Euro 2024: the first surprise of the competition, a very pale England wins from the start… what to remember from this Sunday

The English of Bellingham won, Denmark was held in check. Maxppp

The victory of the Netherlands before facing the French team, Denmark held in check by a surprising Slovenia, the entry into the running of England… Here is what to remember from Euro 2024 this Sunday, June 16.

The Netherlands had the last word and are waiting for the Blues

Manhandled by a valiant Poland deprived of Robert Lewandowski, the Netherlands waited until the last quarter of an hour to win (2-1) in their first match of Euro 2024 on Sunday in Hamburg , and are firmly waiting for the Blues.

Didier Deschamps, Kylian Mbappé and theirs will probably have watched carefully the match of their two future opponents from Group D, before entering into action on Monday against Austria (21&nbsp ;h).

As expected, the Netherlands are advancing as the main challenger to the Blues in this rather tough group. They will have found the resources to come back after conceding a goal against the run of play in the first period.

Slovenia frustrates Eriksen's Denmark

Slovenia and Denmark separated in a draw (1-1) on Sunday in Stuttgart during the third day of this Euro, at the end of a pleasant match in which the Dane Christian Eriksen shone.

Three years after his heart attack which almost cost him his life during the previous edition in 2021, Eriksen believed he had perfectly launched his team into the competition with a goal (17th) and a performance high-flying, but Slovenia, led by Leipzig scorer Benjamin Sesko, ended up equalizing in the second half on a deflected half-volley from full-back Erik Janza (77th).

This draw, ultimately rather logical despite the domination of Denmark, crowned in 1992 and a nice surprise of the previous edition by reaching the semi-finals, left the way open to England to take first place in group C.

England did not convince

The evening got off to a bad start in Gelsenkirchen, where England and Serbia were due to meet, with clashes in the city centre between supporters, which required the intervention of the police and led to the arrest of seven Serbs.

The start of the match was more encouraging for the English. The “Three Lions” team, with an exceptional generation of players who will not be satisfied with their title of European vice-champion and their semi-final in the World Cup, got their foot on the ball straight away. And opened the scoring, by the essential Madrid player Jude Bellingham with a powerful header on a deflected cross from Bukayo Saka (13th).

Technically superior, the English nevertheless did not create many chances despite their attacking quartet Foden-Bellingham-Saka-Kane with 114 goals accumulated this season at club level. They therefore remained under threat from the Serbian attacking potential.

The second half was dominated by Dragan Stojkovic's men, who took advantage of a surprising slump from the English but nevertheless failed to finish. Ghostly until then, Harry Kane gave the impression of having missed the K.O. when his header was deflected onto the bar by the Serbian goalkeeper Rajkovic (77th).