8th Day Of EURO 2024
Ukrainian Tears, Broken Glasses, and Farewell to Lewandowski
We have the tournament’s first 0-0 draw and the first team to be eliminated.
With 21 matches of Euro 2024 behind us, the trend of goals and drama continued on Day 8. We witnessed a lot of emotions and a high-speed half between two of the top teams in the tournament. We saw the first 0-0 draw, and the first team was officially eliminated with no chance of making it to the knockout stage.
The Ukrainian team’s eyes were tearful, but they secured a victory with their backs against the wall.
The “Yellow and Blues” turned the game against Slovakia from 0-1 to 2-1, keeping their hopes alive for the round of 16 after surprisingly losing their first match to Romania 0-3. Roman Yaremchuk, the scorer of the winning goal, was the first to cry, and then the emotional scenes with his teammates in front of the Ukrainian fans continued for many minutes.
Predictably, coach Serhiy Rebrov dedicated the victory to his compatriots on the front lines.
Thus, Group E has become seriously entangled.
Slovakia, Ukraine, and Romania each have 3 points, and Belgium could gather the same tally if they beat Romania. In such a scenario, all four teams would have 3 points.
In the second match of the day in Berlin, Austria delivered a lesson in aggressive football with a lot of pressing and dynamics to beat Poland 3-1. Austria remained in contention for a place in the round of 16 before meeting the Netherlands in their final group match.
There were tears here, too. Marko Arnautović cried after scoring the third goal for Austria from a penalty.
The 35-year-old captain could have missed Euro 2024 altogether, having decided to retire from international football three years ago, but the arrival of coach Ralf Rangnick changed his mind.
Rangnick lost his glasses in the celebration after the second goal when Christoph Baumgartner embraced him too enthusiastically. The goal scorer admitted that Rangnick encouraged him to shoot more often at halftime, as he was confident it was his day to score.
“Christoph broke my glasses, but I had two spare pairs in the dressing room, so it’s not a problem,” the Austria coach joked.
For another renowned veteran, Robert Lewandowski, the day was also emotional but not positive.
The Polish superstar came on as a substitute, unable to help his team. This tournament might be his last major, as he turns 36 in August. Today, his team was eliminated from the competition. The 0-0 draw between the Netherlands and France in Leipzig means Poland cannot finish in the top three in the group.
The “Tulips” and “Roosters” put on a spectacular first half, where goals did not come by miracle. In the second half, more cautious play prevailed, although Xavi Simons had a goal disallowed in a somewhat controversial offside decision.
Friday night, the goalless draw between the Netherlands and France ended an exceptional goal-scoring record at the European Championships. The statistics show that the 0-0 draw between the “Tulips” and “Roosters” is the first goalless match in the finals since the 0-0 draw between England and Scotland at Euro 2020.
This means that the Netherlands and France stopped a streak of 50 consecutive matches at the European Championships in which at least one goal was scored.
Slovakia – Ukraine 1:2
I.Schranz (17′) ; M.Shaparenko (54′), R.Yaremchuk (80′)
Poland – Austria 1:3
K.Piatek (30′) ; G.Trauner (9′), C.Baumgartner (66′) M.Arnautovic (78′ Pen)
France – Netherlands 0:0
Group D Group E
1. Netherlands 4 pts 1. Romania 3 pts (only one match played)
2. France 4 pts 2. Ukraine 3 pts
3. Austria 3 pts 3. Slovakia 3 pts
4. Poland 0 pts 4. Belgium 0 pts (only one match played)
Upcoming matches in Group D: Upcoming matches in Group E:
– Jun 25: Netherlands – Austria – Jun 22: Belgium – Romania
– Jun 25: France – Poland – Jun 26: Ukraine – Belgium
– Jun 26: Slovakia – Romania