Euro 2020 Matches 31 and 32: Bosnia-Herzegovina v England and Portugal v Greece

The following article provides an oversight for matches and tournaments taking place in 2020.

Euro 2020 Matches 31 and 32: Bosnia-Herzegovina v England and Portugal v Greece

England and Portugal Wins Ensure Round of 16

June 25, 2020

Bosnia-Herzegovina 1 England 2

 

England’s defeat of Bosnia-Herzegovina and Portugal putting Greece to the sword ensured a place in the knockout stages from Group D.

 

England faced Bosnia-Herzegovina in the hope of claiming top spot. The Bosnians, however, needed a draw as the minimum to progress to the Round of 16. Harry Kane entered the fray for his first start in the competition.

 

The Bosnians, still with the same starting eleven, sought to put the English defence under pressure early. Meanwhile, England often gave the ball to Marcus Rashford, now working on the left wing, as they peeked for incisions into the Bosnian defence.

 

Instead, it was Raheem Sterling’s right wing where England looked most dangerous, where his cross in fact ended up on target, requiring a save from Ibrahim Šehić. The Bosnian goalkeeper was up to the task again from the corner kick, diving to keep out Rashford’s header aimed at the top right-hand corner.

 

Down the other end, Edin Džeko sent a through ball for Miralem Pjanić, only as he entered the 18-yard box, he slowed down, thanks to the advancing Jordan Pickford, and the defenders were able to steal and clear the ball.

 

Catching England on a break, Bosnia-Herzegovina had three shots at goal, all saved by Pickford. Pjanić outworked his marking man and fired with his right, hard against the Pickford parry. Amer Gojak reached the loose ball first and fired through the legs of an English defender, but Pickford dived to thwart the shot. Pjanić slid in the follow-up shot, only for the ball to bounce off Pickford and the post before the ball was safely cleared.

 

Pjanić continued to look dangerous as the half deepened, earning a corner, from which Gojak had a header that was too easy for Pickford.

 

England had control to the end of the half, with a Rashford shot registered from long range. However, Bosnia looked the slightly better side.

 

After the break, England advanced early, and Sterling won a penalty after being pushed over as he readied to shoot. Declan Rice stepped up and slotted the spot kick to the left of the goalkeeper, gifting England the vital lead.

 

Bosnia did not seem dissuaded and thus attacked to bring the game level again. The visitors to Wembley worked around the edge of the box, before a run from Gojko Cimirot gave him the chance to pop a shot on goal, only for Pickford to tuck it out for a corner. From the corner, the Bosnians eventually passed to the other defensive midfielder, Muhamed Bešić, whose shot needed a solid block.

 

After the hour mark, Gojak had a ping with his head from a corner, but Pickford was up to the task. Džeko then headed off the corner from the other direction; the ball did come off an English head last. Instead, substitute Deni Milošević managed to get on the third corner, hitting the post. The ball bounced straight back to him, and since Pickford had leapt for the shot, the goal was open, and Milošević made no mistake.

 

The game at 1-1 with less than a half hour to play, Sterling needed two attempts at a cross to Kane, only for the Bosnian defence to ensure he could not get a quality shot on goal. The resulting corner saw Jack Grealish have a header loop up towards goal. Rashford managed to jump higher than goalkeeper Šehić, before the Bosnian defence cleared. The ball only went to the penalty scorer in Rice, who shot from long range. Šehić’s save fell to Grealish, whose pass to Mason Mount gave him the chance to swivel around Šehić, only to miss across the face of a semi-open goal.

 

Down the Bosnia end, Gojak had an attempt to tuck into the bottom right-hand corner as he sped away from the defenders, only Pickford looped downwards to parry it to a corner.

 

Instead, England caught the Bosnians on the counter, leading to what seemed a striker’s chance. Instead, Grealish used the outside of his right foot to curl the ball just inside the post, giving the English the lead with just over a minute remaining.

 

Armin Hodžić had one last effort for the Bosnians, only his header was from too far out, and too easy for Player of the Match Pickford, completing ten saves. England took away the three points and a guaranteed top two spot.

 

Portugal 2 Greece 0

Greece had next to no chance to advance to the Round of 16 but wanted to damage Portugal’s campaign. Portugal desired topping the group, needing to increase their goal difference by at least two over England.

 

It started all on fire for Portugal as they worked out to the left wing in the second minute, before cutting back. Bernardo Silva ran into the striker’s position and was found alone with the through ball, and he made no mistake easing the ball beyond the Greek goalkeeper, Odisseas Vlachodimos.

 

Portugal kept hold of the match, ensuring any Greek attacks were closed down, all the while penetrating for another. Bruno Fernandes had a ball cut through to his run, closer to goal though than Silva’s, though his shot was blocked. The same occurred to Silva’s follow-up.

 

However, sloppy passes halted any real attack on the Greek goal, and the score remained 1-0 at the break.

 

Portugal nearly doubled the lead when substitute Bruma found Fernandes’ head, only for the shot to be saved. Greece failed to clear from the corner, and André Silva pocketed that second goal.

 

Greece needed a goal desperately, though Efthymios Koulouris could only header from a great distance to the ease of Rui Patrício.

 

Portugal went for a third goal in what would mean first place in Group D for them, only Bernardo Silva’s shot from long range flew over the bar.

 

Down the Greek end of the field, Giorgos Masouras tried to set up a cross for Kostas Fortounis, only for the ball to fly to straight to Rui Patrício. Substitute Petros Mantalos’ shot needed a double block before the next passage of play saw Koulouris bring about another goalkeeping save. Koulouris continued to look dangerous as he also headed off a left-wing cross, only this time to hit the near post.

 

Portugal managed to keep the Greeks away from goal near the end, and when England scored their winner, it was Portugal who could not bring about a third goal, and thus stayed in second place. England has an extra day’s rest before tackling the second place of Group F, while Portugal will face Group E’s second place.

 

Bosnia-Herzegovina, meanwhile, must also await tomorrow’s results to determine their fate in Euro 2020.

 

 

	Group D	Pl	W	D	L	Pts	GD
1	England	3	2	1	0	7	+5
2	Portugal	3	2	1	0	7	+5
3	Bosnia-Herzegovina	3	1	0	2	3	-3
4	Greece	3	0	0	3	0	-7