Looking at North Macedonia's obscure warmups heading into its match against Ukraine, there is no surprise it later lost. As fun as it looked, with the players racing up the pitch and passing the ball between each other using upturned cones, it didn't seem like the appropriate warmup for the Euro 2020 Group C match on Thursday.
Denmark, playing with all the verve and commitment that comes with paying tribute to a fallen talisman, played just about the perfect first half against No. 1-ranked Belgium on Thursday. Then Roberto Martínez pulled out his trump card and it became apparent why Belgium is ranked as the best team in the world.
On Wednesday, Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku announced that his team planned to kick the ball out of play in the 10th minute of the game against Denmark to pay tribute to Christian Eriksen. The Eriksen tenth minute moment on Thursday was as beautiful as you could imagine.
ST PETERSBURG — A goal in first-half of stoppage time by Aleksei Miranchuk got Russia's Euro 2020 campaign back on track as they defeated Finland 1-0 in Group B on Wednesday.
Joel Pohjanpalo thought he had given the Finns the lead in the fifth minute but his powerful header was ruled out for offside after a VAR review, and the rest of the first half was played at a high tempo.
Joel Pohjanpalo thought he had his second goal of the tournament for Finland....
After Christian Eriksen collapsed onto the pitch during the EURO 2020 Group B game between Finland and Denmark, both countries' fans and players came together to display perfect sportsmanship. As panic ensued throughout the stadium and no one knew what was happening, the moment quickly became bigger than football.
It had to be him.
Goran Pandev, the 37-year-old Macedonian legend, has done it all in a 21-year professional career, including a Champions League title in 2010. On Sunday, he brought joy to his country — and the footballing world — with a goal in North Macedonia’s first-ever appearance in a major international tournament.
Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed during the Euro 2020 Group B opener against Finland on Saturday.
UEFA said Eriksen, who was given CPR by medics on the pitch, was transferred to hospital where the 29-year-old was stabilized, with officials saying he was conscious.
Following is a list of players who have collapsed on the pitch during a match.
FABRICE MUAMBA
A couple hours after the soccer world fell to a hush as Christian Eriksen collapsed unconscious during the Denmark-Finland Euro 2020 match on Saturday, Belgium kicked off its match against Russia with three current or former teammates of Eriksen’s in the starting lineup. One of those teammates opened the scoring, Romelu Lukaku blasting Belgium into the lead in the 10th minute.
With a full docket of international soccer awaiting fans this summer, we’re going to hear plenty of national anthems. This begs the question, who has the longest national anthem?
Assuming there are no further last-minute changes, the 2021 Copa América will kick off on Sunday, June 13, with the first two of 20 group-stage matches. Co-hosts Colombia and Argentina dropped out of hosting duties shortly before the tournament was slated to begin, so Brazil will host the month-long, 10-team tournament. The show will go on — here’s everything you need to know about how to watch Copa América in the U.S. in English and Spanish.