Spanish domination, classy goals, and suspicious smells | Euro 2025 #2

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2:23Rachel: Welcome to Upfront, I'm Clay Morgan. And I'm Rachel O'Sullivan. The Euros is properly underway now as Spain demolished Portugal 5-0 in Bern. Rach, you called it. I think actually we both called it. And we have to ask the question already, can anyone stop Spain? They look too damn strong. Plus, Italy got a good win against Belgium and we look ahead to the next set of favourites looking to lay down a marker, including, of course, the Lionesses.

2:55Rachel: Obviously, Rach, I think it's best maybe to approach the really sad news that dropped yesterday. Diego Jota, the Liverpool and Portugal forward, and his brother, Andre Silva, passed away yesterday morning. I think from all of us in the football community, absolutely devastated by the news. I think it doesn't matter whether you're a women's fan, a men's football fan, a general fan, or just a member of the general public who couldn't care less about sports. It was just a big shock to everyone. I think the community really rallied together. Yesterday, there were so many lovely sort of posts going out about all the incredible memories that he'd created for people, how incredible his legacy was off the pitch as well, his engagement with the women's team and just generally what an all round good egg he was.

3:42Rachel: Obviously, I think there was a bit of a link there between the Portugal manager, Francisco Neto, and Diego sort of talking about his time coaching Jusser when he was a coach of the men's under 19 side and there was obviously a load of really lovely tributes that were paid in his memory just before the Spain-Portugal game a moment of silence there as well beforehand and loads of fans sort of with like these lovely pictures of Diego sort of around the stadium as well but yeah from all of us here up front yeah thoughts and yeah best regards to Diogo's family, friends and the rest of the football community has been affected by what happened yesterday.

4:23Rachel: OK, Rach, obviously you're on the ground in Switzerland. This is your second game that you've been to. You were talking to us a little bit about some of the sensory experiences that you were having recently. I don't know if you want to share those before we kind of jump into the Spain-Portugal game. That would be great, if that's OK. I think I got quite unlucky in multiple ways in terms of where I was sitting as a photographer yesterday. So for people who don't know, the way it's done now is that you're given like a time slot based on, I guess, you know, if you're Spain or a Portugal photographer, you're going to be put in slot A, there's B, C, D, E, F, like all the way down.

5:03And you get given a time slot and you go online, you pick your seat. So I did that. I picked the seat I wanted. I wanted to be able to shoot Spain coming out, for example. So I was like, I'll do their defending end for the first half. Nice. And I'll do their, then I'll get their attacking end in the second half. It's always a bit of a lottery. And I didn't think I was going to get any goals because obviously that fifth goal, which we'll get into, was scored in injury time. But I was sat there for the whole second half going, seriously? They've scored four goals in the first half, which I didn't get any of.

5:32Rachel: That was a gamble that didn't really pay off for sure. Well, this is it. It's hard. It's a hard gamble to pay as a photographer. for it and sometimes if you know someone down the other end maybe you can switch but that's not always guaranteed so I had that issue and I also had to contend with the smell in the stadium so for whatever reason where I was you couldn't smell it up in the press box but down my end of the stadium and I and there was kind of like an opening at the the back of the stadium maybe it was wafting in from there but it just smelled like hot garbage and it was quite off it was quite off-putting in the Wankdorf Stadium so it was a combination what was that don't they don't roll back a second there what was it called the wankdorf stadium so um it was a lot but i will say it was uh slightly less hot than the day before so i guess that garbage smell could have been worse if i'm looking for the positives oh that's really nice thank you for giving myself and the listeners that real flavor i suppose of what's happening on the ground um yeah i mean we obviously want to know about the football but i think it's really important to actually get that sensory experience of like what's going on in the one context.

6:34I want you to feel like you're there right with me.

