TRANSCRIPT
The European Football Championships - better known as Euros - are held every four years by the peak body of the sport on the continent, UEFA.
This year's tournament, hosted by Germany, has already kicked off, providing both fans and neutrals with several interesting moments on its opening round.
The hosts have already booked their spot in the next stage of the tournament, with two wins in their two first matches against Scotland and Hungary.
National team coach Julian Nagelsmann has praised the efficiency of 21-year-old Jamal Musiala, who's already found the net twice.
"He (Jamal Musiala) did brilliant in both games I think. Not only the two goals - I think every situation. Our offensive ball possession is really tough for the opponent to defend. I think it's important for him not to deal with the pressure but just to deal with his capability to solve any offensive one-on-one situations."
Switzerland appear as favourites to advance from group A alongside Germany, despite being held to a 1-1 draw by a defiant Scottish side.
In the second group of the tournament, also referred to by some as "the group of death", Croatian fans have been largely let down by their national team.
A hands-down 3-0 loss at the hands of Spain was followed up by a 2-2 draw against debutantes Albania, leaving the 2018 World Cup finalists with very little chances of making it to the next round.
Meanwhile, the Spaniards have been gearing up for their clash against the current Euro champions, Italy.
Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente, speaking after his team's win over Croatia, has said the game with the Italians is the only thing on his and his player's minds.
"The whole group around us, it's like we're one big family, so I feel such great happiness for all of them. Of course for all the Spaniards that are proud of us today. But we need to keep our feet on the ground. We know what it means to make a good start. It gives you an important boost to morale, a very important one, (self-) assurance, calmness. But in five days time we have another very important match against Italy. And as soon as we leave you all here tonight we'll already be thinking about Italy."
But Italian chief Luciano Spalletti says his team won't be intimidated by Spain's display against the Croatians.
"We have the utmost respect for Spain - for their history and for the quality of the (current) team. But we don't have to build them up anymore than they actually are. That would be a mistake because we have the chance to play good football too. We'll see if we're capable of that or not but as for this question, there's plenty of time for talk after the match and we're trying to do just that (play well)."
In group C, England managed to fend off the resistance of Serbia and start their campaign with a 1-0 win.
Jude Bellingham, the man who scored the goal for the English, says his side showed they can perform well under pressure.
"I think (the) first half shows why we can score goals against any team and the second half shows why we can keep a clean sheet against any team. I think obviously, commonly with the team, there's a negative theme around all our games, sometimes rightly so. But I think in this case you take the positives from the fact that, maybe we had to hold on at times for a little bit, but we kept a clean sheet and when you keep a clean sheet all you have to do is score one goal to win the game."
England manager Gareth Southgate says there are unrealistic expectations around his team to perform well in every game but they will do their best to live up to them.
"This team is still coming together. Everybody's expecting us to waltz through. There's a lot of hard work ahead. We're short of certain things. We're finding best possible solutions. We've had very complicated running through all of this. But the spirit of the group was there for everybody to see tonight and we'll definitely grow from there."
Before the start of the game, German police were forced to intervene in a scuffle between Serbian and English fans at a restaurant close to the stadium.
Gelsenkirchen senior police director Peter Both says they made eight arrests related to the incident and banned those people from all upcoming tournament matches.
"We took eight fans into custody before the game, who were subsequently unable to watch the game. You're going to ask me that anyway, so I'll tell you straight away: there were seven supporters of the Serbian national team and one English fan who were then unable to watch the game."
Meanwhile, Denmark were held to a 1-1 draw by Slovenia, but had a success story of their own.
Their captain, Christian Eriksen, who suffered a cardiac arrest in their game against Finland during the last Euro leaving the entire nation in shock, scored his team's only goal in the encounter.
He says he believes things will go better for him this time around.
"I do think this time in the Euros, my story's very different compared to last time, which obviously is a big thing for me personally. But luckily it's been a lot of games since the last time and since that happened so that hasn't changed. So, like also in an interview I did before I felt confident going into the game and confident in playing again. So, in that sense I was just happy to be back playing and obviously qualifying for a Euros is always special for your country."
World Cup 2022 finalists France seem more preoccupied with the political situation in their country rather than what's going on inside the pitch.
