So Scotland's dream dies at Hampden Park. After grinding out a draw against England last Friday night Steve Clarke's side went into last night's match against Croatia with a chance to qualify for the knockout stages for the first time in the country's history. However, it was not to be as Luka Modric's strike sent a dagger to the heart of their hopes in what was an accomplished performance by the 2018 World Cup finalists. Down in Wembley England managed to do enough to get the better of Czech Republic with Raheem Sterling netting the only goal of the game but Gareth Southgate's side know they need to step it up a gear if they're to be ready for a likely meeting with France, Germany or Portugal in the last-16. Tonight the group of death will be decided with France well aware that they can land a knockout blow on the defending champions Portugal while Germany take on Hungary at the Allianz Arena in a game which has been dominated by talk of whether the stadium can be lit up in LGBTQ+ colours - a request that was denied by Uefa. However, as John O'Sullivan writes this morning, expecting Europe's football governing body to stand up for morality is pretty much akin to believing Narnia exists behind a wardrobe door. Don't forget you can follow all of the action from the tournament on our Euro 2020 site.
Moving on to rugby and Gerry Thornley writes this morning that the Lions will need this weekend's meeting with Japan in Edinburgh to brush off some of the cobwebs while plenty of players will also get the chance to impress coach Warren Gatland. "As Gatland said on Tuesday, 'Someone is going to come through that a lot of people may not expect.' In that context, it looks like a huge opportunity for Bundee Aki, Iain Henderson, Beirne and Conan et al to stake their claims," he writes. Meanwhile, the news emerged last night that Connacht flanker Seán O'Brien has been forced to retire early from rugby due to a concussion injury while it was also announced that Ireland will play USA in Las Vegas in October.
On to GAA and Darragh Ó Sé writes in his column this morning that this year's knockout championship will, like last season, catch a few teams cold and leave some of the big guns crashing out of the competition early on. "Everyone's excited for the championship but 10 days from now, there will be 14 counties whose year is over. A lot of them probably only got one day out last year as well. Two years is quarter of a good intercounty career," he writes. These continue to be strange days for the GAA and this morning Seán Moran uses his column to pen the Chronicles of a Time of Covid, reflecting on how the association has had to be innovative and agile to keep the show on the road.
Finally to racing and outspoken trainer Jim Bolger will be invited to speak in front of the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture & the Marine about his explosive claims of doping within Irish racing. The Committee's chair, Fianna Fáil TD Jackie Cahill, said there was unanimity among members that the seriousness of Bolger's claims in the public domain meant the issue had to be addressed.