6:35Rachel: Yeah I do honestly I might just open up the bin later just to get that like that experience of what you've had. I might be. Maybe not maybe not that part. Anyway let's get stuck into the game because it obviously was a very spicy game. Spain beat Portugal 5-0. It was one-way traffic. We can't deny the fact that Spain were incredibly dominant in this game. I was looking at some of the possession stats and I think it was up around the sort of 73-75 % Spain obviously in possession absolutely rampant by the time 45 minutes came around Spain were already up 4-0 we've got to talk about some of these goals because they were coming left right and centre from all different areas of the pitch created completely different chances and of course I mean Esther Gonzalez's opener I mean came within a matter of seconds I mean did it feel like actually when that first goal went in that it was just going to be that was it the floodgates had already opened night a mere 90 120 seconds into the game and actually that was just the sort of marker for how the game was going to go yeah absolutely initially first goal goes in you think okay portugal have not are not at the races they've not woken up get it together get it together here we go get that smell in your face come on let's go really wake yourself up like one of those smelling salts type things um and you thought okay right get compact don't let them have another one five minutes later Vicky Lopez right so two goals in five minutes and I messaged Sophie and I was like so this is how this game's gonna go I suppose it's no surprise really um I think you know we called it a bit we also thought you know they've had to deal with this really difficult news during the day it could be a galvanizing factor it could be something that you know I don't want to say distraction but it's something else that they're thinking about which is completely understandable but um yeah I thought that when it got to 2-0 and then they held it for a little while and I was like okay maybe they'll like be able to become a little bit more disciplined i think that's what i found really frustrating with portugal and if you watch some of the goals back the defensive discipline just isn't really there they look a bit like you know i don't want to say kids i don't want to be disrespectful but that kind of following the ball type vibe and not sticking with your player and maybe not recognizing the role you have in this game it's like the couple of goals went in and they just completely forgot what they were supposed to be doing on the pitch and you know then they scored the four goals came another two minutes you know 41 minutes and 43 minutes and it was almost like that goal went in and then and Spain put the foot down was like get them again you know really kind of ruthless and they did it again then after the Boteas goal and then Gonzalez scored again so yeah it was that kind of idea of a one-two punch you know what I mean and hitting them while they were down and suddenly it was nil at halftime but I think the frustration is the number of goals Portugal have conceded over the last few games is up in the 20s I think in their last four or five games and I think it's concerning that there isn't that kind of tactical intelligence and look playing Spain is bloody hard right we all know how difficult it is to play against them to to recognize what you need to do to be super disciplined for 90 plus minutes but it was almost like they went out to try and play their own game against Spain which just seems really naive and Spain just cut them apart I was I was going to say, I think, I mean, the commentary kind of picked up at it at half time and they were kind of saying it looked like there was a disorganised back line for a start.

9:53Rachel: There was, like you said, that ball watching there. I mean, there was a couple of the goals where the balls were kind of coming in from either the left or the right wing. And the Portuguese players were completely all four of them, all four or five of them around the penalty area, just looking directly at the ball, not following markers that were running in behind them. And I think that's how a couple of the goals were scored. And it was a little bit baffling to see that because Portugal, you know, they weren't expected to win this game, but they are of a really good standard. And I think even doing the basics, that just wasn't there at all.

10:23Rachel: And I think, I mean, I've got to give credit to Esther Gondalas. I thought she was absolutely spicy as hell during this game. I think she was very lucky with the, it was the second goal, wasn't it? Where she kind of, it came off her shun and I don't think she'd even realised that it got in. It was Pinho, wasn't it, with the cross, yeah. Yes. And it kind of, I think it sort of like hit the bar, hit the post and then kind of came back in and it happened to sort of find its way to Gonzalez's shin and went in. And I think that was the, that seemed like the goal that felt like the absolute lane in the coffin.

10:52Rachel: At 2-0, there's a glimmer of hope, a very small glimmer of hope. You could get a goal, it could be 2-1, it might not feel so bad. But yeah, that third goal, you can see just the disappointment. And I felt sorry for the Portuguese goalkeeper as well. I think, I mean, she had an absolute rough time of it and did her absolute best with what she had. But she was being sold down the river, I think, by the lack of defensive awareness that was going on. Got a talk also, I suppose, about Alexi Puteas' goal. You kind of expect that every time Puteas is going to score, she's obviously a big fan favourite, you know, coming back into the game off the back of the injuries, sort of missing major competitions.

