Category Archives: Football

Tokyo 2020 social media teams banned from showing athletes taking the knee

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  • IOC and Tokyo 2020 organisers gave instructions on Tuesday
  • Reference made to images from Team GB v Chile football match

The International Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 organisers have banned their social media teams from posting pictures of athletes taking the knee at these Olympic Games, the Guardian can reveal.

An insider said the message was delivered from on high on Tuesday evening Tokyo time, with a specific reference to Team GB’s women’s first football match against Chile, just hours before it kicked off in Sapporo on Wednesday.

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South Africa footballers test positive for Covid-19 in Tokyo Olympic Village

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  • South Africa men’s squad in quarantine after three positives
  • Games president claims a ‘plan in place’ for village outbreak

Two South African footballers have become the first athletes in the Olympic Village to test positive for Covid-19, raising fears that the virus may force a growing number of competitors out of the Tokyo Games when they begin on Friday.

Related: Tokyo 2020: guide to the venues for the delayed Olympic Games

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Social networks’ anti-racism policies belied by users’ experience

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Analysis: Twitter, Facebook and others condemn hateful speech, so why is it so easy to find on their sites?

The world’s biggest social networks say racism isn’t welcome on their platforms, but a combination of poor enforcement and weak rules have allowed hate to flourish.

In the hours after England’s loss to Italy in the European Football Championship, both Twitter and Facebook, which owns Instagram, issued statements condemning the swelling racist abuse.

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Tory MP says party must change attitude towards taking the knee

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Exclusive: Steve Baker says ‘this may be a decisive moment for our party’ amid backlash over abuse of footballers

Conservatives urgently need to change their attitudes towards people taking the knee, an influential Tory MP has said amid an angry backlash against the government over the racist abuse of England footballers.

Steve Baker, the former minister and hard Brexit campaigner, broke cover on Tuesday to plead for his party to think again about dismissive attitudes towards the taking of the knee and calling for better understanding of the motives behind it.

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Manchester shows support for Marcus Rashford: ‘It’s evolved into something special’

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Community comes together to back England footballer and oppose racism after mural was defaced

“We’re going to take the knee like the footballers do,” said Nahella Ashraf, leading a crowd of at least 300 people in performing the anti-racism gesture in front of the freshly repainted mural of Marcus Rashford on Tuesday evening.

Ashraf, a member of Manchester Stand Up to Racism, said she aimed to show “we are the majority” after the mural was defaced in the wake of England’s Euro 2020 final defeat.

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Euro 2020: abuse of England players condemned as Rashford mural vandalised – live!

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Police are investigating the vandalism of the Marcus Rashford mural in Withington.

Chief Superintendent Paul Savill, of GMP’s City of Manchester division, said: “This is disgraceful behaviour and will absolutely not be tolerated.

“Greater Manchester prides itself on being made up from a number of diverse communities and hate crime in any form is completely unacceptable and not welcome here in our city.

Right, Simon Burnton is back with you – I’ll see you again in a little bit.

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‘Mancini has been absolutely wonderful’: praise for manager as Rome unites behind Italy

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Italy fans came to tournament with low expectations, but their team’s unity and focus have impressed

Celebrations erupted across Italy as the national football team secured their win in the Euro 2020 final after a tense penalty shoot-out.

“It’s a unique emotion,” said Vincenzo Francavilla. “There’s such a big love for Italy.”

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Euro 2020: buildup to Italy v England final – live!

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Here’s a thing: if England get a penalty today, what will Harry Kane do (assuming he is not too injured by his fall to take it...). His spotkick against Denmark was awful, though the rebound favoured him. He explained afterwards that he intended to send it high but, for some reason, didn’t connect properly and his shot travelled low. The obvious explanation for that uncharacteristic miss is that he was under more pressure than ever before. As one of the figureheads of his country, the pressure is more intense on him than almost anyone else. L’Equipe today carried an interview with Geir Jordet, a Norwegian researcher who has studied the history of penalty-taking at tournament (club and international) as far back as 1976 and he has found that as a player’s status rises, his efficiency of penalties falls: “When a player has become an international superstar, he only scores from 65% of his attempts, compared to 90% before he reaches that status (especially by winning an individual award [ such as the Golden Boot]),” says Jordet. Golly. Maybe if today’s game goes to a shootout, England should bring on Aaron Ramsdale, if only to take one.

The pubs are open in England .... pace yourselves, drinkers! Brace yourselves, everyone else.

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Danish woman claims assault by England fans after semi-final

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• Woman had hair pulled by ‘six or seven’ England fans

• Also claims of Denmark fans being spat on at Wembley

A Denmark supporter who attended Wednesday’s Euro 2020 semi-final at Wembley says she was physically assaulted by England fans as she made her way home after the game.

Jeanette Jorgensen, who has lived in west London for 15 years, went with three cousins after obtaining tickets through the Danish Football Association (DBU).

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Sing when you’re winning – take our Euro 2020 football anthems quiz

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Do you know your Ant from your Dec and your Three Lions from your Atomic Kitten? Find out with our tricky and slightly silly quiz

They are the soundtrack to our summers of joy and despair. The songs that accompany the moments when our hearts soar as goals go in, and break as crucial penalties are missed. But how much do you know about the football tournament anthems that fans sing with such glee? Find out with our football anthems quiz – getting full marks is going to be harder than getting a ticket for Wembley on Sunday. But remember, it is just for fun, and unlike the forthcoming Italy v England Euro 2020 final, there are no prizes.

