The first surprise of this competition. Slovakia beat Belgium on Monday June 17 with a 1-0 success on the pitch at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt. The Slovaks started the match very well by scoring a goal in the 7th minute of the match. Behind Belgium tried to equalize several times, but the Red Devils lacked aggression in front of the net. But the Belgians were especially unlucky with two goals refused.
Belgium can, however, recover. She will meet Romania on Saturday at 9 p.m. in Cologne. As for Ukraine and Slovakia, they will face each other the day before, Friday, at 3 p.m., in Dusseldorf.
What you must remember
- The quasi-cador. Romelu Lukaku
The massive Belgian center forward worked like hell for more than 90 minutes, hoping to open his account in this Euro 2024, and allow his team to get back on level terms. But fate seemed to fall hard on the giant of AS Rome. He was first signaled in an offside position (56th), then thought of equalizing again, before the VAR erased his joy, the one-handed foul from Loïs Openda (86th).
1-0, 7e : Jérémy Doku misses his restart, which Ivan Schranz intercepts. He serves Juraj Kucka, who takes his chance but comes up against Koen Casteels. The ball flies through the feet of Schranz, who manages to finish from a tight angle.
Like the number of matches managed by the coach of the Red Devils, Domenico Tedesco, before this setback. Fourteen matches without losing (ten wins, four draws), since the elimination of Belgium during the 2022 World Cup. It only took one match in an official tournament to erase this promising series.
- The turning point of the match. Romelu Lukaku’s goals canceled.
The top scorer of the Belgian selection copiously celebrated the two actions he thought he had concluded. The first, at 56e minute of play, refused for a slight offside position after a full-axis header from Onana. The second, at 88e minute, was refused after viewing the VAR for a hand from Openda, at the origin of the action.
This Belgium-Slovakia was not the most exciting match on paper. And on the ground… neither. It may seem paradoxical, but the numerous Belgian and Slovak chances during the match were often not very threatening. As a result, it didn’t really succeed in getting the match off the ground emotionally.
