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On display : Spain-Sweden
Originally, Spain was to play its Euro matches in Bilbao, in the Basque Country. It is finally at the other end of the country, at the Cartuja stadium in Seville, Andalusia, that La Roja will receive their opponents in Group E. Starting with Sweden, this Monday at 9 p.m., in a disturbed match by the Covid-19 epidemic.
The Spanish captain, Sergio Busquets, was indeed diagnosed positive for Covid-19, Sunday, June 6, before being returned to solitary confinement at his home in Barcelona. Two days later, defender Diego Llorente also tested positive, but confirmation tests brought him a negative result. “There are serious presumptions that it is a false positive”, said the Spanish federation in a statement released Thursday, June 10. Coach Luis Enrique still hopes to be able to quickly recover the two players.
Sweden is not to be outdone. The coach, Janne Andersson, will have to do without Dejan Kulusevski and Mattias Svanberg, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, June 8. These packages are added to the notorious absence of Zlatan Ibrahimovic: the Swedish star suffered a knee sprain at the end of the season with AC Milan and is not in the Blagult group at the Euro.
Spain-Sweden, Monday June 14, at 9 p.m., on TF1 and BeIN Sports 1 (and live on Lemonde.fr).
For their entry into the tournament, at home at Wembley, England won with a small 1-0 against Croatia (group D).
In Group C, Austria was hooked by North Macedonia, but ended up winning (3-1).
In the same group C, the Netherlands snatched the victory against Ukraine in the last minutes of the match (3-2).
Euro star: Robert Lewandowski
All eyes will be on him this afternoon. For its entry into the competition against Slovakia (6 p.m.), Poland will count on the talent of its star striker, Robert Lewandowski. At 32, the Bayern Munich player comes out of a hallucinating season in the Bavarian jersey: 48 goals and 9 assists in 40 games.
With 66 goals in 119 caps, Lewandowski is also the top scorer in Polish history, and its captain. But the former Dortmund is far from being as precise in major international competitions, and has only scored two small goals in 11 World Cup and Euro matches throughout his career.
A statistic that he will have to improve if he wants his team to manage to extricate themselves from a rather open group E. In the event of a big run for his selection, he could become a very serious contender for the Golden Ball, which rewards the best player of the season.
Meanwhile…: accreditation refused and finally accepted in Russia
Robert Kempe may well travel to the Russian city of Saint Petersburg to cover Euro 2021. This journalist from German public television ARD obtained his accreditation for the competition when it was initially refused.
Russian authorities had requested that his accreditation be revoked because of his critical reporting on Moscow. Robert Kempe recently worked on relations between the Russian gas giant Gazprom and UEFA as well as on investigations concerning Chechnya or the hiring of North Korean workers for the construction of a stadium in Moscow before the World Cup. 2018.
The refusal of his accreditation had caused an uproar in Germany. Faced with numerous protests, the Russian authorities reversed their decision, according to the ARD website. “This example shows how important it is to make this type of incident public, its editor-in-chief Ellen Ehni said. As the media, we need to be vigilant and make it clear when our journalists cannot work freely. “
In the skylight: Lainer dedicates his goal to Eriksen
After the Belgian Romelu Lukaku, who had addressed a “Christian, I love you” after his first goal on Saturday against Russia (3-0), Stefan Lainer also expressed his support for the Danish Christian Eriksen. The latter was the victim of discomfort during the match against Finland on Saturday 12 June. The next day, after opening the scoring against North Macedonia, the Austrian right-back held up a white jersey emblazoned with the message: “Eriksen, stay strong” (“Eriksen, be strong” in French).
[📺LIVE – beIN SPORTS 1] 🏆 # EURO2020 🇩🇰🇲🇰 #AUTMAC 💥 Stefan Lainer opens the scoring for Austria and sends a mess… https://t.co/DWiMsCTACC
Earlier in the day on Sunday, during a press conference of the Danish delegation, the selection’s doctor, Morten Boesen, clarified that Christian Eriksen “Was doing as well as possible under the circumstances”. Before adding that he ” was gone “ and “That’s why we had to do cardiac resuscitation”. “We shouldn’t have played. I think it was a bad decision ”, for his part commented the coach Kasper Hjulmand.
“I was a little affected by that but we’re not going to make a big deal out of it. “
Is this the end of the tensions between Kylian Mbappé and Olivier Giroud? In any case, this is what the PSG striker suggested on Sunday at a press conference, when he personally took a remark from his teammate made Tuesday after the friendly victory against Bulgaria.
He reacted to this sentence of Olivier Giroud who was annoyed in front of the journalists: ” I am discreet because sometimes we go shopping but the balloons don’t arrive. “
🇫🇷 French team 🗨️ Mbappé “affected” by Giroud’s comments #beINBLEUS https://t.co/8pd5dfWfHL
A corner of blue sky: Karim Benzema reassures about his state of health
Karim Benzema worried the French public on the occasion of his second match after his return to the selection. Released before half-time against Bulgaria because of a crutch, the Real Madrid striker remained in care until Friday. He was able to resume training on Saturday.
His return to 100%, his technical relationship with Griezmann and Mbappé, the status of favorite of the Blues, his happiness to be… https://t.co/e91TVlQxae
In an interview with TF1, Sunday, the number 19 of the Blues assured that he was now “ 100 % “. Karim Benzema was also confident about the potential of the France team and the pressure surrounding it: “ Everything around us is normal with the team we have, and the results we have had. There is only one truth, and that is the field. We are able to show that we can compete with any team. For us every match is a final. “ Its Euro is (almost) launched.
Covidometer: Portuguese Joao Cancelo is coming home
The Euro was short lived for Joao Cancelo. The Portuguese defender (27) tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday morning, and immediately placed in isolation by his federation. A blow for the player, indisputable holder, and for his team, whose first match takes place Tuesday against Hungary (6 p.m.). The Manchester City side has been replaced by Diogo Dalot (22), AC Milan defender who currently has no national team.
ℹ️ Diogo Dalot, internacional sub-21, vai juntar-se at comitiva da Seleção Nacional that meets Budapeste a… https://t.co/A9WyI11Q0n
