Euro 2020 - Day 4

The score line said there were no goals in this game.  Spain [world #6] completely dominated Sweden [world #18] in possession - they had the ball 85 percent of the game and took 17 shots on goal [five of which were on target].  They completed over 900 passes [!].  They were all over Sweden from the opening whistle.  That is Spain’s game – the Tiki-Taka – short passes, high possession, and most of all, patience.  They feel that if they’ve had the ball 70 percent of the time, they’ve had a good game.  They put their opponents to sleep, passing the ball in and around their opposition.  They want to pull their opposition out of their positions to exploit any cracks in the defense.  The defense must be well-disciplined to stay where they are and not let Spain force open any cracks in the defense.  When Spain lose the ball, they get it back as quickly as possible.  Their idea is simple – the other team can’t beat you if they don’t have the ball.  Keep the ball, wear down the opponent mentally and physically, and wait for the other team to make a mistake.

At the 16:11 mark, ESPN commentator Jon Champion told us that Spain had already completed more passes than North Macedonia, Turkey, Finland, and Slovakia had completed in the entirety of their games combined [Slovakia and Finland won their games].  Yet, despite the overwhelming numbers in time of possession and shots on goal, Sweden held Spain to a goalless draw.  This is the same Spanish team that demolished Germany 6-0 in November 2020.  I don’t believe in “moral victories,” but Sweden must feel great about their performance.  Their discipline on defense was extremely well done.  They didn’t get frustrated and held their ground.

Spanish team captain Sergio Busquets tested positive for COVID eight days ago.  Since then, the players had been training individually.  Their final friendly before the Euro tournament against Lithuania had to be played by the U21 team.  The national team were finally allowed to get together only last Saturday.  All the players got vaccinated for COVID on Friday night.  For some it was their first jab – for others, their second.  The Spanish soccer federation pleaded with the Spanish government eight weeks ago to get the players vaccinated for COVID.  The government ended up sending the Army to Spain’s training camp near Madrid to administer the vaccines.  The reason the team hadn’t been vaccinated sooner was because, at present, the government has allowed that only people over 40 could get the jab.  The vaccinations for the teams happened only by a special government decree.

Spain first scoring opportunity came at 15:22.  Koke [Atletico Madrid] made a great delivery into the 6-yard box where Dani Olmo [RB Leipzig] headed the ball toward the goal.  Swedish goalie Robin Olsen [Everton] made a fantastic save to keep the ball out of the net. Koke’s pass had drawn out Sweden’s back four.  It was a great ball from Koke, but an even better save from Olsen.  Olsen stayed on top of his toes, didn’t get caught leaning the other way.  It was a wonderful save.  Otherwise, Spain would have been on the scoreboard.

At 37:27 Spanish forward Álvaro Morata [Juventus] was able to split two Swedish defenders as he received a pass from Jordi Alba [Barcelona] as he found himself one-on-one with Robin Olsen. Olsen came off his line, held his ground and Morata’s shot went painfully to the right of the goal.  It was another missed opportunity by Spain.  After ensuing goal kick, Sweden got possession deep in Spain’s half.  Alexander Isak [Real Sociedad] had a chance with one defender and the goalie between him and Spain’s goal.  But his shot went to defender Marcos Llorente [Atletico Madrid], who directed the ball against his own goalpost and into the arms of Spanish goalie Unai Simón [Atletico Madrid].  That’s how to beat Spain – if they aren’t paying attention, all their brilliance in ball possession can be negated in a second.  Robin Olsen was HUGE in the first half.

In the second period, Spain were a bit lethargic while Sweden seemed to have more energy.  I got the feeling that the longer the game was 0-0, the better it was for Sweden.  Sweden’s next scoring opportunity came at the one-hour mark.  Isak played the long pass to Marcus Berg [Krasnodar]. Who relayed it to Emil Forsberg [RB Leipzig], who found Isak streaking toward Spain’s penalty area.  When confronted by three Spanish defenders, Isak passed the ball back to an open Berg inside the six-yard box, but Berg couldn’t capitalize.  It was great work from Isak to create an opportunity out of nothing, but it went for naught.  I think Spain breathed a collective sigh of relief when Isak came off for a substitution in the 69^th minute.

Spain brought on some fresh legs in Mikel Oyarzabal [Real Sociedad] and Gerard Moreno [Villarreal] in the 74^th minute. Sweden’s defense remained unyielding.  Sweden were content to endure wave after wave of Spanish attacks.  Swedish players began to cramp up in the Spanish heat [89 ℉ at kickoff], and 4 minutes of stoppage time were added.  But despite the heat and Spain’s overwhelming time of possession, Sweden held Spain to a goalless draw.  As in the first half, Robin Olsen was enormous.  

Sweden earned a draw against the top team in their group.  If they can beat either Poland or Slovakia, they will probably advance to the knockout stage of Euro 2020.  Spain’s next game is against Poland on June 19^th.  Sweden face Slovakia on the 18^th.

Euro 2020 - Day 2

After a year’s delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Euro 2020 got underway yesterday in Rome with Turkey clashing with Italy.  As I expected, Italy won, 3-0.  Turkey made them work for it in the first half, but the wheels came off for Turkey after Italy grabbed the lead after a Turkish own goal.  It was the only match played yesterday.

Tournament play began in earnest in Group B.  The first match was Denmark vs. Finland in Copenhagen.  Fans are finally back in the stands.  Twenty-five thousand fans were in attendance [stadium capacity 40,000].  It was a party atmosphere in Copenhagen.  The first half was very physical.  Bodies from both sides were flying all over the place.  It was a well-played, physical game.  Denmark was the better team, but Finland refused to go away.  Then at 42:10, it happened - Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed onto the pitch.  His teammates and Finnish players both knew immediately it was something serious.  The party atmosphere had suddenly gone quiet.

