{"id":1355599,"date":"2024-06-17T19:00:40","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T18:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/?p=1355599"},"modified":"2024-06-18T12:38:34","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T11:38:34","slug":"belgium-0-1-slovakia-lukaku-history-schranz-euro-2024","status":"publish","type":"features","link":"https:\/\/www.squawka.com\/en\/features\/belgium-0-1-slovakia-lukaku-history-schranz-euro-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgium 0-1 Slovakia: Red Devils suffer opening round upset to put Euro 2024 campaign on the back foot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Belgium have it all to do after Slovakia emerged as 1-0 winners in their Euro 2024<\/a> opener at the Frankfurt Arena this afternoon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No longer viewed as dark horses or among the pre-tournament favourites with their much-heralded ‘golden generation’ now slowly becoming a remnant of the past, the Red Devils, ranked fourth in the world, were still heavily favoured to begin with a win against Group E minnows.<\/p>\n

This was Belgium’s first match at a major tournament without Thibaut Courtois in goal since June 17, 2002 (Geert De Vlieger against Brazil), with Courtois featuring in each of the Red Devils’ previous 25 such games.<\/p>\n

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Koen Casteels, who had long lived in the shadow of Real Madrid’s shot-stopper, would have hoped for a quiet afternoon but found himself picking the ball out of the net in the seventh minute after J\u00e9r\u00e9my Doku, who had started the game brightly, was caught out. Ivan Schranz squeezed in from a tight angle after a cute flick from R\u00f3bert Bo\u017een\u00edk gave Juraj Kucka a chance. Although Casteels saved his effort, he could do nothing about the rebound.<\/p>\n

Timed at 6:05, it was the earliest goal Slovakia had netted in a major international tournament (European Championship\/World Cup).<\/p>\n

Speaking of Kucka, he is one of three players named in Slovakia\u2019s starting XI who are 35 or older: Peter Pekar\u00edk (37), Kucka (37), and Martin D\u00fabravka (35). They are only the second nation in European Championship history to do so, along with France at Euro 2008, who named Gr\u00e9gory Coupet, Claude Mak\u00e9l\u00e9l\u00e9, and Lilian Thuram in their XI for games against Romania and the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

Francesco Calzona, who spent the latter part of last season juggling his Slovakia managerial duties with restoring some credibility at former club Napoli, picked a somewhat experienced lineup. At the same time, compatriot Domenico Tedesco, in the other dugout, started with Zeno Debast — partnering Wout Faes in central defence — who, at the age of 20 years and 237 days old, became the third-youngest Belgian player to start a game at the European Championship, behind only Enzo Scifo in 1984 (18 years, 115 days) and Doku in 2021 (19 years, 25 days).<\/p>\n

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Dream start for Slovakia! ???#EURO2024<\/a> | #BELSVK<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Ut9OzOFLbb<\/a><\/p>\n

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) June 17, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n