Key events
In the other big game of the day, Austria beat Poland 3-1.
I think I know the answer already, but should we all follow Unai Simón and “focus on football … and leave politics to other people and organisations”?
The game itself seemed rather peaceful when viewed in the context of the tournament. We’ve already heard chants about the killing of Serbians by Croatia and Albania fans and we’ve listened to Kylian Mbappé and Marcus Thuram’s criticisms of France’s National Rally party.
Jonathan Wilson
The game was always likely to be overshadowed by the political context … when the draw was made no game seemed as politically charged as this. When the nationalist Robert Fico became prime minister of Slovakia last year, he vowed to reduce aid to its eastern neighbour while pursuing a policy of greater alignment with Hungary, whose prime minister, Viktor Orban, has been the most overtly pro-Vladimir Putin voice among EU leaders. Fico’s ally Peter Pellegrini was elected as president in April. Last month, Fico was shot twice at close range while meeting the public in Handlova, about 120 miles north-east of the capital, Bratislava. Police arrested Juraj Cintula, a 71-year-old poet who has spoken openly of his opposition to Fico’s attempts to curtail the freedom of the press, to downgrade anticorruption bodies and to reduce support for Ukraine.
Roman Yaremchuk was reduced to tears after bringing the ball down beautifully and poking it past the onrushing keeper. Ukraine’s first win in a major tournament since EURO 2020 means so much to Ukraine’s players and fans because of everything that’s happened outside of football in the last couple of years.
Ukraine beat Slovakia 2-1 thanks to this touch and finish by Roman Yaremchuk. What a beauty!
Jonathan Wilson
After the 3-0 defeat by Romania, Ukraine needed that. “Today there was a different spirit,” said their coach, Serhiy Rebrov. “They showed the spirit of Ukraine on the pitch and deserved this win. It was an important win for our players, our country and our supporters.” Yet for a long time, his side seemed anxious, as though overawed by their obligation. “We needed our mental strength today,” said the midfielder Mykola Shaparenko.
In case you couldn’t persuade your boss to give you a two-hour break to watch the big game, here’s a summary of what happened in the Slovakia v Ukraine match on Friday.
Preamble
Hello and welcome to this EURO 2024 newsblog.
Another day, another round of matches. So far the games between the lower ranked teams have been more exciting, at least in terms of goals, than those between the tournament’s favourites.
Take yesterday’s match between the Netherlands and France. It took a good 60 minutes for either team to kick into gear, and even then the biggest talking point was Xavi Simons’ disallowed goal.
On paper, that was the match of the day but I much preferred watching Austria dismantle Poland in the other Group D game. Austria’s attacking play was impressive and the win should give them confidence going into their final group match against the Netherlands.
So, let’s see what today has in store as Georgia face Czech Republic, Turkey go up against Portugal and Belgium play Romania. Keep refreshing this page for updates and share you thoughts via X.
