Eriksen collapse: A year later

 

Euro 2020 in 2021. From the minute UEFA announced the European Cup would be played as a "continental" Euro, it was met with widespread anguish by fans who knew the Euros they've always come to expect would not be replicated in 2020. And that was before any of us know what Covid-19 was. 

After Covid-19 shut the world down, Euro 2020 was moved to 2021 in hopes the world would be back like it was just two years prior. But that wasn't the case. With Covid-19 still spreading all over the world, half filled stadiums, little to no buzz in host cities, fans either barred from traveling due to covid restrictions or just frankly refusing to do so, made Euro 2021 most likely the worst European Cup to date. And that was before Denmark took on Finland in Group B. The match the world thought it lost Christian Eriksen.

Skorupski makes declaration to be Poland's #2

When the May/June international window opened, one of the most interesting position battles on the Polish national team was who will become the teams' backup goalkeeper to Wojtek Szczesny. And in theory, whoever wins the backup job, will have a edge on who becomes the next NT #1 keeper once the 32-year old Juventus shot stopper retires from national team duty.

The top two candidates, 23-year old Kamil Grabara and 24-year old Bartlomiej Dragowski received the first looks and were the clear favorites when camp opened. But it could be that 31-year old Lukasz Skorupski could swoop in and steal the gig from either of the two young keepers in short term until they're ready.

Poland's catastrophic second half

Robert Lewandowski scored mid-way through the first half to give Poland a 1-0 lead. Despite having their backs against the wall most of the half, it wasn't until the 42nd minute til Belgium tied the match 1-1 after a defensive error by Sebastian Szymanski easily losing a rebound to Axel Witsel who put past a diving Bartek Dragowski. 

Even then, despite signs of brilliance throughout that half by Kevin de Bruyne that signaled that he and his teammates were not going to be stopped on this evening. Poland went into half-time tied 1-1, and with a few adjustments and locking down a bit more defensively, the moral surrounding the team was high with the thought that this team might actually go into Belgium and steal crucial Nations League points from one of the best teams in the world.