Off the Pitch: Euro 2020 – Day 17

Euro 2020 just keeps on getting better as we enjoy beautiful games of football almost every day. A summer that could have been as boring as the time we all went into full-lockdown mode has turned into a fun and memorable festival of games that will surely be remembered for years to come. The Round of 16 has already started and we have witnessed so much happen since its kick off two days ago.

But what went on yesterday? What was the talk of the town on day 17 of Euro 2020? Read on as we dive deeper into everything that happened. You can also check out our

, where we have discussed the same issues in detail with mesmerizing graphics.

Euro 2020 – Day 17 Review

From Ali Daei pulling a “Pele” prior to Portugal locking horns with

in the Round of 16, to Gini Wijnaldum being praised for his support of the LGBT community and the German national team being furious over something that the English have pulled, so much happened on day 17 of the tournament that will surely pique your interest. So without further ado, here is everything you should know about Euro 2020 day 17.

The Iranian Pele

It seems that Pele is not the only one who claims that his actual records are much better than what FIFA has recorded.

might have to work a bit more to assert his dominance over the world football, as Ali Daei has claimed that he has in fact scored more international goals than what has been recorded officially. The former Iran international said:

“I actually scored 111 goals, but that doesn’t matter anymore. Because of the way Cristiano plays and his level of form, I’m sure he will score a lot more goals than me.” At least Daei’s claims might actually be true since the claimed numbers don’t differ much from the recorded numbers. Of course Cristiano Ronaldo might have to wait a bit longer to surpass Daei’s record since Portugal were eliminated from Euro 2020 after a 1-0 defeat against Belgium.

The Juventus striker is currently the all-time Euro top scorer with a total of 14 goals. He surpassed Michel Platini with a brace against

in the first matchday of Euro 2020 group stages.

The growing support

Netherlands international Georginio Wijnaldum donned a rainbow-colored captain’s armband against

c in support of the LGBT community. Even though Netherlands were eliminated from Euro 2020 Round of 16 with a 2-0 defeat against the Czech Republic, Wijnaldum’s gesture didn’t go unnoticed as he received praise for supporting the community.

Previously,

goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was under investigation by UEFA for wearing a similar captain’s armband and Allianz Arena was banned from lighting up in rainbow colors prior to Germany’s match against Hungary. We will have to wait and see if UEFA are going to take action against Wijnaldum as well or not.

The praise that Wijnaldum got might be too little too late as he and his teammates faced a shock defeat against the obviously stronger Czech Republic. Of course their strength was not as clear on paper as the Flying Dutchmen were the favorites to win the Round of 16 clash prior to start of the game.

The Imposter

Roy Keane called Joao Felix an “imposter” after the

international missed a vital chance to equalize against Belgium, which led to his nation being eliminated from the tournament. Keane claimed that he would be going for Felix in the dressing room. He went on to add:

“Felix when he came on, that guy is an imposter. He comes on and the country needs you, just hit the target, he’s what, £100 million?” Surely many Portugal fans will have the same idea as they were disappointingly kicked out of the competition with a 1-0 defeat against Belgium.

Felix joined

from Benfica for a staggering €127 million back in 2019 and became one of the most expensive teenagers in the world alongside Kylian Mbappe. But while his French counterpart has managed to take the world by storm, Felix has struggled to help national team so far as he was not even given a single chance to prove himself prior to their clash against Belgium.

Germany’s fury

You can almost feel how furious

are right now as they were just told that they can’t train at Wembley tonight. They will be locking horns with their archrivals England tomorrow in a historic battle. While England will be doubly determined to finally break the curse and defeat Germany, the Germans are far from happy as they were denied the rights to train at Wembley prior to the clash.

While UEFA said that the stadium has been damaged due to the heavy rains in London, German newspaper Bild claimed that such a decision is nothing but a “scandal”, adding that Joachim Low is livid.

With that being said, Low and his men will surely look for retaliation as their anger towards the English FA grows. All eyes will be on

and Germany tomorrow as they lock horns once again in a major tournament. History has shown that Germans are usually the victors and the English will have to put a lot more effort into their game if they want to break the curse and finally defeat their archrivals.

READ MORE:

Follow 

 for the