Finland – Belgium | Euro 2020-2021 Group B Matchday 3: Belgium pulls chevrons and leaves Finland in the waiting room

Belgium will step into the round of 16 of the Eurocup as first in the group after beating the combative Finland without having to put in the direct to sign a full of triumphs that guarantees their presence among the great favorites to win the title. An own goal by Hradecky and a target by Lukaku prevented the Nordics from celebrating a historic pass that they caressed for more than an hour and that is now at the expense of the calculator. The modest team led by Markku Kanerva can still cross the barrier as one of the four best third thirds, but will have to await events. The mere fact of staying alive at this point already has extraordinary merit. Move forward or stay in the first phase, you have left your mark. Suffice it to remember that Russia was eliminated in the same group, a country that multiplies by 26 the population of its neighbor.

The team that has led the FIFA rankings for three years and the team that occupies position 54, sandwiched between Ecuador and Cameroon, were measured. With football proposals located in the antipodes (the usually offensive and vertical Belgium against the rocky and defensive Finland), it was sung that all the creative weight would fall on Roberto Martínez’s pupils against the Nordic crouched. The question to be resolved was whether the ‘red devils’ would manage to assault the wall with their plethora of stars or if, on the contrary, the ‘royal owls’ would resist and manage to strike a blow against it.

Since the draw was good for Finland and Belgium did not have a life to put all the meat on the grill, a clash of leisurely rhythm germinated that only altered the diagonals of Lukaku or the onslaught of Doku, Rennes winger of Ghanaian origin that at 19 years old he points out good manners and starred in the best occasion of the first act with a right hand that Hradecky took in one of the few actions in which De Bruyne and Eden Hazard applied an additional march. The ’10’ of the Belgians offered but had little importance in a weak first half that ended with a bad fall of his in a fight with O’Shaughnessy that set off the alarms taking into account his background, although he had no problems returning in the second half and reassuring the parish with a couple of actions that confirmed the good condition of his left ankle.

Although the statistics endorsed the overwhelming dominance of its opponent at halftime, Finland had experienced less trouble than expected against one of the great candidates and Denmark’s momentary triumph over Russia, together with the tables at the Saint Petersburg Stadium, It was valid to certify the classification as second in the group.

The passage through changing rooms returned to a more sparkling and ambitious Belgium. Eden Hazard was able to unbalance the scoreboard in a shot that Hradecky blocked before Lukaku picked up a fabulous filtered pass from De Bruyne to execute with his left foot. The VAR invalidated the goal by a millimeter offside of which the football defenders of always would throw pests.

Technology allied with Finland, but luck made it ugly. Because shortly after Hradecky a ball was introduced into his goal after a corner finished by Vermaelen. Hero against Denmark when stopping a penalty, the unfortunate action of the Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper cooled the prospects of Finland, who after touching the feat of being in the second round for much of the match ended up giving up with Lukaku’s goal, a pass from De Bryune that meant the sentence. The ‘royal owls’ have no choice but to cross their fingers to see if their dream of being in the playoffs materializes.