Good evening!

A massive weekend for football fans around the world as the Euros and Copa América will come to a close on Monday morning.

I imagine there’ll be some rowdy fans taking Monday off work to watch England v Spain at 5:00am followed by Argentina v Colombia at 10:00am.

If that’s not enough football for one weekend, we’re also lucky enough to have the Matildas playing early Sunday morning against Canada in an Olympic warm-up match.

Have a great weekend!

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Stat of the day

4
The number of Matildas who will be playing in the American National Women’s Soccer League when star goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold joins the Portland Thorns after the Olympics. The Thorns announced Arnold would be joining the Oregon-based NWSL team yesterday. The Matildas are in action against world number eight Canada on Sunday at 5:00am (AEST).

Quote of the day

"Il meglio deve ancora venire."
A quote from Lorenzo Musetti’s coach that is tattooed on the player’s right side. It is Italian for “the best is yet to come”. The 25th seed will play in his first grand slam semi-final against 24-time grand slam winner Novak Djokovic at 12:30am (AEST) tomorrow.

Random fact of the day

There are 14 peaks in the world higher than 8000m. The first man to climb all 14 was Italian climber Reinhold Messner in 1986. The first woman to climb all 14 was Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban in 2010.

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In case you missed it…

🚴‍♂️ Eritrean cyclist Biniam Grimay won Stage 12 of the Tour de France, his third stage win in this year’s race. The victory means Girmay maintains his lead in the points classification and the green jersey. Tadej Pogacar still holds the overall lead while general classification contender Primoz Roglic lost time (+4:42) after getting caught in a crash. 

🏉 Sydney Swans star Isaac Heeney’s appeal against a one-match ban at the AFL tribunal was unsuccessful. The ban means he is now ineligible to win the Brownlow Medal (for which he was a strong contender). Heeney will miss this weekend’s clash between the Swans and the North Melbourne Kangaroos this weekend at the SCG. The Swans will be hoping to snap a two-match losing streak.

🎾 Two women’s semi-finals were played at Wimbledon overnight. Jasmine Paolini (no.7) became the first Italian woman to reach the Wimbledon final after prevailing against Donna Vekic in the longest women’s semi ever played at Wimbledon (2-6, 6-4, 7-6). Paolini will play Czech Barbora Krejčíková, who defeated Elena Rybakina in three sets (3-6, 6-3, 6-4), in the final tomorrow (time TBD).

🎾 Australian duo Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell are into the final of the men’s doubles at Wimbledon. The 15th seeds defeated the No.1 seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in the semi-final on Thursday. They will play the final against unseeded pairing Harri Helliövaara and Henry Patten on Sunday (time TBD).

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The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, promised for the second time on Wednesday to dive into the River Seine to prove it is clean. Hidalgo postponed her first swim in the Seine after President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election. 

The Seine, which will be used for the triathlon and marathon swimming events, has been making headlines in the lead-up to the Olympics due to concerns over water quality. 

The Seine at the Olympics

The river, which runs through the centre of Paris, is set to be one of the main attractions of the 2024 Olympics. Alongside the triathlon and marathon swimming events, it will stage the opening ceremony, marking the first time an opening ceremony will not be held inside a stadium. 

Cleaning up its act

It has been illegal to swim in the Seine since 1923 due to the high pollution levels. French authorities have invested 1.4 billion Euros in cleaning the Seine to ensure the water quality is high enough to host swimmers in Olympic events. 

Backup plans unveiled

Last week the Games’ organising committee revealed their plans in case the water quality is unsafe for competition. The triathlon could be changed to a duathlon (just cycling and running) while the marathon swim could be moved to the Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium in the greater Paris region which is where rowing and paddling (canoe/kayak) events are being held.

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The finals of the two most watched football tournaments outside the World Cup will occur on Monday. Here is your preview for the Euro Championship and Copa América finals. 

Euros

The Euro 2024 final will see world number five, England, take on world number eight, Spain. The match is being played at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany on Monday at 5:00am (AEST).

Head-to-head

Despite their lower ranking, Spain will head to the final as the favourite having already beaten three teams in the top ten (Italy, Croatia, and France). They have also scored the most goals of any team (13).

Meanwhile, England hopes to rewrite the wrongs of the Euro 2020 final where they lost to Italy in a penalty shootout on home soil at Wembley Stadium. The Three Lions (as they are affectionately known) have demonstrated an ability to score in big moments: they trailed in the Round of 16 (Slovakia), quarter-final (Switzerland) and semi-final (Netherlands) but eventually prevailed in all three. 

Copa América 

The 2024 Copa América final will see the world’s number one team Argentina face off against world number 12 Colombia. The game will be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Florida, U.S., on Monday at 10:00am (AEST).

Head-to-head

Argentina is the favourite to win. They are the defending Copa América and World Cup champions. While Argentina is chasing a record 16th title, Colombia has only won the tournament once, back in 2001. 

Throughout the tournament, the two teams have exhibited differing styles of play. Argentina has only conceded one goal in five matches (the best defensive record of any team) and Colombia has scored 12 goals (the best offensive record of any team).

Remarkably, Colombia is unbeaten in 28 games of football. The last team to beat them was Argentina.

Bronze-medal match

The two semi-final losers, Canada and Uruguay, will play for third place on Sunday at 10:00am (AEST).

How to watch

You can watch both finals on Optus Sport. 

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Looking back…

Looking forward…(All times are AEST)

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