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Euro 2020 day four: Scotland’s moment arrives after England win – as it happened

14-Jun-2021 11:25:41 | Guardian

There was more positive news on Christian Eriksen’s condition but debate is intensifying over whether the game should have gone ahead

12.25pm BST

Right, Scott Murray has hosed himself down, got his minute-by-minute gloves on and is desperately clambering to retain “emotional control” amid the Hampden Park fever. You can head straight over to join him now. Thanks for your time and enjoy the game. Over to you, Scotland …

12.18pm BST

Oh yes, it’s that time: the Euro 2020 Fiver has dropped. Scott Murray is dripping with anticipation … and hope … and realism.

12.12pm BST

Demark’s players expressed dissatisfaction at the position they were put in after Christian Eriksen’s collapse, having to decide whether to finish the match that evening or the next morning. Uefa offered the players, who gathered in the changing room after witnessing Eriksen being treated on the pitch following a cardiac arrest, the choice of resuming the match on Saturday night or beginning again on Sunday at 12pm local time. “We were put in a position which I personally don’t think we should have been put in,” Kasper Schmeichel told reporters on Monday. “It probably required that someone above us had said that it was not the time to make a decision and maybe should wait for the next day,” he added.

Uefa officials were not immediately available for comment. But European soccer’s governing body wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the match would be restarted “following the request made by players of both teams”. “We had two options. None of the options were good. We took the least bad one. There were a lot of players, that weren’t able to play the match. They were elsewhere [mentally],” Martin Braithwaite said. “You could have wished for a third option in this situation.”

12.08pm BST

Covid-hit Spain face Sweden tonight, and Rodri wants to emulate Sergio Busquets …

11.52am BST

Robertson, Tierney, McTominay, McGinn, Armstrong, Adams, Gilmour. This crop of players sounds like Scotland’s best for years, but the Czech Republic have Schick, Jankto and the West Ham connection. Scott Murray will be launching the minute-by-minute report of the match at 12.15pm BST, but in the meantime you can get the lowdown on the two teams right here …

11.41am BST

The kilts are out in force.

11.35am BST

Portugal start the defence of their title against Hungary tomorrow, and in Bruno Fernandes they have an heir to Cristiano Ronaldo’s throne. Daniel Harris analyses how the late-blooming midfielder gatecrashed the elite to become one of the world’s finest attacking players …

11.20am BST

VfB Stuttgart striker Silas Katompa Mvumpa has been banned from all competitions for three months and fined €30,000 after revealing he had been playing under a false identity for years. Known until last week as Silas Wamangituka, the striker revealed that his name and birth date were different and that the data had been changed years ago by a former agent who controlled him as a teenager.

“It was clear to him and us that Silas was going to be sanctioned by the DFB, and that*s the way it has to be according to the by-laws,” said Stuttgart’s sporting director, Sven Mislintat, following the decision by the German Football Association (DFB). “At the same time, the verdict takes into account the exceptional circumstances of his case. We are glad that this concludes matters for Silas in terms of sporting legalities from the DFB.”

Mvumpa, who scored 11 Bundesliga goals last season, had told his club last week he had been living in fear since leaving the Democratic Republic of Congo at the age of 17 to play for French lower league club Ales. He said his his birth date was also a year earlier than previously stated, so 1998 instead of 1999, making him 22 years old now.

11.10am BST

Hampden Park is the oldest international football stadium in the world, and set a world record attendance of 149,415 in 1937 for the 3-1 win over England. The 12,000 fans inside the stadium for Scotland’s opening game against the Czech Republic will be expected to make it a cauldron today, but three years ago the their former player Scott Brown said: “Hampden is possibly one of the worst stadiums I have played in for atmosphere.”

