Denmark miraculously qualifies behind Belgium

This Monday evening, in the heat of Saint Petersburg, was the epilogue of group B. A pragmatic Belgium offered Finland and a third victory (2-0) in three games, thanks to goals from Hradecky ( against his camp) and Lukaku, the third in this competition. The Finnish goalkeeper, impassable for most of the match, deflected a header from Vermaelen in his net. The colossus of Inter then doubled the end of the game, with a pivot strike.

After a tasteless first period, the men coached by Roberto Martinez came back stronger in the second act, surpassing one of the two novices of the competition (with North Macedonia). Above all, this meeting allowed three Belgian executives to regain the starting eleven and playing time. Axel Witsel, back after a ruptured Achilles tendon, stabilized the midfield of the Red Devils. Author of two assists, the Mancunien Kevin de Bruyne was logically elected man of the match.

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Eden Hazard, he seemed to find some sensations. He played the entire game, which had never happened to him this season with Real Madrid. For their round of 16, the Belgians will face a group third on Sunday June 27 at 9 p.m. in Seville.

On the Finnish side, it would now take a miracle to stay in the tournament. The Nordic selection is in an unfavorable waiver, pending the results of the other groups. The Huuhjakat finished third in the group ahead of the eliminated Russia, and their three-point total leaves them little hope of being drafted among the top four third.

Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel has a smile after Denmark's qualification for the round of 16.

Soul supplement

In the group’s other match, in Copenhagen, Russia had the opportunity to open the scoring by Aleksandr Golovin, early in the game. But it was the Danes who scored the first in front of their audience thanks to a floating shot from Mikkel Damsgaard at the end of the first period (1-0). On the hour mark, Yussuf Poulsen took advantage of a back pass from a Russian defender to deceive the Sbornaïa goalkeeper at close range (2-0). Artem Dzyuba then revived Russia from the penalty spot (2-1), but Andreas Christensen, with an overpowering strike, and Joakim Maehle sealed the victory for Denmark (4-1).

We have to believe that the planets were aligned for Christian Eriksen’s teammates on Monday evening. Last of the group with zero points at the start of the last day, the Scandinavian selection takes advantage of the victory of Belgium to overtake Finland and Russia thanks to a better goal difference in the direct confrontations between the three teams. A happy ending for a Danish selection passed through all the emotions in this start of Euro.

Victim of cardiac arrest during the Denmark-Finland match on Saturday June 12, Christian Eriksen, who was released from the Copenhagen hospital, had visited his teammates by surprise on Friday. “It meant a lot to the players who hadn’t seen him, especially those close to Christian. It’s one thing to see him on video and another to be able to look him in the eye ”, explained Sunday the Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand in comments reported by AFP. It is perhaps the extra soul that brought the Danes to the Parken Stadium, in front of 25,000 supporters.

Unlike Belgium, Denmark already knows their next opponent in the round of 16. The Scandinavians face Wales, second in Group A, on Saturday June 26 at 6 p.m. in Amsterdam.

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