Ukraine’s disaster during Euro 2024. A nightmare scenario has become a fact
The famous Andriy Shevchenko spoke about the best Ukrainian team in history. The Ukrainians failed to show this at Euro 2024, being eliminated after the group stage.
It must be admitted that this is one of the biggest surprises during the ongoing European Championships in Germany. Looking at the composition of Group E, it seemed that Belgium and Ukraine would decide who would be the winner in the quartet, which was complemented by Romania and Slovakia.
Euro 2024: Ukraine out of the tournament, a sensation in Group E
The Belgians and Ukrainians actually met, but in the third round, fighting for promotion and avoiding the embarrassment of taking fourth place in the group table. In the previously mentioned quartet, the situation after two series of games was extremely interesting. Each team had three points and it was difficult to predict what would happen at the end of Group E.
The Ukrainians had to beat the Belgians, which would give them the comfort of not looking back and advance to the 1/8 finals of Euro 2024. In the extremely dramatic circumstances that Poland’s eastern neighbor has to deal with – the war started in February 2022 by Vladimir Putin’s Russian troops – the footballers play for more than just a sporting result in every match. This is visible not only on the pitch, but also in the stands.
It cannot be ruled out that such a heavy burden of responsibility has hampered the team led by coach Serhiy Rebrov. It is difficult to explain the 0:3 defeat in the first round against Romania. And this, even with the subsequent 2-1 win over Slovakia, turned out to be crucial in the final, sad outcome for Ukraine.
Even with stars like Premier League attacking defender Oleksandr Zinchenko and Spanish-playing striker Artem Dovbyk, Ukraine failed to climb out of fourth and last place in Group E. First place went to Romania, second to Belgium and third to Slovakia. Each team finished with exactly four points, after Wednesday’s draws between the Ukrainians and the Belgians (0-0) and the Romanians and the Slovaks (1-1).
The Polish national team said goodbye to Euro 2024 with honor
The fate of the Ukrainians was also shared by the Poles in Germany. The team led by coach Michał Probierz was eliminated from Euro 2024, taking last place in Group D. The Poles lost 1:2 to the Netherlands in the opening match, then 1:3 in the “match for everything” to Austria, and it became clear that the White and Reds would not be able to jump into the place rewarded with a chance to play in the knockout phase.
As a consolation, the Poles caused quite a surprise, drawing 1:1 with the vice-world champions, the French. The three-coloured team took the lead after a goal from a penalty kick by Kylian Mbappe. However, it turned out that the Polish team managed to make up for the loss, also after a penalty, which Robert Lewandowski converted. Łukasz Skorupski was chosen MVP of the match. The goalkeeper, who replaced Wojciech Szczęsny between the posts, presented himself excellently during the match in Dortmund.