11:27Rachel: But there didn't seem to be that big celebration that we were kind of expecting. in I don't know whether that was just maybe me seeing it on TV and maybe actually by the time that goal went in actually it wasn't it wasn't that big a deal given the context of the previous three goals that had happened but Rachel did you get that or is that just sort of um is that an over exaggeration? No I don't I think it's a combination of things I think you know the fans in the stadium very much expected Spain to win this game I think when they scored two goals in five minutes the crowd were pretty sure about how this game was going to go so actually there was a lot of support anytime Portugal got forward even from the Spanish fans you know people were willing them on to kind of do well and try and get back into this game.

12:05So perhaps there was an element of that. You have to factor in what the Portuguese team are going through. Perhaps there was an element of respect as well. But, you know, I think Spain knew they should be winning this game. So once they get 2-3 nil up, it's what they're expecting to do, I suppose. I thought Patea's had a really good game. Very, very impactful. I know you touched, I want to go back to what you touched on Gonzalez there. I just think she's just added another layer to the Spanish style of play, which I didn't think they could find. But, you know, in the past, we've spoken about sometimes players being put in that number nine position, that it's not really their natural position.

12:39Sometimes Salma Pariola has been put up there and she's not as effective in that position as she will be at wide. And I think Gonzalez offers that clinical number nine. You kind of see with Barcelona as well, with Pairo, where they have that option now where they can go long. And we're seeing Spain do that sometimes where they're going over the top, but it's just another weapon that they can use and I just it just felt like Portugal then were at sixes and sevens they didn't know where I was going to come from next so yeah Puteas got the goal could have had more and we've got to touch on Vicky Lopez as well getting a goal she had to step in and Itana Balmatti's absence and you know and we we said no Balmatti is it's no problem I think is what the BBC headline is but there's such a wealth of experience and Lopez came in and really shone like her first Euros start and she gets a goal.

13:26So that's going to be a very exciting thing for Spanish fans to see her coming on the pitch, doing well. She could really light this tournament up, I think.

13:33Rachel: I mean, can you even believe or even cope with the fact that she's only 18, already won three Liga F titles with Barca and then goes on to pull out a goal at the Euros in the opening game, trying to kind of also, not replace because she's a good player in her own right, but kind of like do the job of someone that she knows. Stepping into Bob Matty's shoes. Stepping into Bob Matty's shoes. and absolutely nailing it. You couldn't have asked for anything more from her. Let's touch a little bit then on Bob Matty. Obviously, she had the viral meningitis. We weren't too sure whether she was actually going to make it to the competition.

14:06Rachel: Then it was confirmed that she was. And then we weren't too sure whether we were going to actually see her have any minutes in the game. But, of course, she did. Only nine minutes towards the end. Really bloody scored. Rach, what were your thoughts on this when you saw Bob Matty warming up and coming off the bench? I just thought it was so unnecessary. They were not from a poor Portugal, they're already 4-0 down kind of view, although that's one view you could look at. But she'd literally been in hospital days earlier. I don't feel like the kind of player that needs minutes or is going to get rusty.

14:40So not playing the Portugal game wasn't going to be detrimental to her impact on the squad. so I just felt like what's the need of putting her on I don't know maybe but then like she's won so much that she's not the kind of player who's going to get nervous and then you know to be like let's give her some minutes to the Euros where she can at least feel like she's ticked up I just yeah I struggled to wrap my head around why they felt the need to bring her on but she did nearly score so that would have been absolutely ridiculous if she had

