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TOP HEADLINES
· Hundreds of Danish soccer fans have boarded busses in Copenhagen for a quick 12-hour round trip to Amsterdam, hoping to avoid any COVID-19 travel restrictions. Their team play Wales in the Netherlands, where travelers are required to quarantine for five days. But they will be exempt if they spend less than 12 hours in the country.
· UEFA's head of refereeing Roberto Rosetti has defended the high number of penalty kicks awarded in the tournament and said they resulted from the effective use of Video Assistant Referee technology rather than generous awards.
· Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku is aiming to emulate the achievements of Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo as the top two strikers in the tournament go head-to-head on Sunday. "At his age, he continues to shine, and I'm going to try and get as close to his achievements as possible," Lukaku said.
· Austria has criticized the decision to prevent them from training at London's Wembley stadium ahead of their last-16 match with Italy on Saturday. UEFA told the Austrians on Thursday that the pitch needed a break before the match.
· Current world champions France are facing mounting injury problems ahead of their last-16 clash with Switzerland on Monday. At least six of the squad are struggling to be fit for the match, leaving coach Didier Deschamps short of options in some positions.
Hundreds of Danish soccer fans boarded busses in Copenhagen on Friday night for a quick 12-hour round trip to Amsterdam and in turn avoid any COVID-19 travel limits to attend their last 16 game against Wales on Saturday. /Reuters
SATURDAY'S FIXTURES
Wales vs Denmark, Johan Cruyff ArenA, Amsterdam: 16:00 GMT
Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand is hoping his nation's long-term relationship with Dutch soccer will stand him in good stead when his team takes on Wales in Amsterdam.
Several of the current Denmark team have played for Dutch league champions Ajax in recent years, returning to their former club's stadium for this last-16 encounter.
"Christian (Eriksen) left home when he was 16, and this (Amsterdam) is his second home. We also have (Kasper) Dolberg and (Nicolai) Boilesen -- there are so many players who have gotten their football upbringing here," Hjulmand said.
Denmark are the favorites to win this match despite being without Eriksen, but they know they'll have to keep Wales's Gareth Bale quiet to progress.
Danish midfielder and Bale's teammate at Tottenham this season, Pierre-Emile Hoejberg said, "There are not many players who have done what he has in the past 10 years: scoring 100 goals at Real Madrid. He is a top player, an amazing guy, a leader."
Meanwhile, Bale told reporters that Wales enjoy being the underdogs.
"We're always the underdog. We're used to that tag but it doesn't make a difference to us. That's normal anyway," Bale said.
Wales forward Gareth Bale has told reporters that he and his Wales teammates are happy being labeled as underdogs. /Reuters
Italy vs Austria, Wembley, London: 19:00 GMT
Italy's players are "fairly relaxed" before their last-16 match against Austria on Saturday, coach Roberto Mancini revealed. The team, known as the Azzurri, have looked impressive in their opening three games of the competition, scoring seven goals and conceding none so far.
The team have also kept a clean sheet in each of their last 11 matches in all competitions, going 17 hours and 35 minutes - without conceding a single goal. They last time a team scored against Italy was in October 2020.
"We know that we can rely on some very good players. And whoever goes out there will do what they've done thus far, so they will perform very well," Mancini said.
Mancini, who has coached in England's Premier League urged his team to put in a performance worthy of the "footballing Mecca" of Wembley.
Both teams' preparations for the match have been affected, after being told that they could not train on the Wembley turf the day before the game because the pitch needed a break before the match.
Austrian coach Franco Foda said his side would only have a slim chance of causing a big upset in London, but that is enough to spur them on.
"Percentage-wise, it is difficult to say (whatAustria's chances are), but even if it is just 10 percent, there is a lot you can do with 10 percent," he added.
