Belgium earn their first win at Euro 2024, while Turkey were unable to follow up with another win. Here’s what happened on Saturday.
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COLOGNE, Germany — The Red Devils bared their teeth against Romania and sent out a reminder to the rest of Euro 2024 that when Belgium click, they are a terrifying prospect to play against. It was one of the matches of the tournament so far, a vibrant, entertaining end-to-end game where Kevin De Bruyne inspired Belgium to a key 2-0 victory.
After their shock 1-0 defeat to Slovakia in the opener, this victory in Cologne cast any reports over Belgium’s demise in these Euros as premature, and at the same time, quietened any doubts over De Bruyne’s fitness levels after an injury-hit season. De Bruyne had the match on a piece of string, the chief puppeteer amid brilliant chaos around him.
Belgium manager Domenico Tedesco’s changes all paid off — Youri Tielemans, Dodi Lukebakio, Arthur Theate and the ageless veteran Jan Vertonghen all started and with that came a far more potent attacking threat. Tielemans dovetailed well with Amadou Onana, and that control meant De Bruyne could play on the front foot more, rather than having to scuffle to get time on the ball like he did against Slovakia. From there, Belgium built, with Jérémy Doku and Lukebakio causing havoc off the flanks and Romelu Lukaku a dominant presence in the middle.
But while Tielemans’ goal after 76 seconds proved to be the difference, concerns remain over their profligacy. They should’ve won against Slovakia, and they were wasteful against Romania. They got themselves into dangerous areas of the field, leaving the Romanian defence scrambling, only for Florin Nita to pull off save after save, or the radar just to be an inch or two off as passes escaped Belgian feet or heads.
On that, you can’t help but feel for Lukaku who had his third goal of the tournament ruled out for offside — this time the tip of his left knee was his downfall — but De Bruyne made sure of the win in the 79th minute as a Koen Casteels clearance evaded everyone and allowed the Belgium captain to finish well. But while this victory gave Belgium fresh momentum in the Euros, you feel that if they are to end up winning the whole thing, then they must find a way to mix brilliant attacking endeavour with an end product.
At 1-0, they had Casteels to thank as he saved from Dennis Man with the Romanian clean through on goal. Had that gone in, this would’ve had a different feel. But fine-tune those angles in front of goal, and they can challenge the best in this tournament.
A quick word for the atmosphere in Cologne – it was incredible. From start to finish both sets of fans — walls of yellow and red at both ends of the ground — stretched vocal chords for the entire match. But back on the pitch and Belgium’s victory means all four teams in Group E are on three points heading into the final round of matches. It’s a case of who blinks first. — Tom Hamilton
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DORTMUND, Germany — Turkey’s two games at Euro 2024 have been noisy and colourful spectacles at Borussia Dortmund’s Westfalenstadion. However, after a dramatic 3-1 win against Georgia in their Group F opener, Portugal exposed Vincenzo Montella’s team.
Quite simply, once you blank out their incredible support in Germany — over seven million German residents have Turkish heritage — Turkey are a team that will have done well to qualify for the round of 16. They are a committed side, but they are limited in their ability to hurt opponents as strong as Portugal.
With star player Arda Güler named on the substitutes’ bench for the Portugal game due to a a minor injury, Turkey lacked their one player capable of causing Roberto Martinez’s team a problem. Guler’s stunning goal in the win against Georgia highlighted the Real Madrid midfielder’s quality and even though he was not fit enough to start, the Turkish fans started to chant his name after just 35 minutes with their side already trailing 2-0. By the time the 19-year-old was given his opportunity from the bench in the 69th minute, the game was gone with Portugal already 3-0 ahead.
Turkey have talented players in addition to Güler – Internazionale’s Hakan Çalhanoglu an obvious example – but their top performer has been their fans. They are so passionate but their hopes of reaching the next round are now likely to rely on Turkey avoid defeating against Czechia in their final game next Wednesday.
