Peyraud-Magnin heroics not enough for France
Despite Germany going down a player in the first quarter of an hour and conceding a penalty when Kathrin Hendrich was shown a straight red card for a hair pull in the box. Grace Geyoro converted the subsequent penalty.
France went on to have two goals ruled out, with Germany equalising in between through Sjoeke Nusken, and their 10 players put in an incredible shift to largely frustrated their numerically-advantaged opponents.
Germany were handed a huge chance to go ahead with a penalty of their own midway through the second half, but Peyraud-Magnin stood firm and made an excellent save.
The game went all the way through 120 minutes without a winner being found, before Germany edged the shootout.
Bianconere next in action
The European Championship is now into the semi-final phase, with Italy, England, and Spain joining Germany as the last four teams standing.
With no Bianconere lining up for England, Spain or Germany, our eyes will be set on the Azzurre's game against England on Tuesday, 22 July, before Germany face Spain in the second semi-final on Wednesday, 23 July.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
Inside Liverpool's Hugo Ekitike deal: How months of groundwork and Slot meeting fended off rivals
Chelsea explored a move. Newcastle United were confident they would conclude a deal, and Manchester United considered a belated bid. Ultimately, Hugo Ekitike has chosen Liverpool as his new home. He is leaving Eintracht Frankfurt having signed a six-year contract at Anfield and in a deal that could, if all conditions are met, eventually rise to about £79million ($107m), taking Liverpool's summer expenditure to just under £300m. Advertisement Senior recruitment figures at Anfield had been aware of Ekitike's potential since he was playing for Reims in France, but the club's pursuit of him started in earnest in January when Liverpool first made contact with the player's representatives. It accelerated at the end of the season when Liverpool head coach Arne Slot outlined his vision to Ekitike over where he saw him fitting into his Premier League-winning squad. It is a huge sum for a 23-year-old who is uncapped at senior international level, but it reflects Liverpool's faith in a striker who developed a reputation as one of the most exciting young talents in German football during his 17 months in Frankfurt. The Athletic has spoken to multiple sources with knowledge of the deal, all of whom spoke anonymously to protect their positions, to piece together the story of how one of Europe's most coveted attacking players ended up on Merseyside. It was when Ekitike was playing for Reims in Ligue 1 in the 2021-22 season that he first appeared on Liverpool's radar. He scored 10 goals in 24 appearances that campaign, a record that persuaded Paris Saint-Germain to sign him on a season-long loan, with an obligation to buy for €35m (£30m; $41m at current rates). It was not a well-timed move. Neymar, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe were at the club during his first season, and Ekitike started one league game in his first three months under Christophe Galtier. The lack of opportunities led to his confidence dwindling and underwhelming performances. He scored three goals from 25 appearances in Ligue 1 all season. His loan still became permanent in the summer of 2023, but new head coach Luis Enrique deemed Ekitike surplus to requirements. The forward was condemned to the club's notorious bomb squad (the so-called 'undesirables'). He only appeared in one more game for PSG before the move to Germany that rebuilt his career. Ekitike joined Frankfurt, initially on loan, in January 2024, and has been developing at a sharp rate since. The former France Under-21 international scored 22 goals in all competitions last season, including 15 in the Bundesliga, but this summer's signing has been led by underlying data, rather than top-level statistics, and by the work of Will Spearman, Liverpool's director of research, and his team. Advertisement Ekitike's goal tally was not vast last season, but Liverpool did not regard that as a reason to be deterred. He performed well in other metrics, and Liverpool expect his goal return to increase over time. Even allowing for the limited nature of historical tracking data, Liverpool's analysts felt that, relative to other centre-forwards, only Erling Haaland and Mbappe have shown similar potential to Ekitike at a comparable age. It satisfies key recruiting criteria at Anfield. As with Florian Wirtz, who became Liverpool's record signing in June in a deal that could be worth £116m from Bayer Leverkusen, Ekitike is under 24 but relatively experienced, having played in Ligue 1, the Bundesliga and the Champions League. Crucially, Liverpool believe Ekitike possesses significant potential that is yet to be realised and will eventually be worth more than what they have committed to paying — again, much like Wirtz. There is context for that fee. Markus Krosche, Frankfurt's sporting director, has helped the club develop a reputation as one of European football's best recruiters and, individually, he is regarded as an expert at recognising ideal selling points. Omar Marmoush left for Manchester City in January in a deal worth up to £74m, when it was believed that the height of his value had been reached. For Ekitike, that was not quite the case. Frankfurt were keen for him to stay a further year and develop several different areas of his game, including the consistency of his finishing and his work against deeper defences; they believe Ekitike is nowhere close yet to being the player he could become. As recently as the beginning of July, Krosche and head coach Dino Toppmoller were planning for the season with Ekitike, as the club attempt to build on last season's third-placed finish, which secured them a place in the Champions League. Liverpool's interest