The Latest on soccer’s European Championship:
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Netherlands defender Daley Blind says he had to overcome a “mental hurdle” to play in the European Championship match against Ukraine after watching television images of former teammate Christian Eriksen collapse on Saturday.
Denmark’s team doctor said Eriksen’s heart stopped and that “he was gone” before being resuscitated during the team’s match against Finland.
Blind had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator fitted after being diagnosed with an inflamed heart muscle in 2019.
He tells Dutch broadcaster NOS he recognized the situation with Eriksen and “that’s what made it so heavy for me and my family.”
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Denzel Dumfries rescued the Netherlands with a goal in the 85th minute to give his team a 3-2 win over Ukraine at the European Championship.
The Dutch had lead 2-0 with a pair of goals early in the second half but Ukraine scored two late goals to equalize.
Dumfries then headed in a cross from Nathan Ake to get the victory. He had missed a similar chance in the first half.
The Netherlands was playing at a major soccer tournament for the first time in seven years.
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Fans in Amsterdam for the European Championship match between the Netherlands and Ukraine have expressed their support for Christian Eriksen following his collapse on Saturday.
Eriksen played at the stadium from 2010-13 when he was with Ajax. He moved from there to Tottenham and is now with Inter Milan.
Denmark’s team doctor says Eriksen’s heart stopped and that “he was gone” before being resuscitated during the team’s match against Finland in Copenhagen.
Two orange-clad fans held a sign saying “Eriksen Stay Strong” next to a picture of a heart and his No. 10 Denmark shirt.
The fans in the stadium cheered as screens showed a message in Dutch saying “Get well Christian.”
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Belgium coach Roberto Martinez is weighing up whether to start Eden Hazard against Denmark on Thursday in the teams’ second group game at the European Championship.
Hazard is coming off an injury-disrupted season with Real Madrid and entered as a 71st-minute substitute in Belgium’s 3-0 win over Russia on Saturday.
Martinez was impressed with Hazard’s contribution at Saint Petersburg Stadium and says the national team captain “is ready to play longer.”
Martinez says he’s not sure if Hazard will start or come on later because he doesn’t think “he can play 90 minutes.”
Martinez also says defensive midfielder Axel Witsel will play some part in the match in Copenhagen after four months out because of a torn Achilles tendon injury and a late decision will be taken on the availability of Kevin De Bruyne and Jan Vertonghen.
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Michael Gregoritsch and Marko Arnautović came off the bench to score a goal each and help Austria beat North Macedonia 3-1 at the European Championship.
It was Austria’s first win at a major soccer tournament in 31 years and it’s first ever at the European Championship.
David Alaba curled in a precise cross from the left in the 78th minute for Gregoritsch to score the winner. Arnautović calmly added the third with a minute to go.
Stefan Lainer had given Austria the lead but North Macedonia captain Goran Pandev equalized.
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Austria right back Stefan Lainer celebrated his goal at the European Championship with a message for Christian Eriksen.
Lainer held up a white shirt he was thrown from the bench with the message “Eriksen, stay strong” written on it after giving his team a 1-0 lead over North Macedonia in Bucharest.
The supporters of both teams applauded before the game when the giant screen above the field displayed the message “Best Wishes Christian.”
Eriksen collapsed on the field while playing for Denmark on Saturday. He is still in the hospital in Copenhagen but in stable condition.
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A soccer fan has been taken to a London hospital in serious condition after falling from the stands at Wembley Stadium during England’s 1-0 victory over Croatia at the European Championship.
The English Football Association says officials are working with “UEFA to ensure the matter is fully investigated and we are continuing to monitor the situation.”
The English FA owns Wembley.
The incident was said to have happened just after kickoff. No other details were given.
Wembley says the spectator “was given on-site medical attention and was then taken to hospital in a serious condition.”
UEFA confirmed the incident but declined further comment citing privacy reasons.
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Sweden coach Jan Andersson says midfielders Jens Cajuste and Albin Ekdal are expected to be available for the team’s opener against Spain in the European Championship on Monday.
