Euros Match Day 8 June 21, 2024
France 0 vs 0 Holland
By Gerald Lutchman
IN a game that France should have won, they managed to salvage a draw. France had 63% possession, 658 passes and a high 92% pass accuracy but still could not find the net.
Xavi Simmons from Holland had a second-half goal controversially disallowed which would have given the Dutch the win. Kylian Mbappe was a no show and was relegated to the bench due to his broken nose. Antoine Greizman missed three clear and easy shots at goal in an off day for the striker.
This result means both sides are on four points in Group D, with only Poland being eliminated so far.
Austria 3 vs 1 Poland
Two late goals, but Austria still had a very hard fought win over Poland and their hopes to move on to the next round still alive. Both teams lost their opening games and a loss here meant elimination.
Krzysztof Piatek opened the scoring in the 30th minute for Poland and it seemed it would have been their day with this equaliser after Gernot Trauner scored for Austria in the 9th minute. In the latter part of the game Austria found their footing and scored two more goals for all the points. Christoph Baumgartner netted the second in the 66th minute Marko Arnautovic made good on a penalty.
Poland are eliminated while Austria have a chance to progress.
Ukraine 2 vs 1 Slovakia
Roman Yaremchuk scored a crucial winner against Slovakia in a come from behind win and the hopes of a second round berth is still alive. Ivan Schranz found the back of the net in the 17th minute to give Slovakia the lead and for a better part of the game it seemed a winning goal. Mykola Shaparenko equalised for Ukraine in the 54th minute.
It was another entertaining game from the lesser fancied teams in the tournament.
Saturday‘s games:
Georgia vs Czechia
Turkey vs Portugal
Belgium vs Romania