15:09Rachel: It was exactly a close call like you were 4-0 up by the time you brought on Bon Matty and again like you said Raze like this is not her first rodeo um I don't think she needed those nine minutes but hopefully that's helped in some way um I I can't say listen what it does do is it absolutely proves and shows the depth that Spain have on their bench we often talk about England's depth being a weapon but like this level of depth is insane when you've got Vicky Lopez who's arguably the one that would be coming into that position as um as a substitute playing the way she did and having itana bonmatti come off the bench like yeah spain's depth is is frightening i think um after that game i saw a lot of fan accounts and those are fan accounts from across every nation involved in the euro saying pretty much let's all call it a day let's all have a good summer give spain the trophy now and let's just have a bit of a party for the next three weeks essentially look you look don't get be wrong spain look absolutely frightening we know how good they are but also they were playing portugal and portugal played poorly so not that i'm saying don't get ahead of ourselves because i picked pain spain to win i still think they'll win this tournament but they were playing portugal who didn't really turn up to be honest incredibly leaky um and didn't they spain will face tougher tests that's not to say that they didn't look frightening they weren't even playing their best 11, Irina Paredes was suspended for that first game, Katta Cole was sick, so she wasn't in the starting 11, so they are even better than what we saw yesterday, but you've got to have that context of who they were playing as well.

16:47I think they'll have no problem in the group, let's put it that way, and they may face, I would like to think, tougher challenges as the tournament goes on, but it definitely hasn't

16:57Rachel: changed my opinion in terms of who I think is going to win the tournament. okay let's temper our hype then a little bit about the spain squad um i mean i'm all for kind of doing that to be honest i mean i got called uh so we had a she's a baller um what do you call it uh what do you do when you have the horses oh um sweepstake sweepstake yeah we had a she's a ball of sweepstake i got lionesses in mine like just so you did them yeah and that it wasn't cheating so much i didn't actually pull it out but like my it was my colleague who works on the shoes who happened to yeah yeah i mean you know that they could have been some allegations of that but i just want to reassure everyone that that didn't happen um so yeah the lionesses so spain obviously for you rake and the lionesses now there's a financial there's a serious financial gain on on it so i think it's roughly about 30 pounds so wow wait and see yeah i know i know when you're back in the country we'll uh we'll pick up a beer for sure yeah yeah let's talk about italy belgium uh one nil in the other game in group b last night we're only two days in and we have seen some outstanding goals already this tournament i think up there for one of the goals the tournament already has got to be ariana caruso's winner i mean if you haven't seen it definitely go and seen it i see it she takes the ball beautiful first touch and then the angle of the ball like the the float the trajectory of the ball into that top left hand corner is i mean goalkeeper had no chance it wasn't even that was just there was no let's not even talk about it I mean Rach I mean what did you make of this game because it felt like Italy for the most part I think were on the front foot and I think people were expecting Belgium to deliver a little bit more but potentially well so this was the teams these are the two teams we thought could potentially take second I actually didn't think it would be as close an affair as it was and I think it was quite a close affair.

18:51I actually think Belgium to a degree looked, edged it in the first half. I think they looked comfortable dealing with Italy and they looked dangerous when they went on the counter, which they are very good at. And they had a number of times where they sent the ball over. They had a very quick counter attack and they had opportunities, you know, Tessa Bullard pulled one wide. I think there were a couple of times where Tessa Bullard found herself out wide and she needed a Tessa Bullard in the middle, you know, that kind of way. Like she You almost needed someone else to be making that motion and that run up the wing so that she could be in the middle to finish it off.

19:24But yeah, I think Italy defensively stayed strong, stayed in the game. They created chances, even with less possession, especially as the second half went on. You know, they obviously got the goal just before halftime, but with less possession, they created more. They were more efficient with the opportunities they created as well. So I think Belgium will be disappointed to have had 53 % and have 10 shots with only two on target, whereas Italy had 17 shots with seven on target. I think as the game went on, the second half went on, Italy could have put the game to bed. Definitely. They could have been a little bit more comfortable towards the end and made it 2-3-0.

19:56Rachel: Cheeky little back heel by Garelli that was like, I mean, amazingly sane by the goalkeeper. But yeah, I mean, that could have been kind of one of those Alessio Russo Euro 2022 moments. But yeah. So yeah, I think it got nervy towards the end. And I think had Italy allowed Belgium back into it, they would have been very disappointed because, you know, They had the chance to put the game to bed. But yeah, I think probably deserve the three points. And I'm pleased, obviously, because I pipped them for second. I think they need to pick it up a little bit. They're just, I think, sometimes a little bit passive or a little bit sloppy when they came to chances.

