Belgium Victorious As Foxes Meet Again At EURO 2020
- Belgium made it two wins from two at the 2020 UEFA European Championship
- Youri Tielemans played the full game as the Red Devils qualified for the knockouts
- Denmark No.1 Kasper Schmeichel also featured for 90 minutes
- Dennis Praet was an unused substitute for Belgium
After Danny Ward and Çağlar Söyüncü went head-to-head in an entertaining game on Wednesday evening, ending in a 2-0 win for Ward’s Wales, two more Foxes faced each other at EURO 2020 in the second round of group stage fixtures.
This time it was Tielemans’ Belgium who picked up three points, coming from behind to beat a spirited Danish side and seal their place in the Round of 16.
Belgium were without Leicester City full-back Timothy Castagne on Thursday evening, who is set to miss the rest of the tournament with a fractured eye socket picked up in their opening win against Russia.
Schmeichel earned up his 67th senior cap for De rød-hvide, while Tielemans notched up his 41st senior international appearance at only 24.
The game got off to a thrilling start as Denmark took a surprise lead with less than two minutes played. RB Leipzig striker Yussuf Poulsen seized on a wayward pass and coolly slotted past Thibaut Courtois to send the home fans into raptures.
Parken Stadium applauded in unison shortly after the goal though, as Belgium put the ball out of play in a mark of respect to Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen.
Belgium, the no.1 ranked team in the world, were equally matched by their hosts for almost an hour, but their quality showed as they scored two brilliant goals to flip the game on its head.
Ten minutes after the interval, Thorgan Hazard finished off a superb move, with Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne the architects, to equalise before De Bruyne turned from assister to scorer on 71 minutes.
Lukaku was involved again, with Tielemans also a part of a stunning period of passing, and De Bruyne finished emphatically past Schmeichel for 2-1. Denmark were unlucky, hitting the bar late on through Martin Braithwaite among a flurry of chances.
But Belgium held on to become the first side in this year’s tournament to come from behind to win a game and join Italy in the first knockout round.
They now travel back to Saint Petersburg for their final group game against Finland, while Denmark stay in Copenhagen to take on Russia, knowing only a win will give them any chance of qualifying for the knockout rounds.