Both players had been sidelined recently because of injuries. Ekdal didn’t participate in Saturday’s training session because of a knock he received earlier in the week. Cajuste had to leave the session with what team doctor Jonas Werner said was a “slightly twisted ankle.”
Andersson says all 24 players are available for the team’s final training session. He says a final evaluation on all players would be made before Monday’s match at La Cartuja Stadium in Seville.
Sweden is certain to be without midfielder Mattias Svanberg because of a positive coronavirus test result. The other Swedish player who tested positive was Dejan Kulusevski. Spain is without captain Sergio Busquets because of a positive COVID-19 result.
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England midfielder Jude Bellingham has become the youngest player to appear at a European Championship.
Bellingham is 17 years, 349 days. He came on as a substitute in the 82nd minute in England’s 1-0 victory over Croatia.
The previous youngest player was Jetro Willems. He was 18 when he played for the Netherlands at Euro 2012.
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Raheem Sterling scored his first tournament goal to give England a 1-0 victory over Croatia at the European Championship.
It’s the first time England has opened the continental tournament with a win in 10 attempts.
Sterling got on the end of a throughball from Kalvin Phillips and slipped it into the net via a touch off Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livaković in the 57th minute at Wembley Stadium.
Sterling grew up in the shadow of the north London stadium where eight games at the Euro 2020 tournament will be played. They include the semifinals and final.
The Manchester City forward had not previously scored at the World Cups in 2014 and 2018 and Euro 2016.
England’s next game in Group D is against Scotland on Friday. Croatia will play the Czech Republic.
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Czech Republic coach Jaroslav Šilhavý doesn’t believe there are any hard feelings between Scotland and his team after a racist incident involving Slavia Prague defender Ondřej Kúdela and Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara.
Scotland and the Czech Republic will play their first Group D match in the European Championship on Monday at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
Kúdela is appealing against a 10-match ban for racially abusing Kamara in a Europa League match in March. Kamara is Black.
Šilhavý says “I don’t believe there is any animosity. We don’t feel any animosity against Scotland and I believe everything on the pitch tomorrow will be fair play.”
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Denmark team doctor Morten Boesen says Christian Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest and that ”he was gone” before he was resuscitated.
Boesen led the work in giving Eriksen CPR after he collapsed during Denmark’s European Championship game against Finland on Saturday. Boesen says ”we got him back after one defib. That’s quite fast.”
Eriksen is in stable condition in a Copenhagen hospital.
Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand says he spoken to Eriksen via video link and says it was ”good to see him smile.”
Hjulmand says Eriksen was more concerned about his teammates’ well being and asked how they were doing.
Hjulmand says ”that’s typical Christian.”
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Defender Joao Cancelo has been removed from the Portugal squad after testing positive for the coronavirus ahead of the team’s European Championship opener against Hungary.
The team says the Manchester City player tested positive in a test taken Saturday. He has been placed in isolation.
Portugal coach Fernando Santos replaced him with Diogo Dalot for the game in Budapest on Tuesday. Dalot played for Portugal last week in the final of the European Under-21 championship. The Portuguese lost to Germany 1-0.
Players cannot be added back into a Euro 2020 squad after they are removed.
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Czech Republic players are not planning to take a knee ahead of their European Championship games.
The national team says the players will instead be showing their support for racial justice by pointing to the UEFA Respect sign on the left sleeve of their jersey. The team already did that ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Wales in March.
Czech Republic coach Jaroslav Šilhavý says the team wants to fully focus on the game.
Šilhavý says he understands it’s an important topic for society “and my team and I condemn any form of racism.”
The Czechs say they believe there’s no place for politics and political gestures in sports but they understand the topic will “resonate” during Euro 2020.
The Czechs will play their opening match in Glasgow against Scotland on Monday and then face Croatia in the same city before playing England at Wembley Stadium in London.
The Czechs are missing defender Ondřej Kúdela. The Slavia Prague player received a 10-match ban for racially abusing Rangers midfielder Glen Kamara during a Europa League game in March.
