So far So Jude: Bellingham’s goal secures England 1-0 win against Serbia

Gelsenkirchen, June 17

Jude Bellingham scored to give England a winning start at the European Championship by beating Serbia 1-0.

The Real Madrid star put Gareth Southgate’s team in front with a stooping header in the 13th minute at the Veltins Arena from Bukayo Saka’s cross. The build-up to the game had been overshadowed by concerns about violence between rival supporters. And some of those fears were realised when police rushed to separate brawling fans earlier in the day.

Social media footage showed men throwing chairs at each other outside a restaurant festooned with Serbian flags in the city. England fans were soon celebrating once the game got underway after Bellingham’s early goal.

“It’s a great start for me personally to get my confidence up and to help the lads get the win is the most important thing,” Bellingham said.

Harry Kane so nearly extended the lead in the second half when Serbia goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic pushed his far post header onto the underside of the bar.

Kane set a record for his country by making his 23rd appearance at a major tournament. “It’s a tough game. They are a tough team and have good players,” the England captain said. “We stood up to it well and it is good to get the three points and (for us) to progress. It’s good that we got the win today.”

Day of upsets

Munich: Romania won their first European Championship match in 24 years with a 3-0 victory over Ukraine in their Group E opener. Stunning long-range strikes in each half, one from captain Nicolae Stanciu and the other from midfielder Razvan Marin, shocked Serhiy Rebrov’s Ukraine, who had dominated the opening 20 minutes of the match.

In Frankfurt, Ivan Schranz scored Slovakia’s quickest goal at a major tournament to take his side to a gritty upset 1-0 victory over wasteful Belgium in Group E.

It was Belgium’s first loss in 16 games under coach Domenico Tedesco and a flashback to their disastrous 2022 World Cup campaign, although they did have two goals ruled out by VAR. — Reuters

Ukraine reminds Euro 2024 of war

MUNICH: Former Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko presented the shell-blasted seats of a Kharkiv stadium built for Euro 2012 as cheering Ukraine fans vowed to keep fighting the Russian invasion. Ukraine’s football association said the Sonyachny stadium in Kharkiv had been destroyed by Russian shells in 2022. In a central Munich square, Ukrainian refugees and supporters who had driven 25 hours looked at the blue and yellow seats. “When I was the coach of the team, we often came to Kharkiv for training. We prepared for the Euro 2021 qualifiers at Sonyachny. Learning that the stadium was destroyed felt like finding out your home was ruined,” said Shevchenko, now president of the Ukraine Football Association. Reuters