The first day of the European Championship matches has already been played, in which Belgian and Irish footballers competed. Before the start of the tournament, Marco Wilmots' team was considered favorites, but they were brought back down to earth by the Italian eleven. Meanwhile, the Irish were close to victory against Sweden and had one point on their account. With as many points as them, Martin O'Neill's team continues. Team line-ups: Belgium: T. Courtois; T. Meunier, T. Alderweireld, T. Vermaelen, J. Vertonghen; A. Witsel, K. De Bruyne, E. Hazard, M. Dembele (57' R. Nainggolan), Y. Carrasco (64' D. Mertens); R. Lukaku (82' C. Benteke). Ireland: D. Randolph; S. Coleman, J. O'Shea, C. Clark, S. Ward; R. Brady, J. McCarthy (63' J. McClean), G. Whelan, J. Hendrick, W. Hoolahan (72' A. McGeady); S. Long (79' R. Keane). Ireland haven't beaten Belgium in over 50 years: At the start of the match, the fans watching the duel did not see anything special - the Belgian team controlled the ball, while the Irish tried to catch the opponents off guard on counterattacks. The first dangerous episode happened in the 13th minute, when after a pass from Kevin De Bruyne from a corner kick, defender Jan Vertonghen took a dangerous shot from the edge of the box. Shortly after, from a comfortable position in the penalty area, Eden Hazard unleashed a dangerous shot towards goal. Another opportunity was had by Yannick Carrasco, a defender from Atletico Madrid, who found himself in front of the goalkeeper, but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Darren Randolph, and his follow-up was made from an angle. The Belgians created more attacks in the first half, but they were not effective. In the second half, the Irish footballers started more actively, and at the beginning of one attack, they appealed for a penalty from the referee. However, their call was not heard, and immediately on a quick counterattack, Romelu Lukaku scored the first goal of the match after a pass from De Bruyne. The second goal was scored more than an hour later by midfielder Axel Witsel, to whom the ball was perfectly crossed to by the excellent right-back Thomas Meunier. Finally, the Belgians scored their last goal in this match during another counterattack. It started again with Meunier, and Eden Hazard, dribbling past an opponent on the right flank, made a perfect pass to Lukaku who scored a brace. The Belgian team now has three points in their account and has risen to second place, while the Italians secured the first. Result: Belgium 3 - 0 Ireland [1-0] 48' Romelu Lukaku [2-0] 61' Axel Witsel [3-0] 70' Romelu Lukaku The best player of the match was Axel Witsel, who scored the second goal: Before his goal, the Belgians made 28 consecutive accurate passes:
