Nikola Jokic isn’t just the best hoops player on the planet when it comes to dishing out dimes.
The Big Honey might be the best when it comes to dishing out bling, too.
Despite our crack staff being in the writing biz, Team Grading The Week believes actions speak louder than all the words on this page.
And GTW is firmly in the camp of backing up your brags.
Is anybody — certainly not anybody in the basketball sphere — conquering both fronts better than the Joker is, right here and now?
The NBA’s three-time MVP didn’t just help carry the Serbian hoops squad to a bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics. According to the Blic newspaper in his native country, Jokic purchased Rolex watches for every one of his teammates on the national team.
Jokic’s Serbian gifts — A
The kicker? Those timepieces were reportedly worth $32,500 each. Which puts the Joker’s total purchase at an estimated $357,500 for 11 watches.
Jokic and Serbia won the men’s hoops bronze in Paris thanks to a 93-83 win over Germany in the tourney’s third-place game. The Nuggets star posted a very Jokic stat line, too — 19 points, 12 boards and 11 assists.
The Joker averaged 18.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 8.7 assists for his homeland, which finished 4-2 at the tourney. He led all tournament players in points, boards and dimes — the first Olympian to ever top all three categories in one campaign.
Apparently, nobody gives like Jokic gives when it comes to the gift department, either. At least the fantastic gesture was one the Joker could afford: The Nuggets center, per Spotrac.com, is slated to take up $51.4 million in cap space in ’24-’25, and $55.2 million in ’25-’26.
If you’re like the GTW staff, you don’t just want Jokic as your franchise centerpiece now. You kind of want him as your secret Santa, too.
Big Russ’ debut — D
Russell Wilson’s Steelers stats after preseason Week 2: One appearance, five drives led, zero points, three sacks taken.
Bo Nix’s Broncos stats after preseason Week 2: Two appearances, seven drives led, 30 points, zero sacks taken.
It’s early, and we’ll know in a month whether Sean Payton won the Broncos-Steelers game, head-to-head. But the coach is off to a flying start in terms of winning the argument. And in justifying one hellaciously expensive football divorce.
Valor’s Friday — A
Love ’em or hate ’em, this past Friday was a pretty good day to be an Eagle.
Earlier in the day, Valor alum and PGA star Wyndham Clark pulled himself back into the BMW Championship title picture by shooting a 68 during his second round at Castle Pines — including five birdies. Later that evening, his alma mater’s football team opened its season with a 31-14 victory over Pine Creek. The latter had beaten Valor in last September’s meeting, 31-17.
SOLINGEN, Germany (AP) — Special police units on Saturday joined the search for an unknown man who carried out a stabbing attack at a crowded festival in the western German city of Solingen, killing three people and wounding at least eight others, five of them seriously.
What You Need To Know
Police units are searching for an unknown man who carried out a stabbing attack at a festival in the German city of Solingen, killing three people and wounding at least eight others
Police did not indicate that they had yet established the identity of the attacker and warned people to stay vigilant
The attack took place in the crowd in front of one stage at the “Festival of Diversity,” which began Friday and was supposed to run through Sunday
There has been concern about increased knife violence in Germany, and there has been a proposal to toughen weapon laws to allow only knives with a blade measuring up to 6 centimeters (nearly 2.4 inches) to be carried in public, rather than the length of 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) that is currently allowed
“The police are currently conducting a large-scale search for the perpetrator,” police said in a statement. “Both victims and witnesses are currently being questioned,” they said.
Police did not indicate that they had yet established the identity of the attacker and warned people to stay vigilant even as wellwishers started to leave flowers at the scene. Police established an online portal where witnesses could upload footage and any other information relevant to the attack.
People alerted police shortly after 9:30 p.m. Friday to an unknown attacker having wounded several people with a knife on a central square, the Fronhof. Police said they believe the stabbings were carried out by a lone attacker and gave no information about the identities of the victims.
“Last night our hearts were torn apart. We in Solingen are full of horror and grief. What happened yesterday in our city has hardly let any of us sleep,” the mayor of Solingen, Tim Kurzbach, said, speaking to reporters on Saturday near the scene of the attack.
The “Festival of Diversity,” marking the city’s 650th anniversary, began Friday and was supposed to run through Sunday, with several stages in central streets offering attractions such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics.
The attack took place in the crowd in front of one stage. Hours after the attack, the stage lights were still on as police and forensic investigators looked for clues in the cordoned-off square.
One of the festival organizers, Philipp Müller, appeared on stage on Friday and asked festivalgoers to “go calmly; please keep your eyes open, because unfortunately the perpetrator hasn’t been caught.” Solingen has about 160,000 residents and is located near the bigger cities of Cologne and Duesseldorf.
The rest of the festival was canceled.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that the perpetrator of the attack must be caught quickly and punished with the full force of the law.
“The attack in Solingen is a terrible event that has shocked me greatly. An attacker has brutally killed several people. I have just spoken to Solingen’s mayor, Tim Kurzbach. We mourn the victims and stand by their families,” Scholz said on X.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier also spoke to the mayor of Solingen on Saturday morning.
“The heinous act in Solingen shocks me and our country. We mourn those killed and worry about those injured and I wish them strength and a speedy recovery from all my heart,” Steinmeier said in a statement on Saturday.
“The perpetrator needs to be brought to justice. Let’s stand together — against hatred and violence.”
There has been concern about increased knife violence in Germany, and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser recently proposed toughening weapons laws to allow only knives with a blade measuring up to 6 centimeters (nearly 2.4 inches) to be carried in public, rather than the length of 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) that is currently allowed.
The U.S. women’s soccer team advanced to the Olympic final with a 1-0 victory over Germany on Tuesday. The team will face Brazil in the gold medal match on Aug. 10. “CBS Saturday Morning” co-host and CBS News and sports correspondent Dana Jacobson has an Olympic recap from Paris.
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Alica Schmidt finally got to run in the Olympics last week. But at what cost?
The German track star who has been dubbed “the world’s sexiest athlete” went to the Tokyo games but didn’t get to compete. Last week though she got to compete as part of the four-person team in the 4×400 mixed relay.
However, that seems to have caused controversy within Team Germany as her own teammate seems to have taken offense at not being selected over the more glamorous option.
