EURO 2024 semi-finals: big plans for everyone

Euro 2024 has reached the semi-final stage. If we look at the matches, Spain - France (played today) and Holland - England (tomorrow), we cannot talk about big surprises, neither positive nor negative. We have in this phase three of the five countries that have the strongest championships in Europe (England, Spain, France, Germany and Italy are missing) plus the Netherlands, a big producer of top footballers, a team used to the upper phases of EC and WC. The games in the quarter-finals did not give out in terms of sportsmanship, but it is clear that at this tournament the calculations are much tighter and every drop of energy is conserved for the final goal.

The coaches of the four formations are very confident before the semi-finals.

Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said: "I am proud of this group of players, such a determined group of players who are an example for our country, for our society and for any athlete who wants to be competitive and wants to improve every day to try to be better every day. Our team has heart and I know the players, they have ambition and they want to be better every day. They never tire of improving themselves and I am proud to train them". Didier Deschamps, the coach of France, believes that his team has become a regular in the semi-finals: "I am very happy for this group, which pushed itself to the maximum and which returned to us on the good side. We are once again in the semi-finals. We were already enjoying qualifying for the quarters, and now we will be more happy because we have reached the last square. It becomes a habit, but it should not be trivialized, I say it every time. It's the credit of everyone, the players, the group, those who play and those who don't."

The semi-final match between France and Spain will be played today, in Munich, from 22:00.

The coach of the Netherlands, Ronald Koeman, is proud of what his students have achieved: "For the whole nation, this is something special. We are a small country and we will be in the semi-finals with England, France and Spain. We are really very proud to have the opportunity to we play this match. We suffered against Turkey, it was a difficult match, our opponent gave everything and it was a match full of emotions, but we proved that we have a big heart when we were led 1-0".

The English coach, Gareth Southgate, spoke about the pressure his team was under: "Our team was under enormous pressure from the start. But we are in the semifinals for the third time in four competitions. It's a great achievement, even if we don't want to stop there. Nothing is easy. The players showed incredible character and resilience. These are not normal matches, they are national events with a lot of pressure, with very young players in the middle of it all. I wanted to regain our credibility on the world stage, it is quite difficult. But we are fighting, we will not stop fighting. We have never been to the final of a tournament outside of England and we have never won a European Championship: these are two pieces of history that we would like to achieve."

The Netherlands will face England, tomorrow, from 22.00, in Dortmund.