On Wednesday, Albania managed to draw 2-2 with Croatia, Germany beat Hungary 2-0, and in the final game of the evening, Scotland and Switzerland drew 1-1.
Jaakko Servo,
STT Sports
The European Football Championship will be played in Germany from June 14 to July 14. follows the tournament moment by moment in this article.
Shaqiri made history
Xherdan Shaqiri scored Switzerland’s equalizer against Scotland in the final game of the day. The match ended in a tie 1–1.
Shaqiri became the only European player to score in each of the last six major tournaments (WC/EC). Cristiano Ronaldo and Ivan Perišić can join Shaqiri in this tournament.
Before Shaqiri’s goal, Scotland took a 1–0 lead with a small stroke of luck when Scott McTominay the shot was deflected by a Swiss defender by Fabian Schar through the foot into the own goal.
Both of Scotland’s EC goals were scored by opponents: Antonio Rüdiger scored his own against Germany and now Switzerland’s Fabian Schär.
Switzerland managed to score two more goals in the match, but both were disallowed due to offsides.
Group champion Switzerland will face host Germany in the final game of the group. Scotland and Hungary face each other on Sunday in Stuttgart.
Big stakes in Croatia in the final game of the group
In the day’s struggle in Group B, Croatia and Albania tied the scores with 2-2 (0-1). Croatia, which was almost forced to win, was locked in three points for a long time, but Albania, who fought persistently, scored the equalizing goal in the closing moments of the match. The character of the match was Albanian Klaus Gjasula. Gjasula experienced great misfortune in the match, when Croatia’s 2-1 lead goal went in through Gjasula. In the end, success also came to the attacking end, as Gjasula scored a vital equalizing goal in extra time.
The loss of points at the last moment drove Croatia to a difficult place. In the last match of the group, Croatia is facing a must win against Italy. Albania will face Spain in their last match.
The host country, Germany, did not give Hungary a lead
Germany, the host country of the European Football Championship, was a rude host when it defeated Hungary 2-0 (1-0) in the opening match of the A group. The greatest hero of the Germans was the Bayern Munich midfielder Jamal Musiala, who scored the game-winning goal in front of his hometown Stuttgart crowd. In addition, experienced Ilkay Gundogan succeeded in scoring.
In the match itself, Hungary was able to challenge Germany in the opening half of the match, but the big difference in material between the teams was, as expected, visible in the deciding situations. In the second half, Germany defended closely, and Hungary was surprisingly unarmed.
Germany has collected six points from two matches with a goal difference of 7-1. Hungary has lost both of its matches. In the final match of the group, Germany will face Switzerland and Hungary will face Scotland.
Thursday’s matches
Slovenia-Serbia, C group, at 16:00 TV2 and Areena
Denmark–England, Group C, at 19:00 TV2 and Areena
Spain-Italy, Group B, at 22:00 TV2 and Areena