Alica Schmidt at the amfAR Cannes Gala in 2023. / (c) MEGA/WENN
24-year-old Luna Bulmahn wrote on social media:
“Yes, I am the second fastest 400m athlete on paper. No, I was not nominated for the mixed relay.”
Hmm. Reads as sour grapes to us! (Or should we say saurgrapes?) It certainly seems like she’s implying Alica was chosen for another reason. We mean… the woman does have over 5 MILLION Instagram followers and over 250k subscribers on her YouTube channel. Her celebrity is probably good for German sports.
But you could see why Luna was unhappy about it. The changeup not only meant she couldn’t run, she also couldn’t compete alongside her boyfriend Jean Paul Bredau in the event. Ouch.
Is Luna really faster than Alica? And if so did it cost the team? They finished behind Team Great Britain in their final heat. And GB went on to compete in the finals, where they placed third, after the Netherlands and Team USA. (You can watch the race HERE!) So if they were a little faster could they have been up there on that podium getting bronze? Hmm…
What do YOU think? Was Alica chosen because of her looks and celebrity instead of her running ability? Could another runner have made the difference? Let us know your thoughts in the comments (below)!
LONDON — European markets fell sharply at the start of the new trading week, though pared losses towards the end of the session amid a global stock sell-off.
The regional Stoxx 600 index closed 2.17% lower, pulling back from declines of more than 3% as the technology sector clawed back some ground to end 0.9% lower.
All sectors and major bourses nonetheless finished in the red, with utilities and oil and gas stocks both losing over 3%.
Strategists pointed to several causes for the downturn across Europe, Asia and the U.S. which began last week, including fears of a U.S. recession and rapid Federal Reserve Rate cuts, the recent hawkish pivot by the Bank of Japan and crash in the yen “carry trade,” and an ongoing re-rating of the tech sector.
The VIX, a measure of expected market volatility, jumped more than 100% to 64.06 during Monday trade before cooling to around 35, still its highest level since 2020.
U.S. stocks saw steep losses through the morning, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average losing nearly 1,000 points, or 2.5%, as the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 2.6%.
Asia-Pacific markets had led the sell-off on Monday. Japan stocks entered a bear market, with the Nikkei 225 losing 12.4% to log its worst day since 1987.
The broad-based Topix also saw a rout, tumbling 12.23%, while heavyweight trading houses such as Mitsubishi, Mitsui and Co., Sumitomo and Marubeni all plunged more than 14%.
The yen, meanwhile, rose to its highest level against the dollar since January as U.S. Treasurys gained.
On the data front, demand for U.K. services rose in July, increasing to 52.5 from 52.1 the previous month, fresh purchasing managers’ index data showed Monday. Corresponding data for Italy and Spain also pointed to sustained growth in the sector but at a slower pace than previous months.
Germany’s on-chain Bitcoin wallet balance has officially reached zero, according to Arkham Intelligence, meaning sell pressure from the European economic powerhouse is likely at or near its end.
The wallet’s latest outflows bring an end to a bearish narrative that’s hung over the crypto market for weeks, at a time when on-chain indicators are signaling that a local bottom is near.
Germany’s Last Bitcoin Sale
As of late Thursday, Arkham said that the government had just 4925 BTC ($282.45 million) left sitting in its wallets. That’s down from the 50,000 BTC the state-owned as recently as recently as June 19, as officially seized from the movie piracy website Movie2kin January.
Early on Friday, the government received back 4169 BTC from exchanges including Kraken, Coinbase, and Bitstamp, before sending back 2700 BTC to such platforms by 5:00 am ET.
By 10am, the state had sent another 2300 BTC to Kraken, an unidentified address, and a likely institutional deposit/ over-the-counter trading service. Later at roughly 2:35 pm, the government sent all of its remaining 3846.05 BTC ($223.81M) to the institutional trading desk and Flow Traders – a proprietary trading firm.
Does This Mark The Bitcoin Bottom?
Germany’s sales began at a time when the U.S. government was also selling some of its coins seized from criminals, and market fears surrounding repayments to creditors of the bankrupt Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange abounded.
Combined with minimal demand growth from Bitcoin whales and a lack of stablecoin liquidity, low bullish momentum pushed Bitcoin’s price down to $53,900 last Friday – its largest pullback yet from its March high of $73,700.
Bitcoin investors online are celebrating the government’s completed selloff, while also criticizing the state for forfeiting their coins for fiat currency.
“Germany full stack dumping their seized BTC may go down as one of the biggest strategic blunders in history as soon as the next few decades,” tweeted Reflexivity Research co-founder Will Clemente on Friday.
MicroStrategy’s executive chairman Michael Saylor also took a subtle jab at the government on Friday, tweeting “Du verkaufst deine Bitcoin nicht,” translating from German to “You do not sell your Bitcoin.”
With the selloff finished, on-chain analysts say Bitcoin’s price looks like a healthy entry point for new investors.
Earlier this week, institutional investors accumulated BTC at their fastest rate since March, suggesting that they’ve deliberately been ‘buying the dip.’ Meanwhile, short-term holders have been selling their coins at a loss en masse, which analysts say is a good sign that market fear has peaked, and the price is due for a correction.
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Germany’s online casino association Deutscher Online Casinoverband (DOCV) expressed disagreement with the Gemeinsame Glücksspielbehörde den Länder (GGL) recent update on the country’s regulated market. According to the former body, the regulator underestimated the black market.
In an interview with iGamingBusiness, DOCV vice president and Entain regulator affairs council Simon Priglinger-Simader said that the GGL’s estimation of the prevalence of illegal gambling is too rosy. According to the regulator, the black market occupies a measly 4% market share.
However, the DOCV pointed out that the GGL report said that the black market was worth EUR 600 million, compared to the legal market’s EUR 3 billion. This would mean that illegal operators’ market share is closer to 20%, which, Priglinger-Simader said, is not ideal.
For comparison, a 2023 study commissioned by the DOCV and Deutscher Sportwettenverband (DSWV) and authored by Dr Gunter Schnabl, suggested that only 50.7% of the players were gambling within the regulated online sector. Conversely, 49.3% used unlicensed EU providers or illegal offshore websites, the study suggested.