20:31And some of those shots on target were quite kind of soft, weak shots. So like I said about Portugal, when you do create those opportunities, you're going to be coming up against Spain. You need to be more efficient and more competent in front of goal, I think.

20:46Rachel: I mean, one of the benefits, and I think it was Emma Sanders who pointed this out, it also ended a run of Italy of three successive losses to Belgium. So that's quite a nice little stat there. Yeah. Got a boogie back off your back. They haven't won an opening game at the Euro since 2009. And that was against England. Yeah. So, you know, this could kind of maybe give them a bit of a boost. I think it was at the Euros last year where it opened and they played France, I think, and they lost 5-0. They were like 5-0 down in the first half or something. And funnily enough, the Spain-Portugal game reminded me of that Italy-France game because, of course, I was sat the wrong bloody end for all five goals.

21:23So, yeah, I think this is an important win for them to get this in their first game because, yeah, Spain's going to be tough, but they'll feel that they can take Portugal.

21:34Rachel: I think it's that. I mean, it kind of creates a little bit of that mental block, I think. I mean, for Belgium, this is the game that you want to pick up points in. You know that you're going to be facing Spain. So now you're kind of thinking, oh, that's probably like potentially two losses that we've registered there. That's going to make getting out of this group stage a pretty monumental task. But Belgium could pull it out of the bag and do something unbelievable and, you know, create that David and Goliath type situation. We've seen weirder things happen at the Euros. They play Spain next. And again, you know, they know they can score against Spain.

22:06I think it was in the Nations League they went 2-0 up by ultimately losing 3-2. but they're the kind of moments they're going to have to draw on and they will be frustrated that they lost just the 1-0 to Italy because obviously it's kind of between them. You never know, Portugal could come and surprise them all, Portugal play Italy next. So yeah, round two of the matches is going to be very telling.

22:28Rachel: Definitely. Well, coming up after this, we look ahead to tonight's games and also talk England.

23:09Rachel: We'll see you next time. wherever you get your podcasts. This is Nick and Jack from The Best One Yet, and we are excited to tell you about Walmart Business. Staying ahead of business trends means moving fast and adapting quickly. Walmart Business helps you simplify operations so you can focus on building the next big thing. Find exactly what your organization needs with their ever-expanding business assortment and everyday low prices. Keep your momentum going fast with reliable shipping and fulfillment. Eligible organizations can take advantage of tax-free shopping, both in-store and online, saving you more while getting you everything you need.

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24:23Rachel: Tonight, obviously, we've got Denmark versus Sweden and Germany versus Poland. So just to recap there, so Germany beat Poland in the recent Nations League and we'll expect to do the same tonight. this will be Poland's major tournament debut I mean how excited are you rates to kind of see Poland in action it feels like you know you've got your Poland's you've got your Wales and this is like the first real kind of foray into big tournament football yeah I think regardless of what happens tonight it's going to be a monumental one and you can never underestimate an underdog or a dark horse never no and I think obviously Ivo Pajor is a huge weapon for Poland because you know with some of the teams that we are considering underdogs they perhaps don't have those weapons that when they do and I touched on it there with Portugal those decision making like getting into those moments like one of the Portuguese fullbacks I can't remember which one it was kind of found herself in loads of space and you could just see her as she got to the box just like bloody nosebleed she was so high up the pitch do you know that kind of way she was just like I don't know what to do in this situation I'm going to turn back around and then she was surrounded by three Spanish players and Atania took the ball off her.

25:31So I think such a weapon for Poland is having a player like Pajor who knows what to do in front of goal, who's not going to panic when she has a potentially quite rare moment up front. So I think that's a huge weapon. It's going to be up to the team to be compact, to be disciplined. You know, Germany are scary at the moment, absolutely clicking, scoring goals for fun. So they really need to do their job of being really disciplined in defense and then when they can't find power you know that's the thing for the teams playing poland is yes it's their debut yes they're the underdogs but in the back of your mind you're like they've got one of the best strikers in the world we can't let her get the ball so you can't just sit like spain would like fully attacking with their fullbacks you can't be afforded to almost go we'll all go for it like even if the ball gets forward it's probably not going to result in anything you know they've got a bloody weapon waiting and that's a real threat.

