Slovakia caused the first upset at Euro 2024 as Ivan Schranz fired the underdogs to a 1-0 win against Belgium on Tuesday morning AEST.
Francesco Calzona’s side are 45 spots below third-placed Belgium in FIFA’s world rankings, but they made a mockery of the supposed quality gap between the teams with a courageous performance in Frankfurt.
“We played against a great opponent. We gave it our heart. We didn’t win it by being better, but by being happier,” Slovakia defender David Hancko said.
“That makes the victory all the more gratifying. It’s amazing that we were able to do that.”
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Slovakia coach Calzona, who also served as Napoli’s interim boss in the second half of last season, had admitted he would have been “delighted” with a draw.
The Italian got more than he could have dreamed of as Schranz left Belgium reeling after ending his nine-game international goal drought.
Romelu Lukaku missed a host of chances for Belgium and had two possible equalisers disallowed by VAR.
Slovakia’s unexpected victory blew Group E wide open, just hours after Romania beat Ukraine 3-0 in Monday’s other match in that pool.
It was a bitter loss for Belgium, who are already in danger of once again failing to fulfil their potential at a major tournament.
Belgium’s golden generation has lost much of its lustre since they crashed out of the 2022 World Cup in the group stage.
The Red Devils fell at the quarter-finals in the last two editions of the European Championship, making a third-place finish at the 2018 World Cup the highwater mark of a talented but underachieving team once hailed as a potential dynasty.
Domenico Tedesco was appointed to replace Roberto Martinez in February 2023 and led Belgium on a 14-match unbeaten run heading into the Euros.
“I knew that eventually we would lose a game. Unfortunately it was today,” Tedesco said.
“The only thing that we didn’t do well was missing chances. We had plenty. It’s part of the game. Of course the players were disappointed.”
Before what was billed as a last hurrah for Belgium’s veteran stars, Kevin De Bruyne had insisted they were ready to do “something good” in Germany.
But instead they reverted to type with a spluttering display that puts them under intense pressure to beat Romania in their second group game on Saturday.
Playing in a Belgian record 11th game at major tournaments, Lukaku should have bagged his 86th goal for his country in the second minute.
Jeremy Doku turned adroitly on the halfway line and accelerated menacingly into the Slovakia penalty area, where his cross was poked toward Lukaku by De Bruyne.
Lukaku looked certain to score but his close-range effort was straight at Slovakia keeper Martin Dubravka.
Lukaku threatened again moments later, only to let Doku’s pass run away from him.
Slovakia punished Lukaku’s profligacy in the seventh minute. Doku’s wayward clearing pass allowed Robert Bozenik to cleverly backheel the ball to Juraj Kucka.
Koen Casteels saved Kucka’s strike but could do nothing about the rebound as Schranz fired home from an acute angle.
Lukaku endured a nightmare evening. He again took a woefully heavy touch to waste a good chance from Yannick Carrasco’s raking pass.
Belgium’s angst increased in the 56th minute when Lukaku was denied by Dubravka’s near-post save.
From the resulting corner, Amadou Onana looped a header over Dubravka and Lukaku slid in to score from a yard out, only for his celebrations to be curtailed as VAR ruled he was off-side.
Belgium laid siege to the Slovakia goal but Dubravka saved well from Leandro Trossard and Lukaku volleyed into the side-netting before Johan Bakayoko’s shot was cleared off the line by Hancko.
In a fitting coda to a day to forget for Belgium, Lukaku blasted home in the 86th minute but the goal was disallowed for handball by Lois Openda in the build-up.
FRANCE NEED OWN GOAL TO EDGE AUSTRIA
Maximilian Woeber’s own goal was enough to give France a winning start to their Euro 2024 campaign on Tuesday as they edged Austria 1-0 in their opening game but Kylian Mbappe came off late on with a bloodied nose.
Woeber diverted Mbappe’s cutback into his own net seven minutes before halftime in Duesseldorf to allow the French, one of the leading contenders to win the tournament, to come through a stiff test.
Austria have been much-improved under Ralf Rangnick and their pressing game often made life uncomfortable for the 2022 World Cup runners-up, who saw Mbappe leave the field near the end after being hurt in a collision.
He had earlier failed to convert a glorious chance that would have allowed France to win by a wider margin.
While Les Bleus were not at their best, they will be relieved to have emerged victorious from the game after a build-up overshadowed by talk of politics rather than football.
Mbappe and other French players had spent much of their time before the media in recent days answering questions about upcoming elections in the country which could see the far-right National Rally become the biggest party.
Any slip-up here would have led to suggestions their minds had not been fully focused on the competition, as France aim to become European champions for the third time, and first since 2000.
Instead, the result leaves Didier Deschamps’ team level on three points in Group D with the Netherlands, who defeated Poland 2-1 in Hamburg on Sunday.
France and the Netherlands meet next in Leipzig on Friday, while Austria face Poland earlier the same day in Berlin.
Austria had enjoyed some impressive results coming into the tournament on a seven-game unbeaten run and their team is on familiar ground during these Euros — their coach Rangnick is from Germany and eight of their starting line-up played in the German Bundesliga last season.
The French, however, are arguably the most talented team at the tournament, led by their captain Mbappe.
He endured a miserable time at his only previous Euros three years ago, failing to score and missing the decisive penalty in a shootout defeat by Switzerland in the last 16.
The new Real Madrid signing will wonder how he did not score in this game, with his first big opportunity arriving inside eight minutes.
Antoine Griezmann and Theo Hernandez combined to release Mbappe, who cut in from the left as he loves to do and shaped to curl a shot into the far corner before instead aiming for the near post.
However, Austria goalkeeper Patrick Pentz was able to make the save. The Austrians settled into the contest and passed up a wonderful chance of their own to go ahead on 36 minutes.
Skipper Marcel Sabitzer touched down a Michael Gregoritsch cross from the left for Christoph Baumgartner, but he was foiled by goalkeeper Mike Maignan.
That proved crucial as France went ahead two minutes later.
Ousmane Dembele gave the ball to Mbappe on the right, and he produced a stepover to get to the byline before his cutback was nodded into the far corner of his own net by the unfortunate Woeber.
Mbappe was then thwarted by Pentz as he tried to go around the goalkeeper in first-half stoppage time, but that was nothing compared to the chance he squandered 10 minutes after the restart.
Adrien Rabiot sent Mbappe away, bounding in behind the Austrian defence, but he somehow put his shot wide with just the goalkeeper to beat.
That left the game in the balance, and Austria continued to push for a leveller, but without success.
Their fans were less than impressed by what they perceived as time-wasting late on from Mbappe, who needed treatment after colliding with Kevin Danso in the box.
He left the pitch with his shirt stained by blood, only to then come back on and sit down, earning himself a yellow card before being replaced by Olivier Giroud.