In what can be called an action-packed Sunday, Raheem Sterling struck for England, Austria spoiled the party for tournament debutants North Macedonia with late goals and the Netherlands ensured a winning return to a major football tournament in seven years. Playing their opening Euro 2020 game at the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, the Dutch beat the visiting Ukraine 3-2, thanks to goals from Georgino Wijnaldum, Wout Weghorst and Denzel Dumfries.

All the goals came in the second half, with Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk delivering for Ukraine. The winning goal for the Netherlands came in the 85th-minute via Dumfries, who scored his first goal in international football.

There’s also something to cheer about for Ukraine, as they scored for the first time in six Euro games. The Dutch have lost only one of their last 11 international matches, winning the rest of the six and drawing four.

After the match, an optimistic Ukraine coach Andriy Shevchenko said, “It was a very quick and interesting game with loads of opportunities for both teams. I would like to thank my team for the reaction they showed, especially after going 2-0 down we could have lost the game at that point.”

The Netherlands next play Austria on June 18. Ukraine meet North Macedonia on Thursday.

Austria spoil North Macedonia’s debut

North Macedonia’s Euro debut ended in disappointment as Austria registered their first-ever win in the European Championship. In a match that saw four goals, Austria fired first courtesy Stefan Lainer in the 18th minute. North Macedonia then gathered themselves to equalise ten minutes later.

But then late goals by Michael Gregoritsch and Mario Arnautovic sealed the deal for Franco Foda’s men. “Overall, I was very happy with the performance. We started well, worked hard off the ball, were aggressive and deserved to take the lead. We could have made it 2-0 through Kalajdzic, then we conceded from one lapse in concentration,” Foda said after the match.

North Macedonia coach Igor Angelovski is looking forward to their next challenge. “I told my players to keep their heads up, we go on. We begin to prepare for the next game against Ukraine.”

England’s Wembley triumph

Playing for his country at the iconic Wembley Stadium, Raheem Sterling used his right foot to give the Three Lions the start they had been longing for at the European Championship. The winger’s goal, his first in a tournament in his 13th match through four competitions, gave England a 1-0 win over Croatia in the first showdown of the day. “I always said to myself ... growing up two minutes down the road, I've got to score,” Sterling said. “It's a great feeling doing it.”

Never before had England made a winning start to the continental tournament in nine previous tries.

Far more comfortable than in the loss to Croatia in the 2018 World Cup semifinals, this was an England side packed with youthful debutants and with Sterling, still only 26, the team's most experienced tournament player.

Sterling, who has struggled for game time at Manchester City in recent months, found the breakthrough for England in the 57th minute.

England’s next game in Group D is against Scotland on Friday at Wembley.

Today's matches (IST)

Scotland vs Czech Republic (6:30pm)

Hampden Park, Glasgow

Poland vs Slovakia (9:30pm)

Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg

Spain vs Sweden (12:30am, Tuesday)

Estadio La Cartuja, Sevilla