26:27Rachel: So do you reckon getting into this game that the tactic is essentially don't let Pajol get it? Yeah, but well, equally, you know, they've got enough in this squad to be able to put goals away as well. So I think for Poland, they're going to want to try and keep this tight. If they can get a goal, I think it could be, give them a lot of confidence. They are in a extremely tough group, the group of death two, arguably. And a bit like Portugal, they probably aren't looking at this game as one that they're going to win or target to win of course they're going out to win every game but you know it wouldn't be the end of the world so I feel like anything they can get out of this would be a bonus well talking of the second half of this group c and Denmark's last game also against Sweden they lost 6-1 Denmark coach Andre Jäglert said I'm convinced we will see a completely different kind of performance yeah I think you know that 6-1 loss was an unusual um defeat for them because games have been closer in the past the previous game they played uh sweden had won uh 2-1 and when they played a friendly back in april uh denmark won 1-0 um sweden obviously ahead in the kind of head-to-head uh competitions but denmark have won five of the 21 played they've drawn four and sweden winning the other 12 but Denmark know they can do it so I think that's quite important.

27:51They'll need to be able to put that 6-1 game to bed and just say that was an anomaly and the difficulty I guess for Denmark is when they come up against a team who know how to mark Pernilla Harder out of the game and having that plan be they've got some exciting youngsters that can do the business but sometimes when the game plan is built around Pernilla Harder, if she's marked out of the game it becomes very very difficult

28:16Rachel: and yeah that's going to be something I'll need to keep an eye on. It almost feels like the Denmark-Swilling game always feels like a derby. It kind of has that kind of like atmosphere around it and I think obviously the on-pitch stuff is going to be incredible but at the same time I am super excited that it's like a fan derby as well. These are two sets of fans that go at each other, they're giving each other jibes, the songs, the atmosphere. I mean Rach, I'm actually so gutted that I'm not in the stadium for a game like this. yeah obviously they're neighbors so it has that derby vibe but they've absolutely been leaning into the pranilla and magda um story as well yeah swiss tv have been doing a lot on it the two have been incredibly open as well they've they had swiss tv into their home and they spoke about it and all that kind of stuff apparently harder was uh extremely annoyed when they they drew each other um and had a little huff about it but um yeah i think for both of them it's difficult because obviously they want each other to do well they both want to get out of the group obviously not at the expense of each other but um i imagine that that's quite like a difficult thing to to balance i think yeah for sweden sometimes they can be a bit shy in front of goals sometimes they can't sometimes they'll score six goals sometimes they can't get one in the back of the net so very much depends on on how they turn up in this one they did beat norway 2-0 in a friendly and just before the tournament so um yeah they'll want to be getting their shooting boots on against Denmark.

29:43It's probably between them and Denmark for who comes second.

29:47Rachel: So they'll both absolutely want to be getting off the mark with this game. Well, it is all to play for this evening. But let's now take a look at tomorrow's game. We won't be doing another pod until after the England game tomorrow night, which is obviously against France. So let's get stuck into previewing that now, Rach. Sassie Veegs has been saying all the right things in the build up to this game. So she's been saying apparently she loves her chicken tikka masala and sunday roasts um you know us not one to take things too seriously i'm amazed that even came out of that round table to be honest i did not think that would be the line that came out of it do you know like when you forget i think because i'm not on like the like the written like the journal obviously like the last time we had a major international tournament i was with the athletic so i was a part of like the the press conferences i was a part of those little round tables and a part of the media days whereas i'm a little bit more well I'm a lot more removed from it at the moment um and you kind of forget those like lovely little nuggets of like their personalities coming through and having that face-to-face contact and seeing like how they interact and how their body language changes throughout the tournament so yeah that's really nice actually I'm really glad that Sassie Viggs has got on board with a Sunday roast I think that will be to the delight of many a um England fan um but what are they going to be up against um tomorrow Rach because obviously we kind of know we we we thought we knew the French squad I suppose there has been a bit of a revolution in terms of them you know changing of the old guard a lot of younger players coming in and what we've previously known I think with the France squad is for them to kind of come out all guns blazing and then sort of drop off a little bit towards the second half but it's kind of a little bit up in the air at the moment about what's gonna happen yeah to a degree you know France always scare me and I think there's been a few changes as we know I think um they've been doing pretty well scoring and like you say they do start quickly and that is always it always when the game starts you're a bit like oh Jesus um so I think there will very much be pressure on the defense I think for me you know there's been a lot of talk about the lack of pace uh in England's defense and I think that's something they need to be careful of is not pushing up too high because France have some very good uh wingers and some very good fullbacks and can absolutely capitalize on that at pace.

