Euro 2024 today: Preview and team news ahead of today’s semi-final

By Mike McGrath, in Blankenhain

Luke Shaw has admitted he feared his European Championship was over after suffering a setback in training with a muscle strain earlier in the tournament.

Shaw was out for more than four months with a hamstring injury and needed to be scanned after “overstretching” during a training session at England’s basecamp at Spa & GolfResort Weimarer Land.

The Manchester United full-back, who admitted he was “maybe a little” surprised to be named as the only left-back in Gareth Southgate’s squad, was not on the bench against Denmark and trained on his own before being among the substitutes for the final Group C game.

He made his first appearance of the competition coming off the bench in the quarter-final against Switzerland but was concerned he would not be available for the entire tournament when he suffered his earlier setback.

“I think so,” he said, when asked if he feared his Euros were over. “Purely because of what I had been through. I worked so hard to get to that place and then for something like that to happen I was of course worried, but I had a scan and it wasn’t too bad, so it was only a minor one.

“I overstretched to be honest but it was only minor and I’m here now and happy.”

Ahead of the finals, Shaw revealed his injury nightmare started as he rushed back trying to save Manchester United’s season and Erik ten Hag asked him to play before he was ready to return.

Before the Swiss appearance, his last game was on February 18 when he was injured at Luton Town and he admitted that between his own judgement and United’s medical staff, he should not have played after picking up a problem the previous weekend against Aston Villa.

Southgate called his inclusion in the Euro 2024 squad as a “long shot” but was the only orthodox left-back in the squad, with Kieran Trippier switching flanks to step in.

When asked if he was surprised he was the only left-back in the squad, Shaw said: “Maybe a little bit but I also know how good a job Kieran Trippier can do at left-back, I sort of saw him as left-back cover anyway. Little bit of a surprise but not too much.”

Key tournament dates

Semi-finals: July 9-10
Final: July 14

Where is Euro 2024 being held?

The tournament is in Germany, with 10 host cities: Dortmund, Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Cologne, Düsseldorf and Gelsenkirchen.