EURO has finished the first group matches, Czechs and Slovaks in the lead

The European Championship has 12 matches under its belt, making it a complete first round of matches in the regular group. The positive news is that the Czechs and Slovaks are leading their groups. Who else surprised and who disappointed?

In Group A, everything is basically as predicted at the beginning. Italy leads the way, having given Turkey no chance and thus progressing from first place.

Although it may have been calculated that the Swiss footballers would pick up 3 points against Wales, the way the game went, 1 point each for a 1-1 draw is fair. So after the first match, 1st Italy, 2nd-3rd. Switzerland and Wales and 4th Turkey.

Group B was mainly affected by the health of two players. Christian Eriksen’s collapse and Timothy Castagne’s broken orbital bone absolutely without a doubt had an impact on both matches, although in the Danish case the impact was much more pronounced.

The Danes, despite having asked for a continuation themselves, must have had some scary moments in their heads surrounding their 29-year-old friend who was momentarily without a heartbeat. A lot of pressure eventually resulted in nothing and Finn Pohjanpalo punished.

Romelu Lukaku went on a rampage in the second game of the group. His two goals helped Russia win 3-0 and enter the tournament in a calm manner. Belgium 1st, Finland 2nd, Denmark 3rd, Russia 4th.

The Austrians lead Group C, although, as in “B”, only by a score. However, their victory over North Macedonia was covered by the best match of the championship so far between the Netherlands and Ukraine. 5 goals, including a brilliant strike by Yarmolenko, 90 minutes of amazing football.

The two matches in this group also saw the most goals scored. Let’s see how much the group position changes after all the games have been played. So after the start of the group it is 1st Austria, 2nd Netherlands, 3rd Ukraine and 4th North Macedonia.

Looking at the current Group D standings is great for a Czech fan. The Czech Republic is basking in the lead after their win over Scotland and Patrik Schick’s phenomenal rocket from the halfway point. Just behind the Czechs is England, who suffered a 1-0 win over Croatia. Currently the Group D table shows Czech Republic 1st, England 2nd, Croatia 3rd and Scotland 4th.

The penultimate group, on the other hand, is favoured by the Slovaks. After a surprising win over the Poles, they took advantage of Spain’s draw with Sweden and will be first at least until Friday. It must be added that watching the Spain match was very similar to the Danish case. Total domination of the home team, but even 5 shots on goal were not enough.

The Spaniards probably paid a little bit for the lesser cohesion due to the covida contagion. But not to criticize, we must praise the Swedish goalkeeper Olsen, who saved many great chances of the Iberian footballers and kept the score 0:0. So far, 1st Slovakia, 2nd-3rd. Spain and Sweden, 4th Poland.

And finally, the “group of death”, or Group F. The current champions entered it better. Both the French (winners of the World Championship) and the Portuguese (winners of the European Championship) managed their match with zero, although both matches had completely different courses. While the team around Ronaldo struggled for a long time and didn’t score until the 84th minute to make it 1: 0, Mbappé’s side defended the result from the 20th minute onwards after an own goal by Hummels.

But the Hungary game was perhaps not so much about the result as it was about what was seen in the stands. There were a total of 55,662 spectators in the Puskás Arena, creating a hellish atmosphere. It was probably thanks to this support that the Hungarians held on for so long. Despite the roaring stadium, they are expectedly last. 1. Portugal, 2. France, 3. Germany, 4. Hungary.

We’ll continue on Wednesday, when we’ll start from the beginning again, i.e. from Group A and one match of Group B. And after the second round of groups we will bring you this short summary again.

Source: Livesport, UEFA