Belgium overturned a goalless draw with Ukraine. That meant being pushed into a tougher playoff schedule.
Belgium and Ukraine as well as Slovakia and Romania twisted the ties in the decision of the most exciting first group of the European football championships. Belgium and Ukraine ended in a goalless draw. The game between Slovakia and Romania ended 1–1. These results meant that all four teams were level on four points. Romania unexpectedly won the first group, Belgium was second, Slovakia third and Ukraine was left last.
For Belgium, the result was catastrophic in terms of further games. After finishing second in the group, Belgium was forced into a much tougher side of the playoff schedule. Belgium is on the same side of the playoff table as the big favorites Spain, Germany, Portugal and France. Among these teams, Belgium will face France in the quarterfinals.
Belgium turned up for the first time in the European Championship in their popular Tintti shoes. The outfit is adapted by a Belgian comic artist Hergén created by the character Tinti’s most famous clothing style: a blue sweater with a white collared shirt underneath and brown knee-highs with white socks.
Slovakia made its way to the next round also among the best group three. The situation was a big disappointment for Ukraine. Ukraine was eliminated from the playoffs, despite collecting more points (4) than Group C runner-up Denmark (3). Group C of England, Denmark, Slovenia and Serbia made dubious EC history anyway, as the group scored the fewest EC goals ever, a total of seven.
Superstar de Bruyne was disturbed
In the match between Belgium and Ukraine, the harassment directed at superstar Kevin de Bruyne was talked about. He was showered with laser lights from the crowd in the first half. ‘s experts Essi Sainio and Miika Nuutinen condemned the behavior of the spectators.
– That is a really rude act, Essi Sainio said.
– The fact that de Bruyne is talking about this with the referee shows that the focus has shifted away. We’ve seen less of this lately, which is really nice. I hope we won’t see something like this again, says Miika Nuutinen.
Despite the distraction, Kevin de Bruyne was to score for Belgium in the opening half with an intriguing free kick. Ukrainian goalkeeper Anatoly Trubin however, was sufficiently awake in the situation.