Euro 2022: Barcelona’s Mapi León and PSG’s Grace Geyoro the stars so far | OneFootball

A summer of football in England kicked off on July 6th when England came up against Austria.

Euro 2022 has already set attendance records, the Dutch fan army is taking over cities, the Icelandic thunder clap is here, and most importantly, the tiny car is back.

The games have been thrilling, packed full of super goals and standout performers. Here’s what we learned from the first round of matches.

Work in progress

The pressure of playing in front of a home crowd clearly got to England, who looked nervous against Austria.

As the nerves calmed down, England found some rhythm. Fran Kirby posed a lot of questions with her positioning, despite not seeing much of the ball. She ended up creating the goal for England with a sublime first-time chipped ball in behind for Arsenal’s Beth Mead.

Mead continued her blistering form and looked threatening all game. Millie Bright was a rock in defence, clearing all danger and spraying long diagonals for her wingers.

Austria’s Laura Feiersinger had a brilliant individual display, but her team found itself a little isolated in attack at times.

Sarina Wiegman’s side have sidestepped a potential banana skin match with a win, but would be expecting a better showing moving forwards in the tournament. Austria, semi-finalists in 2017, made a case for themselves with a defensively astute showing.

Norway managed to win their game against the tournament debutants, Northern Ireland. There were multiple stories from the game, but Northern Ireland scoring their first ever goal of the tournament was a moment of history.

The 37 year-old Julie Nelson became the oldest goalscorer in Euros history, surpassing Italy’s Patrizia Panico. Besides losing the game, the biggest blow was losing Simone Magill through a devastating ACL injury.

Norway were able to exhibit their attacking prowess, with Julie Blakstad, Guro Reiten, Frida Maanum and Caroline Graham Hansen all getting on the scoresheet. They left a little to be desired on the defensive end of things, however, and their next test will probably not be as forgiving of those mistakes.

Group A is still in balance. Austria can pose questions to Norway based on their showing against England, while the Lionesses will have to improve on their performance. Everything is still to play for.

German revenge

Heavy favourites Spain opened Group B against Finland, and were handed an early wake-up call.

Spain, still dwelling on losing their captain and Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas just a day before the tournament began, showed they still struggle with problems with finishing, but they got back on track and won the game comfortably in the end.

Barcelona’s Mapi León stood out, displaying her exceptional ability on the ball by picking up two assists.

There was possession, there was control, but the goals they scored underlined the fact that Spain has one of the most diverse ways to hurt a team.

The space behind the fullbacks was there to be exploited, and Finland did try to use pace in behind, finding success a couple of times. This is something teams will be paying attention to.

Germany were up against Denmark, a team that knocked them out of the tournament in 2017. Indeed, they looked like they had a score to settle.

Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s side were intense right from the start, and didn’t allow the Danes any breathing space.

Lina Magull ran the show, while Alexandra Popp marked her first ever Euros with a goal. Things went from bad to worse for Denmark when 18 year-old mercurial talent, Katherine Kühl, got a red card in the dying minutes. The last edition’s finalists were thoroughly outplayed by Germany, who made a statement about reclaiming their crown in Europe.

In the group of death, every result is crucial. Based on the initial two games, Spain and Germany will power their way through the group, but the top spot is there for the taking. Denmark, on the other hand, will be hoping to shake off the ice in the next game.

Group C in standstill

Group C threw in the most frantic pair of games so far. While the Swiss ran into an early two-goal lead in just five minutes, Nils Nielsen’s side struggled to continue their momentum and control the game.

Portugal grew in stature and brought their corner routines to the party, scoring their first goal as a result and creating multiple other dangerous opportunities, eventually bringing the match back to a 2-2 draw.

It was Arsenal’s midfield maestro Lia Wälti’s 100th international cap for Switzerland, who looked out of their depth for large parts of the match. They will need to be much improved going into their next games.

The defending champions, Netherlands, kicked-off their campaign against tournament favourites Sweden.

It was a game of two halves. Both teams showcased how a team can utilise individual quality to introduce tactical flexibility and change the game.

Mark Parson’s second-half positional changes allowed Vivianne Miedema to create isolation against the opposition centre-back, while shifting Jill Roord centrally meant she could use her skillset much better.

The Dutch capitalised on this momentum swing and scored via Roord, ending the game in a stalemate. Sweden’s aggressive fullbacks proved to be a double-edged sword.

The bigger story was the Netherlands losing two of their starters in defence. Sari Van Veenendal, who won the Golden Glove at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, has been ruled out of the tournament, while Aniek Nouwen left the field limping.

The 22 year-old Daphne van Domselaar announced herself on the international stage, coming on to replace Van Veenendal for her second cap. She looked solid between the sticks.

With Group C finely balanced, goal difference might decide the final standings. The Swedes and Dutch will be hoping to come out all guns blazing in their next two games.

Five star French

In Group D, Iceland and Belgium kicked off proceedings. With VAR heavily used during the match, the team that took their chances were rewarded.

Iceland came out with intensity. Their counter-press and explosiveness on transition was on display, but in the end they failed to make the most of their 23 shots.

Wolfsburg’s Sveindís Jónsdóttir lit up the stage with her powerful dribbling and ball-carrying, and was a constant attacking threat. Berglind Þorvaldsdóttir had her penalty saved by Belgium’s Nicky Evrard in the first half, before scoring Iceland’s only goal in the game.

Belgium did have their moments and in the 67th minute, Reading’s Justine Vanhaevermaet converted from the spot to bring things level.

Winning this game would have helped either teams in their bid to secure the second spot in Group D, but a draw leaves the hard yards still to be covered.

France against Italy was the battle of heavyweights, title contenders against the dark horses, predicted to be a clash to decide who will top Group D.

Italy started brightly – Barbara Bonansea was through on goal in the opening minutes but had her shot saved. At that moment, it looked like Italy might cause trouble. But then PSG’s Grace Geyoro happened.

Corine Diacre’s side, spearheaded by attackers Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Kadidiatou Diani and Delphine Cascarino, and supplemented by midfielders Sandie Toletti and Geyoro, went on a rampage.

Italy did make the task easier for them, but Les Bleues presented a solid case for their title hopes. France steamrolled Italy with five goals and a Geyoro hat-trick in the opening 45 minutes.

Things looked bleak for Italy, with the cursed sword of suffering the heaviest loss in Euros history looming, but they came back fighting in the second half.

One could argue the French definitely took their foot off the gas, having sealed the game already, but there were positives in that second half for Milena Bertolini’s side.

How Italy recover from this mental beating will be decisive in how far they can go in the tournament. As for France, the world is expecting once again. How they maintain this level is the next question.