Get the lowdown on all the Euro 2020 stadiums in this brilliant interactive …

11.02am BST

Ben McPartland has emailed in to offer the view from Paris on the Mbappé-Giroud contretemps. “It’s a roasting hot day here in Paris today and the French fans and the country’s media are wondering if things are going to boil over in the French squad, before they’ve even kicked a ball at the tournament,’ he explains. “The public airing of dirty laundry between Kylian Mbappé and Olivier Giroud is causing concerns on the eve of France’s opening clash with Germany. Some wonder whether the public spat, which Mbappé called ‘petty’, suggests Didier Deschamps has lost a little of his control over the squad. Others in France are saying rows in a squad are normal and so there’s no harm in airing them in public. In a typical Gallic mindset, they think it’s more authentic and mature than the fake or forced camaraderie so often presented to the public at tournaments. It’s likely the French press have made far too much of it. Nevertheless there has been lots of talk about a repeat of the 2002 World Cup, when France, the world and European champions went into the tournament as favourites but ended up being unable to qualify from a group containing Uruguay, Denmark and Senegal. Even as favourites, France could do with a win against Germany tomorrow to ease worries of deja vu.”

10.45am BST

Christian Eriksen’s agent said the player is doing well and undergoing detailed examinations after he collapsed with a cardiac arrest against Finland. “We all want to understand what happened to him and he wants to as well. The doctors are doing some detailed examinations, it will take time,” Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday cited Eriksen’s agent Martin Schoots as saying. “Christian does not give up. Him and his family want to send everyone their thanks. He was joking around and in good spirits, he was doing well.”.

Schoots said the messages of support have helped cheer Eriksen up. “He was happy because he understood how much love he has around him,” Schoots said. “He received messages from all over the world. He was particularly struck by those from the world of Inter Milan; not just from his teammates, who he heard from through texts, but also the fans. Half the world has contacted us, everyone is worried. Now he just needs to rest. His wife and parents are with him. But in any case he wants to support his teammates against Belgium.”

10.35am BST

Brian Wihrenfeldt Andersen was in the Parken Stadium when Christian Eriksen collapsed and has recounted the feelings of horror then relief experienced by Denmark fans.

When the stadium announcer began updating us on Christian Eriksen’s health, you could hear a pin drop. I have never been in such a quiet place and it felt worlds away from the vibrant, electric atmosphere at the outset. Once we knew the news was positive, the ripple of relief was tremendous. Everybody started clapping, cheering, releasing so much emotion in the knowledge he was stable. Half an hour earlier we had feared the very worst; all we could do now was feel profoundly thankful.

10.23am BST

A fan was taken to hospital in what was said to be a “serious condition” after falling from the stands at Wembley during England’s win against Croatia. A spokesperson from the stadium and Uefa said that the spectator fell just after kick-off and was given medical attention at the ground before being taken to hospital. Read the full story here…

10.15am BST

Belgium have changed their travel plans for the remainder of the group phase due to concerns about the Covid-19 situation in Russia. Roberto Martínez’s side were due to travel from Copenhagen after Thursday’s second Group B match against Denmark to St Petersburg and spent three days preparing for their last group game against Finland. However, they have decided to go back home from Copenhagen to their base at Tubize, some 25km south of Brussels, and only travel to St Petersburg on the eve of the game against the Finns.

“During our recent stay in St Petersburg we experienced that being a few days abroad in a hotel in a big city during Covid times, is for the organisation of a training camp much more complex and difficult than before,” said a statement from the Belgian football association. “The Belgian FA has been forced to undertake this action in order to protect its players and staff.”

10.04am BST

Andy Roberston, who will lead Scotland out at Hampden today, has hailed the Denmark players as “heroes” for shielding Christian Eriksen from the crowd and cameras when he received CPR on the pitch.

The way the Danish players dealt with what must have been a heart-breaking thing for all of them, they stood up to it. That will be the picture I remember and everyone should remember because, when one of their friends was in a bad place, they stood up and protected him. Whatever else happens in this tournament, for me they will be the heroes.

9.53am BST

It’s Poland v Slovakia at 5pm BST today, or Robert Lewandowski v Marek Hamsik. One of the joys of major tournaments is watching superstars drag their nations to victory, and these two men carry their nations’ hopes on their shoulders. Nick Ames and Lukas Vrablik profile today’s protagonists:

9.44am BST

There were some of lovely tweets doing the rounds in the aftermath of England’s victory. Here are a couple …

Granny Val watching down with the biggest smile @Kalvinphillips ❤️ Phenomenal performance @England @LUFC pic.twitter.com/gHlLxLnAmG

Never forget where it started #BoyfromBrent pic.twitter.com/3eftHHCWW5

9.37am BST

Oh France, you are so absolutely brilliant but why does it always have to be this way?