32:04So yeah, I think that's one area that England need to be really tight on. Like France haven't lost a game this year. They've won every game. You know, they scored five against Belgium in a friendly before this tournament, which is frightening. So yeah, I think for me, they'll need to manage that early wave of pressure and keep it tight in the first half. but equally England are super dangerous as well very very good in the press it's something that Alessio Russo is one of the best at is her pressing game and I think if they can get that right then they can keep pressure on France when they're playing out from the back but equally England can maybe be a little bit shaky sometimes playing out from the back and maybe there'll be a bit of a reliance on some long balls from Williamson I think it's going to be really exciting I think some of the teams that we've touched on have maybe played the easier games in their first game and gotten that win early, which is important.

32:57But to be playing one of the toughest games in your group so early is difficult. But equally, whoever gets that win early against the toughest team gives them huge confidence

33:08Rachel: going into the next game. 100%. And Rach, I've got to put you on the flagpole, sand, in the line, drawing it. What are we saying?

33:20Rachel: I'm going 2-0. I genuinely don't. To England? Yeah. I love that. let's go 1-0 England or even a draw make it really spicy a draw isn't a spicy prediction it is because then you're like who's going to top the group oh fine okay cool you're playing the longer game with that one alright fine I hear you obviously Wales also make their major tournament debut against the Netherlands at 5pm tomorrow which is going to be an incredible first game for the Wales squad there was a really nice couple of few there's a few posts coming out recently about Wales being the gayest squad at the Euros that was from the Gay Times and pink news that wasn't just from like me like it was a daily manly type thing it was actually verified thing um which i thought was really lovely loads of really supportive comments um yeah it's been sort of doing the rounds on socials and obviously now i think they have the whole of the lgbtq plus community behind them um and basically saying they should be the winners of the tournament regardless of what happens so um yeah but i think it's going to be super super exciting obviously making your debut you know even potentially sort of maybe trying to get a point maybe trying to score a goal and sort of creating history in those moments anyway so yeah wishing obviously England Wales um the best of luck in tomorrow's game it's gonna be so exciting so exciting come on um we'll be back on Sunday to recap those two massive games for England and Wales and bring you all the latest news from the rest of the tournament so far remember to make sure that you hit subscribe so that you never miss an episode throughout the Euros and subscribe to us on YouTube too as we're releasing these match reaction episodes on there throughout the tournament.

34:54Rachel: So don't miss it. Thank you so much, Rach. I really hope that your nostrils recover from the onslaught of yesterday's game. Listen, my nostrils, my eyelids, the bags under my eyes, they're all going off. Oh, you look quite fresh though, mate. Thanks. That's the light from the window. I've picked a good spot. Oh, okay. Maybe do that for every pod. Thank you so much, mate. Love them.

35:29Rachel: Upfront is a Stack Production and part of the Acast Creator Network.

35:53Rachel: to win the Premier League. And there you are. For more hot takes like that, watch or listen to Football Weekly wherever you get your podcasts. Do you keep hearing podcast ads like this one, for example, but always wonder how you actually get involved with them for your own brand or organization? Well, it's easier than you think. We're Acast, and we give you the platform to do it all yourself. Browse thousands of popular podcasts, choose the shows that match your perfect audience, set your budget and launch. And if you want a hand, our podcast specialists are there to help you launch with confidence.

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