Denmark v Belgium Summary – June 17th, 2021
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Kevin De Bruyne inspired Belgium to an excellent 2-1 comeback victory over Denmark as Belgium sealed their place in the round of 16 of EURO 2020.
After missing the opening game due to the facial injury sustained in the Champions League final, De Bruyne was brought off the bench with his Belgium side 1-0 down at half-time. The star playmaker came on at the start of the second half, provided an assist for Thorgan Hazard’s equaliser before grabbing a fantastic winner.
That all came after Denmark made a sensational start to the game with Yussuf Poulsen scoring after just one minute and 39 seconds – the second fastest goal in EURO history. It was the dream start for the Danes who came out of the blocks with great intensity.
As the game began to settle with Denmark impressing early on, play stopped on the 10th minute as everybody in the stadium paused to pay tribute to Christian Eriksen with a round of applause at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen.
The home side were certainly fired up and they were the better side for a large part of the first half and that forced Roberto Martinez to act at the half-time break.
The arrival of De Bruyne on the pitch sparked the entire Belgian team and Romelu Lukaku was a growing influence on the game. It was the Inter striker whose outstanding play down the right saw him find De Bruyne just inside the box and rather than shooting, he played the ball across for Hazard to simply tap in to equalise.
At this stage, the Belgians were in control and they came up with the winner on 70 minutes through that man De Bruyne. Eden Hazard had come off the bench as he looks to build his sharpness and he laid the ball across to the oncoming De Bruyne who drove a low left-footed shot past Schmeichel.
The step up in class when De Bruyne came on the pitch was clear to see and while Roberto Martinez’s men have now qualified for the next round, the key will be to get De Bruyne and Eden Hazard up to full speed now.
They now face Finland next time out and they will be confident of winning a third match in a row while the Danes have to beat Russia to have any chance of qualifying.
