England on Saturday beat Switzerland on penalties to keep their dreams of winning UEFA Euro 2024 alive as they advanced to a semi-final showdown against the Netherlands, who came from behind to defeat Turkey 2-1 in the day’s other match.
In Duesseldorf, Germany, England produced another late fightback as their quarter-final with the Swiss finished 1-1 after 90 minutes and at the end of extra-time, before Gareth Southgate’s side triumphed 5-3 in the shoot-out.
England converted all of their penalties, with Switzerland’s Manuel Akanji the only player to miss as he took his team’s first kick, but was denied by a Jordan Pickford save.
Photo: AP
A dreary encounter for the first 75 minutes came to life after Breel Embolo put Switzerland in front, sliding in at the back post to convert Dan Ndoye’s deflected cross.
England needed only five minutes to draw level thanks to a fine goal by Bukayo Saka, the Arsenal attacker’s low strike from wide on the right finding the far corner of the net.
There were no further goals, although substitute Xherdan Shaqiri came close to winning the game late in extra-time for Switzerland when he hit the woodwork direct from a corner.
Cole Palmer, Jude Bellingham, Saka, Ivan Toney and Trent Alexander-Arnold converted their penalties to send England through.
“We are not going to stop fighting, we are in another semi-final and we’ll see where we can get to,” said Southgate, who marked the victory in his 100th game in charge with a dance in front of the England fans.
“Every now and then you think surely there has to be some enjoyment in this job. If I can’t enjoy that moment the whole thing is a waste of time,” he said.
Hong Kong-based cricket team Hung See this weekend found success in their matches in Taiwan, even if none of the results went their way. Hung See played the Chairman’s XI on Saturday morning, the Daredevils that afternoon and PCCT yesterday, with all three home teams winning. The team for Chinese players at the Happy Valley-based Craigengower Cricket Club sends teams on tour to “spread the game of cricket.” This weekend was Hung See’s second trip to Taiwan after visiting Tainan in 2016. “The club has been traveling to all parts of the world since 1982 and the annual tradition continues [with the Taiwan
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
HARD TO SAY GOODBYE: After Coco Gauff dispatched Belinda Bencic in the fourth round, she wrote ‘RIP TikTok USA’ and drew a broken heart on a television camera lens Defending champion Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while compatriot Chan Hao-ching on Saturday dominated her opponents in the second round, as world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka swept into the quarter-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia toppled Hungary’s Timea Babos and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US 6-4, 6-3, hitting 24 winners and converting three of seven break points in 1 hour, 18 minutes at 1573 Arena. Although rivals at last year’s Australian Open — where Hsieh and Belgium’s Elise Mertens beat Ostapenko and Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Kichenok 6-1, 7-5
RSS