The final day of round robin play for Euro 2021 happened yesterday, and it proved to be a very busy day indeed. All of the final pieces of who will participate in the elimination round puzzle fell into place. France was one of the nations that advanced. In fact, they managed to win their group, despite not having won either of their last two games.
They faced Portugal yesterday, the same team that had defeated them in the Euro Final in 2016. France surely wanted revenge for that one. While they got what they wanted overall in terms of winning their group, which was this tournament’s “Group of Death,” it was hardly revenge, as the two teams ultimately wound up tying.
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo struck first with a goal in the 30th minute.
However, Karim Benzema had a big day for France. He was able to get the tying goal in the second minute of extra time, so the two teams were nodded up at 1-1.
Benzema struck again in the 47th minute on a penalty. France took the lead for the first time all day, up 2-1.
Ronaldo, though, also had a very big day for Portugal. He scored again in the 60th minute on a penalty to tie the game back up.
And that was the way that this particular game wound up, as neither team was able to score again.
Meanwhile, Germany flirted with a loss to upstart Hungary, but ultimately was able to salvage a tie in that game. Both games in Group F wound up in 2-2 ties. Since France had defeated Germany, and then tied both Hungary and Portugal, they accumulated 5 points, which was one more than either Germany or Portugal, and so they won the group. Germany earned the second place for the group, having the tie-breaker advantage with the head-to-head win over Portugal a few days ago. That said, both Germany and Portugal advanced to the elimination round as well. Germany will play England in what will surely be a highly anticipated match, while Portugal will play Belgium.
As for Les Bleus, they will play Switzerland on Monday, June 28th, in the first elimination round game for both teams.
Yeah, underwhelming stuff from Les Bleus, though they're known for getting off to sluggish starts and saving the best for last. The last World Cup was a prime example. That being said, as I mentioned in an email, I'd say Italy, the Netherlands and Spain made the strongest impression in the first round. While I somehow don't see the "Oranje" making it to the final, I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see the "Azzuri" or "La Roja" there. We shall see. Also, if England can get past Germany, they should be considered a dark horse, since they'd love to finally win their second major title, and their first since winning the World Cup that they hosted in 1966. It's actually rather surprising that The Three Lions haven't had more success, since they haven't even made it to the final of a major competition since that lone World Cup triumph.
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