- England beat Switzerland on penalties to reach the semi-finals of Euro 2024
- Many fans struggled to get to Dusseldorf and instead stayed in Amsterdam
- Swiss authorities made bizarre plans for if they beat the Three Lions
Footage of England’s players engaged in keenly contested cricket matches at their Germany training camp has been in high demand.
Clips of the Three Lions’ stars — including one earlier this week of a delighted Declan Rice clean bowling Harry Kane before proclaiming that he was Ben Stokes — have gone viral.
It is also understood that Indian rights partners have been in touch with the Football Association to ask if they can show them to the country’s cricket-mad population.
England fans use Amsterdam as main hub
With flights to Dusseldorf either sold out or incredibly expensive, along with hotels, Amsterdam became a main hub for many of the 30,000 England fans who headed out for the game.
Huge numbers chose to fly to the Dutch city and stay there overnight before taking the two-hour train in the morning.
As such, numbers of England supporters in Dusseldorf on Friday night were fewer than expected, with around 5,000 present and only two arrests.
Swiss make car-horn honking plans
The Swiss were so confident of beating England that authorities in various cantons made plans before the match to enforce a one-hour window of car-horn honking.
The annoying celebration is commonplace across Europe, but officials in the western and French-speaking part of the country warned fans they would only get 60 minutes to blast their hooters should Switzerland prevail.
Craze of the tournament
Retro England shirts have proven to be the craze of the tournament among Three Lions fans, with a surge in sales and a host of online retailers cashing in.
Copies of the Italia 90 shirt, along with the World Cup 1982 jersey, appear to have been the most popular.
Royalty in attendance
The Prince of Wales was in the crowd and, fortunately for some in the media, there was no repeat of scenes at England versus Denmark. The VIP section in Frankfurt was next to the press room and, when the prince arrived, security imposed a lockdown — leaving some stuck in the lavatory.
Southgate racks up century
Gareth Southgate is the third England manager to reach 100 games. Sir Walter Winterbottom drew his century match 3-3 with Northern Ireland in 1958. Sir Alf Ramsey’s was a 1-0 win over Wales in 1972.