Wales

Wales have named Craig Bellamy as their new manager following the departure of Rob Page last month.

It is Bellamy's first senior managerial role. He has previously managed Anderlecht's Under-21s and served as an assistant to Vincent Kompany at Anderlect and Burnley, having started his coaching career within Cardiff's academy set-up.

As a a player, Bellamy won 78 caps for Wales and scored 19 goals for his country, as well as featuring for the Great Britain Olympic side in 2012.

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Right, we just have a few lines of football news to bring you away from the Euros before returning to discuss tonight's semi-final between Spain and France.

After that, you will be able to watch the start of England's training session from around 11:30 BST via a live stream at the top of this page.

Bolo Zenden
Former Chelsea and Netherlands midfielder on BBC Radio 5 Live

I think that both teams still need to get to their peak. Of course, everyone wants to peak in the final but the margins between the teams are getting smaller and smaller. I think also both teams are lucky to be part of this side of the schedule. Lets face it, if Holland faced the likes of Spain or France in the quarter-finals it would have been difficult, but the closer you get to the finish anything is possible.

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Right, here is a final word from Phil Foden, from his extensive interview with Football Daily, on the togetherness in the squad created by manager Gareth Southgate.

The Manchester City forward believes this was demonstrated by their battling performance to come from behind against Switzerland in the quarter-finals, winning Southgate's 100th game in charge of the national team on penalties:

"It was his 100th game, it was a big achievement for him. A few of the lads were saying we wanna do it for him and win the game.

"Gareth being Gareth he didn’t make it about himself, he said that’s the least relevant thing.

"To win in the way we did, it gives us that extra confidence and that togetherness that we need. And for Gareth to share that moment with the fans was special."

On the culture created by Southgate: "I think that's what Gareth has built off the field, a real togetherness and a real family. I feel like you can see that on the pitch. We push each other on the pitch. We never give up until the final whistle. You can see now we've scored a couple of late goals. It just shows the bond that we have."

Micah Richards
Former England defender

The easiest way to explain why Foden has not had the same impact for England as he has had for Manchester City is to look at where he is on the pitch when he receives the ball.

In the first four games, when he was on the left, England were so deep that he had no chance to show off his skillset.

For City he is used to playing short and quick passes on the edge of the area and running in behind. You can’t just give him the ball and expect him to dribble past four or five people from near the halfway line, because that just isn’t his game.

I would also argue we did not use him in the best possible way against Switzerland, either.

Along with Jude Bellingham, Foden operated as one of two number 10s in that quarter-final, behind Harry Kane.

I thought he started that game really brightly when the team were playing high up the pitch, similar to what City do, but then England went back to old habits and dropped 30 or 40 yards back.

So although Foden was in a more central position that suits him, the team were still not playing in the areas where he wants to get on the ball.

For some people, that seems to be Foden’s fault and I think that’s unfair.

Click here to read Micah Richards' full column.

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Martin

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England reached the semi-finals after successive comebacks against Slovakia and Switzerland.

Phil Foden says they showed real signs in their quarter-final victory over the Swiss that things are finally clicking into place for Gareth Southgate's side in Germany.

And he believes they are now ready to take the next step, with a dominant performance against the Netherlands in Wednesday's semi-final.

"Well that's the aim, isn't it? Keep growing and building on our performances," he told Football Daily.

"I think you've seen it as well in the last game, our pressing was unbelievable. I would say it was so much better than the other games.

"Hopefully going into the Netherlands game you can see the same things, pressing high, a lot of attacks, a lot of possession. That's how I see this England side playing, a dominant side.

"I feel like there's so many gears to go, I feel like we can get so much better.

"That's a big positive because we're still reaching the semi-final. It just shows even when we're not playing at our best that we can grind out results, which is nice to see.

"If we show the other side now, our pressing and keeping the ball a lot better, (it can be) a dominant England I would like to say."

Andrew

Manchester City forward Phil Foden, talking to Football Daily, on his dual 10s role with Jude Bellingham in the new formation England adopted against Switzerland:

"I enjoyed it a lot. I felt like it suited me a little bit more, playing more centrally. I feel like that's the best we've probably played in this tournament as well.

"There's still a lot of steps to improve, we know there’s more to our game...We wanna keep improving and take that to the semi now, the confidence that we're playing with is high."

On how the partnership with Bellingham works on the pitch: "We obviously speak before the game, talk about what we think is going to work well against the opponent.

"Me and Jude had to stay a little bit patient in the pockets [against Switzerland]. Hopefully the lads can find us like Dec (Rice) and Kobbie (Mainoo), in between the lines. We spoke about staying patient in our position and trying to help the team in the best way possible.