GGL Will Update Its Figures
Other industry stakeholders also noted this discrepancy and dismissed GGL’s report. While the GGL is set to publish updated estimates soon, its unrealistic figures definitely didn’t please the regulated sector.
Priglinger-Simader told iGB that the industry is really looking forward to hearing the GGL’s updated estimates for the size of the black market, saying that it would be an “important and interesting step forward.”
Unfortunately, the final GGL evaluations will likely face delays. Originally set to be published in 2026, the report’s release date will likely be postponed, considering that June’s update itself was six months late, the DOCV noted.
The association therefore expects the final report to come in 2027 at the earliest. According to Priglinger-Simader, the regulator should find some way to implement some anti-black market measures earlier, lest it allows illegal operators to “thrive without having any consequences.”
Priglinger-Simader concluded that he acknowledges the difficulties faced by the GGL and the fact that it has been doing its best to regulate the market. He suggested that lower tax rates and less restrictive regulations could possibly make the legal market more competitive. Despite that, Priglinger-Simader was optimistic about the gradual growth of the legal market.
The German Navy is in need of a serious upgrade for its fleet of submarine frigates and we’re not talking about a digital upload or some kind of software patch. The country’s fleets of submarine frigates have operated on old-fashioned, 8-inch floppy disks since they were commissioned back in the 1990s.
Now the German Navy is trying to find a way to replace the outdated disk system that are “vital to the running of its Brandenburg class F123 frigates,” according to Tom’s Hardware.
Replacing the floppy disk system won’t be an easy task. These disks pretty much control everything on the ships from airflow systems to power generation. Does the German Navy still use Palm Pilots to organize its codewords and Tamagotchi to train its recruits in marine wildlife preservation?
Saab has been in charge of maintenance for Germany’s F123 frigate fleet since 2021, according to a press release. The frigates are designed to hunt for submarines so they’re also getting upgrades for its weapons and weapon control systems. Hopefully, they’ll also throw in one of those cool, luxurious night panel dashboards for free.
A lot of government institutions and programs have been on the floppy disk system for decades and long after the outdated computer storage system has fallen out of general use. Japan’s Digital Agency announced at the beginning of the month that it eliminated the use of floppy disks in its government systems. Does that mean that somewhere in the world, a core government agency is still using those Commodore cassette tapes to store its most vital data? Let’s hope those disks aren’t tied to nuclear weapons access… like they were in the US.
BERLIN — Germany will bar the use of critical components made by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE in core parts of the country’s 5G networks in two steps starting in 2026, the nation’s top security official said Thursday.
Germany, which has Europe’s biggest economy, has long mulled what to do about components made by Chinese suppliers in its new-generation cellphone networks.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said critical components from Huawei and ZTE will be barred from 5G core networks by the end of 2026, while “critical management systems” from the two manufacturers in 5G access and transport networks must be replaced by the end of 2029.
The decision follows negotiations in recent weeks with Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Telefonica, which operate Germany’s 5G networks, and agreements will be signed with all three companies, the Interior Ministry said.
“We have examined the risks from critical components manufactured by Huawei and ZTE in German 5G cellphone networks very carefully,” Faeser said as she announced the “clear and strict agreement” with German operators.
“With this, we are protecting the central nervous systems of Germany as a business location — and we are protecting the communication of citizens, companies and the state,” she said. “We must reduce security risks and, unlike in the past, avoid one-sided dependencies.”
Today’s threats underline the significance of secure telecommunications infrastructure, particularly “with a view to dangers from sabotage and espionage,” Faeser said.
The United States in recent years successfully pushed European allies such as Britain and Sweden to ban or restrict Huawei equipment in their phone networks over fears Beijing could use it for cybersnooping or sabotaging critical communications infrastructure — allegations Huawei has denied repeatedly. Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada have taken similar action.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government last year drew up a strategy for relations with China that refers to a “systemic rivalry” with the Asian power and a need to reduce risks of economic dependency, but highlights Berlin’s desire to work with Beijing on challenges such as climate change and maintain trade ties. The strategy drew criticism from Beijing.
Scholz visited China in April on his second trip to the country since he took office at the end of 2021.
Asked about Thursday’s expected announcement at a daily briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that Huawei and other Chinese companies have been building high-quality infrastructure for Europe and creating many jobs, and “there is no evidence that they endanger the national security of European countries.”
“Politicizing economic, trade, and sci-tech issues will only undermine normal technical exchanges and cooperation and is not in the interest of any party,” he said.
Mutual suspicion between Western countries and China has mounted since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022.
On Wednesday, NATO allies including Germany called China a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s war and expressed concerns over Beijing’s nuclear arsenal and its capabilities in space. Beijing responded by accusing NATO of seeking security at the expense of others and told the alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia.
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LONDON — French stocks moved higher on Monday as markets reacted to a surprise win for the left in the country’s parliamentary election.
The CAC 40 erased earlier losses to rise 0.5% by 10:00 a.m. London time (5 a.m. ET). The euro was flat against the dollar, and trading in bond markets was also relatively muted.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was steady, while Germany’s DAX was 0.43% higher and the FTSE MIB was up around 1%. The pan-European STOXX 600 was 0.3% in the green.
France’s left-wing New Popular Front won the largest number of seats in this weekend’s parliamentary elections, scuppering an expected surge for the far-right. However, the coalition failed to secure an absolute majority, early data showed, leaving markets digesting the possibility of a hung parliament.
François Digard, head of French equity research at Kepler Cheuvreux, said a hung parliament was what the market was expecting.
“You have a hung parliament as expected so last week, the market has played this out … It was just expected to be more right-wing and at the end it is left-wing,” he told CNBC on Monday.
Deutsche Bank strategists added that markets will be suspicious of the New Popular Front’s “fiscally aggressive” spending and taxation plans.
“Last night the far-left were already talking about wealth taxes and increases on taxes on corporates which won’t be market-friendly. However trying to build a government that has any kind of stability looks a very high bar this morning. Political paralysis for the next 12 months seems the most likely outcome,” they added.
It comes after a general election in Britain last week, in which the opposition Labour Party win a landslide victory, unseating the Conservatives after 14 years.
In corporate news, soft drinks maker Britvic has agreed a takeover bid of £3.3 billion ($4.2 billion) from Carlsberg, at an offer of 1,290 pence per Britvic share. This was an improved bid from Carlsberg which first offered 1,200 pence per share but was rejected.
