UEFA’s mishandling of Christian Eriksen match overshadows otherwise splendid Matchday 1 at Euro 2020 - Toronto Star

We were forced to wait an extra year for Euro 2020 and in the first five days we’ve seen maybe the most entertaining match of the tournament — the Netherlands 3-2 thriller against Ukraine on Sunday — and one of the greatest goals ever scored at the European championships in Patrik Schick’s stunning strike from the halfway line against Scotland.

And all I can think about after Matchday 1 of the group stage is Christian Eriksen.

Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the entire world to a stop, and for half an hour in Copenhagen on Saturday, confusion, horror and fear swept over the soccer world.

Whether they knew him personally or played against him, or like you and I, just watched him shine for Tottenham in the Premier League and most recently with Scudetto winners Inter Milan, there wasn’t a former player on a television broadcast anywhere in the world that would have wanted to restart that match if they were playing for Denmark or Finland.

Any goodwill UEFA had won from the anti-Super League wave that swept over the soccer world this spring has been erased by their negligible handling of that fixture. The decision to finish the match should never have been left to the Danish and Finnish players.

The welfare of the people involved has to come before the product. It’s not like Euro 2020 is being played in one location as in years past. Venues were not an issue, and there are COVID-19 protocols in place to allow for the rescheduling of matches if need be. How was there no one in a position of power sensitive and aware enough to think a player having a heart attack on the pitch should trigger the already instituted scheduling safety net?

Before UEFA had formally announced the players in Copenhagen had requested to retake the pitch, Belgium’s official Twitter account had posted Roberto Martinez’s starting XI as if their scheduled kickoff time in Saint Petersburg was never in doubt. The show going on felt uncomfortable and irresponsible, even before Denmark lost.

And then Eriksen’s Inter Milan teammate Romelu Lukaku scored a brace, powering the top ranked Belgians to a 3-0, critic-silencing win over Russia. The next morning Wembley played host to England’s minimally vindicating win over a Croatia side that ended their World Cup dreams in the semifinals three years ago. And Goran Pandev made history for a nation he is older than. And those beautiful Dutch Oranje shirts returned to a major tournament for the first time since Scarborough-born Jonathan de Guzman played for his adopted Netherlands at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The show did go on.

And UEFA resentment aside, it has been a must-watch show, one that started in Rome with Andrea Bocelli serenading the Stadio Olimpico and a remote control SUV that got even more commercial time than a regular-sized SUV. I’m not even sick of the Martin Garrix official anthem yet. And if I were a betting man, I’d wager that you aren’t either. Yet.

All that firepower on the pitch in the most anticipated game of Matchday 1, and France vs. Germany was decided by an own goal off one of Joachim Löw’s oldest and previously most trusted defenders. UEFA pumped out a YouTube video this week featuring Kylian Mbappé speaking with an astronaut on the European space station. The PSG star’s speed is out of this world, but you already knew that. What we may never know is what is really going on inside that French change room, and how long before whatever beef there is between Didier Deschamps’s young superstar and grumpy veterans, trickles out on to the pitch. Because, you know it’s going to. This is France we’re talking about.

Croatia’s Luka Modric said it was unfair that so many competing nations had the advantage of playing at home. Well Russia lost, Denmark lost, but as stated, there should be an asterisk next to that result. Scotland lost. Spain’s draw against Sweden felt like a loss for La Roja. Germany lost in Munich, and not even 61,000 in Budapest could stop Cristiano Ronaldo from taking over the match.

If Lukaku’s 24-goal season at Serie A-winning Inter Milan wasn’t enough to make you question how on earth multiple English clubs could discard him, his goal-scoring exploits this month will.

As Kristian Jack said on my new Toronto Star show “Headers and Footers” this week, there isn’t another country in the game that would ask a match-winning goal scorer if he felt he had “justified his place in the squad.” But those are the types of questions routinely tossed at England’s Raheem Sterling. It doesn’t matter who Gareth Southgate puts on the pitch, he’ll be questioned about the ones he’s left on the bench. And if Jack Grealish doesn’t get off that England bench, I’ll be one of the England manager’s loudest critics.

Frank de Boer may never win over Dutch supporters. Even his twin brother Ronald said that Johan Cruyff would be turning in his grave watching Frank’s team play an extremely un-Dutch 3-5-2 formation. But with Georginio Wijnaldum, Memphis Depay and modern day giant Wout Weghorst, de Boer has a side that can score their way out of bad situations.

Turkey conceded as many goals against Italy as in their 10 qualifying matches to get to Euro 2020. Italy quickly put the embarrassment of failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in the rearview mirror, teasing supporters and neutrals alike with a more entertaining style than the successful Azzurri squads of the past.

Luis Enrique will have to decide which No. 9 he can rely upon up top so that Spain actually have something to show for keeping 99% possession. It seems like Europa League winner Gerard Moreno is the smart choice over journeyman Álvaro Morata.

Welsh star Gareth Bale was overshadowed by Kieffer Moore, named after actor Kiefer Sutherland, and whose Jamie Vardy-like rise through the non-league ranks alone should endear him to Canadians. Five years ago the now 28-year-old was making $120-a-week playing in the 14th tier of the English soccer pyramid. Now he’s scoring point-earning goals at The Euros.

A note for all young goalkeepers: Czech yourself, before you wreck yourself. Patrik Schick ruined Scotland’s return to the big stage with a goal that will be replayed over and over, for decades.

Austria’s Marko Arnautovic is being investigated by a UEFA appointed ethics and disciplinary inspector for his vulgar tirade after scoring against North Macedonia. While the major tournament debutants proved they’re more than capable of holding their own at this level.

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Robert Lewandowski has won everything at club level, but his chances of finding success on the international stage may be over, as Poland look like a shadow of the side that lost to Portugal on penalties in the quarterfinals at Euro 2016.

On Wednesday we’ll see if Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri can continue their goal scoring ways, or if that three-goal performance was more of a reflection of Turkey’s defensive collapse.

And later on “Headers and Footers” I’ll recap Day 6 at Euro 2020 with Luis Miguel Echegaray, the host of the Que Golaso podcast and one of CBS Sports’ most entertaining soccer voices. Watch “Headers and Footers” every match night on YouTube, or subscribe and listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Toronto Star contributor Brendan Dunlop is host of “Headers and Footers,” the nightly UEFA Euro 2020 recap show. Follow him on Twitter: @brendan_dunlop

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UEFA’s mishandling of Christian Eriksen match overshadows otherwise splendid Matchday 1 at Euro 2020 - Toronto Star
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