9.30am BST

So which player impressed you most during the opening weekend? Romelu Lukaku looked every inch a £100m striker, Gini Wijnaldum excelled in a more advanced role for the Netherlands, Raheem Sterling answered a few critics and Italy’s midfield worked like a dream, even without Marco Verratti. Check back in with our incredible interactive to see how every player has rated so far …

9.19am BST

Stepping away from the Euros for a second, Paulo Fonseca has agreed to become the new manager of Tottenham. The former Roma boss could be announced this week, after being identified by Spurs’ new director of football, Fabio Paratici, as the man to lead the rebuilding job in N17. Fabrizio Romano and Marcus Christenson have the full story.

Jadon Sancho’s proposed move to Manchester United is also moving closer …

Manchester United have been in contact with Jadon Sancho’s camp also during the weekend. #MUFC

Negotiations with Borussia Dortmund on €95m price, bonus details and payment structure will continue in the next hours/days. #Sancho

€70m won’t be enough to complete the deal.

9.07am BST

Kalvin Phillips was a man possessed against Croatia, marauding around the Wembley pitch in the stifling heat to win tackles, unleash shots and create England’s winner for Raheem Sterling. Jonathan Liew says the Leeds man possesses “that rarest of qualities – he seems to prefer it when the midfield is packed to suffocation”.

Phillips does not have the passing range of a Jordan Henderson or the immaculate reading of a Declan Rice or the effortless class of a Jude Bellingham. But in the most congested area of the pitch, he demands the ball and gets the ball and almost always does something useful with it. The less time you give him, the more he seems to enjoy it. He is brilliant at finding the little pockets of space that turn a simple passing move into a dangerous attack.

8.47am BST

Christian Eriksen is awake, answering questions and undergoing hospital tests in Copenhagen after suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch against Finland, but the gravity of his situation was laid bare by Denmark’s the team doctor, Morten Boesen, on Sunday:

“He was gone. We started the resuscitation and we managed to do it. How close were we to losing him? I don’t know, but we got him back after one defib [defibrillation], so that’s quite fast … the tests that have been done so far look fine. We don’t have an explanation to why it happened.”

8.40am BST

Peter Schmeichel claims Denmark’s players did not want to restart their Euro 2020 game against Finland after Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest, as the heat grows on Uefa. Schmeichel, father of Leicester and Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, has told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that he did not think the players had a choice. When asked if it was the players’ decision for the game to be restarted after Eriksen had been taken to hospital, Schmeichel said: “Well that’s an interesting debate. I actually saw an official quote from Uefa yesterday saying that they were following the advice of the player, the players insisted on playing – I know that not to be the truth.

“Or, it’s how you see the truth. They were left with three options, one was to play immediately and get the last 50 minutes played. The next one was to come in [on Sunday] at 12 noon and finish the 50 minutes and the third option was to forfeit the game, 3-0. So work it out for yourself. Is it the players’ wish to play? Did they have any choice really? I don’t think they had. As you can hear from his press conference, the coach, he seriously regrets putting the players back on to the pitch.”

8.34am BST

So let’s talk Scotland for a moment. Euros fever has certainly gripped the Scottish people but Steve Clarke has some big decisions to make today. The manager has settled on a formation hat allows Kieran Tierney and the captain, Andy Robertson, to wreak havoc down the left-hand side, but who will join the Arsenal man in the three-man defence. Will Scott McTominay prowl midfield or roam from the back? Will Che Adams play up from alone? And will Billy Gilmour be unleashed three days after turning 20? Who would you pick, Scotland fans? Here’s Ewan Murray’s preview …

8.16am BST

In case you hadn’t realised Max, Barry and the team are working overtime to produce a daily edition of our award winning Football Weekly podcast. Marcelo Bielsa’s genius, Marco Arnautovic’s fury and cocaine hippos are among the topics in the latest edition. You can listen here …

8.08am BST

Greeting wherever you are, and welcome to the day four Euro 2020 blog. Scotland join the action today, in their first game at a major tournament for 23 years. They face the Czech Republic at 2pm BST, at what is sure to be a noisy Hampden Park.

At 5pm Slovakia take on Poland then at 8pm Covid-hindered Spain enter the fray against Sweden. We’ll have all the buildup to those games, reaction to rather differing victories for England and the Netherlands on Sunday, and of course all the latest on Christian Eriksen.