There are no major corporate earnings due out on Monday. It’s also quiet on the data front, with just German trade data due.
In Asia-Pacific, stocks were mixed Monday. In the United States, futures ticked lower as investors looked ahead to inflation data for hints on this year’s market rally and the next steps by the Federal Reserve. The June consumer price index is due Thursday, with producer price index data due Friday.
World War II Air Force veteran Major Richard Olson never discussed his military service with his son, Dick Olson.
“I didn’t have all that much time to be asking these questions while he was at home,” Dick, a Westminster resident, told the Denver Post in an interview. “He was a distant father, and I imagine a lot of that came from what happened to him during the war and in service.”
After Richard died, Dick turned to military archives, old photos and interviews with the surviving members of his father’s B-24 Liberator airplane crew to learn about the veteran’s journey. Through his research, Dick discovered that his father, despite being seriously injured in a plane crash before enduring months as a prisoner of war, had never received a Purple Heart.
World War II Air Force veteran Major Richard Olson never discussed his military service with his son, Dick Olson.
“I didn’t have all that much time to be asking these questions while he was at home,” Dick, a Westminster resident, told the Denver Post in an interview. “He was a distant father, and I imagine a lot of that came from what happened to him during the war and in service.”
After Richard died, Dick turned to military archives, old photos and interviews with the surviving members of his father’s B-24 Liberator airplane crew to learn about the veteran’s journey. Through his research, Dick discovered that his father, despite being seriously injured in a plane crash before enduring months as a prisoner of war, had never received a Purple Heart.
For seven years, Dick worked to correct the oversight. In April, the Air Force agreed to posthumously award Richard a Purple Heart.
The veteran was 22 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps in February 1941, according to his son. The service was renamed the U.S. Army Air Forces in June of that year and became the U.S. Air Force in 1947.
“He grew up through the Depression and everything else,” Dick told The Post. “I think he joined because he was looking for three square meals a day.”
Courtesy of Dick Olson
Richard Olson (bottom center) poses with a B-24 crew after completing a six hour training flight. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Dick Olson)
Olson later became the co-pilot of a B-24 bomber plane in the 484th Bombardment Group combat unit. A week after D-Day, while stationed in southern Italy, his crew was shot down over the Adriatic Sea by eight German fighter planes while flying to Munich.
“They lost an engine, and they couldn’t keep up with the rest of the bombers, so they had to turn around to go back,” Dick said. “Two of the gunners were killed on the plane. And then the plane was set on fire and I think they had two more engines shot out.
“But there was a big fire in the bomb bay so they had to get out of the plane. So they did, and everybody bailed out, the ones that were still alive.”
Shell fragments struck Olson’s leg and he sustained a back injury that left him with chronic pain.
Most of the men landed on the Italian coastline northeast of Venice, according to conversations Dick had with B-24 crew member John Hassan. He was transferred to two other POW camps and after 10 months of incarceration, Olson was liberated on April 29, 1945, from Moosburg, Germany.
“He just said it was a very dull existence and of course they were hungry all the time,” Dick told The Post. “There was not a whole lot to do there. They played sports and the American Red Cross supplied them with books and boardgames and sporting equipment and different things to keep their morale up.”
Courtesy of Dick Olson
Richard Olson’s identification card from his time as a POW in Stalag Luft III. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Dick Olson)
Olson stayed in the Air Force for 16 years after his liberation from the POW camp and became a major, father and husband before leaving the military in 1961, according to his obituary.
“My parents split when I was about 13,” Dick said. “He moved away from the household and they got divorced.”
After the divorce in 1969, Dick saw Richard three more times before the veteran passed away in 1996 from multiple myeloma.
“I was always interested in his Air Force career. And since he never talked about these other guys, I wanted to find them and talk to them myself,” Dick said.
He connected with John Hassan, the navigator in Richard’s B-24 crew, in 1997. “Going through some of his papers, I found a phone number for John and called him up and started looking for all the other crew members also,” Dick said, “I eventually did make contact with the ones that were living or family members for the ones who had passed away.
“John was my dad’s best friend on the crew and we became really good friends,” Dick added. “He pretty much had a photographic memory, so that’s how I know an awful lot about that crew.”
While researching the crew, Dick helped the plane’s bombardier, Walter Chapman, get a Distinguished Flying Cross he should have been awarded decades prior.
Like Chapman, Olson was also missing an award: a Purple Heart for sustaining an injury while in the line of duty.
“There was mention of everything else, like the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medals,” Dick said. “All the ribbons and medals that he was entitled to, except for the Purple Heart.”
A collection of medals, honors and other items made by Dick Olson for his late father WWII veteran Major Richard Olson at his home in Westminster, Colorado, on Jun 19, 2024. (Photo by Helen H. Richardson/The Denver Post)
Olson’s capture as a POW right after the B-24 crash meant his wounds went undocumented. In 2017, Dick decided to file a claim with the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records and prove that his father had been injured. “I thought to myself, this is unfinished business, I’ve got to see if I can get this thing,” Dick said.
After an extensive filing process, the Board for Correction rejected Dick’s request in 2020.
Brian Schenk, founder of Midwest Military and Veterans Law, agreed to work with Dick pro bono and together, they took the Board for Correction to federal court, determined to prove that Olson had been injured during active duty.
“Dick Olson’s father was a war hero and he had such extreme humility that he himself never sought a Purple Heart,” Schenk told the Denver Post.
“I thought to myself, the old man went through the wringer, and he deserves to have this,” Dick said. “I told the Air Force in the letter that I wrote with my first application that I’m doing it for his legacy and for posterity. People should know that he was injured fighting for his country.”
On April 23, Dick won his case and the Board for Correction agreed to posthumously grant Olson a Purple Heart Award.
“He would have been real happy to wear this purple heart,” Dick said. “I think he would have been pretty proud of the fight we put up to make this happen.”
German lender Deutsche Bank will be focussing on the digital channel over the branch model to grow its business in the country, a top official said.
Changes in rules by the RBI mandating geographical location restrictions while onboarding customers will be of help, Kaushik Shaparia, chief executive of Deutsche Bank Group, India, told PTI.
“If the regulator were to permit digital access over and above the geographical restrictions, I am convinced we can do more.
