Saturday’s Euro 2020 action wasn’t just about teams winning or losing matches on the football pitch. Christian Eriksen’s on-field collapse held everyone’s attention as the Inter Milan midfielder was given medical treatment for about 10 minutes before being carried off on a stretcher. UEFA then suspended the game “due to a medical emergency”. The world breathed a sigh of relief when the Danish football federation took to Twitter to say, “Christian Eriksen is awake and is undergoing further examinations at Rigshospitalet.” The game resumed soon after.
But there also was football action to savour as Belgium beat Russia 3-0 in a Group B match, with Romelu Lukaku sending a heartfelt message to Erisken after scoring his first goal in the 10th minute. After swivelling to shoot into the bottom corner, Lukaku headed to a television camera and grabbed it with both hands, saying, “Chris, Chris, I love you.”
Substitute Thomas Meunier added a second goal in the 34th minute and Lukaku made it 3-0 in the 88th for top-ranked Belgium, which validated their status as one of the favorites at Euro 2020 with a comfortable win in front of a heavily pro-Russian crowd of 26,264 spectators.
Belgium’s victory was all the more impressive given the team was without playmaker Kevin De Bruyne, who wasn’t deemed ready after a minor operation on a fractured nose and eye socket, and with captain Eden Hazard only playing the final 19 minutes as a substitute.
Finland beat Denmark after Eriksen collapse
Joel Pohjanpalo scored and Lukas Hradecky saved a penalty to give tournament debutants Finland a 1-0 victory over Denmark. “Of course you can't play a game with such feelings,” Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand said. “What we tried to do was incredible. It’s incredible that the players managed to go out and try to play the second half and still be dominant. I'm very affected myself.”
When play resumed, Pohjanpalo put Finland ahead against the run of play in the 60th minute when he rose above Joakim Maehle to head home a cross from Jere Uronen. Goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel got his hands on the ball but couldn't keep it out.
The Danes' best chance came when they were handed a penalty after Yussuf Poulsen went down under a challenge from Paulus Arajuuri. But Hradecky dived to his left to stop a tame effort from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in the 74th.
Kieffer Moore takes Wales to a draw
With his head wrapped in bandages the same colour as his red shirt, Kieffer Moore scored the goal Wales needed. Moore headed in a cross from Joe Morrell in the 74th minute to give the Welsh a 1-1 draw with Switzerland in the first game on Saturday. Breel Embolo had put Switzerland in the lead with his own header about 25 minutes earlier.
Moore nearly gave Wales a lead with a looping header which Swiss goalkeeper Yann Sommer stretched to push over the bar, but he was hurt in a clash on the resulting corner.
Moore left the field bleeding and returned in bandages, but was largely cut out of the game as Wales defended deeper in the first half before his equaliser.
He's not just a presence up top, he's more than that. His linkup play is good, he's got a good touch for a big lad and he's a willing runner," Wales interim coach Robert Page said.
“When you've got all three of those attributes as a center forward, it's a good recipe."
Switzerland dominated possession but wasted numerous chances before Embolo scored the opening goal in the 49th minute. First he won a corner when his shot was pushed wide after a solo run, then rose above his marker to head in a cross from Xherdan Shaqiri.
Today's matches (Indian Standard Time):
Group D: England vs Croatia (6:30 pm)
Group C: Austria vs North Macedonia (9:30 pm)
Group C: Netherlands vs Ukraine (12:30 am, Monday)
