International Soccer

Hungary played damn well for about 80 minutes against Portugal on Tuesday only to give up three goals late. On Saturday, the once-mighty Magyars put a full 100 minutes in and held world champion France to a 1-1 draw in one of the most impressive upsets of the tournament thus far. But forget the match for a moment, because the biggest story of the game was a pitch-side reporter’s reaction to Hungary’s goal. The Hungary desk woman is our new favorite meme of Euro 2020. 

Before Euro 2020 kicked off, one of the most highly anticipated matches of the competition was Friday’s Group D match between the original soccer rivals England and Scotland. The 115th edition of the oldest international football rivalry was about as bland as food from the two nations. The teams played to a 0-0 draw in what was by far the most boring match at Euro 2020 thus far.

ASUNCION — Bolivia striker Marcelo Martins has been banned for one game and fined $20,000 by the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) after criticising the organisation for hosting the Copa America in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic.

Martins was one of three Bolivia players who tested positive for COVID-19 on the eve of their 3-1 opening loss to Paraguay.

He missed the game and posted some sharp words on social media about CONMEBOL’s last-minute decision to host the tournament in Brazil, a nation that has seen almost 500,000 people die from the virus.

FIFA finally stepped in (not like Concacaf was going to) and punished Mexico for the continuous homophobic chants from fans on Friday. On top of a $65,000 fine, Mexico will be forced to play its first two home games of World Cup qualifying without fans. Officially, the punishment is due to the chants heard during Olympic qualifying.

COPENHAGEN — Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen has been discharged from hospital following a successful operation, days after he collapsed on the pitch during Denmark's Euro 2020 opener, the Danish Football Association (DBU) said on Friday.

Eriksen had a heart-starter device implanted after his collapse due to a cardiac arrest during Denmark's first Group B game against Finland in Copenhagen on Saturday.