UEFA Euro 2020 day 2
All nations have now played 2 matches in this Euro and Italy, Netherlands and Belgium are the only two nations that won their first two matches.
Italy 3-0 Switzerland
The Italians confirmed their first win over Turkey [3-0] with another strong performance. Italy has yet to concede a goal in the Euro and scored already 6 goals. They are already qualified in group A with 6 points.
Coach Mancini on the win: “Switzerland are a strong side, we knew it would be a tough game and it was. We created several chances and we deserved the victory. We were struggling in the opening minutes, but then we pressed them high and forced them to make mistakes. The lads did really well, it wasn’t easy, their second game in five days and it’s so hot.”
Denmark 1-2 Belgium
In Copenhagen, Denmark Belgium came from behind to win their second game thanks to Kevin De Bruyne. The Man City players entered the pitch when his team was down 1-0 to change the course of the match. He delivered an assist and scored the winning goal for the Red Devils as they can now prepare the next round.
Coach Martinez on the team’s performance: “It’s been a while since we’ve last been put to the test like this. The first half the players seemed shell shocked but they have the experience to turn a game around.”
Netherlands 2-0 Austria
Playing at home Holland took care of business for the second straight match. After beating Ukraine, the Oranje beat Austria to punch their ticket onto the next round.
Coach De Boer on the performance: You have to grow into a tournament – especially, it’s the feeling you have of being together as a team, a union. It’s also the feeling with the system we play, the reliance on gameplay, the lines; we have a discussion together about what we can improve – ‘this went great, this could have gone better.’ That is the way you grow into a tournament and the union we have now is really important.”
Spain disappoints
La Roja is playing at home but has not been able to grab a win in their first two game 9 against Sweden [0-0] and Poland [1-1]. Spain must win their last game against Slovakia or they will likely be eliminated from the Euro tournament.
England 0-0 Scotland
Scotland played on their best game ever in years against their neighbors at Wembley. the draw is a huge performance for the Scottish. England did not play well enough to score a goal at home which does not bode well for the rest of the tournament. They will play the final of the group against Czech Republic.
The group of death
Group F is the most competitive group including the 2014 and 2018 World Champions, and Euro 2016 champions. After two matches all remain open. France leads the group with 4 points following their draw against Hungary [1-1]. Germany bounced back from their inaugural loss to France with a big win against Portugal [4-2] despite another goal for Euro all-time scorer, Cristiano Ronaldo. Both Germany and Portugal share second place with 3 points before the last game where still everyone can qualify.
France coach Deschamps: “We know that they’re high-quality players. We know that they can work together. Despite all of their talent, they don’t play together that often. It could always be bettered. There’s always room for improvement, even though we’re seeing very promising things on the pitch.”
Germany coach Löw on the great response: “We spoke about a few things in the past few days. We were still looking for balance after the France match and knew that we had to add a gear to create more chances. We fought brilliantly, showed great morale and had a lot of good attacks against a really strong opponent.”
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