Quickly, as the medical staff attended to Eriksen, his teammates formed a circle around him to shield him from view.  The medical staff began to perform CPR on Eriksen.  It quickly became a situation where you hope for the best and fear the worst outcome.  After approximately ten minutes Eriksen was placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital.  As he lie on the stretcher, Eriksen was conscious.  Players on both sides were clearly distressed.

Eleven minutes after Eriksen’s collapse, UEFA suspended the match..  There is good news – at 1:51pm CDT ESPN announced that Christian Eriksen had spoken with his teammates by phone from the hospital.  A couple of minutes later, the Denmark-Finland match resumed.  They picked up from the moment Eriksen collapsed to finish out the first half.  As it happened, ESPN commentator Efan Ekoku opined that he didn’t know how this match could continue today.  I’m not the king of UEFA, but if I were they wouldn’t have resumed today.  There’s enough fluff in the schedule to allow the players a couple of days to get their heads together.  I’d seen what happened to Borussia Dortmund after their team bus was attacked by a bomb years ago.  The game that was to be played that day was postponed 24 hours, but the players were clearly not in that game [which they lost].  I feel the same for the Danish team today.  After such a traumatic thing happened to their teammate, those players weren’t ready to continue today.  Apparently, the players had two options – finish the game today or resume it at 2pm tomorrow.  They chose to finish today after speaking with Eriksen.

What about the rest of the game?  After a five-minute halftime, play resumed.  The score was still 0-0.  Denmark continued to dominate the game as they had in the first half.  Finland attempted only one shot on goal the entire game, but they made it count.  Forward Joel Pohjanpalo [Union Berlin] made a very impressive header while diving for a cross from teammate Jere Uronen.  The resulting goal celebration was a subdued one.  Denmark's Yussuf Poulsen won a penalty when he went down under slight contact in the 73rd minute and midfielder Pierre Emil Hojbjerg stepped up to take the spot kick.  This kick would normally be taken by Eriksen.  Hojbjerg took the kick, but it was easily saved by Finnish goalie Lukáš Hrádecký [Bayer Leverkusen].  Denmark threw everything they had at Finland, who absorbed every shot the Danes took at them.  The final score – Finland 1, Denmark 0.  Finland’s next game is against Russia on the 16^th.  Denmark’s next game is against Belgium the following day.

I recorded this game on DVR as I slept in today.  When I woke up I got the news about Eriksen.  As I watched the replay from earlier today, although I knew of what happened to Eriksen it was still hard to watch.  I imagine it is gut-wrenching for his family to watch him being worked on by the Danish medical staff while 25,000 people were watching in person.  I knew what was coming and I still has watery eyes.

As the Denmark-Finland match was finishing, the Belgium-Russia match got underway in St. Petersburg.  A telling sight occurred right before kickoff.  As both teams assembled on the field waiting for the whistle, all players from the Belgian side and the Spanish referee took a knee.  The Russian side pointedly did not.  Whether this was a nod to the current racism problem in European football [especially in Eastern Europe] or if it was in tribute to Christian Eriksen, I don’t know. Several Belgian national team players have been or are current teammates of Christian Eriksen.

Once a game of football broke out, Belgium was comfortably the better team.  They possessed the ball for 66 percent of the game, playing mostly in the Russian zone.  Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku [Inter Milan] scored the opening goal only ten minutes into the match.  It was his 61^st international goal.  In the 25^th minute there was a nasty head-to-head collision between Belgian defender Thomas Castagne and Russian midfielder Daler Kuzyaev.  Both players had to be substituted off the field as neither could continue.  Thomas Munier [Borussia Dortmund] came on for Castagne while Denis Cheryshev replaced Kuzyaev.

When play resumed Belgium’s defense started to press the Russians higher up the pitch.  The tactical change yielded immediate dividends.  The Russians didn’t have an answer.  Belgian midfielder Thorgan Hazard [who also plays for Borussia Dortmund] put a shot on goal at the 34^th minute.  Russian goalie Anton Shunin made the save, but his deflection came straight to Thomas Munier who put the ball in the back of the empty net.  It was a gift of a goal.  Belgium led 2-0 going into halftime.

As the second half resumed, so did Belgium’s dominance of Russia.  Russia threatened a couple of times, but the Belgians had no trouble with Russian pressure, such that it was.  Belgium made two substitutions at the 72^nd minute.  Eden Hazard [Thorgan’s older brother] came on for midfielder Dries Mertens, while Thomas Vermaelen replaced defender Jan Vertonghen due to an ankle injury.  Midfielder Yannick Carrasco also made way for Dennis Praet, who got his first major tournament experience.  At the 88^th minute, Lukaku put the game away with his second goal of the game.  Final score – Belgium 3, Russia 0.

The Belgians are the highest ranked team in the world.  They thoroughly outclassed the Russians today.  The best comment I heard today about the state of play was that Belgium was playing their game in 3D, while Russia was stuck in 2D.  Tried as they did, they never got on the scoreboard.  The Russians are great hockey players, but this isn’t hockey.  The Russian fans didn’t like seeing their team outclassed, but too bad.  The Russians found out the difference between playing Saudi Arabia in the World Cup and the Belgians in Euro 2020.  The best thing that can be said about the Russians is they didn’t cheat.

Unfortunately, I did not see today’s first game, a 1-1 draw between Wales and Switzerland.