

The Red Devils entered this matchup ranked No. 3 in the world by FIFA. We can dispute the merits of such a questionable ranking at a different time — because it is dubious — but the fact remains that the world’s most powerful governing soccer body still thought that highly of Belgium.

Slovakia, meanwhile, was ranked No. 48 by FIFA. Again, Slovakia’s overall team quality was probably better at face value, but that’s not what some important soccer minds thought.

Yet, for most of the 90 minutes, Slovakia appeared to be the better team.

It took a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the proceedings from an Ivan Schranz goal and never relinquished it. Even with spirited Slovakian defending, it probably helped that VAR detected not one but two Belgian missteps on massive goal opportunities.

The first came early in the second half. Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku — one of the greatest pure goal-scorers ever — had an easy tap-in on the doorstep. The only issue? He was clearly offside upon the immediate VAR review.

Tough break, man:

Later, with Belgium desperately holding onto any whiff of hope, Lois Openda appeared to set Lukaku up with another perfect goal. However, after the fact, VAR determined that Openda touched the ball with his hand before getting control, thanks to a contact sensor.

Sure, it probably didn’t meaningfully change the trajectory of the ball. Still, Openda did technically break the main rule of soccer, and as such, this goal was also disallowed:

That is just rotten luck for Belgium and all supporters of the Red Devils.

By the disparity of the pre-game FIFA World Rankings, it is officially the biggest upset in men’s Euro tournament history. My goodness:

By no means is Belgium done. It still has two very winnable games with Romania and Ukraine. With that said, taking one on the chin against a considerable underdog like Slovakia is the worst possible way for this top contender to begin Euro 2024.

Cowell and Slonina star as USA finishes perfect U-20 World Cup group stage

The U.S. defeated Slovakia 2-0 behind goals from two San Jose Earthquakes players

The U.S. completed a perfect group stage at the U-20 World Cup, defeating Slovakia 2-0 on Friday to advance as Group B winners.

The San Jose Earthquakes provided both of the goalscorers for the USA. Cade Cowell opened the scoring in the 38th minute with a superb individual effort, while Niko Tsakiris put the game away with a goal in second-half stoppage time.

Though the U.S. controlled much of the proceedings, Gabriel Slonina was called into action on multiple occasions, and his tremendous sprawling save in the first half kept Slovakia off the board.

Slonina has not conceded a goal in three games so far at the World Cup, all of which have been wins for the U.S. As Group B winners, the U.S. will now face a third-place team on Tuesday in the round of 16.

Cowell gave Slovakia fits all game with his pace and close control, but his finishing let him down on multiple occasions. He did, however, find a telling finish in the 38th minute to give his side the lead after bypassing no fewer than four defenders.

Slonina then prevented Slovakia from scoring against the run of play with an outstanding diving stop.

Slovakia took more control as it pushed for an equalizer late in the game, but Tsakiris put the game away by showing real composure inside the box after a pass from Quinn Sullivan.

After defeating Ecuador, Fiji and Slovakia, the U.S. will get two key reinforcements for the knockout stage: Kevin Paredes and Rokas Pukštas will join up ahead of the last 16 after their club sides agreed to release them if the U.S. advanced past the group stage.

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Slovakia goalkeeper gifted Spain a goal after he accidentally punched the ball into his own net

Not great!

Spain entered Wednesday’s final day of Group E action in need of three points after a pair of draws to start its Euro 2020 (taking place in 2021) campaign.

Well, Slovakia goalkeeper Martin Dubravka did Spain a solid in the first half with one of the more embarrassing own goals you’ll ever see.

With the match scoreless in 30th minute, Pablo Sarabia’s shot attempt hit the crossbar and went straight up in the air. Dubravka appeared to be in perfect position to simply punch the ball over the bar and concede the corner.

But Dubravka tragically mistimed his jump and, uh, did this instead …

He punched the ball right into his own net. Like, what?

My colleague, Andy Nesbitt, loves to mock soccer goalkeepers with some variation of “he should tip the ball over the bar” whenever a goal gets conceded. But Dubravka tried to take that advice, and it didn’t work!

Spain would add another goal to go up 2-0 at halftime.

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