LONDON/ AMSTERDAM – Raheem Sterling scored his first goal in a major soccer tournament to give England a 1-0 win over Croatia at Euro 2020. Also Michael Gregoritsch and Marko Arnautovic scored late goals as Austria sealed a 3-1 victory over North Macedonia in their Group C opener.
Denzel Dumfries scored a late winner to earn the Netherlands a 3-2 victory over Ukraine in a thrilling Group C opener.
“It feels good. I’ve always said that if I play at Wembley in a major tournament I had to score. I grew up two minutes down the road, so I knew I had to score here, and it was a great feeling to do it,” said Sterling according to Reuters.
“There are a lot of different reasons I’ve not been scoring with my club, but that’s irrelevant now. It’s great to get off to a win that was the most important thing. It’s been a long season for me, I couldn’t wait to get here, to get started, I knew it was going to be a positive one.”
Meanwhile, Stefan Lainer put the Austrians ahead early on in Bucharest, but 37-year-old captain Goran Pandev levelled before the half-hour mark to become the second-oldest scorer in Euro history and delight the vocal Macedonian fans.
“Above all, the substitutions really paid off,” said Austria coach Franco Foda. “Gregoritsch and Arnautovic gave the team a new impulse. Overall I think it was a deserved win.”
Austria next visit the Dutch on Thursday, while North Macedonia stay in the Romanian capital to face Ukraine.
“There’s no room for disappointment, we have to improve not to repeat the mistakes we’ve done in this game,” said North Macedonia coach Igor Angelovski according to AFP.
“Now we have to prepare for the next game against Ukraine. I cannot not be proud of my players who qualified for this championship.
“I feel sorry for the supporters, I’m speechless about the atmosphere they’ve created, I hope we will reward them.”
Elsewhere, the Dutch were 2-0 up with 15 minutes left, only to allow their opponents two quick goals and the chance to share the points before Dumfries headed home a dramatic winner to the delight of the home fans.
Captain Georginio Wijnaldum and striker Wout Weghorst netted within seven minutes early in the second half as the Dutch sought a successful return to a major tournament – after a seven-year absence — in front of 16,000 spectators.
Wijnaldum’s left-foot finish in the 52nd minute opened the scoring before Weghorst quickly added the second.
That put the Dutch in command but Ukraine ensured a nervy finish when captain Andriy Yarmolenko pulled one back in the 75th minute with a superb strike and Roman Yaremchuk equalised four minutes later.
Wijnaldum scored for a fifth time in his last eight appearances for his country as he snapped up a clearance from Ukraine goalkeeper Georgiy Buschcan, who was attempting to push a square pass away from the dangerous Memphis Depay.
It came after another strong run down the flank from the Dutch, whose right wing back Dumfries was particularly dangerous and deserved his big moment at the end.
Dumfries was the provider of the second in the 59th minute although Ukraine complained he had fouled Ruslan Malinovskyi in trying to wrestle his way closer to goal.
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