By Isaiah and Arbutus Wuest
On Wednesday, June 23, the Euro group stage came to a close with Portugal tying France (2–2) and Germany tying Hungary (2–2). These draws enabled France, Germany, and Portugal to progress to the round of 16, but eliminated the Hungarians. Though Hungary was the weakest team in this so-called “Group of Death,” they exceeded everyone’s expectations by tying both France and Germany. In the Portugal/France match, Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace of penalties, bringing his international goal total to 109, which ties him with Iranian striker Ali Daei as the all-time top international male scorer.
The knockout stage began on Saturday, June 26, with Wales facing Denmark. The Danes were favored to win—and did so in style. They dominated Wales 4–0, with goals from forward Kasper Dolberg (2), fullback Joakim Maehle, and forward Martin Braithwaite. Wales had reason to be grieved with this result, since the second Danish goal came in quick succession to a foul on Welsh center forward Kieffer Moore, which the referee failed to call. A harsh red card on Harry Wilson in the 90th minute further frustrated the Welsh, but the Danes played with fantastical skill and finesse and so will advance to the quarter finals.
Italy, who seemed so impervious in the group stage, stuttered in Saturday’s match against Austria. The first 90 minutes ended scoreless, with the Austrians having the better of the second half. But then in overtime, the Italians showed their true form, scoring two goals within the first 15-minute period. The first was a masterfully controlled volley by substitute forward Federico Chiesa from the corner of the six-yard box, and the second came only a few minutes later from substitute midfielder Matteo Pessina. Austria fought back, with forward Sasa Kalajdzic scoring a fine header off a corner from a seemingly impossible angle in the 112th minute, but the Austrians couldn’t find an equalizer, and so Italy will proceed to the quarter finals.
In Sunday’s match between the Czech Republic and Netherlands, the Dutch failed to register a single shot on target, and the Czechs shocked them with a 2–0 victory. The turning point of the game came in the 56th minute, when Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt committed a blatant hand ball just outside of the box, denying a scoring opportunity to Czech forward Patrik Schick. De Ligt was ejected from the match with a red card, and 13 minutes later, Czech holding-midfielder Tomas Holes scored. Then in the 80th minute, Schick scored again (his fourth of the tournament), securing a spot for the Czechs in the quarter finals.
Sunday’s later match between Belgium/Portugal was an edgy affair. Though Portugal out-possessed Belgium throughout the match, they lacked creativity in the final third of the field. Thorgan Hazard put Belgium ahead 1–0 in the 42nd minute with a vicious, swerving strike from 24 yards. After this goal, the Belgians were content to sit back and defend, which they did well. In the final minutes, Portugal finally picked up their pace, but their best attempt only hit the woodwork.
Monday’s two games were so intense and dramatic that they were difficult to watch. The first between Spain and Croatia was a true roller coaster of a match. In the 20th minute, the Spanish midfielder Pedri played a routine back pass to his keeper, Unai Simon, who inexplicably let the ball skim over his foot and into the net for the most bizarre goal of the Euro—bringing the own-goal tally for this tournament to nine, which equals the tally for all previous Euros combined. Spain predictably fought back, scoring three times by the 77th minute. Though the game looked set for Spain at 3–1, Croatia—as they often do—pulled themselves together and played with enormous heart. First, Mislav Orsic struck in the 85th minute, and then, in the 91st minute, Croatia equalized, with Mario Pasalic scoring a glancing header off Orsic’s cross. The Spanish finally showed in overtime, scoring twice during the first 15-minute period. The much-criticized Alvaro Morata scored Spain’s winning goal, earning some redemption for his shocking misses in the past three games. Croatia could not muster a second comeback, and the Spanish were onto the quarter finals with a 5–3 victory.
In Monday’s match between France/Switzerland, the French world champions were the clear favorites, but they found themselves 0–1 down at halftime after a very underwhelming performance. Normal service resumed in the second half after French keeper, Hugo Lloris, made an amazing penalty save that prevented the Swiss from taking a tw0 goal lead. Minutes later, French forward Karim Benzema scored back-to-back goals. Then in the 75th minute, midfielder Paul Pogba scored a 27- yard screamer. While the French seemed to have rediscovered their magic, in the 81st minute, Haris Seferovic gave Switzerland hope with a smashing header into the net, closing the gap to 3–2. France began playing nervously, and with only two minutes remaining, their defense was caught out by a fast break from Swiss forward Mario Gavronovic who scored the equalizer. The 30-minute overtime was tense, though neither side threatened the opposition much, which left the match to be decided by penalty kicks. The Swiss scored all five of their kicks, and Kylian Mbappe was the “first to blink” as Swiss keeper Yann Sommer made an excellent save, putting the Swiss through to the quarter finals in one of the greatest upsets of the tournament.
In Tuesday’s first match, the English, who have been much-criticized for their conservative approach throughout the tournament, found more life and saw Germany out of the tournament with two late goals—the first in the 75th minute from Raheem Sterling (his third in the tournament), and then in the 86th minute, Harry Kane scored his first goal of the tournament with a wonderful, diving header off a curling cross from Jack Grealish. England’s 2–0 victory marks their first win over Germany in a major tournament since the 1966 World Cup final. As another interesting side note, England’s coach, Gareth Southgate (a former defender for the British national team), missed his penalty in a shootout during the 1996 Euro semifinals, which put Germany through to the final.
Tuesday’s final round of 16 match between Sweden and Ukraine was a gripping affair. The Ukranians struck first through Oleksandr Zinchenko, but Sweden leveled the game before halftime when Emil Forsberg scored from a deflected 20-yard rocket (his fourth goal of the tournament). The second half produced no further scoring, though both teams hit the woodwork—and Forsberg hit it twice. Seven minutes into overtime, Sweden’s Marcus Danielson committed an awful high challenge into the knee of Ukraine’s Artem Besyedin, sending the substitute striker off the pitch. Danielson was duly red-carded, and Sweden stiffened their defense in the hope of making it to a penalty shootout with only 10 men on the pitch. They almost succeeded, but then Zinchenko whipped in a lovely cross from the left side of the box with only one minute left on the clock, and Artem Dovbyk headed it home, sealing a dramatic 2–1 win for Ukraine.
Following are some interesting insights from the round of 16. Of the six group winners, only three progressed to the quarter finals, whereas three of the four third-place teams advanced. Twenty nine goals were scored in these eight games—roughly 3.6 per match, which is a very high average for the knockout stage of a major tournament. There were two stunning two-point comebacks—both after the 80th minute. Finally, both the reigning European champions (Portugal) and world champions (France) exited during this initial knockout stage.
The quarter finals kick off on Friday, July 2 with Switzerland coming against Spain in St. Petersburg (Russia) at noon and Belgium taking on Italy in Munich (Germany) at 3 p.m. On Saturday, July 3, the Czech Republic will confront Denmark in Baku (Azerbaijan) at 12 p.m. and Ukraine will face England in Rome (Italy) at 3 p.m. The Ukraine/England match will be aired on ABC; all the others will be on ESPN (all listed times are in the Eastern U.S. time zone).
Isaiah (17) snf Arbutus (14) Wuest live in Adams County and play soccer for the West Union High School team.
