England hit with injury scare days before Euro 2024 final against Spain
England are sweating on the fitness of one key player as they prepare to face Spain in the final of Euro 2024.
Gareth Southgate’s side reached their second successive Euros final with a 2-1 victory over the Netherlands in their semi-final on Wednesday night.
Harry Kane and Ollie Watkins fired the Three Lions to victory after Xavi Simons had given the Dutch an early lead in Dortmund.
England will now face the in-form team in the tournament, Spain, who beat France 2-1 to reach the final in Berlin.
The Three Lions could be without defender Kieran Trippier when they face Luis de la Fuente’s side.
Trippier was forced to miss training earlier in the tournament because of a calf injury which disrupted the final months of the domestic season with Newcastle.
While he was fit enough to start against the Netherlands, Trippier was taken off at half-time and replaced at left wing-back by Luke Shaw.
Speaking about Trippier in his post-match interview, Southgate admitted he was unsure about his fitness and whether he will be able to face Spain.
“We didn’t want to take any chances,” said Southgate.
“We had it in our minds that we would bring Luke into the game at some point. It was better to bring him into the game than to start the game and not be able to finish it.
“We’ll have to see how Tripps is. He’s been an absolute soldier for us. To fill in the way he has, on the wrong side of the pitch, with the injuries he’s had coming into the tournament, is exceptional.”
Shaw is expected to start in the left wing-back role if Trippier fails to recover in time to face Spain, while Ezri Konsa and Joe Gomez are other options for Southgate.
The England manager will be desperate for his first-choice left-sided defender to be fully fit, with the dangerous Lamine Yamal featuring on the right side of Spain’s attack.
The 16-year-old has scored one goal and provided three assists, and is the current favourite to win the Player of the Tournament award.
Bryan King has hailed Daniel Levy as Tottenham prepare to announce a “massive” sponsorship deal.
The ex-Spurs scout claims the club chairman has proven his worth when it comes to seeking out commercial opportunities in North London.
As reported by Football London (9 July), “Tottenham Hotspur are in advanced negotiations over a huge new matchday shirt sleeve sponsorship deal which is expected to be announced as early as this month”.
The agreement is set to dwarf the value of their previous shirt sleeve sponsorship deal with Cinch, which was worth £10million-per-year.
And King – speaking exclusively to Tottenham News – believes this is an important deal for the club.
Ever since moving into their 62,000-plus seater stadium the club have continued to go from strength to strength from a commercial point of view.
With this deal set to dwarf their £10million-per-year agreement with Cinch, it appears as though the numbers involved could reach an eye-watering amount.
It is another example of Levy finding a way to generate revenue in North London. As a result of this new deal, supporters will expect to see some more cash distributed into the transfer budget.
