Soccer is not to be an example of anything. It is simply a mirror that returns the image of our society. Neither grooming nor deforming it. It shows it as it is. On this first Saturday of the Eurocup, the visual, dialectical and executor voracity of the entertainment industry -which is so gladly consumed- again prevailed over ethics and humanity. The matches were completed normally after
Eriksen's
demise and subsequent stabilization
in Copenhagen. In St. Petersburg, minutes after the national anthems were honored, with some of the players still in
shock
Because of what happened hours before, the Russian footballers were left looking impassively as the Belgians knelt.
Some countries repudiate this staging against racism.
Stadium fans even whistled.
But, we said, football gives back the image of society.
That's why no one will forget
Romelu Lukaku's
career
after scoring his first goal of the tournament and yelling, "Chris, I love you."
That was not just a tribute from Lukaku to Eriksen, his teammate at Inter.
It was the evidence that the insensitivity of the business much less can with everything.
[Narration and statistics]
Neither with the purity of the sport, also capable of causing respect and admiration. And the Belgian team that
Roberto Martínez
has turned into one of the best on the planet
is admirable
. Against Russia, in his debut in a European Championship in which he starts as one of the great favorites for the title, he showed that his good fortune does not depend on the appearances of his stars -
De Bruyne
and
Witsel
were out of the game due to injury, while Eden Hazard played 20 minutes. His football is choral and sparkling, bureaucratic when he plays, but aggressive in the definitive areas of the field. And there Lukaku is gold.
The formidable Belgian striker, who comes from dragging Inter to the
Scudetto
, hit the net without blinking the first chance he had.
Although for this he had to wait for the referee team, led by the Spanish
Mateu Lahoz
, to interpret that the grotesque clearance of the central
Semenov
should be a reason to invalidate his clear offside position after a
Mertens
center
.
It remains to be seen to what extent the Russian defender, knowing that he had Lukaku behind him, was conditioned before touching the ball.
VAR issues insist on misleading anyone.
Bewilderment
Being so early behind on the scoreboard brought
Stanislav Cherchesov's
Russia
closer
to confusion. And to squirm in the memory that Belgium had already taken her twice ahead in the Eurocup qualifying round, including a 1-4 on the same Krestovski island of Saint Petersburg in November 2019. Cherchesov was useless. experiment with a defense of four, when his best results were always achieved with three centrals. His rear was a flan. And nothing good was happening a few meters away either. The only Russian plan was to hit its captain, the
Dzyuba
tower
, who could offer nothing more than to lift balls from the sky.
So after a serious warning from
Dendoncker
, reliable partner of the neat
Tielemans
in the Belgian engine room, it was
Thorgan Hazard
who showed the way to the second goal. Goalkeeper
Shunin
rejected as best he could, unable to prevent Meunier from
scoring
2-0. The winger had taken the field half an hour after a tremendous blow between
Castagne
and
Kuzyaev knocked them
out. Cherishev, recruited, could not emulate that triumphant debut of the 2018 World Cup. His coach, in fact, sent him back to the bench in the second half.
Cherchesov, after also losing veteran
Zhirkov
due to injury - Roberto Martínez ran into
Vertonghen's
injury
that led to the exotic entry of
Vermaelen
-, tried to replace his team by returning to the line of four.
The skilled
Golovin
came into play a little more.
But Belgium, even if
Carrasco
wanted something more going on, with
Courtois
as a simple spectator, he already knew what he had to do: dominate the space.
And also a time that he insists on making his own.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
Russia National Soccer Team
Belgium National Soccer Team
Eden Hazard
Euro 2020
EurocupA tournament uncontrolled by the anarchy of vaccines
Euro 2021 - Euro 2020The two years in the hell of the 'devil' Eden Hazard
The list of Luis Enrique for the European Championship: Sergio Ramos is not summoned with Spain
See links of interest
2021 business calendar
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