Cologne (AFP)
England clinched the top spot in Group C in the 2024 European Football Cup, held in Germany, with a goalless draw with Slovenia, which in turn qualified for the eighth-finals for the first time in its history by finishing among the top four teams in third place, behind runner-up Denmark, which in turn tied negatively with Serbia in the third round competitions. Last.
Denmark (3 points), who have not won a single match in the group stage, will play Group A leaders Germany on Saturday, while the identities of England (5) and Slovenia (3) will be known later.
In the first match in Cologne, England, the guarantor of its qualification to the 16th final, continued with Spain’s victory over Albania in the second group, reflecting a dull picture, since the beginning of the tournament by falling into a draw trap for the second time in a row after Denmark 1-1 and its victory over Serbia with a clean goal in the opening.
Despite the criticism that targeted the Three Lions coach, Gareth Southgate gave confidence to his players who played the first two matches, with one change, as he strengthened his midfield with player Connor Gallagher and put defender Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench.
On the other hand, Slovenia, under the supervision of Matiaj Kek, tied with Denmark and Serbia with the same score of 1-1, entered the match with the aim of not losing to maintain its hopes of qualifying, and this is what it was able to achieve.
England thought they had opened the scoring, after an effort from defender Kieran Trippier on the left side, to Phil Foden, who passed the ball on a golden platter inside the area to Bukayo Saka, who followed it into the empty goal, but the assistant referee raised the offside flag to the Manchester City player (20). .
England’s top scorer, Captain Harry Kane, almost gave his team the lead, but he arrived too late for Trippier’s cross on the left side (40).
The second half was no different from the first, as England seemed unable to score despite the changes adopted by Southgate, most notably the removal of Gallagher, Saka and Foden and the introduction of Kobe Maino, Cole Palmer and Anthony Gordon, who waited, until the second minute of stoppage time, to pass to Kane and in turn to Palmer, who shot. With his left foot, a ball was easily caught by goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
In the second match, Denmark was unable to achieve a new victory over Serbia during their confrontation in Munich, after having previously won the three confrontations between them since Serbia gained its last independence in 2006.
As for Serbia, it failed to win the eighth match in a row in major tournaments, since its victory over Costa Rica 1-0 in the 2018 World Cup, and bid farewell to the tournament under the watchful eye of tennis star Novak Djokovic.
The Danes waited until the 21st minute to create a threat through Christian Eriksen with a powerful shot that was blocked by goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic (21).
Rajkovic prevented a second scoring opportunity with a shot by Rasmus Hoylund from the edge of the area to the right of the goal, which he blocked brilliantly (32).
The unmarked Jonas Wind wasted a dangerous opportunity when he rushed to shoot wide over the goal (39).
The Serbian national team, led by striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, was unable to shoot a single shot on goal and only one outside it throughout the first half.
The Serbs thought they had opened the scoring through Joachim Andersen’s own goal, but the referee did not count it due to substitute Luka Jovic offside, who shot the ball first (53).
Mitrovic tried to score a goal with a shot from the left side, but his shot went wide of the goalkeeper’s left post (81).
Sergej Milinkovic-Savic almost snatched victory for Serbia with an easy shot from the outskirts of the area into the hands of goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, who blocked the Serbian’s only shot in the match (92).
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