swayed the player. He did not make a formal demand to leave Frankfurt, but he indicated his desire to move to Merseyside in mid-July and, in any case, Frankfurt prepared for a scenario in which he might want to leave ahead of schedule. Frankfurt executives understood that his fine form always made his departure a realistic proposition and were aware that there would be many interested parties who could offer large fees and sizeable contracts. Advertisement Arsenal admired Ekitike, but their interest did not progress, and they are now close to buying Viktor Gyokeres from Sporting CP. Chelsea's interest in Ekitike can be traced back to January when they made an enquiry to Frankfurt, first reported by The Athletic in May, but they decided to prioritise Ipswich Town's Liam Delap and Brighton & Hove Albion's Joao Pedro. Frankfurt's position has been consistent for months: it would take an offer of at least €80m just to begin a conversation about Ekitike's sale, and a bid structured to be worth around €100m to be successful. Frankfurt have developed a reputation for being tough negotiators. Their stance with Ekitike was rigid because it could afford to be. The club have made enormous profits from the sales of Marmoush, Randal Kolo Muani (sold to PSG for €95m) and Willian Pacho (also to PSG, for €40m) in the last two seasons and have seen significant growth in their commercial revenue in the past decade. In addition, the upcoming injection of Champions League cash makes their financial position even healthier and they were under no pressure to sell Ekitike. Had his asking price not been met, he would have stayed. Newcastle, who had tried to sign Ekitike in the winter and summer transfer windows of 2022 while he was still at Reims, were the first to submit a bid, making an offer of more than €75m in the second week of July. In a move driven by manager Eddie Howe and his nephew, Andy, the club's assistant head of first team recruitment, the plan had been to unite Ekitike with Alexander Isak, rather than to sign one to replace the other. Newcastle wanted a statement of intent as they plan for their return to the Champions League and tried to move quickly and quietly, using intermediaries in an attempt to agree a fee before news of their move leaked into the media. Newcastle felt Ekitike was keen on a move to Tyneside and were encouraged that a deal could be done at the price they had offered. Advertisement Where were Liverpool in all this? They had been in contact with Ekitike's camp since January, while Slot had a direct conversation with the player at the end of the season. In that chat, the Dutchman spelled out exactly where he saw Ekitike fitting in at Anfield: as a dynamic No 9 capable of bursting in behind, but also dropping deeper and linking play when needed. Liverpool were not unhappy to see Newcastle make their move for Ekitike. They fully expected Frankfurt to try to instigate an auction for the striker and were confident that he wanted to move to Anfield. However, when news of Newcastle's offer was made public on July 14, Liverpool cranked into action. The Anfield club also communicated their interest to Newcastle in Isak, a player they had long coveted, and said they were willing to offer a fee of around £120m. Liverpool knew that Newcastle had always been clear that they were not seeking to sell Isak, whose contract expires in 2028, but wanted to test the water. Isak was regarded within Anfield as a surefire option, with a proven track record in the Premier League. In the event, no formal bid was ever submitted as Newcastle's position on Isak remained unchanged. Liverpool, led by sporting director Richard Hughes, duly turned their attention to Ekitike, who had always been a top target. Frankfurt were anticipating the Merseyside club formalising their interest and, on July 16, they made their first offer of just over €80m, inclusive of all bonuses. Frankfurt turned it down, but it was serious enough to put Liverpool on the road to completion and curb Newcastle's ambition. Ekitike's camp indicated that the player's preference was to join Liverpool and no second offer from Newcastle materialised. There was frustration at St James' Park that elements of negotiations had leaked into the public domain, and that they had missed out on a significant target, but they were conscious of the need to move on quickly given the need to sign a centre-forward to replace Callum Wilson. Brentford's Yoane Wissa is one of multiple targets. Advertisement From Liverpool's perspective, they did not see their move as a hijacking of Newcastle's deal. They felt that the groundwork had been done months before and were simply repeating the process by which they had signed Luis Diaz from Porto in January 2022, when Tottenham Hotspur were confident they had secured a deal. There was another possible complication. Manchester United were monitoring Ekitike's situation. Shortly after Liverpool's first bid, they contacted Frankfurt to inform them that they were going to approach Ekitike's camp directly. Despite the player growing up as a Manchester United fan, his representatives rebuffed those, saying he was only interested in moving to Liverpool. At no point did United make a formal offer and their interest faded quickly. On Saturday, confidence was growing on Merseyside and in Frankfurt that a deal was imminent. Toppmoller named Ekitike in his squad for a pre-season friendly against FSV Frankfurt, but purely as an opportunity to say goodbye to fans. In reality, Frankfurt wanted a conclusion so they could recruit using funds from Ekitike's sale. A few hours later, the club received Liverpool's second offer, which included a guaranteed fee of £69m (€79.5m). While a proper bonus structure was still to be agreed, it formed the outline of a deal acceptable to both sides, as reported by The Athletic, leaving the rest of the weekend to formalise a proper