The ninth day of Euro 2024 took place on Saturday with Belgium and Portugal victorious. Belgium defeated Romania 2-0 in Cologne in Group E action, and Portugal beat Turkey 3-0 in Dortmund in Group F action. In the other matchup, Georgia and the Czech Republic tied at one goal apiece in Hamburg.
Who scored for Belgium?
The two Belgian players who got on the scoreboard were midfielders Youri Tielemans of Sint-Pieters-Leeuw and Kevin De Bruyne of Drongen. Tielemans, who scored in the second minute, plays for England’s Aston Villa in the English Premier League. De Bruyne, who scored in the 80th minute, plays for Manchester City in the English Premier League. Tielemans now has eight career goals for Belgium, and De Bruyne has 28 goals.
Third earliest goal in European Championship history
When Tielemans scored on Saturday in the second minute, it was the third earliest goal a player has ever scored in a European Championship game. The earliest goal ever took place on June 15. Albania’s Nedim Bajrami opened the scoring in a 2-1 Albania loss to Italy 23 seconds into the contest. The second earliest goal took place in 2004. Dmitri Kirichenko scored 67 seconds into the contest in a 2-1 Russia win over Greece.
Who scored for Portugal?
There were two Portuguese goal scorers. Midfielder Bernardo Silva of Lisbon scored in the 21st minute, and attacking midfielder Bruno Fernandes of Maia scored in the 56th minute. Silva plays for Manchester City, and Fernandes plays for Manchester United. Both players are with rivals in the English Premier League. For Silva, it was his 12th international goal for Portugal, and for Fernandes, it was his 23rd international goal for the Portuguese.
However, the biggest story in this game was an own goal. Turkey’s Samet Akaydin tried to pass the soccer ball back to goalkeeper Altay Bayindir, but the pass was completely off target and the ball trickled into the net. It was the sixth own goal of Euro 2024.
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