Draw against Ukraine

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Romelu Lukaku (left) and Kevin De Bruyne disappointed against Ukraine.

(Bild: AP/Ariel Schalit, APA/AFP/Fabrice COFFRINI)

The heavy favorites continue to struggle at the EURO! Belgium were held to a 0-0 draw against Ukraine on Wednesday evening, meaning Kevin De Bruyne and Co. only finished second in Group E. Now they face a tough clash with France in the round of 16. For Ukraine, on the other hand, the tournament is over.

Belgium entered the round of 16 of the European Championship in Germany with the handbrake on. In the tight Pool E, in which all teams had three points each before the final round, a meagre 0-0 draw against Ukraine was enough for Belgium to progress, who ended up level on points with their rivals but were unable to move up from fourth place. Belgium had to give way to Romania, who secured first place with a 1-1 draw against Slovakia, who were also promoted.

The Belgians, who had to put up with a whistling concert from their fans on their departure after a poor performance, will face runners-up France in the first knockout round next Monday. The goals scored (2) tipped the scales against Romania (4).

Cautious opening phase 
Given the tight starting position, the fans in Stuttgart were treated to a cautious opening phase with a slight advantage for the Belgians. They also had the first shot through Romelu Lukaku, but the striker failed to beat goalkeeper Anatolij Trubin from an acute angle (7th minute). Ukraine worked their way into the game better as time went on and Roman Jaremtschuk tested goalkeeper Koen Casteels with a long-range shot (20').

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

Kevin De Bruyne

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

Belgium were rather passive and careless defensively, repeatedly allowing good Ukrainian combinations. This resulted in a dangerous but weak Sukakov shot at Casteels (35'), and shortly before the break Artem Dowbyk narrowly missed a threatening pass from Jaremtschuk (42').

Belgium too error-prone
Belgium's build-up play was too sluggish and error-prone and they did not create a single real chance before the break. Only "slithering" De Bruyne, otherwise well controlled by the Ukrainians, caused the outside net to tremble with a direct free-kick around the wall (34'), a little later he fired a harmless long-range shot at Trubin (45').

With the score at 1:1 at the break in the parallel match between Slovakia and Romania, Ukraine were forced into action even more, but the Red Devils were more active after the restart. While the Eastern Europeans were barely able to get a grip on the game, the favorites repeatedly launched quick attacks. Admittedly, the final pass was lacking for the time being, but eventually they came closer. Twice it was the substitute Yannick Carrasco, whose weak shot initially posed no problem for Trubin (67'), but minutes later the goalkeeper had more trouble.

Sudakov misses match ball
However, Ukraine came back once again. They finally broke up the defensive five-man line in the final stages and stepped up their efforts with the courage of desperation. Dobyk (75', 80') and substitute Andrij Yarmolenko (83') twice put the defense and Casteels in trouble with their shots, while Heorhij Sudakov lost his nerve in stoppage time when he had the best chance. He shot too centrally at Casteels.

Ukraine - Belgium 0:0
Stuttgart, referee Taylor (ENG)

Yellow cards: Dowbyk and Faes

Ukraine: Trubin - Tymchyk, Sabarnyj, Svatok (81st Yarmolenko), Matviyenko, Mykolenko (58th Sinchenko) - Shaparenko (70th Vanat), Brashko (70th Stepanenko), Sudakov - Yaremchuk (70th Malinovsky), Dovbyk

Belgium: Casteels - Vertonghen, Faes, Theate, Castagne - De Bruyne, Onana, Tielemans (62. Mangala) - Doku (77. Bakayoko), Lukaku (90. Openda), Trossard (62. Carrasco)