Euro 2024 column: Cristiano Ronaldo, Croatia and TV pundits

Euro View – Dan Barnes

Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva might be fierce rivals in the Premier League – but it is a joy to watch them working in tandem on the international stage.

The pair were instrumental as Portugal cruised to a 3-0 victory against Turkey in Dortmund to secure their place at the top of Group F.

Silva set the tone for what was to come with a ruthless finish on his trusty left foot after arriving late to meet Nuno Mendes’ deflected cross.

There was a huge slice of luck with the second as Samet Akaydin scored a calamitous own goal, and Fernandes killed the game off in the second half after an unselfish assist from Cristiano Ronaldo (there’s a first time for everything).

Silva is one of those players you can’t take your eyes off. The ball just seems to stick to his feet and he makes everything look effortless.

Fernandes is more relentless but equally talented, and defenders will be having nightmares about the prospect of coming up against the duo in the knockout rounds.

Ronaldo also deserves a mention. There’s no denying he is one of the greatest players in the history of the sport but at 39, and now plying his trade in Saudi Arabia, I expected him to be a shadow of his former self.

While that is true to an extent, the former Manchester United man proved that he still has a part to play with an effective display against the Turks.

Portugal scraped a win against Czech Republic in their opener and Roberto Martinez opted to switch to a back four, with Fernandes having more freedom to push forward and make his mark in the final third.

The change certainly paid off - they looked a class above from the first whistle, in truth, despite the fierce atmosphere created by the Turkish fans.

Pepe is another player proving that age is just a number, gaining an advantage over his younger, faster opponents through his elite reading of the game.

The veteran defender is now the oldest player to feature at the Euros – surpassing Gabor Kiraly and his legendary grey joggers.

Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo need no introduction, and PSG youngster Nuno Mendes already has plenty of experience under his belt at club level – and bags of energy to make an impact at both ends of the pitch.

After this showing, I certainly wouldn’t want to come up against Portugal in the knockout stages (assuming England don’t absolutely blow it against Slovenia).

It feels like a wide open tournament and with each game I watch, I start to feel like Jerry ‘the King’ Lawler constantly changing his pick to win the Royal Rumble.

I have to admit, though, all this free flowing, attacking football is making the dross England served up against Denmark even more painful.

Luka Modric and Co have given us great footballing pleasure down the years - but it this a step too far? (Image: PA)

Euro View – Marc Iles

It is looking increasingly like one tournament too far for Croatia and a group of players who have constantly defied the odds.

Nobody in world football has mined a richer seam of talent that they have in the past 10 years despite the country having a population of less than four million and a pretty unremarkable domestic league.

Dominated by Spain’s young guns and nullified by minnows Albania, it is asking a lot for them to produce one last hurrah to beat the Italians – and probably knock them out of the competition.

On paper, Germany, Scotland and Poland have older squads than Croatia but they lean so heavily into the experience of Modric, Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic - who share an amazing 378 caps between them, by the way. Add to that other thirty-somethings like Ivan Perisic, Domagoj Vida and Andrej Kramaric, and something was always going to give at some point. I’d just hoped they could pull off one more heist for old time’s sake.

Watching this team, which has given us so much viewing pleasure and worn some magnificent kits down the years, it is a bit sad to see their powers waning. They can keep the ball as well as anyone around but like a veteran heavyweight circling the ring, the instincts are all still there but the body just can’t execute them quickly enough. There simply isn’t enough punch on the end of all the possession.

Italy are nowhere near what they were at the previous Euros but they should be canny enough to get the point they need to guarantee the next round.

Spain are certain to make big changes against Albania, which might open the door a surprise result to make things more interesting. Their squad isn’t quite as deep as it has been in the past and they already know they are through regardless of results elsewhere.

Wayne Rooney made an inauspicious start in front of the cameras (Image: PA)

TV View – Marc Iles

We have watched matches in such high volume over the last few days that sometimes you need a little something to break the football fatigue.

Take Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl, for example. I have a lot of time for his tactical analysis, he is clearly doing a brilliant job at Hillsborough, but the randomness with which he uses the word “Ja (or yes)” provides me with a constant source of entertainment.

I have become especially fond of Laura Woods’ ability to pass the same question down the line of her three pundits and leave the third one scrambling for something new to say. You can sense the tension at either side of ‘the three’ when she starts talking, it is a joy to watch.

Equally, I find the outrage felt by middle-aged men, usually called Darren, Dave or Dennis, hilarious whenever a female pundit makes a point they either don’t understand, or don’t with which they don’t agree.

“What qualifies her to talk about international men’s football?” they pound into their keyboard, all of them, of course, seasoned television pundits.

Alas, international experience or excellence is not the key. Ladies and gentlemen, I direct you towards Wayne Rooney’s debut for the BBC on Friday night. I am desperate to see him succeed in some way post-playing career, and wish him well at Plymouth this season, but I don’t think punditry is necessarily his calling in life.

I have to admit some surprise at Thomas Hitzlsperger’s proficiency when watching him talk about Georgia v Czech Republic on Saturday afternoon. But if that guy doesn’t get more media work in the future, there is something wrong, he was excellent.

David Moyes has also loosened up since he started in the Euros and I thought him, Ellen White and Hitzlsperger were three of the most entertaining punditry ‘teams’ we have seen so far, alongside the excellent Mark Chapman.

As much as the roster rotates from tournament to tournament, there is no substitute for class. And we saw in Saturday night’s Belgium v Romania game that Clive Tyldesley and Ally McCoist have the most synergy of any two people currently involved in the press box.

A pretty unremarkable game was made infinitely more interesting by the two pals, and though it is becoming somewhat of a cliché to point it out, nobody else is getting close.