Italy dealt Belgium's golden generation a blow in their battle to be crowned EURO 2016 Champions. In the clash between two of the tournament’s favourites, the Azzurri, who had the oldest starting XI in European Championship history, beat Marc Wilmots' highly-rated side 2-0 (1-0). Bologna's Emanuele Giaccherini opened the scoring in the 32nd minute before Graziano Pellè grabbed a second in added time to wrap up the game (90+3').
Belgium hadn't lost any of their three previous EURO openers, while Italy hadn’t recorded a single victory in their last three. 38-year-old Gianlugi Buffon put in a tremendous performance in his 14th game at a European Championship finals - an Italian record. The shot-stopper was in fine form to deny Radja Nainggolan with just ten minutes played. Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku was also guilty of wasting a golden opportunity to equalise in the 53rd minute after a fine pass by Kevin De Bruyne.
After fellow Group E teams Ireland and Sweden played out a 1-1 draw, Italy top the table and can have real hope of making the knockout stage.
Sweden and Ireland draw 1-1
As Swedish hopes faded, national superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic's moment of quality prevented his side from falling to defeat in the opening game. The Sweden captain charged down the left to the byline and drilled in a low cross, which Ciaran Clark turned into his own net (71'). Wes Hoolahan (48') had given Ireland team the lead.
Ireland came flying out the traps and were brave in attack. After ten minutes, Andreas Isaksson was called into action to parry Jeff Hendrick's strike. The Derby County player later saw another effort clatter the crossbar (32'). Emil Forsberg from newly-promoted Bundesliga side RB Leipzig wasted a clear-cut opportunity for Sweden in the 50th minute.
Sweden and Ireland now face Italy and Belgium in a challenging battle to face the dreaded exit from Group E.
Piqué saves title defenders Spain
Reigning champions Spain kicked off their EURO 2016 campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 (0-0) victory over the Czech Republic. Defender Gerard Piqué scored the only goal of the game in the 87th minute.
Spain dominated and upstaged their opponents but were regularly thwarted by Czech Republic players making crucial blocks and an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Petr Cech. The Czech Republic also rode their luck from time to time with Roman Hubnik's attempted clearance inadvertently rattling off the post of his own goal (46'). Pavel Vrba's side did carve out their own opportunities though - De Gea made a fantastic save to deny Hubnik (57') before Cesc Fabregas cleared a header from Bremen's Theo Gebre Selassie off the line (65’). The Spaniards regained their grip on the game though when Bayern star Thiago was substituted on (70’).
The result means that Spain are tied with Croatia, who ran out 1-0 winners against Turkey on Sunday, at the top of Group D.
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Italy dealt Belgium's golden generation a blow in their battle to be crowned EURO 2016 Champions. In the clash between two of the tournament’s favourites, the Azzurri, who had the oldest starting XI in European Championship history, beat Marc Wilmots' highly-rated side 2-0 (1-0). Bologna's Emanuele Giaccherini opened the scoring in the 32nd minute before Graziano Pellè grabbed a second in added time to wrap up the game (90+3').
Belgium hadn't lost any of their three previous EURO openers, while Italy hadn’t recorded a single victory in their last three. 38-year-old Gianlugi Buffon put in a tremendous performance in his 14th game at a European Championship finals - an Italian record. The shot-stopper was in fine form to deny Radja Nainggolan with just ten minutes played. Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku was also guilty of wasting a golden opportunity to equalise in the 53rd minute after a fine pass by Kevin De Bruyne.
After fellow Group E teams Ireland and Sweden played out a 1-1 draw, Italy top the table and can have real hope of making the knockout stage.
Sweden and Ireland draw 1-1
As Swedish hopes faded, national superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic's moment of quality prevented his side from falling to defeat in the opening game. The Sweden captain charged down the left to the byline and drilled in a low cross, which Ciaran Clark turned into his own net (71'). Wes Hoolahan (48') had given Ireland team the lead.
Ireland came flying out the traps and were brave in attack. After ten minutes, Andreas Isaksson was called into action to parry Jeff Hendrick's strike. The Derby County player later saw another effort clatter the crossbar (32'). Emil Forsberg from newly-promoted Bundesliga side RB Leipzig wasted a clear-cut opportunity for Sweden in the 50th minute.
Sweden and Ireland now face Italy and Belgium in a challenging battle to face the dreaded exit from Group E.
Piqué saves title defenders Spain
Reigning champions Spain kicked off their EURO 2016 campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 (0-0) victory over the Czech Republic. Defender Gerard Piqué scored the only goal of the game in the 87th minute.
Spain dominated and upstaged their opponents but were regularly thwarted by Czech Republic players making crucial blocks and an outstanding performance from goalkeeper Petr Cech. The Czech Republic also rode their luck from time to time with Roman Hubnik's attempted clearance inadvertently rattling off the post of his own goal (46'). Pavel Vrba's side did carve out their own opportunities though - De Gea made a fantastic save to deny Hubnik (57') before Cesc Fabregas cleared a header from Bremen's Theo Gebre Selassie off the line (65’). The Spaniards regained their grip on the game though when Bayern star Thiago was substituted on (70’).
The result means that Spain are tied with Croatia, who ran out 1-0 winners against Turkey on Sunday, at the top of Group D.
