Ukraine’s path is marked by emotions with the war at home, a 0-0 draw against Italy and the turning point victory in the semi-finals of the European Championship playoffs. Now we have to win against Iceland on Tuesday (March 26, 2024).
The fact that the game is taking place in Wroclaw, Poland, makes it clear what a special situation the Ukrainian football players are in. Their homeland still has to defend itself from the Russian war of aggression, while they try to give their compatriots at least a little joy in their everyday life dominated by bombs and rockets by qualifying for the European Championships.
Ukraine still needs a win against Iceland to take part in the tournament. This last step is still missing to the happy ending of a qualification journey that was also characterized by drama in sport. Serhij Rebrow’s team was already close to qualifying for the group stage – also because they were denied a penalty in the final phase of their last game against Italy (0-0), but ended up missing a point.
European Championship playoffs, finals arrow right Tuesday, from 8:45 p.m. live in the ticker – Ukraine vs. Iceland arrow right
Victory of character in Bosnia
But luck returned in the semifinals of the playoffs. Ukraine was behind in Bosnia-Herzegovina until the 85th minute, but Roman Yaremtschuk (85th) and Artem Dowbyk (88th) caused the Ukrainians to celebrate. “Our mission is to show that we are all alive and fighting against the Russians and that we need Europe’s support,” Rebrow said afterwards. “This game showed the character of our players and our nation.”
Ukraine now has to show that against Iceland. The 2016 European Championship quarter-finalists clearly won 4-1 in the semi-finals in Israel – so in the final the Northern Europeans will face a war-torn opponent for the second time in the playoffs.
The post-Bale Welsh generation wants to end Lewandowski’s European Championship career
In recent years, the Wales national team has mostly depended on one man for better or for worse. Gareth Bale was the outstanding man of the nation, as captain he led his home country to three of the last four major tournaments; Wales was particularly successful with him at the European Championships. At EURO 2020 it went all the way to the round of 16, and in 2016 Portugal even ended up in the semi-finals.
Wales wants to continue writing its successful European Championship history – and without Bale. The superstar is no longer there, but he shaped football in his country so much that there are many who have emulated him. Wales have two top players on the wing in Neco Williams (Nottingham Forest) and especially Brennan Johnson (Tottenham Hotspur), who scored in the 4-1 win against Finland in the semi-final, and a strong one in the middle with Ethan Ampadu (Leeds United). clearer. All of them only 22 or 23 years old.
For this talented team, a veteran is now the last hurdle to the Germany tournament. In the playoff final, Wales will face Poland, who defeated Estonia (5-1) in the semi-finals, and goalscorer Robert Lewandowski (the game will be available in the live ticker from 8:45 p.m.). For the former Munich player and current FC Barcelona professional, it would be the fourth European Championship tournament – at the age of 35, it is probably the last opportunity to play a role in this competition. However, the young Welsh people want to prevent that.
Zivzivadze or Tzolis – which second division professional is going to the European Championship?
The first of the last three EURO tickets will be played by Georgia and Greece on Tuesday (March 26th, 2024) from 6 p.m. (live in the ticker on sportschau.de). For the hosts of the game in Tbilisi, Budu Zivzivadze, a player from the German 2nd league, was the decisive man in the semi-final. The Karlsruher SC striker scored both goals in the 2-0 win against Luxembourg.
Greece, the 2004 European champions and favorites in the game, also has a second division professional there, but the signs are different. Christos Tzolis has been outstanding at Fortuna Düsseldorf in recent weeks with six goals in the last five games, but he will probably have to rely on his colleagues to do it for him.
After the more than convincing 5-0 win in the semi-final against Kazakhstan, in which Tzolis only sat on the bench, coach Gustavo Poyet is unlikely to make any changes. “Greece hasn’t taken part in a European Championship for too long. Everyone talks about the fact that it’s been 20 years since they won the European Championship – that’s a nice side effect and we’ll do everything we can to qualify,” said the 56-year-old.
