Team News

“We are sad and have tears in our eyes.” This was said by the coach of the Swedish national team, Janne Andersson, in a press conference after the suspended match against Belgium, due to the terrorist attack in Brussels, where two Swedish fans were killed.

“In the first half we heard this unbelievable news. All the players did not want to continue,” he explained. “What kind of world do we live in? Even in Sweden there have been many victims of gun violence recently.”

According to reports in Belgian media, Brussels police on Tuesday morning neutralized the suspected attacker who yesterday killed two Swedish fans who had arrived in the Belgian capital to watch the match against the local national team.

After a shootout, the aggressor was taken to the hospital, where he is in intensive care, after receiving a bullet in the chest.

The Netherlands will face Greece today in the evening, in a challenge full of emotions.

The “Tulips” are currently ranked third in the group, 3 points less than Greece, but with one game less.
Before this challenge, the coach of the Netherlands, Ronald Koeman, spoke saying that the Greeks are determined to make the match difficult for them.

“The situation we are in makes victory necessary for us. There is no reason to panic in our camp about the strategies that the opponent may use in achieving the objective. It is true that the atmosphere will be electrifying and they will try to take advantage of this factor.

Important to stay as a united group and maintain peace of mind. This is the only way we will face them. Maintaining clarity will help us in making the cases concrete.

In such duels, the chances are slim and if you don’t make them concrete, then you will face the consequences, the elimination, but don’t think about that. Despite the loss with France at home, that meeting left some positive details that can be useful to us against the Greeks”, concluded the coach of the Netherlands, Ronald Koeman.

France, Portugal and Belgium are the first three teams to secure qualification to the final stage of Euro 2024, joining hosts Germany.

Kylian Mbappé, Cristiano Ronaldo and Dodi Lukebakio helped their teams to formalize participation in the most important continental tournament.

Mbappé’s fantastic brace beat the Netherlands 2-1 in Amsterdam. The captain of the French reached the quota of 42 goals in the representative team, climbing to the fourth place in the list of historical goleadors of the “turkeys”.

Thanks to two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal won 3-2 with Slovakia. The 38-year-old reached the quota of 125 goals in the international arena, as the “Lusitanians” maintained a perfect run, recording only victories in Group J.

Belgium’s victory against Austria also sealed qualification. The “Red Devils” won 3-2 in Vienna, thanks to two goals from Dodi Lukebakio and Romelu Lukaku’s goal. The Belgians remain unbeaten, as the last defeat in the European Championship qualifiers dates back to 2015.

The scandal of Serie A football players involved in illegal betting deepens. According to the media beyond the Adriatic, it is not only Fagioli, Zanioli, Tonali and Zaleuski, while it is thought that the number of footballers who have made tax evasion and participated in illegal bets (placed also for their teams) is even greater.

The “bomb” was broken by Fabrizio Corona, the man known to the paparazzi in Italy and a well-known personality. In a conversation with “Corrierre Dello Sport”, Corona reveals that there are six clubs and ten other footballers involved, without touching Serie B here.

“Know that at least 10 other footballers are involved, 5-6 football agents and clubs, there are also clandestine gambling dens. This investigation will shake Italy. How many football teams are involved? Five or six. I can’t to mention the names, otherwise I will also be investigated”, said Corona.

As for the source of the information, he said that he is the uncle of a former Inter player at the time of Mourinho, who then also opened such a business when he saw the great involvement of footballers in this activity.

“We will show other names and reveal our source of the news. He is the uncle of a former Inter player of Mourinho’s, a close friend of Mario Balotelli. Mario is a friend of mine, he has been here many times, he is shocked by the evidence I gave him. The uncle said his nephew had moved to Rome and then opened a gambling den,” explains Corona.

Gambling is not a crime (however it is prohibited if bets are placed with bookmakers not authorized by the Italian state), but the article in question specifies the prohibition “for subjects of the federal system, for managers, for members of societies belonging to the professional sector to decide or accept bets, directly or indirectly, also by parties authorized to receive them, which have as their object results in relation to official matches organized within the framework of FIGC, FIFA and UEFA”.