Euro 2020: England Avenge 2018 Croatia Defeat, Late Heroics from Austria and Netherlands
- England win their first Euro opener in history
- Austria get their first win at the Euros; North Macedonia get their first goal
- Netherlands come out victorious in five-goal thriller
Day Three of the Euros saw three across two groups. In Group D, England faced Croatia, while the two matchups of Group C were Austria vs North Macedonia and Netherlands vs Ukraine.
The first match of the day was played at Wembley, where England were hoping to get their revenge against the team that knocked them out of the World Cup three years ago.
They started the match in top gear, dominating the first half but failing to find the net. Twelve minutes into the second half was one their efforts paid off.
The man of the moment was Raheem Sterling, whom many though wasn’t even going to feature in the game following not-so-impressive form in Manchester City. For instance, the 26-year-old scored only one goal for the Sky Blues in more than three months.
But he scored this time, taking England to their first-ever victory in the opening round of the European Championship.
England wasn’t the only team to make history on Sunday. By beating North Macedonia 3-1, the Austrians ended their win draught that lasted for 31 years.
The same game saw another historic moment – Goran Pandev scored North Macedonia’s first goal at the Euros.
In the final game played on Sunday, we saw the Netherlands almost throwing away a two-goal lead. The score was 2-0 for the Dutch until the 75th minute. In the space of only four minutes, Ukraine got themselves two goals, making it 2-2.
Then, an unlikely hero stepped up. PSV’s defender Denzel Dumfries scored his first goal for the Netherlands, which proved to be the match-winner.
Group D: England vs Croatia
Location: Wembley, London, England
Kick-off: 10:00 ET
Score: 1-0 England
Scorers: Raheem Sterling 57′
Group C: Austria vs North Macedonia
Location: National Arena, Bucuresti, Romania
Kick-off: 13:00 ET
Score: 3-1 Austria
Scorers: Stefan Lainer (AUS) 18′, Goran Pandev (MKD) 28′, Michael Gregoritsch (AUS) 78′, Marko Arnautovic (AUS) 89′
Group D: Netherlands vs Ukraine
Location: Johan Cruijff Arena, Amsterdam, Holland
Kick-off: 16:00 ET
Score: 3-2 Netherlands
Scorers: Georginio Wijnaldum (NED) 52′, Wout Weghorst (NED) 58′, Andriy Yarmolenko (UKR) 75′, Roman Yaremchuk (UKR) 79′, Denzel Dumfries (NED) 85′
Next Set of Fixtures (June 14)
Group D: Scotland vs Czech Republic
Location: Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland
Kick-off: 10:00 ET
Group E: Poland vs Slovakia
Location: Gazprom Arena in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Kick-off: 13:00 ET
Group E: Spain vs Sweden
Location: Estadio de La Cartuja in Sevilla, Spain
Kick-off: 16:00 ET
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