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Ukraine's winning goal scorer Mychajlo Mudryk (M.)
Photo:
Rafal Oleksiewicz/Getty Images
The field of participants for the European Championships in Germany is complete. The last three participants were determined in the playoff finals of the Nations League, with Poland and Georgia dramatically prevailing on penalties, while Ukraine secured third place with a win against Iceland.
Mission accomplished: The Ukrainian national team has brought the hoped-for ray of hope to their war-torn country. National coach Serhij Rebrow's team won 2-1 (0-1) in their playoff final against Iceland.
Albert Gudmundsson gave Iceland the lead (30th) at the Miejski Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland, where the game took place because of the Russian war of aggression. But Ukraine, which was superior for long stretches, showed morale in front of 40,000 spectators. Viktor Zygankow (54th) equalized, Chelsea star Mychajlo Mudryk scored the celebrated winning goal (84th).
Ukraine will start their fourth European Championship participation on June 17th against Romania in Munich. There will also be games against Belgium and Slovakia in Group E. Iceland, on the other hand, missed its third major tournament.
Rebrow had already emphasized the great importance before the game: "I hope that our team can convey something positive to the people in Ukraine." The mission is "to show that we are still alive, that we are still fighting against the Russians, that we still need support from Europe."
Ukraine beat Bosnia-Herzegovina 2-1 in the semi-finals. Iceland beat Israel 4-1.
Robert Lewandowksi is at the European Championships in Germany. The FC Barcelona striker won 5-4 on penalties with the Polish national team in Wales, with Lewandowski converting the first penalty. The other goals were scored by Sebastian Szymański, Przemyslaw Frankowski, Nicola Zalewski and the former Hertha player Krzysztof Piątek. Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny became the Polish hero when he parried Daniel James' shot.
There were no goals scored in regular time or extra time. In a hard-fought game, both teams struggled on offense and there were only a few top-class scoring opportunities.
The Poles will have to improve significantly at the European Championships to have a chance of reaching the round of 16. In Group D, coach Michał Probierz's team will face runner-up world champions France, the Netherlands and Austria. It starts on June 16th in Hamburg against Elftal, who lost 2-1 to the German national team that evening.
Willy Sagnol fulfilled his dream of the European Championship in Germany with the Georgian national team after a penalty drama. The Georgians beat Greece 4-2 on penalties in the third playoff final and secured their first ever participation in a major tournament. After 120 minutes the score was 0-0. Sagnol has been a coach in Georgia for three years, and this is the greatest success so far for the former FC Bayern crowd favorite.
Nika Kvekveskiri caused great emotions among 50,000 frenetic fans at the Boris Paichadze Stadium in Tbilisi with his converted penalty, with the majority storming the pitch after the final whistle. Georgia will play its first European Championship game against Turkey in Dortmund on June 18th. In addition, Portugal and the Czech Republic are the preliminary round opponents in Group F. Greece, European champions in 2004, missed their fifth EURO.
The game was competitive, disjointed and hectic. At the half-time whistle there was even a wild scuffle in front of the players' benches. There were red cards, including for Georgia's substitute goalkeeper Giorgi Loria. Both teams shied away from taking risks. Only in extra time did things become more lively, including opportunities.
Sagnol had already announced before the game that he would resign as Georgia national coach after the European Championships. In the semi-finals, Georgia beat Luxembourg 2-0 thanks to two goals from Budu Zivzivadze from second division Karlsruher SC. Greece clearly defeated Kazakhstan (5-0).
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