Sport
England aiming to reach first major final in 55 years as nation counts down to epic Euros semi-final with Denmark
Gareth Southgate's Three Lions play one of their biggest games in history tonight.
England are hoping to reach their first major tournament final since 1966 as they take on Denmark tonight.
Gareth Southgate’s men will walk out at Wembley knowing a win will set up a first-ever Euros cup final tie with Italy next weekend.
National optimism and pride is at an all-time high following England’s performance in the knockout stages – which saw the Three Lions defeat old foes Germany in the round of 16 before walloping Ukraine 4-0 in the quarter-finals.
These pulsating victories followed 1-0 wins over Croatia and Czech Republic in the group stage, where England also drew 0-0 with Scotland.
Southgate’s men are yet to concede a goal all tournament.
Nonetheless, their opponents for the evening are sure to provide a stiff test.
Denmark have defied all expectations by making it to the semi-finals – with many predicting the squad to crumble in the wake of the horrific incident during their opening Euros group game.
The Danes’ talisman Christian Eriksen collapsed suddenly and unexpectedly after suffering cardiac arrest in the game with Finland. The midfielder was given emergency medical assistance and has since recovered in hospital – much to the relief and delight of the footballing world.
Denmark went on to lose their first two matches of Euro 2020 – 1-0 to Finland and 2-0 to Belgium. But since then the side have shown tremendous resolve to turn into the surprise package of the tournament – proceeding to wallop Russia 4-1 in their final group game before battering Wales 4-0 in the last 16.
They defeated Czech Republic 2-1 in the quarter-final on Saturday – and are now hoping to write an even greater fairytale than the one that saw them lift the continental trophy at Euro ’92.
And it sounds like they’re confident they can do it.
When Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel was asked about what Denmark would be doing to prevent ‘football coming home’, the Leicester goalkeeper responded with a cheeky dig.
“Has it ever been home? I don’t know, have you ever won it?”
Support for this gutsy Kasper Hjulmand Denmark side has grown louder with every passing day – but cheers for the Red & Whites will be largely drowned out by a raucous England following this evening.
60,000 fans are allowed into Wembley – but travel restrictions will prevent many Danes from attending. 6,000 tickets have been made available to Danes living in the UK – with the Danish FA sending 1,000 jerseys to London.
The winner of England v Denmark will meet Italy in the final – who edged out Spain on penalties last night (July 6) following a 1-1 draw after extra-time.
The hype has been building all week. But Southgate says he is keeping his feet on the ground.
“Our preparations have been calm and we know we are playing a very good opponent,” the England manager stated.
“It’s going to be a really tight game and an exciting game for everybody.”
Sport
Manchester United reject offers for Mason Greenwood as rep says he ‘should be allowed to move forward with his young life’
Danny Jones
Manchester United have reportedly rejected a number of offers for Mason Greenwood as the club continues their internal investigation into his behaviour.
The club have reportedly received a number of offers for the young forward from Turkish teams in recent weeks and months while Greenwood has been suspended from playing or training. He has yet to return to the sport after charges of attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm were dropped.
The charges handed down in January 2022 were ultimately dropped last month when key witnesses withdrew, more than a year on from the incident that was widely circulated on social media.
Now, following a behind-the-scenes feature by The Athletic and ‘new material’ leading the Crown Prosecution Service to drop the case for the foreseeable, it seems United are now the only party still investigating Greenwood, with his own team and figures around the club pushing for a resolution.
Speaking to Laurie Whitwell as part of the piece, one of Greenwood’s representatives argued that there is “no real substance” to the allegations, them “a mix of old news, speculation, half-truths and completely untrue claims.”
He went on to say, “Mason is 21, he has been cleared and should be allowed the opportunity to rebuild and move forward with his young life.”
Another source is also said to have told the outlet that the youngster has been fundamentally changed by the experience, insisting that he “would run through a brick wall” to be back playing at United.
As for the club’s stance, it remains to be seen what their final decision on his future will be, but it was reported earlier this month that a potential return is still “firmly under consideration” and his number 11 shirt has not yet been vacated as many would have expected if he was set to move on.
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On the other hand, the article goes on to detail questions surrounding Greenwood’s conduct and general attitude during his relatively short time as a senior player too, the suggestion being that he was slacking in training because “he knew he was a good player”.
His attendance at Carrington is said to have been raised as an issue on more than one occasion and then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær often covered for training sessions and games he missed after failing to turn up to the team hotel for “unexplained absences”.
Another source who watched him play aged just 16 also went on to reveal that Bradford-born academy product “wasn’t shy about telling someone they were s***”, apparently even calling out Cristiano Ronaldo as “dead [finished]” when he was still at Real Madrid.
Greenwood played over 100 senior games for United and was widely considered one of the brightest young prospects in England, let alone the club, but the career trajectory he looked to be on is widely different from the problematic position he finds himself in now, regardless of any offers from abroad.
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Featured Image — Manchester United (Twitter)
Sport
Commentator Arlo White shows off what the Old Trafford gantry walk looks like
Danny Jones
Ever wondered what it’s like to be up in the gantry in a football stadium, say, Old Trafford? Well, we certainly have.
You see the odd shot of the commentators sat there on the telly from time to time but it never really gives much away either and, at some venues, it’s quite a ways up there. There’s a little bit of allure behind these mysterious parts of footy grounds that most fans will never get to see.
Unless you follow Arlo White on TikTok, that is.
After hours of mindless scrolling on the social media app, we stumbled across the well-known sports commentator‘s channel where he’s been showing off what it’s like to go in the gantry and one of them is his long walk to crow’s nest up at the Theatre of Dreams.
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Mystery revealed — pretty cool, right?
As it turns out, Arlo’s been doing these videos for a couple of years now, revealing how the gantry looks not only at Old Trafford but other big Premier League grounds too, such as down the road at the Etihad, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium, Tottenham Hotspurs’ sparkly new ground and many more.
Another reason we found ourselves stuck on his TikTok for so long was also because of the other behind-the-scenes details he reveals too, even shedding light on how he prepares for games: note-taking, data sheets, how keeps himself warm up there during those cold nights on comms and so on.
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Featured Image — Arlo White (via TikTok)
The Manc -
7th July 2021 
