On Monday, an unreal 90 minutes unfolded that will be remembered by Danish fans forever. For Denmark to finish second in Euro 2020 Group B, the Danes needed a victory against Russia, Belgium to defeat Finland and some help on goal differential.
Belgium did its part against Finland in St. Petersburg.
The 2-0 victory didn’t come easy for Belgium. Romelu Lukaku thought he had finally scored the game’s opening goal in the 65th minute, however, one of the more dreadful VAR calls I’ve ever seen called the goal back.
¡Era un golazo de Bélgica, pero se echa para atrás!
Fuera de lugar de Lukaku que le quita una anotación magnífica. #FIN 0-0 #BEL#EuroTUDN I #VeranoDeCampeones I #EURO2020¡En vivo!
GRATIS en la app de TUDN y @prendetv
https://t.co/VF7JN6Tzzt pic.twitter.com/Pj4ZixU3Bi— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) June 21, 2021
The Lukaku goal that was ruled offside pic.twitter.com/9Bq7Qnn4H6
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) June 21, 2021
Thank goodness the referees overturned this CLEAR AND OBVIOUS error here. As you can see, Lukaku was so CLEARLY AND OBVIOUSLY offside. How on Earth did the linesman miss this?? It was just so CLEAR AND OBVIOUS. Give me a break.
If Finland held out the Belgians and managed a draw, then Denmark would finish third and advancing to the next round wouldn’t be certain. Belgium needed to score.
A moment of pure madness ensued in the 74th minute when Thomas Vermaelen’s thunderous header hit off the post and Finnish goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky slapped the ball into his own goal.
¡Gooooooooooool de Bélgica!
Ahora sí sube al marcador. ¡Autogol de Hradecky que le rebota el balón luego de ir al poste! #FIN 0-1 #BEL#EuroTUDN I #VeranoDeCampeones I #EURO2020¡En vivo!
GRATIS en la app de TUDN y @prendetv
https://t.co/VF7JN6Tzzt pic.twitter.com/O8P750IjwA— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) June 21, 2021
“Own Goal” is the leading goalscorer at Euro 2020 so far. Hradecky’s mishap was the sixth own goal of the tournament.
6 - There have already been six own goals scored at #EURO2020, double that of any previous edition of the European Championship. Clangers. #FINBEL
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) June 21, 2021
The Danes must have felt the own goal 700 miles away in Copenhagen as they roared back to life. Lukaku would get his goal seven minutes later to kill off any last Finnish hopes.
¡Gooooooooool de Bélgica!
Lukaku es una máquina ofensiva. ¡Qué golazo para ganar el grupo y eliminar a Finlandia! #FIN 0-2 #BEL#EuroTUDN I #VeranoDeCampeones I #EURO2020¡En vivo!
GRATIS en la app de TUDN y @prendetv
https://t.co/VF7JN6Tzzt pic.twitter.com/WVqRjj5JdW— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) June 21, 2021
Incredible.
This was likely the end of the road for Finland. With three points and a negative two goal difference, it doesn’t look likely that the Finns will move on.
As for Russia, well. Let’s all take a moment and laugh at Russia.
Belgium finished with a perfect nine points to top Group B. The Belgians await to see which third-place team they will play in the Round of 16.