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Sections of fans at Wembley Stadium have booed England players for taking a knee before the European Championship game against Croatia.
The boos came despite pleas from the team to respect the anti-racism gesture.
Croatia’s players did not take a knee.
The English Football Associated told fans ahead of the game that the team is taking a knee “as a mechanism of peacefully protesting against discrimination, injustice and inequality. This is personally important to the players and the values the team collectively represents.”
Some fans claim taking a knee is a political act but the FA says “English football has made it very clear that it does not view this as being aligned to a political organisation or ideology.”
The jeering was by some fans who also chanted “No surrender” during the national anthem. That’s a dated reference to the conflict endured for generations that saw Britain hit by Irish Republic Army terrorist attacks.
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Injured Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk has sent his teammates a message of encouragement ahead of their European Championship opener against Ukraine.
The Dutch are playing in their first major tournament since the 2014 World Cup but Van Dijk is missing it while recovering from a right knee injury he sustained in October while playing for Liverpool.
He wrote on Twitter “Good luck boys... Believe, enjoy and savour every moment. Stick together at all times, like we always do!”
Georginio Wijnaldum will serve as captain at Euro 2020. He says Van Dijk is still influential in the team despite his injury.
Wijnaldum says “he knows how important he is for us.”
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Soccer fans arriving at Wembley Stadium are being greeted by announcements saying they can show their vaccine certification for entry to see England’s opening European Championship game against Croatia.
The match is the first sports event in Britain to allow proof of having both vaccination shots for entry. The other option is to take a coronavirus test.
Vaccination status certification is shown via the National Health Service app.
Up to 22,500 fans are being allowed into the 90,000-capacity Wembley for the match. UEFA is hoping the permitted crowd will be increased before the final on July 11.
The Group D opener is the first England game with fans allowed at Wembley since November 2019.
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Former Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel has criticized the decision to resume Saturday’s European Championship game after Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field and needed CPR.
Schmeichel says it was ”a ridiculous decision” by the governing body of European soccer to complete the game between Denmark and Finland. The Euro 2020 match was suspended for about 90 minutes after Eriksen needed lengthy medical treatment before being taken to a hospital. Finland eventually won 1-0.
Governing body UEFA gave Denmark the option to resume playing on Sunday but the team chose to complete the game Saturday.
Schmeichel tells BBC Radio Five live that UEFA should have worked out ”a different scenario and shown a little bit of compassion.”
Schmeichel’s son is Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel.
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The Danish soccer federation says Christian Eriksen has ”sent his greetings to his teammates” and continues to be examined in a hospital following his collapse on the field during a European Championship game.
The Danish federation says Eriksen remains in stable condition. It says the players and staff have received crisis assistance ”and will continue to be there for each other after yesterday’s incident.”
Eriksen fell face-forward to the ground late in the first half and needed CPR from medical staff before regaining consciousness.
The game was suspended for about 90 minutes before resuming. Finland eventually won 1-0.
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Christian Eriksen remains in a Copenhagen hospital as he recovers after collapsing during Denmark’s game against Finland at the European Championship.
The Danish team canceled all planned media activities at its base camp and also postponed a training session to give its players more time process Saturday’s incident. Eriksen fell face-forward to the ground late in the first half and needed CPR from medical staff before regaining consciousness.
The game was suspended for about 90 minutes before resuming. Finland eventually won 1-0.
Eriksen was being treated at one of Denmark’s top hospitals. Rigshospitalet is less than a mile from Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.
There have been no recent updates on Eriksen’s condition.
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A rematch from the World Cup semifinals will be first up on Day 3 of the European Championship when England takes on Croatia.
The Croats won that match three years ago in Russia. But England will be playing at home this time at Wembley Stadium in London.
Austria and North Macedonia will play in the middle match in Bucharest. The two teams weren’t able to hold their training sessions at the National Arena on Saturday because a downpour soaked the field. North Macedonia is making its debut at a major soccer tournament.
The final match will be between the Netherlands and Ukraine in Amsterdam. The Dutch haven’t played at a major tournament since reaching the semifinals at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
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