“Currently, there are restrictions as to where you can onboard clients, where your locations are, and the customer has to have an office near one of your locations etc,” he said on the sidelines of a bank event here.
When asked about the branch strategy in the country, Shaparia quipped that “geography is history”, and added that the bank’s aim will be to focus more on digital.
“Maybe in the past, having a robust branch strategy was critical but with digitisation, geography has become history. So, I think our approach would be more digital,” he noted.
At present, the bank has 17 branches and one unit at GIFT IFSC in the country. It also relies on the Indian workforce in global capability centres (GCCs) to deliver a host of other innovations and work for its global operations, making India home to the largest number of employees outside of its headquarters in Germany, with over 20,000 professionals.
Shaparia said the GCCs in Mumbai, Jaipur, Pune and Bengaluru support the group’s operations in 48 countries through business engineering, modelling, quantitative analytics, extensive structuring, and research to deliver innovative financial solutions.
It can be noted that many foreign lenders are relying on the digital channel to grow their India business, rather than expanding on branch presence. The regulator has also been pushing for such lenders to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary rather than the branch model.
Meanwhile, as part of its social commitments under the corporate social responsibility mandate, the lender opened an evening learning centre exclusively for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people for helping the community progress on the formal educational front.
The centre in central Mumbai’s Sion will be followed up with a similar facility in Ghatkopar, and there will be another learning centre in Pune for all the constituents of the society, Shaparia said.
Under its diversity, equity and inclusion focus, the lender also has a defined approach to hiring LGBTQIA+ employees, which includes participating in job fairs and creating awareness through campus engagements.
The European Championship has been drenched in beer. In the fan zones and outside the stadiums. On the concourses and in the stands.
Everyone has been drenched. Fans, players and, much to the amusement of everyone not wearing a lanyard, journalists, who have been sheltering laptops and walking into press conferences dripping with booze.
Get the tiny violins. Possibly a towel.
We do need to talk about the plastic cups, which have been cascading down from the stands towards anyone taking a corner or goal kick.
The beer first, though.
The official sponsor of the tournament is Bitburger, the German brewer, and the concourse bars are exclusively stocked with their products. For matches at the Allianz Arena, for instance, Pils, Radler and an alcohol-free beer are €7 for 500ml. For games in Cologne, at the RheinEnergieStadion, they have been pouring Kolsch, the sweet beer usually served in small, cylindrical glasses. There are no limits on how much people can buy and fans are able to drink anywhere inside the stadium.
With exceptions.
For England’s group game against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen, only beer with two per cent alcohol was served, compared with the usual 4.8 per cent. The fixture was deemed high-risk. Other special measures were employed, too, including a ban on drinking in the stands. It is unclear at this stage whether England’s last-16 game against Slovakia on Sunday, back in Gelsenkirchen, will be subject to the same restrictions.
Yet even with that lower alcohol content, most travelling supporters are, where drinking is concerned, enjoying a different level of freedom to that experienced back home.
Reduced-alcohol beer on sale at Serbia v England (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
Since 1985 in England, supporters attending matches across the Football League have been prevented from drinking alcohol “in sight of the pitch”. In Scotland, the rules are even stricter: no drinking in stadiums at all.
In Spain, only non-alcoholic beer is allowed. In France, there are no in-stadium alcohol sales for Ligue 1 games. In Serbia, bars around stadiums are only allowed to serve until two hours before kick-off.
Then there is Germany.
UEFA’s approach when staging tournaments is to adapt their rules for food and drink around local legislation and in Germany, alcohol is very much a part of Bundesliga matchdays. There can, as has happened at Euro 2024, be restrictions during high-risk games, that is not unheard of, but there would be something fundamentally un-German about not being able to watch the football with a drink in hand.
Naturally, clubs make a lot of money from beer sales; almost all in the top two divisions have a brewery as a sponsor. Famously, Schalke’s Veltins Arena has a 5km pipeline that connects the stadium with a local brewery. So, on any given weekend, beer sprays out from German terraces. Watch Borussia Dortmund’s Yellow Wall when a goal is scored; in the right light and at the right angle, it can look like the whole stand is weeping with joy.
There was trepidation about this. For instance, before England fans travelled to Germany, the UK’s Foreign Office issued a warning about the strength of German lager. But concerns about over-consumption have not really materialised so far. There have been few arrests and while many supporters have enjoyed long days in sun-drenched beer gardens, there has been very little trouble.
The Athletic spoke to a steward at Allianz Arena on Tuesday night. He said he and his team had experienced few problems with behaviour so far during the tournament. They had been watchful. So far, so good, despite full-strength alcohol being served at the games hosted in Munich, none of which have been deemed high-risk.
The plastic cups are a nuisance, though, and they are everywhere — including in press conferences. On Tuesday night, Dragan Stojkovic was asked whether Serbian fans throwing them at Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel had created an unnecessary distraction, contributing to his side’s elimination after a goalless draw.
“Please, ask me about the football,” Stojkovic pleaded.
A cup of beer arrives as Schmeichel takes a goal kick against Serbia (Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Why Toni Kroos ignored progress and stuck with his old Adidas boots
Before that game in Leipzig, a few fans and journalists in the lower tiers were struck by plastic cups from above. Later on, the ball actually struck one that had landed on the pitch. When Schmeichel was a target on Tuesday night, in the incident Stojkovic was asked about, substitute Yussuf Poulsen had to help clear the penalty box.
When asked about the beer cups by The Athletic on Tuesday, a spokesman said they would be awaiting full reports before making any decisions. Something is stirring, but we are not quite sure what yet.
Plastic cups are not usually such a nuisance in Germany. In March 2022, a game between Bochum and Borussia Monchengladbach was abandoned after an assistant referee was struck on the head by a beer cup. In 2023, a 3.Liga game between Zwickau and Rot-Weiss Essen was abandoned at half-time when a referee had a beer thrown in his face. But such incidents are rare, which might partly be because of legislative change.
In 2023, many German stadiums began a drive towards using reusable cups. At participating stadiums, fans pay a deposit for a cup outside the stadium and can claim it back by returning their cup after the game. Bayern Munich have had such a policy since 2018-19, but many other clubs have adopted it in the years since. The environmental impact is one consequence. Fans’ eagerness to keep hold of their cups and their deposit is another.
