Off the Pitch: Euro 2020– day 3

Nations are going head to head against each other in matchday 1 of the group stages and only a few national teams are left to play their very first game. We have already seen so much drama and horrific moments during the games that some have lost their will to continue. While the second day of the tournament saw Christian Eriksen suddenly collapse to the ground after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest during the match against Finland, the third day had its own share of accidents happening to people in the tournament.

From the Wives and Girlfriends of England stars posing for a picture together while wearing their significant others’ football shirts to support the England national team, to growing unrest in the France squad and Lingard celebrating his nation’s Euro success while drinking at a bar, day 3 of Euro 2020 was full of interesting things to see just like the first two days. So follow us below as we go through some of these moments.

Euro 2020– day 3 review

On the third day of the European Championship, England hosted Croatia at Wembley Stadium, while

faced North Macedonia and the

clutched a late and close victory against Ukraine. The first match ended 1-0 in England’s favor thanks to a goal from Raheem Sterling, while Austria managed to put three past North Macedonia’s goalkeeper, conceding one goal themselves as North Macedonia scored their very first goal in a major European competition.

However, the most thrilling match of them all was without a doubt the clash between the Netherlands and Ukraine, during which a total of five goals were scored as the Flying Dutchmen clutched a narrow victory thanks to a goal from Denzel Dumfries, who put his nation in front in the 85th minute as they won 3-2. But while everything was enjoyable on the field, many things also happened off the pitch, which we are going to focus on today. Let’s dive in.

The WAGs’ team photo

Behind every great man is a great woman. That’s what we saw at least when the wives and girlfriends of

stars lined up for their own team photo before England’s clash against

. It was Jordan Pickford’’s fiancée Megan Davison who first shared the picture on Instagram, with the picture including Kieran Trippier’s wife Charlotte, Luke Shaw’s girlfriend Anouska Santos, Kyle Walker’s wife Annie Kilner and Harry Maguire’s fiancée Fern Hawkins.

The five obviously beautiful ladies donned the football shirts of their significant others, while posing for a commemorative picture to show their support for the England national team. The five also posed for a picture with their backs towards the camera to show who’s who.

Cheers England!

What better way to support your country than sitting at an English pub and drinking with your friends and compatriots to you country’s honor? While many thought Jesse Lingard might have earned his place in the English national team for Euro 2020, the 28-year-old simply wasn’t in Gareth Southgates’ plans.

But instead of moping about not getting his international cap, Lingard went to the pub to support the Three Lions and sing the national anthem while wearing a Declan Rice shirt. Lingard shared videos and pictures of himself on social media, enjoying some cold drinks and supporting his national team. 

Lingard had an amazing season on loan at West Ham from Manchester United, which led to many believing he had made it into the England team as he was part of Southgates’ 33-man squad. With Trent Alexander-Arnold pulling out at the last minute with an unfortunate injury, Lingard was sure to be picked for the Euros. But he lost his place to

’s Ben White instead. Of course the stories shared on Lingard’s Instagram clearly show that he hasn’t let it affect him at all.

While the attacking midfielder himself might not be that upset about not making it into the England squad, his fans have been seriously doubting Southgate’s decision to snub the

player.

Having joined

in the January transfer market, Lingard managed to showcase his phenomenal performance by scoring an amazing 9 goals and providing 5 assists in only 16 appearances. This performance alone was enough to more than double his transfer market value from €10 million to €22 million, keeping in mind that his initial market value used to be a mere €1 million back in 2016. The Englishman has also got himself a total of 29 international caps, having scored 4 goals and provided 4 assists in the process.

The unity in jeopardy

As if unrest wasn’t already brewing between

and Olivier Giroud, it seems Chelsea’s French striker has gotten himself in trouble with yet another one of his teammates. This time, it is

's world-class forward Kylian Mbappe, who spoke out about the alleged swipe that Giroud took at him after France’s 3-0 victory over Bulgaria in a friendly match.

Giroud scored twice after coming on as a substitute for Karim Benzema and his brace helped France cement their lead against Bulgaria in the friendly. While many of the striker’s teammates ran towards him in celebration, Mbappe was seen walking in the opposite direction.

Giroud told L’Equipe TV that he was quiet because “sometimes you make a run and the balls just don’t arrive.” He also added that he doesn’t “always pretend to make the right calls,” but he “has tried hard to give solutions in the area.” With Giroud’s claims clearly being a swipe at Mbappe, the PSG forward said on Sunday that he had been “a little affected” by his teammate’s comments.

While obviously disturbed by Giroud’s comments, he went on to add that “What he said does not bother me more than that. He expresses a feeling when he speaks. I’m a forward and I’ve had that feeling 365 times in a game, when you feel like you’re not being served. It’s more about releasing it publicly. I saw him in the dressing room, I congratulated him on his goals, he didn’t say anything to me. I heard about it in the press. That’s more important than what he said- he didn’t say anything bad.”

As we already know, it is not the first time Giroud has been in trouble with his teammates, with Karim Benzema, who has recently returned to international duty, making controversial comments about his compatriot, comparing him to a “go-kart” while believing he himself is a formula-1 car. The 34-year-old center-forward, who joined Chelsea from Arsenal for €17 million in 2018, has got a chance to prove himself in Euro 2020 after Benzema’s sudden injury during the same friendly against Bulgaria.

Another accident

While the Three Lions narrowly escaped a disappointing result thanks to Raheem Sterling’s goal in the 57th minute, an England supporter was not so lucky to escape injuring himself to the point of being in a serious condition. It was just after kick-off in the match between England and Croatia at Wembley Stadium that an England fan fell in the stands and seriously injured himself.

There were 22,500 spectators at the stadium, but the medical staff were quick to reach the injured fan, who was given on-site medical attention before being taken to hospital.  Unfortunately, he didn’t get to see his national team win the crucial match against Croatia, but at least they did get a win to start off Euro 2020 with a bang.

The Euro 2020 has been full of drama, laughter and memorable moments. Make sure to check out our daily Off the Pitch series as we keep you updated on everything that goes on away from the eyes of the fans.

READ MORE:

Follow 

 for the