Sensation and emotion: Denmark still to eighth finals | European Football Championship

sport">Russia also started their final group game against Denmark with three points in their bag. The Danes, who experienced a very eventful European Championship after the drama with Eriksen and were still scoreless, knew that they had to beat the Russians in any case to keep a view of the eighth finals.

sport">Just before half time, Mikkel Damsgaard shot Denmark with a devastating blow to a deserved lead: 1-0. Ten minutes after the break, Yussuf Poulsen doubled the lead for the Danes. At the time, every Danish fan hoped that Belgium would score against Finland, because that would mean that Denmark would virtually climb to second place.

De Bruyne

sport">Belgium, where Kevin De Bruyne was in the starting line-up, was already certain of the next round prior to the match against the Finns, but of course wanted to be the group winner. To achieve that, Roberto Martinez’s team only needed a draw.

sport">For the Finns, who are participating in this European Championship for the first time, it would be a stunt if they would make it to the eighth finals. With three points from the first two games, Finland still had plenty of opportunity. National coach Marrku Kanerva spoke of “the most important duel in football history” prior to the clash.

Hradecky grabs

sport">But Belgium, which was clearly the parent, managed, but failed to break the spell. Martinez’s formation kept going wrong in the final pass. Fifteen minutes before the end, the Belgians thought they could cheer, but the VAR decided to put a stop to that and concluded that Romelu Lukaku was offside. Not much later it finally happened. Tomas Vermaelen almost headed the ball in from a corner and through goalie Lukas Hradecky the ball eventually went into the Finnish goal. Not much later, Lukaku also scored the second goal for the Belgians and assured his team of a group win.

sport">Denmark, which in the meantime had gone up to a 4-1 lead, eventually climbed over Finland to second place. Denmark, Russia and Finland all have three points, but the goal difference of the Danes is the best. The curtain has finally fallen for Russia, while Finland can still hope that it will qualify as one of the four best numbers 3 for the eighth finals.

sport">Denmark will meet Wales in the eighth finals on Saturday. That match will be played in the Johan Cruijff ArenA.

Belgian De Bruyne: ‘It’s good that I was able to play for so long’

sport">For the first time in several weeks, Kevin De Bruyne was fit enough to play (almost) an entire match. “I do feel some pain, but that’s not serious,” he responded afterwards. “It’s great that I was able to participate again for so long. I needed this. Fortunately, I can now take a little rest before we play the eighth final.”

sport">De Bruyne was injured in the Champions League final, which he lost to Chelsea with Manchester City. He even underwent surgery on an eye socket. “It still feels a little weird in my face. But during the game I hardly think about it.”

sport">He didn’t like the game against Finland very well. “Some phases were good, some less so. Initially we were unable to capitalize on the opportunities. Fortunately, we remained patient and we succeeded.”

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