The atmosphere during Euro 2024 games so far has been excellent, with supporters — other than in a few cases — enjoying being together. They have filled the stadiums and town centres with noise and joviality and, while there have been flashes of antagonism, the prevailing mood has been benevolent and full of friendly rivalry.
A Belgium fan prefers a helmet to the tournament’s plastic cups (Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Given it has been many years since a football tournament took place in mainland Europe without Covid-19 restrictions, that makes tenuous sense. Many seem to be treating the tournament as they would a holiday, with a determination to make the best of the experience despite, certainly in the opening days, some wearying organisational issues.
Supporters tend only to make headlines when they behave badly. At this tournament, where there have been dramatic improvements but at which there are still queues and delays, they deserve to be recognised for what they have allowed Euro 2024 to become. Colourful, atmospheric, festival-like.
The freedom to enjoy themselves has been part of that, too.
GO DEEPER
When the Balkans came to Euro 2024: Chanting, flags and why Serbia threatened to quit
(Top photo: A plastic cup on the pitch at Slovenia vs Serbia; by Clive Mason via Getty Images)
There is a reason, at the very moment Gareth Southgate and his players were having obscenities and plastic cups hurled at them in Cologne on Tuesday, every leading UK bookmaker was slashing the odds on England winning Euro 2024.
It had nothing to do with a sudden surge of optimism or a flurry of betting activity. After all, who would lump any money on an England triumph after that?
It was because of the way the tournament has begun to take shape: the odds for England were cut along with Italy, Austria and Switzerland. The odds on French, Spanish, German or Portuguese glory drifted accordingly.
If it was a free draw after the group stage, as what happens in European club competition, it would be hard to look beyond Spain, Germany, Portugal and — as poorly as they have played so far — pre-tournament favourites France.
But the path was pre-determined. The knockout bracket looked unbalanced before a ball was kicked. It has been unbalanced further by France’s failure to win their group, meaning they join Spain, Germany, Portugal and Denmark in the top half of the bracket. Belgium, should they finish second or third in Group E, could end up there too.
GO DEEPER
What is England’s route to Euro 2024 final?
On paper, the bottom quarter of the bracket looks reasonably strong: Switzerland facing Italy in Berlin on Saturday; England facing a third-placed team (quite feasibly the Netherlands) on Sunday. But Switzerland, Italy and England won one game each in the group stage. Add the Netherlands (or whoever finishes third in Group E — Romania, Belgium, Slovakia or Ukraine) and it becomes four wins from a possible 12.
To spell this out, in the bottom quarter of the draw, a team that has won just once in the group stage will reach the semi-final — where the worst-case scenario would mean facing Austria, Belgium or the Netherlands. The most likely semi-final permutations in the other half of the draw might be Spain or Germany vs Portugal or France.
It was put to Southgate on Tuesday, after a dire 0-0 draw with Slovenia, that England might have got lucky with how the knockout stage is shaping up. “We shouldn’t be seduced by which half of the draw,” the manager told ITV Sport. “We have to take a step at a time. Tonight was an improvement. We’ve got to improve to win the next round.”
In his post-match news conference, it was spelt out to him that England had ended up on the opposite side of the bracket to Germany, France, Spain and Portugal. “We have huge respect for all of the teams you’ve mentioned but equally, there are some very good teams on our side of the draw,” he said.
Not equally, though. As at the 2018 World Cup, fortune has smiled on England and on all the other teams who have ended up on that side of the bracket — not least Austria, who are entitled to claim that, by finishing ahead of France and the Netherlands, they have made their own luck.
In 2018, five of the six top-ranked teams in the knockout stage (Brazil, Belgium, Portugal, Argentina and France) ended up on one side of the draw, while the other half consisted of Spain (who had won only one of their three group games), Russia, Croatia, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Colombia and England.
That World Cup was widely regarded as Belgium’s best chance of winning a major tournament, with so many of their ‘golden generation’ of players at or around the peak of their powers. But they paid a heavy price for winning Group G, beating Japan and Brazil but then falling to France in the semi-final. England’s prize for finishing second to Belgium in their group was a place in the gentler side of the draw, which led to them beating Colombia and Sweden before defeat by Croatia in the semi-final.
Euro 2016 brought a similar imbalance. Italy, under Antonio Conte, excelled in the group stage, but their prize for winning Group E was to be placed on the tougher side of the draw. They beat Spain 2-0 but lost to Germany on penalties in the quarter-final. Germany in turn lost to hosts France in the semi-final. On the other side, Portugal — who had scraped third place in Group F by drawing with Iceland, Austria and Hungary — reached the final by beating Croatia in the round of 16, Poland in the quarter-final and Wales in the semi-final.
Some competitions are based on a free draw, such as the FA Cup. Others, such as the NFL or NBA, see teams ranked on their regular-season record, which should theoretically ensure the two strongest teams in either conference end up on opposite sides of the draw.
International football competitions — including the World Cup, European Championship, Copa America, Africa Cup of Nations and Asian Cup — do not work like that. It is pre-determined from the moment the draw is made: the winner of Group A will play the runner-up of Group B, the winner of Group C will play the runner-up of Group D and so on.
The group-stage draw is seeded, but teams are allocated to each group by a random draw, which raises the possibility of the knockout bracket ending up lop-sided. Because the tournaments are condensed into a four-week or five-week period, with matches played in a host nation, it is felt beneficial to have a pre-determined structure for planning, travel and ensuring each team has enough rest between matches.
There are still inconsistencies. Austria will have a seven-day break between the end of their group matches on Tuesday and their first knockout round next Tuesday, whereas Spain’s opponents in the round of 16 (still to be determined) will have had just four days’ rest.
Everything about knockout football lends itself to variance. But it can be predicted with some confidence that a team that has performed miserably at Euro 2024 will reach the semi-final or feasibly the final. After a difficult group stage, England, Switzerland, Italy and others have had a soft landing. For one of them, it might even prove a springboard.
(Top photo: Andreas Gora/Picture Alliance via Getty Images))
Italy is sitting in the second spot in Group B thanks to a win over Albania in the first round. In the second round, they lost to Spain, the team that also beat Croatia a few days before. After that loss, Zlatko Dalic’s boys were expected to win three points against Albania, but the game finished 2:2 with Albania’s equalizer scored in the 5th minute of stoppage time.
