Austria beat Ukraine, enter last-16

BUCHAREST, June 21

Austria advanced to the European Championship knockout stages for the first time after they beat Ukraine 1-0 in their final Group C match today to finish second and set up a last-16 clash with Italy.

German quartet injured, skips training

Munich: Four German players were nursing injuries from their 4-2 victory over Portugal at the weekend and skipped training today, the team said. Defenders Mats Hummels and Lukas Halstenberg, who came on as a substitute, as well as midfielders Ilkay Gundogan and Thomas Mueller, were all missing from training at their Herzogenaurach base north of Munich. Mueller’s availability is in doubt for their game against Hungary. Reuters

The Netherlands, who were confirmed as group winners after beating both Ukraine and Austria, defeated bottom side North Macedonia 3-0 in the other fixture to finish with nine points while Austria have six from two wins.

Christoph Baumgartner, who looked shaken after a clash of heads with Illia Zabarnyi minutes earlier, scored in the 21st minute from a corner when he beat the Ukrainian defender to prod home from a teasing David Alaba delivery. The groggy Austrian midfielder was withdrawn 10 minutes later.

Can England find their true self?

A couple of days contemplating why England haven’t already advanced at the Championship allowed Raheem Sterling to fully assess the team’s shortcomings. How could a stalemate with Scotland have been prevented? “With the ball we could have shown a bit more personality and dominated the game more with the ball,” the England striker said. “As a team we need to know where to identify that and take control.”

The team faces the Czech Republic in their Group D finale tomorrow. — Agencies