agreement. That advanced point arrived on Monday morning, 24 hours after most of Liverpool's staff and squad had departed for the tour of the Far East. A contingent of key personnel, including medics and Hughes, stayed in England to complete the signing, with Ekitike undergoing a medical in London on Tuesday before flying out to join his new colleagues in Hong Kong, where Liverpool face Milan in a pre-season friendly on Saturday. Advertisement A potential £10m in bonuses have been agreed, the majority linked to team success, with Ekitike making a significant contribution. They are regarded as being similar to those tied to the Wirtz transfer — tricky but achievable. Both sides will feel satisfied with what has been accomplished. Frankfurt have sold another player to the top of the game, furthering their reputation as an elite accelerator of talent and making a sizeable profit. Liverpool have signed one of the most talented young forwards in world football, furnishing what is an enviably talented attack. Ekitike is a front man who can play in a range of attacking positions. Slot won the Premier League in his first season as Liverpool's head coach, but he did so without an established centre-forward: Darwin Nunez struggled to adapt to Slot's tactical demands, scoring five league goals in 30 appearances; Diaz was not always convincing when he was used used through the middle; and Diogo Jota was limited by injury. Jota's tragic death in a car crash in July, alongside his brother Andre Silva, inevitably meant any discussions on transfers were put on hiatus. The sole priority at that point was to mourn his loss and support Jota's family and their own staff. But recruiting a new No 9 has been a top priority for Liverpool all summer and they now have a formidable forward line that includes Ekitike, Wirtz, Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo and Diaz. Liverpool realise Ekitike is far from the finished product, but they believe that if he continues his rate of improvement, he could become one of the best strikers in the world. Additional reporting: David Ornstein, James Pearce and Chris Waugh
New York Times
23 minutes ago
- New York Times
USMNT striker Josh Sargent's Wolfsburg move appears to fall through
U.S. men's national team striker Josh Sargent's proposed transfer from Norwich City to Wolfsburg appears to have fallen through. Sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, indicated it was Sargent's decision to not continue with the move to the Bundesliga club. Advertisement The Athletic reported on July 14 that the 25-year-old was in talks over a potential move to Wolfsburg, which would have seen him return to Germany following four years at Norwich. Sargent progressed through the Werder Bremen youth system before breaking into the first team in 2018. He scored 15 goals in 83 appearances in all competitions for Werder before joining Norwich, then a Premier League side, in the summer of 2021. His Norwich contract runs until 2028, having last signed fresh terms in October 2023. The forward has scored 48 goals in 133 appearances for Norwich and was the Championship's fourth-top scorer last season with 15 goals in 32 games as the Norfolk side finished 13th in the second tier. Norwich have already lost last season's top scorer Borja Sainz ahead of the 2025-25 campaign, with the winger moving to Porto after his 18 Championship goals last term. Liam Manning was appointed the club's new head coach this summer, as a permanent replacement for Johannes Hoff Thorup. Wolfsburg finished 11th in the Bundesliga last season, 14 points clear of relegation and nine points off the European places. Sargent has made 28 appearances for the U.S. since his debut in 2018, scoring five goals. He was not, however, part of Mauricio Pochettino's squad for this summer's Gold Cup. Additional reporting: Paul Tenorio
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Euro 2025 semifinals: Live updates, highlights as Spain faces Germany in semifinals
After England managed a stunning (and controversial) win over Italy on Tuesday, the UEFA Women's Euro 2025 continues Wednesday with another heavyweight matchup. Spain and Germany square off in the tournament's second semifinal for a chance to face England in Sunday's final. Spain, the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup champs, have looked as dominant as ever this tournament. The team picked up three easy wins in the group stage while scoring a whopping 14 goals, before handing the home team, Switzerland, a 2-0 loss in the quarterfinals. Spanish forward Esther González currently leads the Golden Boot race with four goals, while two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas is right behind her with three. [Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2025 NFL season] On the other end is Germany, which advanced to the semifinals in dramatic fashion with a quarterfinal win over France in penalties. Despite an early red card from defender Kathrin Hendrich in the 13th minute — and France's Grace Geyoro subsequently sinking the penalty kick — Sjoeke Nüsken tied up the game in the 25th minute. From there, the Germans held on with 10 players throughout regulation and extra time. German keeper Ann-Katrin Berger — the hero of the 2024 Olympics — played hero once again, not only saving a win-clinching penalty but scoring one as well. Germany has long been dominant at the Euros, at one point winning the tournament six times in a row. But it will be a difficult road for the Germans to make their way back to the European title; first, they have to get through Spain, and that will not be an easy task. How to watch Germany vs. Spain in Women's Euro semifinal Date: Wednesday, July 23 Time: 3 p.m. ET Location: Stadion Letzigrund | Zurich, Switzerland TV channel: Fox Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more from Germany vs. Spain in the Women's Euro semifinal:
