Paris:
On Wednesday, UEFA witnessed tee battles which ended up in France beating
Albania 2-0, Slovakia beating Russia 2-1 and a draw between Romania and
Switzerland 1-1.
Late goals from Antoine Griezmann and
Dimitri Payet helped France become the first team to advance to the knockout
stage of the European Championship on Wednesday with a 2-0 win over
Albania. For the second consecutive match, late pressure rescued a patchy
France side that is struggling to live up to its pre-tournament billing as one
of the favourites.
On the other side, Russia couldn’t find a
way back this time, leaving the team in danger of early elimination from the
European Championship after a 2-1 loss to Slovakia earlier on
Wednesday. The Russians pulled one back in the 80th minute through Denis
Glushakov’s header, but the loss left them with only one point from two matches
in Group B.
Switzerland closed in on a spot in the next
round of the European Championship with a 1-1 draw against Romania on
Wednesday. Romania has only one point from two matches, but should be favoured to
beat Albania in its last match. Switzerland has never advanced from its
group at a European tournament, and missed a good opportunity to hit coach
Vladimir Petkovic’s target of two straight wins to clinch advancement with a
game to spare. The new 24-team format means the third-place teams in the six
groups have a good chance to reach the round of 16.
A total of 24 teams are battling it out to
win the coveted Euro Cup this year.
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