Belgium has qualified for the eighth final of the European Championship on Thursday. Roberto Martínez’s team was outclassed in the first half by Denmark, which took a deserved lead. Kevin De Bruyne completely turned the game around by signing as a substitute after the break for a beautiful assist and a great goal: 1-2. Belgium is definitely through with six points from two matches, while Denmark is still at zero. The Scandinavians have another chance if they win Russia’s final group game.
At Denmark, Daniel Wass was moved to midfield to make up for the lack of Christian Eriksen. The playmaker, as is known, suffered a cardiac arrest against Finland. Mikkel Damsgaard replaced Jonas Older Wind in the striker. For the Belgians, the injured Timothy Castagne was replaced by Thomas Meunier, while Jason Denayer was preferred over Dedryck Boyata in the center back.
Belgium got off to a dramatic start, conceding a goal in the second minute when Denayer shoved the ball into the back of Pierre-Emile Höjbjerg’s feet. The midfielder served Yussuf Poulsen, who selected the bottom left corner from fifteen meters: 1-0. Denmark then reigned supreme and had chances to increase the score. For example, Joakim Maehle managed to wrestle himself from Toby Alderweireld and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois prevented the Danish left back from tapping in from close range.
Martin Braithwaite and Poulsen then broke through on the right flank separately, but their continuation was too weak to take advantage of the promising attacks. Damsgaard dribbled in from the right moments later and jabbed the ball just under half a meter wide. Braithwaite then did something similar, but saw his shot blocked by Denayer. The Barcelona attacker could have played the ball better on Maehle.
Martínez intervened at halftime against Belgium, which had not created any chance, by bringing in star player De Bruyne for Dries Mertens. That turned out to be a golden opportunity, because De Bruyne played a crucial role in the equalizer shortly afterwards. The playmaker received the ball in the penalty area from Romelu Lukaku, took it cleverly and had a perfect wide ball instead of a shot. That could be walked in from close by Thorgan Hazard: 1-1.
At Belgium, Axel Witsel and Eden Hazard then also entered the field. Both teams played for the win, creating the necessary space. De Bruyne was able to take advantage of this, by destroying the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area with the left: 1-2. Denmark had chances to equalize. Braithwaite broke through twice, but saw his shot get caught by Courtois and blocked by Alderweireld respectively. Moments later, Braithwaite fell just short of hitting a cross and then headed on the top of the bar.
| No. | Team | m | W | G | V | +/- | Pnt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Belgium | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| 2 | Russia | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -2 | 3 |
| 3 | Finland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 4 | Denmark | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 0 |
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