The Latest: Russia coach defends fans booing taking a knee
The Latest on soccer’s European Championship:
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Russia coach Stanislav Cherchesov says fans should be free to make their own choice in response to players taking a knee before matches at the European Championship.
There were loud jeers inside the Saint Petersburg Stadium when Belgium’s players made the anti-racism gesture before the game against Russia on Saturday.
Finland’s players are deciding whether to take a knee before their game against Russia on Wednesday.
Cherchesov says he didn’t hear the jeers from spectators at the Belgium game because he was “focused on the game.”
Cherchesov says “I can only say that everyone makes their own choice and I don’t want to advise anything to anyone.”
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Denmark coach Kasper Hjulmand has stepped up his criticism of UEFA for not giving his players the option to postpone the game against Finland in the wake of Christian Eriksen’s collapse.
Denmark was given the option by UEFA to either resume Saturday evening or come back at noon on Sunday. That has led to widespread anger in Denmark.
Hjulmand says “the only real leadership would have been to put the players on a bus and send them home.”
He pointed out that “with corona cases it’s possible to postpone a game for 48 hours. But with cardiac arrest, apparently it’s not.”
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Finland coach Markku Kanerva is concerned his players might still be traumatized by Christian Eriksen’s collapse when they play Russia in their second game at the European Championship.
Eriksen suffered cardiac arrest during Denmark’s 1-0 loss to Finland in Copenhagen on Saturday and had to be resuscitated with a defibrillator on the field.
Kanerva says “it is not an easy task all of a sudden to concentrate only on football because there were bigger things than football in play.”
Kanerva says “it is hard to estimate how the event with Eriksen affects different people. Of course we all have it in our minds.”
Finland plays Russia on Wednesday and will qualify for the last 16 with a victory.
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UEFA has asked a disciplinary investigator to look into claims that Austria forward Marko Arnautović made offensive nationalist comments to a North Macedonia opponent at the European Championship.
The North Macedonian soccer federation asked for action to be taken against Arnautović for the incident in Austria’s 3-1 victory on Sunday.
Arnautović scored Austria’s third goal late in the game then is said to have directed comments to Ezgjan Alioski in Serbian.
Alioski is of Albanian origin. Arnautović’s father is Serbian and his mother is Austrian.
UEFA disciplinary rules call for a minimum 10-match ban for insults based on race or ethnic origin.
Arnautović posted on social media that he was not a racist and apologized for “some heated words.”
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A change has been made in England’s European Championship squad with injured backup goalkeeper Dean Henderson replaced by Aaron Ramsdale.
UEFA’s regulations allow in-tournament replacements of goalkeepers in Euro 2020 squads on medical grounds and Henderson has a hip issue.
Ramsdale was in the provisional squad for the tournament before being cut.
Jordan Pickford is England’s starting goalkeeper and is due to be the first choice in the second Group D game against Scotland. He also played in Sunday’s 1-0 win over Croatia.
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Christian Eriksen has sent his first public message from the hospital thanking supporters for their “sweet and amazing” well-wishes after his collapse at the European Championship.
Eriksen remains in the hospital after suffering cardiac arrest during Denmark’s game against Finland in Copenhagen on Saturday. The Danish soccer association shared a message from Eriksen on Twitter.
The midfielder says he is fine “under the circumstances.” He says he still has to go through more tests at the hospital “but I feel okay.”
The message was accompanied by a photo of Eriksen giving a thumbs up from the hospital bed.
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The North Macedonian soccer federation says it has submitted an official request to UEFA asking for Austria striker Marko Arnautović to be punished for a nationalist outburst after he scored a goal at the European Championship.
The federation says the outburst was directed at Ezgjan Alioski. Alioski is a North Macedonian of Albanian origin.
The federation says “we are always against nationalism, discrimination and all other forms of insults and outbursts that are not in the spirit of football.”
Arnautović scored the final goal in Austria’s 3-1 victory over North Macedonia at Euro 2020 on Sunday. He wrote in an Instagram post that he was sorry for what happened.
He acknowledged “some heated words in the emotions for which I would like to apologize.”
Arnautović then wrote in capital letters “I AM NOT A RACIST!”
The Albanian minority forms about a quarter of North Macedonia’s 2.1 million population.
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The defending champions are on the schedule to play their first match at this year’s European Championship. And so are the last two World Cup champions.
Portugal will be up first on Day 5 of Euro 2020 against Hungary in Budapest. Cristiano Ronaldo is one goal from breaking a tie with Michel Platini for most goals scored at the tournament.
Portugal beat France in the final five years ago to win its first major soccer title.
World Cup champion France will then face Germany in the late match. The Germans won the previous World Cup title in 2014.
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