Belgium and its main striker, Romelu Lukaku, need to improve their aim to guarantee qualification and first place in the balanced Group E of the European Championship, in a duel against Ukraine this Wednesday, in Stuttgart.
It is the first time in the history of the tournament that four teams from the same group are tied on points before the final round.
For Belgium, the objective is to guarantee the leadership of the group and avoid a crossing in the round of 16 with France or the Netherlands.
The Belgian team arrives with chances despite the debut defeat to Slovakia (1-0) and the wasted opportunities in the victory over Romania (2-0). Ahead, there will be a Ukraine determined to give everything to represent its people, in full conflict with Russia.
The all-decisive one. 🔜 #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/e0mKNQQz6k
— Belgian Red Devils (@BelRedDevils) June 23, 2024
Take advantage of the chances
Coach Domenico Tedesco is convinced that he has a team at his disposal with “enormous potential” and with the possibility of going far beyond the group stage.
The success or failure of his players will largely depend on the efficiency of Romelu Lukaku, who, since the start of the tournament, has had three goals disallowed for offside following VAR intervention.
“I think the most important thing is to create chances. That’s what we did during these last two games… If we take advantage of the chances, there will be no problem,” said striker Jéremy Doku in an interview this Tuesday.
Despite the missed opportunities, Lukaku received support from his teammates, who believe that Belgium’s all-time top scorer (85 goals in 117 games) will soon score again.
“He wasn’t very lucky, but he’s happy with the victory in the last game. As a striker, he always wants to score, but he’s happy with the impact he has on our team and the chances he created,” added Doku.
Ukrainian “Fairy Tale”
Ukraine, which is participating in its first major tournament since Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022, wants to bring a bit of “normality” to the lives of its citizens.
“If we qualify, we will fulfill our main mission,” experienced Sergiy Sydorchuk said at a press conference.
“What does this mean for the country? It would be prolonging this fantastic fairy tale, after being at war for about 900 days… For Ukrainians, every game, every event of this kind means a lot. It means they can return to a normality, pre-war times”, explained Sydorchuk.
🔜🇺🇦⚔️🇧🇪 pic.twitter.com/kn7AMrHdct
— Ukrainian Association of Football (@uafukraine) June 24, 2024
The Ukrainians, who suffered a resounding 3-0 defeat in their debut against Romania, recovered by defeating Slovakia in the second round (2-1), a victory for which they were congratulated by President Volodimir Zelensky.
Since the Euros expanded to 24 participants, no team with four points has been left out of the round of 16, but Ukraine would be eliminated on goal difference if both Group E games ended in a draw.
Slovakia and Romania will face each other at the same time, in Frankfurt, knowing that a point would be worth qualifying for both.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
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