No. 1093: European Beacon (II)!
After this match, the other two teams from Group D took to the stage, with hosts Ukraine welcoming Sweden at the NSC Olympic Stadium in Kyiv!
A dozen days ago, Ukraine played a warm-up match against the Netherlands at this stadium, and they lost 2-3. In that warm-up game, Ukraine's biggest star Shepchenko scored twice.
The game was immediately contested, with the top scorers of both teams, Ibrahimovic and Shepchenko, being heavily defended by opposing defenders.
In the first half, the two sides failed to change the situation on the field, and in the seventh minute of the second half, Sweden launched an attack from the left, and Larsson crossed the ball from the left rib of the penalty area to Ibrahimovic.
The Swedish striker passed the ball back to Larsson, who crossed again, Karlstrom at the far end passed straight to the goal, Ibrahimov shrewdly cushioned in front of the goal, Pyatov was powerless to do it, 1-0!
Sweden took the lead.
Three minutes later, Ukraine immediately returned the color, Yarmolenko crossed, Shepchenko jumped to the top of the goal under Melberg's defense, 1-1!
The Ukrainians equalize!
After the restart of the game, the Ukrainians were in high spirits, and in the sixteenth minute of the second half, Volonin took the ball in the penalty area, turned and shot from a small angle and hit the opposing defender and flew out of the bottom line.
Ukraine took a corner kick from the left side, Shevchenko at the front point shook his head under the defense of Ibrahimovic and hit the goal, the ball grazed the left post and flew into the goal, 2-1!
Shepchenko's brace helped Ukraine achieve the process of tying and overtaking.
In the end, Ukraine won the comeback thanks to Shepchenko's brace, a scene very similar to the Dutch victory.
In an interview after the game, the excited Sheva said: "This game is like a myth in retrospect, it was not easy to win because we had a lot of players who were sick before the game, but in this first game, we played very well. ”
Sheva continued: "I feel very happy now and I want to thank the fans in Ukraine. He added, "The victory in this game seems to have brought me back to 20 years old overnight." ”
Ukrainian fans shouted excitedly: "The Netherlands has Chen, we have Shepchenko!" ”
On the 13th, the second round of Group A began, with Greece and the Czech Republic taking the lead.
Greece drew 1-1 with hosts Poland in the first round and a win over the Czech Republic would have secured the initiative.
The Czechs suffered a 4-1 defeat at the feet of Russia in the first round of their game, and for them, if they do not want to be the first team to be eliminated from this European Championship, they will have to win against Greece.
So it's a game with no way back for both sides.
As soon as Greece moved the ball to the backcourt after the start of the game, the Czech team's midfield launched a ferocious pounce.
When people are in the most dangerous times, they can often burst out with surprising energy.
The Czechs quickly tackled the ball and immediately attacked!
In the second minute and 14 seconds of the first half, Hubschmann sent a scalpel straight into the midfield, and Gilachek successfully countered offside and scored with a single push, the Czech Republic 1-0 Greece.
Giracek rewrote the record for the fastest goal in this European Cup!
After the restart, the Czech midfielder continued to put pressure on the Greek defenders.
In the sixth minute of the first half, after the Czech Republic made a successful steal in the midfield, it immediately launched a quick counterattack, Selassie crossed from the right side, Pilar scored a tackle in front of the goal, and the Czech Republic 2-0 Greece!
Just six minutes into the game, the Czechs scored two goals and gave the Greeks a blow to the head.
In the eighth minute of the second half, Greece pulled a goal back, Samaras crossed from the left, Cech came out to hold the ball and get rid of it, Yerkas pushed the empty goal to score, the Czech Republic 2-1 Greece.
However, Greece failed to pull off a miracle in the end, losing 1-2 and failing to achieve their pre-match goals.
The Czechs crushed the suspicions with a victory and saved themselves from becoming the first team to be eliminated early from this European Championship.
At the same time, they also see hope of qualifying.
The battle between Greece and the Czech Republic ended, and the match between the host Poland and Russia began.
For the host Poland, they hope to win Russia and fight for the initiative to qualify.
As for Russia, as long as it can win Poland, it will be able to qualify one round ahead of schedule.
In the 37th minute of the first half, Vasilevsky knocked down Zhirkov, and Russia won a free kick in the left position in the front field.
Arshavin took a free kick to the middle of the penalty area, and Zagoev shook his head to head the ball in, 1-0!
Zagoev scored his third goal of the tournament, while Arshavin also provided his third assist at the tournament.
In the twelfth minute of the second half, Arshavin broke the ball at the back and drove along the left side of the penalty area to cross and was cleared by the Polish defender in the penalty area.
Poland then launched a quick counterattack, right wing-back Piszczek dribbled the ball to the front of the clever diagonal stop, captain Blaszczykowski got the ball in front of the penalty area and cut in laterally, took two steps and then suddenly got up with his left foot and volleyed!
The ball drew a beautiful arc and hung straight into the far corner of the Russian goal, 1-1!
Poland equalised!
In the rest of the game, both sides failed to change the situation on the field, and they held their hands to a draw.
At the end of the second round, Russia has four points with one win and one draw, ranking first in the group, the Czech Republic with one win and one loss and three points in second, the host Poland with two draws and two points in third, and Greece with one draw and one loss and one point in the last place in the group.
Theoretically, all four teams have the possibility of appearing, and qualifying for Group A is complicated.
With the second round of Group A over, the eyes have shifted to the group of death.
In this round, the Netherlands and Germany will stage a strong dialogue, and Portugal will face Denmark.
It will not be a do-or-die battle for the four teams, but the outcome will have a profound impact on their qualification.
On the 14th, Portugal and Denmark took the lead.
Both teams failed to win their first round of matches, and if they lose this round, they will become the first team to be eliminated from the tournament early.
In the twenty-fourth minute of the first half, Portugal won a corner kick opportunity.
Moutinho takes a corner from the left, Pepe from near the penalty spot in front of the left rib of the penalty area, gets rid of the defense of Ague and Simon Paulsen and shakes his head into the goal, Anderson is still powerless despite touching the ball, 1-0!
In the 36th minute of the first half, Portugal crossed from the left, Joao Pereira got the ball in front of the field and went straight to the middle, Nani crossed the right side of the penalty area to the middle, and Postiga swept the goal in time, Anderson almost didn't react, 2-0!
Portugal extended their lead.
In order to avoid becoming the first team to be eliminated, Denmark launched a fierce attack after the restart.
In the 41st minute of the first half, Jacobson took the ball on the right side and knocked back his teammates, Denmark transferred the ball to the back point, and the left rib header in the Cologne Deli penalty area was crossed to the middle, and the unguarded Bendtner scored easily in the face of an empty goal, 1-2!
Denmark narrowed the gap.
At the start of the second half, the game fell into a stalemate, and it was not until the final ten minutes of the game that the pitch climaxed.
In the 35th minute of the second half, Jacobson, who was cruising on the right side, took the ball to the back of the penalty area, Bendtner jumped to the top, and Patricio made a pounce, but the ball still flew into the net, 2-2!
The Danes stubbornly equalised!
In the 42nd minute of the second half, Portugal passed to the penalty area from the left, and Varela at the back point made the first shot, then turned and volleyed, and the ball flew into the net from the near corner, 3-2!
With Varela's stunner, Portugal won Denmark with a thrilling goal and achieved its first victory!