As a result, Croatia isn’t in a great position right now, but that can change if Luka Modric & Co. can get their first win of the tournament on June 24.
Croatia vs. Italy Odds
Moneyline
Odds
Croatia
+220
Draw
+220
Italy
+135
*Odds taken from BetOnline on Friday, June 21, 2024.
12244 players claimed the offer this month
When, Where, and How to Watch?
Place: Red Bull Arena in Leipzig, Germany
Date: Monday, June 24, 2024
Time: 3:00 PM ET
How to Watch: FOX
Croatia Desperate for a Win
If Albania gets hammered by Spain, Croatia could finish in the 3rd spot even with a draw with Italy. However, it’s very unlikely Croatia would be one of the best-ranked third-placed spot teams. Therefore, a draw would probably end up with the Croatians having to pack their backs and go home.
That’s why only a win on June 24 works for the World Cup semifinalists. This way, they’d probably finish second, unless Albania somehow manages to beat Spain.
Finishing second in Group B would actually be great for them. This is because the second-placed team from this group gets to play against the No. 2 team from Group A, which will probably be Switzerland.
But can the Croats beat Italy? Well, they did it a couple of times in the past. In fact, since gaining its independence in the early 1990s, Croatia has never been defeated by Italy.
Can Italy Beat Croatia for the 1st Time in History?
Because Italy lost to Spain, this team cannot get to the top spot regardless of what may happen in the final round. It’s because if two teams are tied, it’s the result of their duel that serves as the tiebreaker.
They can’t be first, but the Italians can finish second, therefore getting to play against the Swiss in the round of 16. It seems like a very good scenario for Luciano Spalletti’s men, which is why they will do all in their power to stop Croatia from leapfrogging them.
To achieve that, they just need to make sure they don’t lose on June 24. Luckily for them, their roster is packed with players who should have no problems dealing with Croatia.
Croatia vs. Italy Prediction
Croatia’s strongest weapon is the midfield, but Italy’s center of the pitch looks scary as well. These guys look more than capable of stopping Modric & Co. from creating too many chances. Meanwhile, we really think it’s time for Gianluca Scamacca to finally start scoring again in international matches. Atalanta’s star has only scored one goal for Italy’s senior squad, and we think it’s time for that to change.
An inadvertent collision with Austria’s Kevin Danso caused France’s superstar Kylian Mbappe to suffer a broken nose.
Austria’s Kevin Danso has sent a message of sympathy to French striker Kylian Mbappe, who broke his nose in a collision with the defender’s shoulder during their Euro 2024 match.
“I wish him a good recovery and I hope he can quickly get back on the pitch,” Danso said on Tuesday on the social media platform X of the injury sustained during France’s 1-0 victory over Austria.
“To French supporters: I am sorry that Kylian Mbappe was injured from our duel,” added Danso, whose back was turned when Mbappe’s face struck his shoulder.
Mbappe collides with Austria’s Kevin Danso [Kacper Pempel/Reuters]Mbappe holds his nose after suffering the nose injury during a match against Austria [Martin Meissner/AP Photo]
France’s 25-year-old talisman was putting on a brave face, even asking social media followers to suggest ideas for a mask that may enable him to play in France’s next game against the Netherlands on Friday.
That led to a flood of memes online.
Mbappe left the field for treatment to his bloodied nose during Monday’s match, but returned minutes later and sat down on the pitch, prompting boos from Austria fans and a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The French football federation said Mbappe was back at the team camp after hospital treatment with no need for immediate surgery and a mask was being prepared.
The incident comes hours before the German city staging a Euro 2024 match between Netherlands and Poland.
The German police have fired shots at a person who allegedly threatened officers with a pickaxe and an incendiary device on the sidelines of a Euro 2024 football fan parade in central Hamburg, according to a police post on social media platform X.
A major police operation was under way and the suspect was receiving medical care for injuries, the post on Sunday added.
The incident occurred in the St Pauli district of the city as Poland and the Netherlands prepared to play against each other in Hamburg’s Volksparkstadion at 3pm (13:00 GMT) on Sunday.
Fan marches were scheduled before the games, and a parade for Dutch supporters was held at 12:30pm (10:30 GMT), around the time of the incident.
Germany is hosting the monthlong tournament that began on June 14.
Euro 2024 kicks off in Germany when the hosts take on Scotland at Munich’s Allianz Arena in Group A on June 14, Friday.
High-profile players and breakout stars from the best leagues in the world will compete in the month-long Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) championship.
Here’s a look at our top 10 players to watch during the tournament:
⚽ Jude Bellingham (England)
Jude Bellingham’s stunning debut season at Spanish mega club Real Madrid has rapidly turned the attacking English midfielder into one of the hottest commodities in European football.
Bellingham took the Spanish giants by storm with 18 league goals in the 2023-24 season, helping Madrid win the La Liga title and reach the Champions League final.
Apart from his impressive statistics, the 20-year-old’s leadership qualities and winning mentality have earned him the status of a hero among the Bernabeu faithful.
Bellingham will be keen to build on his spectacular club performance and could be the X factor in England’s Euro 2024 campaign, as they look to claim a maiden European nations title.
England’s chances at Euro 2024 may rest with how well star midfielder Jude Bellingham performs in Germany [Matthew Childs/Reuters]
⚽ Florian Wirtz (Germany)
Florian Wirtz was named the Bundesliga’s Player of the Year for his key role in Xabi Alonso’s revolutionary 2023-24 title-winning team at Bayer Leverkusen, as the attacking midfielder racked up the joint second-most assists (11) and scored an equal number of goals.
Wirtz is one of the brightest stars to emerge out of Germany in the last decade, with a rare talent to control and dominate the midfield in a way few other players in world football can.
If host Euro 2024 nation Germany is to have any chance of winning the trophy on home soil, Wirtz will need to be at his impactful best in order for them to succeed.
Germany’s hopes of securing a home Euros title rest on the 21-year-old shoulders of attacking midfield sensation Florian Wirtz [Thilo Schmuelgen/Reuters]
⚽ Xavi Simons (Netherlands)
Xavi Simons is a product of Barcelona’s La Masia Academy and his game boasts admirable traits of ‘Total Football’ – a tactical system common in Dutch and Spanish football in which any outfield player can take over the role of any other player – allowing the 21-year-old to impact a game from a multitude of positions.