"I feel like that last game there was a lot of improvement, me and Jude linking up well, changing positions as well. I know it's big (thing) with Gareth, he doesn't want us to stick to one position, he gives us freedom, which helps us a lot."

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As well as putting off the bottle feeds for one more week and working on penalties with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Phil Foden also spoke at length to Football Daily about his new partnership with Jude Bellingham in a dual 10 role and what more he believes is to come from England...

Couchy in Andover

More from Phil Foden on the work he and his fellow England forwards have been doing with former Netherlands striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on the training pitch:

"Yeah he's helping us a lot, obviously Jimmy's got a lot of experience in the game, so he knows his stuff.

"They've been taking a few of us after training to practice penalties, because as you see now a lot of games are going to be penalties and it's a big part of it.

"So yeah, we have to be prepared as best we can, if it ever gets to a shootout, we're more than ready to take them."

He added: "I feel like when I first came into the England side, maybe we were practising too much...So as you see now, we have Jimmy for that reason, to only take a couple (of us), not overdo it, and practise your spot and sticking with it.

"There's a lot of work going into it now off the field as well, and all that data and stuff, it definitely helps out on the field."

Listen to the full interview in the latest episode of Football Daily.

Chris

So Phil Foden highlighted the work done by former Netherlands striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Hasselbaink, 52, joined the Three Lions coaching set-up in March and has earned praise for the work he has been doing with the team, especially in preparing players for penalty shootouts.

Meanwhile, Bolo Zenden, Hasselbaink's former team-mate with Chelsea as well as the national side, was on 5 Live Breakfast earlier talking about the importance of work "on the details", saying it could prove to be the deciding factor in Wednesday's semi-final between England and the Netherlands.

"The margins between the teams are getting smaller and smaller," he said.

"The games will be decided by the details. The closer you get to the finish, everything is possible."

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Phil Foden admitted that he was surprised at how confidently his England team-mates converted their penalties in the shootout win over Switzerland in the quarter-finals, but said it was testament to the work they had done with attacking coach Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

"I feel like it's the practice we put in, in training," the Manchester City forward told Football Daily.

"Jimmy's (Floyd Hasselbaink) been working hard with us to do penalties after training, in case it ever goes to a penalty shootout. So yeah, I feel like we were ready for the occasion.

"I was a bit surprised myself to be honest, to see the five takers, how confident they were...You've got the world on your shoulders if you like, but they were just full of confidence and slotted them away, so I'm delighted."

Click here to listen to the full interview on Football Daily.

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Spanish football expert Guillen Balague argued on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast that his country was "playing for the future of football" as they prepare to take on France in tonight's opening semi-final of Euro 2024.

Spain are regarded as the most exciting team left in the tournament, playing a brand of football that is at odds with the more pragmatic style of opponents France.

"We are playing not just for Spain, we are playing for the future of football," said Balague.

"You know what happens with tournaments, if you win it playing [a certain] way, everyone will want to play that way."

He added that the tournament had been short on goals, and needed Spain to make it past France to guarantee an exciting finale: "It started really exciting but now there is an average of 1.02 goals per game, which is the worst since 1996."

Wezza

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Phil Foden has more reason than most of the England team to be looking forward to his return from Euro 2024 after his girlfriend Rebecca Cooke gave birth to their third child - a baby boy - during the tournament.

"Obviously [I'm] looking forward to getting back after the tournament. Hopefully I can go back with a medal and looking forward to meeting him," the Manchester City forward told Football Daily.

"I did say when Jude [Bellingham] scored [a last-gasp equaliser against Slovakia in the last-16] I was walking around the pitch, I was 30 seconds away from going over and doing bottle feeds!

"So I was thinking the same in the penalty shootout [against Switzerland in the quarter-finals], but the lads never looked like they were going to miss. They looked very confident."

BBC Sounds

Coming up, we have some quotes from Phil Foden, who has been speaking with Steve Crossman in the latest episode of Football Daily.

The Manchester City forward admitted he was contemplating a return to nappies and midnight feeds following the birth of his third child during Euro 2024, but is hoping to put that off for a few days more...

BBC Radio 5 Live

Right, here is another mention for BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, which is diving headlong into the Euro 2024 semi-final build-up.

As well as a host of football-related guests, they are asking listeners this morning whether they are "fully on board the hype train".

What do you think? Thumbs up for yes, down for no...

Click on the watch & listen tab at the top of the page to follow live.