Copa America and Euro 2024 | Semi-final agony for duo

Micky van de Ven and Rodrigo Bentancur suffered semi-final heartache at Euro 2024 and the Copa America on Wednesday night.

Micky saw his European Championship campaign come to an end after the Netherlands’ 2-1 defeat by England.

The defender looked on as an unused substitute for the Dutch as Ollie Watkins netted a 90th-minute winner for the Three Lions in Dortmund.

Our former striker Harry Kane had earlier equalised from the penalty spot after Xavi Simons had fired the Netherlands into a seventh-minute lead.

The result means England advance to meet Spain in Sunday’s final, while Micky’s side head home.

The defender, who was our last remaining player at the tournament, featured as a second-half substitute in four of the Netherlands’ six games.

There was also disappointment for Rodrigo, whose Uruguay side lost 1-0 to 10-man Colombia in the Copa America semi-finals in the early hours of Thursday morning.

On what was his first start at the tournament, having featured off the bench in each of Uruguay’s first four games, the midfielder had to be withdrawn through injury after just 34 minutes and would see his team eliminated after a goal from Jefferson Lerma shortly before half-time.

Colombia had to play the entire second period with a player less after Daniel Munoz was dismissed in first-half stoppage time in a fiery clash in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Uruguay will now face Canada in the same city in the third place play-off in the early hours of Sunday morning (1am UK), while Colombia will take on Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso’s Argentina in the final in Miami, Florida 24 hours later.