Wales trip, hat-tricks of Gnabry and Veynaldum and the first victory of Latvia: a review of the final matches of the selection of Euro 2020

Wales success

At the time of the final round, the fate of the last of the 20 tickets to the 2020 European Championships played out during the qualification tournament was not decided. In quintet E, three teams fought for the second line. Hungary was one and two points ahead of Wales and Slovakia, respectively, and met with its main pursuers. At the same time, wards of Pavel Gapal received Azerbaijanis at home.

For the first time in the current selection, Bales and Ramsey appeared in the Wales team from the first minutes. As it turned out later, it was these athletes who became the main creators of the success of the team and brought him a ticket to the championship of the continent. Already in the 15th minute Aaron closed the transfer in the performance of Gareth and opened an account. However, the Juventus midfielder did not stop there and doubled the advantage of the “dragons” in the debut of the second half. Ramsey designed the first double in the form of a national team and helped her qualify for the third major international championship in his history. Earlier, the Welshmen played at the 1958 World Cup and Euro 2016.

It is worth noting that with the draw for the final stage of the Old World Championship, the Wales team will be in the fourth basket. Thus, the wards of Ryan Giggs are one of the possible rivals of the Russian athletes in group B. It is enough to recall that they had already met each other in 2016 and then the athletes from Foggy Albion took the lead 3-0.

In a parallel match, Slovakia dealt with Azerbaijan, but that success did not solve anything. The main character was Marek Gamshik. First, the Dalian Ifan midfielder helped Robert Bozhenik excel, and then did it himself. For the squad of Nikola Yurchevich, this defeat was the seventh in the qualification.

Major victories in Germany and the Netherlands

In Quartet C, the fight for the first line continued until the last round. Germany was two points ahead of the Netherlands, which left Ronald Kuman's wards a chance at the first line. It is worth noting that the triumph of the “orange” could seriously change the status of qualifications, because the Bundestim risked losing their place in the first basket.

A similar prospect became quite real in the seventh minute, when Michael Smith overshadowed the debut of Mark-Andre ter Stegen in the current qualifying round. But the Germans did not begin to grieve for a long time and even before the break were in the role of leaders, and then completely brought the matter to defeat.

Leon Goretzka scored a double, and Serge Gnabry burst into a hat-trick. Thus, the Bayern midfielder scored 13 goals in 13 matches for the Bundesmanschaft and repeated the achievement of the legendary Gerd Müller 50 years ago. In the first compensated minute, Julian Brandt completed the capitulation of Northern Ireland and guaranteed the “eagles” a place in the first basket for the draw.

In turn, the Netherlands team great showered in the confrontation with Estonia, sending five unanswered goals into the net. At the same time, a pronounced leader was also found in their composition. Giorgino Veynaldum not only upset Sergey Lepmets three times, but also did it in his first match in the status of captain. And this taking into account the fact that the midfielder rarely pleases with such feats. Four years and 32 days have passed since his last hat-trick in the Premier League game between Newcastle and Norwich.

It is worth noting that in the episode with the first goal scoring, Spartak ex-midfielder Quincy Promes acted as an assistant, and in the other two - Calvin Stengs, 20. The rout was completed by Nathan Ake and Myron Boadu, who became the youngest goal-scorer in the Orange team over the past 14 years. At the time of the game, the age of the AZ striker was 18 years 309 days.

Six Goals of Belgium

The Red Devils won their tenth consecutive victory and triumphantly completed the 2020 European Championship qualifier. Roberto Martinez wards scored 30 points and became the second team that did not lose a single point during the qualifying campaign. Only footballers of the Italian team can boast the same success.

Like the Germans, the Belgians were the first to miss, but then they left no chance to the opponents. Kevin De Bruyne and Christian Benteke scored a double, and another accurate hit appears in the asset of Yannick Carrasco. Not without the help of the Cypriots. So, in the episode with the first goal of the Manchester City midfielder, goalkeeper Neophytos Michael made a terrible mistake, and then Kipros Christophor sent the ball into his own goal.

Thriller in Warsaw and sensation in Riga

In quintet G, a change of leader was also possible. For the tour to the end, the Poles took first place in the group, but were three points ahead of the Austrians. At the same time, the difference between the goals scored and the goals conceded was not so obvious, as a result of which Franco Fody's wards had a chance to break into the lead. To do this, they needed to defeat the Latvians and put on the victory of the Slovenes.

But the Austrian team itself crossed out hopes for the first line. In a duel with the main outsider of the group, they suffered a disappointing defeat with a minimum score. The author of the only goal was Marcis Oshs, and for the guests this meeting was remembered by a huge number of missed moments. So, in 90 minutes they delivered 21 shots on goal, but only three of them hit the target.

For Latvia, this success was the first in the current qualification tournament. In the first seven matches, the team of Slavishi Stoyanovich suffered seven defeats in a row with a total goal difference of 2:28.

It is all the more offensive that the Slovenes, until the last, resisted the Poles. In the course of the meeting, Matyazha Kek's wards twice turned out to be catching up, but both times were able to restore the status quo. Tim Matavzh and Josip Ilychich answered the exact hits of the Dynamo midfielder Sebastian Szymanski and Robert Lewandowski.

The key was the last ten minutes of regular time. First, Jacek Goralski led the Polish national team ahead, and five minutes later, Slovakia remained in the minority. The second yellow card was received by Yasmin Kurtich and practically deprived the team of the opportunity to recoup.