Euro Cup:Belgium, Netherlands clinch place for knock out stage

With consecutive two wins in their Group matches, Belgium and Netherlands smoothly sail into pre-quarterfinals of European Championship Cup. In an exciting clash in Group B on Thursday, Belgium conceded lead to Denmark for the first time inside the opening 2 minutes of the game since May 2006. Denmark got off to a dream start when Yusuf Poulsen put them ahead very soon in the 2nd minutes of the game. Yusuf’s goal is the 2nd quickest in a match in the Euro Championships history with Dmitry Kravchenko’s goal for Russia against Greece coming earlier at 65th seconds in Euro Cup 2004.  

Overcoming the early first half set back, Belgium came back strongly after the break. De Bruyne enters as substitute in the game. In a brilliant move he laid on a pass to Thorgan Hazard. And Hazard did not miss the target and put his team on level. De Bruyne finally netted the decider and Belgium won the exciting match 2-1. Topping the Group B with two wins Belgium qualifies for the next round of 16.

Netherlands also joined Belgium in the last 16 with a 2-0 win over Austria from Group C. Memphis Depay and Denzel Dumfries were the star players for the winning team. Both hit one each goal against the lackluster Austrian side. Netherlands tops the Group C with 6 points.

In another Group C match, Ukraine keeps alive its chances for knock out stage when they beat North Macedonia 2-1. With 3 points each, Ukraine and Austria in their upcoming encounter will vie for a place in the round 16. Before this both have lost their game to Netherlands.