Euro 2020 Group E: Sweden emerge as surprise winners

Group E’s Top Team – Sweden

Sweden topped Group E with ease as the others around them had to work for qualification. The Swedes employed a pragmatic approach throughout the group stage and because of this, they ended on top.

In the three games, Sweden won two and held Spain for a draw. Against Spain, they proved they are “dark-horse” contenders. Not only they were resilient to the Spanish attack but also threatened them with line-breaking passes.

Group E’s Best Moment

On the last day of the group stage, Sweden and Poland played out an exciting affair at Gazprom Arena on Wednesday past. Sweden pipped Poland 3-2 in the final seconds of the game to run away with all three points and top Group E.

Emil Forsberg scored the first goal of the game in the second minute before Poland could settle themselves. Poland were so close to equalizing in the 17th minute, but Janne Andersson’s men cleared the ball. In the final minutes of the first half, Olsen’s heroics prevented Poland from leveling the score.

Emil Forsberg made it 2-0 in the 59th minute after Sweden picked the perfect moment for a counterattack. The forward found the bottom corner with a flashy strike. When it seemed like Sweden were running away with the game, Robert Lewandowski had different plans.

He found the top corner in the 61st minute with his equalizer coming in the 84th minute by finding the bottom corner. It looked like the game was heading for a draw but Viktor Claesson nicked one in injury time and won the game for Sweden.

Group E’s Worst Moment

The game between Spain and Slovakia was one of the high-scoring affairs in Group E. Slovakia’s lackluster efforts against Spain was the worst moment in Group E. Spain threw Slovakia out of sorts with a ruthless performance as they found the back of the net five times at La Cartuja.

Spain had to win the game if they were to qualify for the Round of 16. We all expected Spain to go hard at Slovakia but Slovakia were all out of sorts on Wednesday.

From the word go, Spain threatened Slovakia by creating chance after chance. Though they thwarted the danger initially, Martin Dubravka succumbed under pressure and conceded the first goal with one of the worse errors of the tournament.

After the first goal, Spain never allowed their opponents a chance to come back. Luis Enrique’s side scored four more to seal the deal and Slovakia endure the worst defeat across all groups in Euro 2020. It was indeed the worst moment in Group E for Slovakia.