Kevin de Bruyne scored the winner on Thursday as Belgium beat Denmark 2-1 to reach the knockout stage of Euro 2020 in Copenhagen, where fans and players showed their support for Christian Eriksen, while the Netherlands also booked a round-of-16 spot.
De Bruyne claimed a goal and an assist with an excellent second-half display as a substitute as Roberto Martinez’s Belgium denied Denmark a crucial point in Group B.
“We can be happy,” De Bruyne told RTBF. “We knew that there would be difficult moments against Denmark and in front of this crowd, with everything that happened.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Five days after Eriksen required emergency medical treatment to revive him in Denmark’s opening loss to Finland, his team were back in action at the same venue.
With the Inter midfielder potentially within earshot, recovering at Rigshospitalet less than a kilometer away, Denmark took a second-minute lead to send the 25,000 fans wild as Yussuf Poulsen fired into the bottom corner.
It was the second-quickest goal in European Championship history.
Belgium kicked the ball out of play after 10 minutes as the players and supporters held a minute’s applause for Eriksen, who usually wears the No. 10 shirt.
The 29-year-old is to be fitted with a defibrillator after suffering a cardiac arrest.
The hosts had chances to double their lead, but the game was changed by the halftime introduction of De Bruyne for his first appearance of the tournament after suffering facial fractures in Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League final loss to Chelsea.
The midfielder showed great composure to tee up Thorgan Hazard to tap in a 55th-minute equalizer, before running onto fellow substitute Eden Hazard’s clever pass and hammering a left-footed strike past Denmark goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel with 20 minutes remaining.
“I didn’t want to celebrate that goal. I have too much respect for the Danish fans,” De Bruyne said.
Belgium join Italy in the round-of-16, sitting three points clear of Russia and Finland — who they face in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Monday needing a point to finish top of the Group B table.
Denmark still have a chance of reaching the next round, as a win over Russia in their final group game in Copenhagen could potentially see them through.
Frank de Boer’s Netherlands marked their return to a major tournament after a seven-year absence by reaching the round-of-16 with a game to spare after a 2-0 win over Austria in Amsterdam.
Denzel Dumfries, who scored the winner in a dramatic 3-2 victory over Ukraine on Sunday, won a penalty for a foul by Austria captain David Alaba which was scored by Memphis Depay in the 11th minute.
PSV Eindhoven’s Dumfries slotted home to finish off a brilliant attack led by Depay and Donyell Malen with 23 minutes to play.
“The most important thing isn’t my performance, it’s the three points,” Dumfries said.
“We created good chances and deserved the victory,” he said.
Ukraine edged North Macedonia in the group’s other game with a 2-1 victory in Bucharest, as Andriy Yarmolenko and Roman Yaremchuk both scored their second goals of the tournament.
Ezgjan Alioski pulled one back for North Macedonia, but they failed to find an equalizer.
The Netherlands’ win seals top spot in Group C ahead of Austria and Ukraine, who meet on Monday with second place up for grabs.
North Macedonia were the first side to be eliminated from the tournament.
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