Saudi Arabia’s tentacles also extend to European Championship football in an unprecedented way – but one man surprised everyone | Sport

European Football Championships on channels 14.6.–14.7. Go to the competition website from this link.

On Friday, France took a step closer to the next games of the European football championships by clearing their most difficult match of the group stage without setbacks.

France faced the Netherlands in the battle for the top of Group D, where even the group victory was at stake. Smooth rotation without someone sitting on the bench injured Kylian Mbappé ended in a 0–0 score.

– Mbappé’s loss was big. France’s previously dangerous left wing was no longer the same in this match. A super dangerous wild card, the number one piece was gone, Urheilu’s expert Erkka V. Lehtola says on Saturday morning’s 11 friends podcast.

One of France’s most reliable performers was a surprise selection for the whole team. Midfielder N’Golo Kanté was again strongly featured. He contributed in a valuable way to the French quarterback, but he excelled as usual as a breaker of the opponent’s attacks. Kanté was awarded as the best player of the match for the second time in as many matches.

Kanté is 33 years old and had not played for the national team for two years. He plays in Saudi Arabia, whose main series has been viewed as an opportunity for cooling players to make money without high-quality matches.

Then came the opening match of the tournament. Kanté was in the starting line-up and shone against Austria. He got his trademark style everywhere.

– Many brought him up on social media. Someone said that he finally saw for himself on the field how good Kanté really is. I find it unfortunate that he plays there (in Saudi Arabia), but everyone makes their own decisions, Urheilu’s expert Markus Halsti said during Friday’s game.

Halsti was referring to a video shared by the French national football team. The hero of the 2018 world champion team marches into the locker room and receives thunderous applause after proving that his level has been maintained.

– Listen carefully when I tell you this. It’s not a myth. I saw it myself now, I saw it with my own eyes. Crazy, teammate Youssouf Fofana says in the video.

One wondered why Kanté is still not playing in the top leagues.

Saudi Arabia is present in these games in an unprecedented way. In the previous European Championships, three years ago, there was not a single player playing in Saudi Arabia. Now no less than 14 competitive players represented the Saudi Arabian club this season.

Cristiano Ronaldo started the trend with his transfer after the 2022 World Cup. In last summer’s transfer window, Saudi clubs bought players for almost a billion euros, which does not include the astronomically increased salaries.

Agreeing to Saudi Arabia’s offer has been seen as some sort of finale, but at least a year or so after their transfers, many have remained in favor of their national team. If a little imagination is used when it comes to playing positions and roles, you could put together a lineup like this, for example, from Saudi Arabia’s competition players.

Name players are valuable marketing capital for Saudi Arabia and are generally among the best players in the series. Many have tried to justify the transfer with sporting reasons, but some have directly admitted that they took the cheeky offer. It has been reported that Ronaldo will earn around 400 million euros during his 2.5-year contract.

Before long, more direct comments have been made. Defender of Spain Aymeric Laporte recently expressed his disappointment with the conditions.

– Many are dissatisfied. We work on it every day, sort of negotiating. We’ll see if things improve, because it’s new for them too, that there are Europeans who have played a long career. They may not be used to it and they need to adapt to doing something a little more serious, Laporte told the Spanish newspaper AS.

– Many of us are not here just for football. Many people are satisfied with it, but I also want something other than the financial aspect.

The players who left for Saudi Arabia will be seen again today. In the most anticipated match, Portugal will face Turkey. The head coach Roberto Martinez had to answer critical questions about Ronaldo on Friday. The 39-year-old played full minutes in the opening game, even though in anticipation not everyone even believed in a place in the starting line-up.

The coach hinted at the doubts with the glove.

– May I ask a question? Do you know how many minutes Cristiano played this season? No one else has played in six European Championships. Cristiano is in the national team because he deserves to be here. Look at what he has achieved. “All the physical stats support him being able to play every four days,” Martinez said.

In Portugal’s opening match, Ronaldo got a couple of good positions and started a goal, which was disallowed after Ronaldo was offside. The winning goal in extra time came from the joint play of talents 15 years younger who came on the field as a substitute.

– He was the striker who scored the most, disciplined and hardworking. He is really important in the penalty area. He creates space. When Francisco Conceicão scored, space opened up through Cristiano, Martinez said on Friday.

A win today would allow Portugal to focus on the next games. Germany and Spain have already secured their place there. In addition to France and Holland, England and Switzerland are strong after collecting four points from the first two matches. Poland, on the other hand, is the first team to lose its chance to continue.

Listen to the latest episode of the 11 friends podcast below or from this link.

The races are followed moment by moment in the app and on ‘s website in this article.