Nobody deserved a bit of luck with referee decisions at this European Championship like Denmark. And England discovered scoring for themselves. The second day of the quarter-finals in the stern-Check.
This is how the EM matchday went
All results, goal scorers and tables of the EM match day to read in the star ticker.
That’s what the EM is talking about
“Man is not born to be happy. Man only ever earns his happiness through suffering,” Dostoevsky once said. And if someone deserves luck at this European Championship, it will be the Danes. The athletic, but above all the mental performance after the collapse of Christian Eriksen and the unfortunate continuation of the first group game can hardly be overestimated. After the 2: 1 against the Czech Republic, Denmark is now even in the semi-finals – but also needed luck.
The opening goal after just five minutes should not have fallen at all. The corner that led to the goal was a wrong decision: A Dane had last touched the ball, that’s what the TV pictures look like. “In the interests of fairness, it would be nice if it didn’t lead to the opening goal,” said ARD reporter Tom Bartels – seconds later Thomas Delaney headed the 1-0. Bartels: “Oh.” Despite the video assistant, this European Championship is not entirely immune from wrong referee decisions: the VAR must remain silent when it comes to corners.
Winner of the day
England sings “It’s coming Rome” – the Three Lions can win on foreign soil too. And how: After the English team won all previous games at Wembley Stadium in London, they scored as many goals in the 4-0 win against Ukraine in Rome as in the four previous games. Above all, one shone: Captain Harry Kane finally broke the knot. In the group games he remained practically invisible, his goal against Germany seemed like the liberation that it apparently was. He scored twice against Ukraine and makes England dream of their first title since the 1966 World Cup more than ever. As in the past, the final will take place at Wembley this year.
Loser of the day
In the first half between Ukraine and England, the big loser was clearly football in and of itself. More precisely, beautiful football. People usually say that goals are good for the game, but this time it was exactly the opposite. The early 1-0 of the English brought the game almost completely to a standstill. England managed the lead confidently, but did nothing themselves to score more goals – the English defend, who did not concede in the seventh game in a row. And the Ukrainians also chose a destructive approach despite being behind. The result was a first half to fall asleep.
The EM-Moment
And the Germans?
The DFB-Elf has long since retired, but a German was still there in the quarter-finals: Referee Dr. Felix Brych with his team. The English tabloid media had already eyed him extremely critically before the game against Ukraine: A German referee after Germany was eliminated by England? Brych managed the game confidently, but also had very little to do – there was not even a yellow card. One can hardly imagine what would have been going on in England had it turned out differently.
That’s up now
First of all, two days without football – time to breathe deeply for players and fans. Then the EM goes into its hot phase. On Tuesday there will be another early final: Italy and Spain are two teams that were given good chances of winning the title before the tournament – fans can look forward to a real treat. Denmark will play against England on Wednesday.
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
