UEFA Euro: Germany-Poland play out draw; Northern Ireland eliminate Ukraine
Thanks to Germany and Poland playing out a relatively tame 0-0 draw, Ukraine, who suffered a surprising loss to Northern Ireland, were officially eliminated from the tournament, with one game still left to play.
The highlight of the days play came when Daniel Sturridge struck a stoppage-time winner for England as they managed to defeat Wales 2-1 in their Group B match.
Gareth Bale had opened the scoring with a nicely taken 35-yard free kick. Joe Hart had gotten both hands to the shot, but didn't manage to keep it out. Sturridge and Jamie Vardy came on as half-time subsitutions and they proved crucial. Vardy cancelled out Bale's free-kick and Sturridge with the winner. Roy Hodgson, Englad manager, was escatic after the victory. This comes after England had played out a 1-1 draw with Russia. England now top Group B.
Germany and Poland played out a 0-0 draw. Germany had dominated possesion in the first half but neither them nor Poland managed a single shot on target. The stalemate left both teams level on four points at top of Group C. Germany comes out a head as they have a superior goal difference.
Northern Ireland, unexpectedly, defeated Ukraine 2-0. This meant that the Eastern European nation was the first team to be officially eliminated from the European Championships.
Northern Ireland were leading 1-0 when a torrential hailstorm passed over Lyon. Czech ref Pavel Kralovec halted the game for just over two minutes in the 58th minute of the match. Northern Ireland were worried that this would derail their momentum, but instead, they scored a second to seal the game. This was Northern Ireland's first win in a summer tournament since they famously defeated Spain in 1982. Northern Ireland next face world champions Germany on Tuesday, 21 June.
The next fixtures are:
- Italy vs Sweden (17 June, 6:30 PM IST)
- Czech Republic vs Croatia (17 June, 9:30 PM)
- Spain vs Turkey (18 June, 12:30 AM)
