Belgium beats Russia in St. Petersburg. Striker Romelu Lukaku sends a message to team-mate Christian Eriksen after his first goal.
–
On a memorable football day, Belgium underpinned its co-favorite role in the European Championship and stopped the Russian party on the national holiday. Just a few hours after the dramatic collapse of Denmark’s Christian Eriksen, the Belgians defeated the co-hosts 3-0 (2-0) on Saturday evening and demonstrated their great class in front of 26,264 spectators in St. Petersburg.
Record goalscorer Romelu Lukaku and substitute Thomas Meunier from Dortmund ensured clear conditions and gave the Belgians a smooth start to the tournament. Due to injury, they had to do without star player Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) and Dortmund’s Axel Witsel.
Drama from Copenhagen has little impact
The rituals and ceremonies before the game, loud music from the boxes, booing the opponent when walking in and kneeling before kick-off: If you hadn’t heard the news from the group’s second game, Belgium and Russia would have had little or nothing on them shocking scene indicated earlier. “The players found out about this when they got on the bus that went to the stadium. The information spread quickly. But when we got into the arena, there was news that the Dane was coming to, ”said the press service of the Russian Sbornaya. “Now the players are focused exclusively on the upcoming match.”
[Wenn Sie aktuelle Nachrichten zur Fußball-EM auf Ihr Handy haben wollen, empfehlen wir Ihnen unsere App, die Sie hier für Apple- und Android-Geräte herunterladen können.]
It started right on time – even though they were still playing in Copenhagen. Russia started aggressive and determined, upsetting the Belgians early on. With loud “Rossija” shouts, the fans lashed at the team in the well-filled arena. But it got quiet quickly. The reason for this was once again the exception Lukaku. The 28-year-old punished a bitter mistake by defender Andrei Semjonow and shot with his left to take the lead. Then he shouted “I love you, Chris” into a TV camera and said hello to Eriksen, his club colleague at Inter Milan.
