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Wales 1 – 1 Switzerland
Wales' Kieffer Moore scores against Switzerland. /Reuters
A game befit its booking as the early game of the day as it was a fairly boring duel between two mediocre sides studded with fading stars that took place in the withering heat of Baku, capital of Azerbaijan. After an early back-and-forth, Switzerland took command of the game and piled pressure on Wales through the back half of their 3-4-1-2 formation.
Without any true forwards, it took until early into the second half for Switzerland to get a breakthrough: Breel Embolo made it 1-0 off a Xerdan Shaquiri corner. Neither Aaron Ramsey or a visibly aging Gareth Bale could really get much going along the right side for Wales but the side didn't give up and found an equalizer in the 74th minute as Joe Morrell found the head of 195cm tall ex-lifeguard Kieffer Moore.
VAR ruled out a late winner for Switzerland and the Wales fans celebrated the No Goal caption appearing on screen as if it were the whistle blowing on a full-time victory which, at the very least, shows the traveling Welsh support have no delusions of grandeur following their remarkable Russia 2018 performance.
Denmark 0 – 1 Finland
Denmark's Christian Eriksen and Finland's Robin Lod. /Getty
The actual game almost doesn't matter. In the 43rd minute, Christian Eriksen collapsed to the ground and play was immediately halted as he got medical treatment. Very quickly, it became clear that this wasn't a typical stoppage – he did, after all, fall down completely untouched – and the images of the Denmark team surrounding their fallen teammate as he lay motionless being treated by the EMTs, and both they and the fans gradually becoming more emotional as time dragged on, were genuinely horrifying.
The game was correctly suspended, however once Eriksen had been hospitalized and his condition confirmed as stable, both sides agreed to finish the match with a delay of roughly 45 minutes. The first half had been all Denmark bombing up the right channel and taking potshots on goal –they ended the game with 22 shots on goal; Finland had one - while Finland sat deep and tried to get the ball to either Teemu Puuki or Joel Pohjanpalu of Norwich City and FC Union Berlin respectively.
When the game continued, it flowed along the same lines, only it was clear that what had happened to Eriksen had rattled Denmark and they made two crucial mistakes. On the stroke of an hour, Finland's Jere Uronen crossed the ball into the packed Denmark box and found the head of Pahjanpalu, who headed it down, hard.
This is always a difficult shot for keepers to save, but Kasper Smeichel managed to get a hand on it as it was bouncing up at him and then fumble it into his own goal. A mistake he likely wouldn't have made under normal circumstances. Likewise, 15 minutes later Denmark won a soft penalty and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg put so little force behind it that it seemed like he was passing the ball into the hands of Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky - it's a mistake Hojbjerg wouldn't have been in the position to make regardless as Eriksen is Denmark's designated penalty kicker.
The game ended 1-0 and Finland were overjoyed with winning their first-ever competitive international football match. It's a shame that their success will be forever overshadowed by the tragedy of what happened to Eriksen.
Belgium 3 – 0 Russia
Belgium's Romelu Lukaku celebrates scoring his first goal against Russia by sending a message to Inter Milan teammate Christian Eriksen who collapsed and was rushed to hospital earlier that day. /Getty
On Sunday June 6, a week before Euro 2020 started, Belgium beat Croatia 1-0 in the final tune-up friendly. It was a game played at a moderate pace designed more to build chemistry between the players than to actually secure a victory.
In their 3-0 trouncing of Russia, Belgium played with the exact same amount of energy and verve. Beyond an opening 20 minutes when Stanislav Cherchesov's team tried to press Belgium, the Russian team offered nothing that Belgium couldn't handle.
Romelu Lukaku got a brace, one goal in the 10th minute and another in the 88th and the goal sandwiched between came from Thomas Meunier soon after he was brought on to replace an injured Timothy Castagne.
There are a lot of questions surrounding the Belgians as this is considered the last gasp of their Golden Generation. Any answers will have to be forthcoming in the later games of the tournament as Russia's only notable tactic was cynical fouls. Even by the low expectations set by their qualifiers and friendlies, this Russia side are abysmal: Igor Akinfeev was never a solid Number 1 but he was much more confident between the posts than Anton Shunin and the lack of players the country has to choose from is emphasized by 37-year-old Yuri Zhirkov starting at left back.
[Header: Finland's Joel Pohjanpalo scores against Denmark. /Getty]