The statements by the team's captain Kylian Mbappe regarding the upcoming elections have been the focus of attention.
He has called the youth of the country to take a stand against the far-right National Rally party.
"I think we are a generation that can make the difference. We see today that the extremists are at the gates of power. We have the opportunity to choose the future of our country. That's why I call upon the youth to go out and vote, to really be aware of the importance of this situation. I hope to use my voice as best I can because you need to be able to identify with your country. We need to identify with our values which are the values of diversity, tolerance, respect. That's undeniable."
Eventually all eyes turned inside the pitch where the French team faced hard opposition from Austria, walking away with a narrow 1-0 win.
Mbappe himself left the game with a broken nose, which puts his presence for their upcoming game against the Netherlands in jeopardy.
French coach Didier Deschamps says the injury put a damper on their victory.
"He's in a bad state. I don't know. He's in the hands of the medical staff. I had a lot of media engagements before coming here so I can't tell you anymore but he has an ugly nose that's what is certain. So, we'll have to see but it's complicated. That's obviously put a damper on our evening."
France currently stand on equal points with their upcoming opponents, the Netherlands, who overcame the resistance of Poland with a 2-1 victory.
The Dutch needed a late goal to scrape through with the three points.
One of the scorers for the Dutch, Cody Gakpo, says the Polish made their life difficult with their performance.
"I think Poland is a very good team. They showed that again today. They defended very well. In some moments they even attacked very well. Had some good opportunities. Stopped us in some good opportunities. So yeah, to rate the defence, they did their job but luckily we scored one more than them."
But undoubtedly the greatest upset from this opening round of matches came from group E.
Belgium, currently number three in the FIFA men's world rankings, were humbled 1-0 by Slovakia.
In a game where Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku found the net twice, with both goals being ruled out by the VAR*.
Slovakian fans celebrated the victory after the final whistle.
"It was perfect, really perfect. It was really challenging for us because we won against Belgium and we are very, very happy for that. Really, really. Thank you very much for that game. Yes. We appreciate (it) and hopefully we will just move forward to (the) next stage."
Sharing the top of that group with Slovakia, are Romania, who dominated Ukraine 3-0 in Munich.
Despite their loss, Ukrainian fans celebrated their team's resilience to show up in the tournament in the most difficult circumstances.
Bohdan, a football fan watching the game from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, says the war with Russia has left very little sporting infrastructure left in the country.
"Football has obviously been impacted by the war. Our players cannot train in a normal way, they had to go to various friendly countries, we are very grateful to them for giving our players space to train, countries such as Croatia and others. This had a huge impact on the performance but just the fact that we are competing and taking part in the tournament at times like this, is a victory."
Finally, in group F, 2016 Euro champions Portugal had to come from behind to claim a stressful win against Czechia.
Led by Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese found a winning goal in injury time thanks to substitute Francisco Conceicao.
Portuguese midfielder Vitinha says the presence of experienced players such as Cristiano Ronaldo provides assurances to the rest of the team.
“It’s unbelievable. It really is something that should be celebrated. For us, the pride and privilege to be able to share, both on and off the pitch, with them. Two players who have played five or six Euros, and who are setting records. It’s unbelievable. And today we saw how much Pepe and Cristiano help us. They are still important and that is something that should be praised and highlighted because we don’t see a lot of people doing that at their age. But the age doesn’t really matter, it’s how they help us, how they play, and the privilege we all have to play with them.”
Portugal share the top of the group with their upcoming opponents, Turkiye, who dominated an inexperienced Georgia 3-1.
Real Madrid youngster Arda Guler became the youngest player to score on his debut in the Euros after firing from long range to give his nation the lead.
But the 19-year-old says he and his teammates are focusing on their upcoming challenge against Portugal, who they have never defeated before on an official match.
"Of course, I'm extremely happy to have scored my first goal during my first match. Hopefully, I will continue to score. It's a gift to Turkish people. Of course we are very happy to win as a team. It's a good lesson for the Turkish national team. As you know, for the whole team. I think we have to respect the Georgian national team because they were also playing their first match (at a major tournament). In the history (of our football), we have never won against Portugal during the official matches. I hope this will be the first time for us."
The Euro 2024 in Germany continues.
