THE good news for bleary-eyed football fans is that it’s almost the weekend, allowing more flexibility to tune in for the games played in the wee hours. Those who have sacrificed precious sleep time have thus far been rewarded with some high-quality action.
Here is the round-up of the games played last night and early this morning.
England 1 v Denmark 1
England arrived at Euro 2024 as one of the hot favourites given the vast array of attacking talent at its disposal, including Bundesliga top scorer Harry Kane and Champions League winner Jude Bellingham.
Though skipper Kane put England in front after just 18 minutes, England laboured much like they did in the opener against Serbia.
The Danes did not seem perturbed at going behind and continued to press a sluggish England, getting the equaliser courtesy of a pile driver from Morten Hjulmand.
That Phil Fodden, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Kane were hooked in the second half reflected how flat a performance this was from Gareth Southgate’s team. So far, so bland from the Three Lions.
Spain 1 v Italy 0
In the round’s bona fide heavyweight tie, Spain and Italy went head-to-head to try lay down an early tournament marker.
As expected for a match-up between two seeded sides, it was tight affair ultimately settled by an unfortunate own goal by Riccardo Calafiori.
Maximum points from the opening two fixture see this highly-skilled Spain side book its spot in the knock out stages, justifying its early tournament favourites tag.
Having beaten Albania in the opener, Italy only need a point against Croatia in the final group game to join the Spanish in the next round.
Slovenia 1 v Serbia 1
Double jeopardy as both sides lost their opener and could not afford another if they harboured any hope of progress.
The Slovenians thought they had done enough when Zan Karnichik put them ahead in the 69th minute and defended stoutly before conceding in the very final minute of injury time. Serbia’s hero was Luka Jovic who nodded home the precious equaliser from a corner that takes qualification into the final group games.
Heroes have been aplenty and the action, for the most part, has been of the highest quality.
FocusM wishes all football fans a happy weekend enjoying the football bonanza. If Euro 2024 isn’t enough, the Copa America has kicked off as well this morning with Argentina beating Canada 2-0 in the opening game. – June 21, 2024
Upcoming fixtures:
Slovakia v Ukraine – 9pm (June 21)
Poland v Austria – 12am (June 22)
Netherlands v France – 3am (June 22)
Georgia v Czechia – 9pm (June 22)