At RB Leipzig, Simons operated on both wings and also as an attacking midfielder, carrying the ball around, maximising possession and creating goal-scoring opportunities for his teammates.
If given the game time and attacking liberty by manager Ronald Koeman, Simons can be a standout player for the Netherlands, allowing the Dutch a puncher’s chance to defeat the main contenders at Euro 2024.
Xavi Simons’ sublime talent on the Dutch national team elevates the Netherlands from pretenders to contenders at Euro 2024 [Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters]
⚽ Rasmus Hojlund (Denmark)
Having joined Manchester United as their most expensive signing in the summer of 2023, Rasmus Hojlund fully justified his price tag, scoring 10 English Premier League goals and at just 21 years old, becoming the youngest player to reach double-figure goals in the 2023-24 EPL season.
After overcoming injury issues and a form slump, Hojlund emerged as a promising attacking talent in the final months of the Premier League and will be keen to carry that form into Euro 2024.
In the past year, Hojlund has also thrived at an international level, leading Denmark’s attack with a sizzling seven goals during the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
Euro 2024 could be forward Rasmus Hojlund’s breakout party as Denmark dare to dream of their first European championship since their miraculous Euro 1992 title [Liselotte Sabroe/Reuters]
⚽ Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium)
Playmaker Kevin De Bruyne was the midfield maestro behind Manchester City’s victorious 2023-24 English Premier League (EPL) title charge, orchestrating the Sky Blues’ charge to their fourth straight EPL title.
The Belgian was almost unstoppable in the second half of the season for City and is on form at the right time with Euro 2024 beginning mid-June.
Belgium will hope De Bruyne is fit and firing for the Euros, where they could benefit from his experience in a new-look squad that is hoping to improve on the team’s quarterfinal appearances at Euro 2016 and Euro 2020.
Victorious Manchester City captain Kevin De Bruyne, in white, will be hoping to lead Belgium to Euro 2024 glory, as well [Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters]
⚽ Kenan Yildiz (Turkey)
Eighteen-year-old Kenan Yildiz transformed Max Allegri’s dull Juventus side in Italy’s Serie A, helping the defensive-minded team score far more than expected.
His presence improved not only his fellow striker Dusan Vlahovic’s form, but also Juve’s wingbacks, allowing them space between the lines.
As one of Serie A’s most exciting attackers, Yildiz stands on the brink of stardom for Turkey, for whom he scored his first international goal against Germany in November last year.
Euro 2024 will be a homecoming of sorts for the lanky forward: Yildiz was born in Regensburg, Germany to a Turkish father and a German mother.
He will be hoping to elevate Turkey to at least the quarterfinals after the country was disappointingly knocked out at the group stage in the last two Euros.
Talented Turkish forward Kenan Yildiz will return to his place of birth in Germany with one thing on his mind: winning his country’s first Euro title [Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters]
⚽ Lamine Yamal (Spain)
At just 16 years old, Lamine Yamal already has set a list of extraordinary records in his young career: youngest scorer for Barcelona, youngest scorer in La Liga history and youngest scorer for the Spanish national team.
This Spanish wonderkid’s explosive nature on the wings and unique ability to find the back of the net makes him one of the best options the national team will have in attack at Euro 2024 in Germany.
Euro 2024 may turn out to be the global coming-out party for the player many believe is one of the greatest 16-year-old prospects to ever play the game.
Spain already co-holds the record for European championship victories with Germany at three a piece. Yamal’s once-in-a-generation potential might yield an unprecedented fourth trophy for Spain.
Lamine Yamal’s extraordinary talent landed him in the Barcelona team at just 16. Can this superbly gifted winger similarly impress at Euro 2024 as a key part of a stacked Spanish side hungry for glory? [Albert Gea/Reuters]
⚽ Phil Foden (England)
Phil Foden’s impressive haul of 19 goals and eight assists for Manchester City earned him the Player of the Season award, as his side clinched a record fourth successive English Premier League title.
The 23-year-old impressed in an attacking midfield position for City and should Gareth Southgate play him in the same position instead of out wide, Foden could be the Three Lions’ dangerman.
England nearly won their first Euro title just three years ago at the COVID-19-affected 2021 edition, agonisingly losing on penalties to Italy in the final.
A breakout tournament from Foden may be the extra weapon they need up front to finally end their Euros title drought.
England are hoping Phil Foden’s winning habits at Manchester City can rub off on the national team as they aim for a maiden Euro title in 2024 [Carl Recine/Reuters]
⚽ Kylian Mbappe (France)
Known for his mesmerising dribbling, speed and clinical finishing, Kylian Mbappe has been one of the premier players on an awesome France national team in recent years.
The 25-year-old, who will wear the captain’s armband at the Euros, heads into the tournament on the back of a terrific final season with Paris Saint-Germain, scoring a whopping 44 goals in all competitions. Mbappe has signed on to play for Real Madrid next season.
With Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo now in the twilight of their illustrious careers, Euro 2024 represents the ideal platform for Mbappe to signal to the global footballing community that he is ready to be crowned the world’s greatest player – and that there’s no better way to do that than by leading France to their first European Championship in 24 years.
A standout Euro 2024 performance by superstar striker Kylian Mbappe is France’s best chance of securing a first European Championship since 2000 [Stephane Mahe/Reuters]
⚽ Josko Gvardiol (Croatia)
Josko Gvardiol arrived at Manchester City primarily as a central defender, but the 22-year-old spectacularly transformed into a goal-scoring left back, making him one of the Premier League’s biggest matchup nightmares for opposing teams.
In the 2023-24 EPL season, when he wasn’t torturing opposing forwards and keeping clean sheets, Gvardiol also chipped in on the offensive end for City, scoring a handy five goals and bagging three assists in all competitions.
This rare defender-turned-attacker hybrid sensation is also versatile enough to play in a defensive midfield role for Croatia, allowing their captain Luka Modric to dictate the game in midfield.
Gvardiol’s unique skill set positions Croatia nicely to play the role of spoiler at Euro 2024.
As one of the best defenders in the world, Josko Gvardiol gives Croatia a great chance to record their best performance ever at a European Championship [Antonio Bronic/Reuters]
