Sometimes the most discounted matches reserve surprises and the results of the matches of 18 June of the European Championships 2020 confirm this because, at least in two cases, they did not respect the predictions of the eve of the game.
As for the England – Scotland match at Wembley stadium , many thought of a goal by the English but the game ended goalless. In the Croatia – Czech Republic match, played at the Hampden Park stadium in Glasgow , the result was 1 to 1, when Croatia seemed much more credited with winning. Sweden –Slovakia , on the other hand, staged at the St. Petersburg stadium , was fought as expected and ended with the Scandinavians’ victory by 1 to 0 on a penalty kick.
Match Results June 18 European Championships 2020 – Sweden vs Slovakia
Sweden , as usual, does not pay too much attention to the frills but it is very concrete and even today, despite almost never having the passion for the game, it has managed to win. In the first half Slovakia held the ball more but practically no action worthy of note was seen, apart from a shot to the stars by Hamsik and very little else.
In the second half, Sweden put more conviction into it and became more dangerous, after a first half in which they did practically nothing to win. On two corners, in fact, the Swedes Augustinsson and Danielson became very dangerous. Shortly after Isak got noticed on 3 occasions, sowing panic among the shirts of Slovakia, which the goalkeeper Dubravka foiled, showing great skill. At 77 minutes the same goalkeeper, however, provoked the penalty that decided the match, which Forsberg transformed with a very angled shot.
After that, almost nothing happened, except for an action by Isak and Slovakiafailed to catch the draw again; for Sweden these three points are very important while Slovakia will have to contend with Spain in the next match.
Match Results June 18 European Championships 2020 – Croatia vs Czech Republic
The Czech Republic impressed with the determination with which it played the first half, in which it put the much more accredited Croatia on the ropes that failed to create anything. To break the deadlock the usual Schick , who suffered a bad foul and took charge of beating the resulting penalty, clearly displacing the goalkeeper and taking his national team ahead.
In the second half Perisiche reopened it scoring a nice right-footed goal two minutes from returning from the locker room. Croatia tried it in the 71st minute with Vlasic , who fired high after a pass from Perisic , who had an excellent match. Petkovic then devoured the last action, always on Inter’s service and the match remained at 1-1. Rebic and Modric , among the Croatians, have disappointed expectations and Croatia will have to win against Scotland; the Czech Republic , on the other hand, is placed quite well in the group and with a draw it certainly reaches the second round.
England vs Scotland
The match England – Scotlandand the one that surprised the most because the difference in the technical rate of the teams is quite large; moreover, in the first few minutes, the two occasions of Mount and Stones , who also hit a post after a header, made us think of a possible goal by the English, which did not happen. Scotland, however, did not stand by and severely committed goalkeeper Pickford in the 30 ‘with O’Donnell who shot a nice diagonal.
In the beginning of the second half, the usual Mount , the best of him, fired a very powerful shot from outside the area on which Marshall performed with a superb intervention. The best action is however that of Dykes on which he saves James, rejecting a ball that the goalkeeper could never have reached. A draw is enough for England to go to the round of 16 and, of course, if they win against the Czech Republic they go through as before. Today’s performance, however, certainly did not convince the coach Southgate that he expected something more from him, who are among the favorites for the bookmakers but have been in hiding tonight.
