You only live once.
After England beat Croatia in their Euro 2020, Rio Ferdinand got a smidge carried away.
Looking ahead to their next game, against Scotland, the former Manchester United and England defender proclaimed:
“England are going to win. I can’t see anything else, I’m telling you. I’ve never been this confident about a game in a major championship.”
— 𝗔𝗠𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗖𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗗 (@Amy__Macdonald) June 19, 2021
England drew 0-0 and Ferdinand took some ribbing from Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer when he was next in the BBC studios.
He argued his case by stating England were so well positioned to win the whole tournament that his inner fan sometimes slipped out.
Lesson learned, like the rest of the nation, Ferdinand urged Gareth Southgate to be more attacking against Czech Republic and give the likes of Jack Grealish and Jadon Sancho. He half got his wish, there, as Grealish started and Sancho finished in a 1-0 win that secured top spot and their Last 16 place at Wembley.
Group F closed out on Wednesday with a rake of drama but the expected results – Germany, France and Portugal all through to the knock-out stages and Hungary heading home.
The draw for France and Portugal, and Germany salvaging a late draw with Hungary, sorted the Last 16 fixtures, with England set to face Joachim Löw’s side next Tuesday:
So, here's the draw for the Last 16 of #Euro2020 #WAL v #DEN#ITA v #AUT#NED v #CZE#BEL v #POR#CRO v #ESP#FRA v #SUI#ENG v #GER#SWE v #UKR
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 23, 2021
Back on the BBC and Ferdinand was buoyed again.
With Lineker joking that England ‘never do well against Germany’, Ferdinand preached confidence, He said:
“Knock-out football awaits and England can really focus on what’s ahead. We had our eye on the other game [Portugal vs. France] and after watching that game, I’m quite confident of a good result for England.
“I know we’re getting excited, and that’s what we do as England fans… “
Lineker saved Ferdinand from going full-on scoreline prediction mode by turning the chat back to the 2-2 draw in Budapest between France and the reigning European champions.
To get the German perspective, a relieved Jürgen Klinsmann was on hand. His country needed a late Leon Goretzka strike to make the Last 16, and the former Spurs striker was not going out on a limb, like Ferdinand.
“Both Germany and England are in a similar situation, position by position. I think it will be a very even battle and it will be about the form of the day… We will see a fascinating game in England v Germany because we do not know what to expect,” he said.
Eight teams are gone. 16 teams remain. Rio is getting excited again.
Bring on the knock-out stages.
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