The Guardian Euro 2020 football anthems quiz

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What’s in the England team’s names? English Heritage explains all

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St George’s flags featuring surnames of almost every person in England will fly from heritage sites to cheer on team

Harry Kane can trace his surname back to a word for “warrior”. Declan Rice to “impetuous”. Kieran Trippier to “dance”. Kyle Walker will have to make do with “trampler of cloth in a bath of lye” which, to be fair, was once a very important job.

English Heritage is getting in the football spirit by revealing the origins of the names of the England players. It will also fly a St George’s flag featuring the surname of almost every person living in England at its properties to help cheer on the team before Sunday’s Euro 2020 final against Italy.

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Football’s coming to Rome? Italy fans look to Wembley showdown

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Italians are excited for the Euro 2020 final against England: ‘If we play with the heart, we will win’

Tens of thousands of English football fans at Wembley tried to send a message to Italy on Wednesday night: Sunday’s Euro 2020 final will be hell for the Azzurri. Italians heard the deafening cheers of the home support loud and clear, but that chant, “It’s coming home”, screamed at the top of English lungs does not seem to have affected them greatly. They are far from intimidated.

“It’s coming home? Maybe the English fans meant ‘it’s coming to Rome’,” said Giovanni Mapelli, 14, from Monticello Brianza, near Milan, who plays for a local football team. Since England won a place in the final, he and his brother have been mocking his England-born-and-raised mother.

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England face Uefa censure after laser pointer shone at Kasper Schmeichel

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  • Disciplinary proceedings opened after Euro 2020 semi-final
  • England also charged over booing of Danish anthem

Uefa has charged England after a laser pointer was shone in the face of the Denmark goalkeeper, Kasper Schmeichel, as he was about to face Harry Kane’s penalty in Wednesday’s Euro 2020 semi-final at Wembley.

Schmeichel saved the penalty but Kane scored from the rebound to set up England’s 2-1 victory and book a place in Sunday’s final against Italy.

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‘The history boys’: joy unconfined as papers celebrate England’s semi-final win

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Footballers now have to match the ‘immortals of 1966’ after reaching their first final for 55 years

The joy of England’s footballers reaching a major final for the first time in 55 years is given due justice on the front pages of the papers – along with a sense of relief that the team finally managed to do the job.

The Mirror’s headline is simply “Finally” noting that Harry Kane’s winning goal means that “after 55 years of hurt Harry and his heroes beat the Danes … now to match the heroes of 1966”.

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England beat Denmark in extra time to set up Euro 2020 final with Italy

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Sometimes, your luck is just in, you catch a break when you most need it and, after so much major tournament semi-final heartache, England finally got something to go their way and, in the process, one of these suffocatingly high-tension encounters to follow suit.

The 90 minutes had been nerve-shredding, England forced to find a response to Mikkel Damsgaard’s stunning 25 yard free-kick on the half-hour, which they did when Bukayo Saka’s cross, intended for Raheem Sterling, was bundled over Denmark’s goal-line by their captain, Simon Kjær.

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Italy v Spain: Euro 2020 semi-final – live!

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8 min: Spain aren’t dealing particularly well with Italy’s high press at the moment. Busquets, Garcia and Azpilicueta take turns to hesitate over clearances, nearly allowing the livewire Verratti in on a couple of occasions. Verratti is snapping away at their heels like billy-o. It’s very impressive, though you already get the sense he’s one mistimed lunge away from trouble.

6 min: Spain get a foot on the ball for the first time in the match, and stroke it around the back awhile. Italy’s fans give them the bird. All good pantomime stuff.

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‘More than a game’: Euros delirium in Denmark despite UK travel setback

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Nation with Hans Christian Andersen-inspired football song is hoping for fairytale win against England

People dancing on buses is not something you see every day in Denmark. Rule-abiding Danes tend to keep their celebrations low-key – but not this summer.

Football fans brought traffic to a standstill in Aarhus after Denmark beat the Czech Republic in the Euro 2020 quarter-finals and even scaled public transport to broadcast their euphoria and belt out another round of Re-sepp-ten – first a hit for Denmark’s national team at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. The anthem’s crowd-sourced lyrics are laden with Hans Christian Andersen imagery and feel particularly apt this year.

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All roads lead to Rome for England’s ardent army of expat fans

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Foreign-based fans slept in cars and even planned marriage proposals to be at the scene of Euro 2020 quarter final

They came from Berne, Berlin, Luxembourg and Dubai, some forgoing a night’s sleep as they drove across the Alps or took red-eye flights. Some of the more ardent football fans bought tickets two years ago; others bagged them in the last-minute rush that followed England’s historic win over Germany on Tuesday.

They were rewarded with an extraordinary, emphatic, exhilarating 4-0 victory over Ukraine, and those inside the stadium sang till their voices gave out.

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England rout Ukraine 4-0 to surge into Euro 2020 semi-final with Denmark

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Harry Kane back to his lethal best, productivity from set pieces, yet another clean sheet – the fifth out of five at Euro 2020 – and, for the coup de grace, a first England goal for Jordan Henderson on the occasion of his 62nd cap. This was the night when pretty much everything was picture perfect for Gareth Southgate and his players as they set up a Wembley semi-final against Denmark on Wednesday night.

As England came home from Rome it was easy to wonder whether football was headed in the same direction and, certainly, the fans of the team who had made it from across mainland Europe into the Stadio Olimpico thought that way.

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