After plenty of build-up and anticipation, Europe’s prestigious competition finally kicked off on June 12. We’re through with the first round of Euro 2020 which saw some glorious moments on the pitch as well as an extremely concerning one involving Denmark’s Christian Eriksen, who suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch in a match against Finland.
We saw some brilliance on the field by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin de Bruyne as well, and in this piece we will talk about the top talking points from the first matchweek of Euro 2020.
THE WORLD PRAYED FOR CHRISTIAN ERIKSEN
Christian Eriksen’s sudden collapse on the football field sent tremors down every football fan’s spine. Everything was looking normal in the match between Denmark and Finland and then suddenly Eriksen, while receiving the ball from a throw-in, collapsed on the field and looked unconscious. The referee asked the medics to rush and we got proof that the protocols set in place by the organisers were on point. The players and the fans in the stadium played their part in this emotionally difficult situation and Eriksen was stretched off to the hospital immediately. The match was halted for some time and eventually resumed later in the night with Finland grabbing the win. The moment to savour from this game which will remain forever in football history would be the Danish and the Finish fans singing Christen Eriksen’s name loud and proud in the stadium.
RONALDO MAKING TRENDS BOTH ON AND OFF THE FIELD
With his brace against Hungary, Cristiano Ronaldo became the highest goalscorer in the history of the European Championship. But it wasn’t his performance on the field that grabbed the headlines but a moment from the press conference which is circulating all over social media. Ronaldo brushed away the Coca-Cola bottles kept near the microphone and replaced them with his bottle of water. Since this has become a meme and plenty of smart advertisers have already capitalised on this moment.
THE DUTCH AND THE BELGIANS THROUGH TO THE NEXT ROUND
With two wins from two matches, Frank de Boer’s Netherlands are through to the Round of 16 of the Euro 2020. They became the first team from the competition to seal their place in the knockout stage of the competition. They were involved in one of the most attractive games of the group stage against Ukraine and have played some decent football in the tournament so far. Since then, they have been joined by Roberto Martinez’s Belgium who have also won both of their opening games.
FIVE SUBSTITUTIONS TO PLAY A KEY ROLE
One tactical advantage which the bigger nations have over the minnows is that in this tournament, managers can take complete advantage of their squad depth. This is the first time that five substitutions have been allowed in a European Championship and it clearly looks like an advantage for some teams. We saw this unfold in the match between Portugal and Hungary. The Hungarian fans were rallying their team to a famous draw against the favourites Portugal but Fernando Santos could make numerous substitutions and it changed the whole complexion of the game. The Hungarians were tired while the newly-introduced Portuguese players were fresh and took the game away from their opponents.
SOME WONDER GOALS ALREADY
The Euros are always known for breathtaking goals and already the first round of Euro 2020 has given us plenty of outstanding goals and probably also, the goal of the tournament. Patrik Schick’s half-line strike against Scotland would be quite hard to beat for the goal of the tournament award while Ukraine’s Andriy Yarmolenko’s belter from outside the box was also a moment to savour. We also saw some brilliant team goals when Ronaldo netted his second goal against Hungary and also Kevin de Bruyne’s strike against Denmark.
