An English star leaves camp for a family matter, Georgia stuns Portugal to make it through to the Round of 16, and emotional Ukrainians support their team under a cloud of war.
Here are the five quick hits from the Wednesday night and Thursday morning action at Euro 2024.
1. Emotion for Ukraine as fans pay tribute back home
Ukrainian fans took heart from their team’s inspiring finish at Euro 2024, despite being eliminated from the tournament.
As Ukraine’s match in Stuttgart ended 0-0 against Belgium this morning (AEST), around 1,000 fans who had gathered at an indoor market in Kyiv sang the national anthem.
“A strong nation is one that stays united and supports each other at all times, both in defeat and in victory,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in an online post after the game.
“Today, we thank Ukraine’s National Football Team. Despite the unfortunate result, they fought for our country. Our great victories are ahead.”
Anastasia Plokha said she attended the fan event to honour the memory of her husband, who was killed in the war following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“I so (strongly) supported our Ukrainian team today. They played excellently,” the 27-year-old fitness trainer said.
“I think it was a difficult game, but they fought a lot. And maybe (needed) a little bit of luck.”
All four teams in Group E finished with four points. Romania ended up first, followed by Belgium and Slovakia. Ukraine was last on goal difference.
Ukraine had lost to Romania 3-0 in its opening game and bounced back with a 2-1 win over Slovakia.
The viewing area Wednesday was set up inside Kyiv’s Rye Market, a Soviet-era building, despite wartime restrictions on public gatherings.
2. Phil Foden leaves English camp for ‘pressing family matter’
English star Phil Foden has temporarily left England’s Euro 2024 base and returned to Britain for a “pressing family matter,” the Football Association said late Wednesday.
English soccer’s governing body did not elaborate further on the reason for Foden’s departure, however it was later revealed Foden, 24, was heading home for the birth of his third child.
In April, Foden and his partner Rebecca Cooke announced on Instagram they were expecting.
They have two children. Son Ronnie, five, and daughter True, who is two years old.
The Manchester City forward played in Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Slovenia.
England has advanced to the round of 16 and plays its next match on Monday morning at 2am against Slovenia.
It is not known how long Foden will be away from the team’s base in Blankenhain, or if he will be available to play in that match.
The English Footballer of the Year started all three of the games in the group stage of the Euros and was expected to be in the starting line-up for the round of 16.
3. Minnows pull off one of the biggest upsets in Euro history
Georgia pulled off one of the biggest upsets in European Championship history, beating Portugal 2-0 and advancing to the last 16.
The Georgians needed a win to reach the knockout stage and got their opening goal after only 93 seconds.
Georges Mikautadze intercepted a poor pass and set up Khvicha Kvaratskelia to score with a low shot.
António Silva gave away the ball before the first goal and gave away a penalty for the second, tripping Luka Lochoshvili inside the penalty area.
Mikautadze hit the spot kick low and past Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa in the 57th minute.
Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo, who felt he deserved a penalty in the first half, kicked away a water bottle when he was substituted in the 66th minute.
Georgia advanced in its debut at a major tournament as one of the best third-place teams. Portugal had already qualified from Group F after winning its first two games.
Turkey beat the Czech Republic 2-1 in the other group match. The Turks also advanced while the Czechs were eliminated.
Georgia’s victory also eliminated Hungary, which finished third in Group A.
4. Romanian coach hits out at speculation of convenient draw
Romania coach Edward Iordănescu felt insulted by the pre-game chatter of possibly contriving a low-key draw against Slovakia to send both teams into the knockout round.
It did indeed end 1-1 and Romania finished atop of Group E — ahead of favoured Belgium — but not in the way those pundits throwing shade had predicted.
And Iordănescu let them know about it after a high-energy game played in severe weather which had wild mood swings.
“There is some people that should apologise to us,” Iordănescu said, calling some of the commentary earlier in the week “shameful.”
“They throw this garbage to us, not just the team but our fans. We showed our character,” the Romanian coach said, in the only answer in English of his news conference.
The quirk of the 24-team Euros format is that Groups E and F playing on the final day of the group stage have an advantage. They know the result they need to be assured of being among the four best third-place teams who must advance to the last-16 bracket.
At the start of play on Wednesday, all four teams were on three points before Romania and Slovakia drew in Frankfurt at the same time as Belgium was held 0-0 by Ukraine, which was eliminated.
Romania topped the group on the tiebreaker of more goals scored than Belgium, and both had a better goal difference than third-place Slovakia.
“Nobody could say my team didn’t play to win for the 90 minutes,” Slovakia coach Francesco Calzona said.
5. Hungarian attacker back home after undergoing facial surgery
Hungary forward Barnabás Varga has been released from hospital and is already back in his home country, two days after undergoing surgery on facial fractures he sustained in a collision at the European Championship.
Varga returned to Hungary on Wednesday as his teammates waited in Germany to find out if they have reached the round of 16 as one of the four best third-place teams. The 29-year-old will take no further part at Euro 2024.
His club Ferencváros posted a picture of Varga on X, formerly Twitter, with the caption: “Barnabás is back at home!”.
The injury occurred midway through the second half of Sunday’s match against Scotland when Varga collided with goalkeeper Angus Gunn. Hungary went on to win 1-0 thanks to a stoppage-time goal from substitute Kevin Csoboth.
In concerning scenes, the match was halted for nearly 10 minutes so that Varga could get treatment. Several teammates appeared to be in tears and they held up blankets to shield the stricken forward as medical staff tended to him.
Round of 16 match-ups, dates and times (AEST)
Sunday 2am: Switzerland v Italy
Sunday 5am: Germany v Denmark
Monday 2am: England v Slovakia
Monday 5am: Spain v Georgia
Tuesday 2am: France v Belgium
Tuesday 5am: Portugal v Slovenia
Wednesday 2am: Romania v Netherlands
Wednesday 5am: Austria v Turkey
AP/ABC
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