Fans have blamed England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford after he conceded their first goal at Euro 2020 as Danish youngster Mikkel Damsgaard scored a vicious free-kick in their semi-final at Wembley.
Danish boy wonder Damsgaard struck from 25 yards out in the 30th minute of the match to open the scoring and silence the majority of the more than 60,000 crowd in London.
WHAT. A. GOAL!
— UEFA EURO 2020 (@EURO2020) July 7, 2021
🇩🇰 Damsgaard with brilliant free-kick to put Denmark in front at Wembley ⚽️#EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/7y1qVGALwh
WHAT A FREEKICK FROM DAMSGAARD #EURO2020 #ENGDEN pic.twitter.com/6NCv7nxbGs
— 🇮🇹🇩🇰 (@leonvv2) July 7, 2021
The goal was the first England had conceded in their sixth match at Euro 2020 – also ending a new Three Lions shutout record for Pickford which he had set just minutes earlier.
721 - Jordan Pickford has set a new record for an England goalkeeper for most minutes without conceding, overtaking Gordon Banks' 720 minutes set between May/July 1966. Unbreakable. #ENGDEN #EURO2020 pic.twitter.com/Thlx5Um8oc
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) July 7, 2021
The strike from Damsgaard was his second of the tournament and was the first direct free-kick goal of this summer’s Euros from any team.
It was whipped with venom and swerve, but remarkably some fans were quick to point the finger of blame at Pickford, claiming his positioning had been all wrong.
Not helping matters, Pickford had looked jittery throughout the opening stages, also being let off when sending a throw directly to a Denmark body on the edge of the box and being generally errant with his distribution.
Pickford effortlessly making the centre of the goal look like the corner 😕#englandvdenmark #eng pic.twitter.com/enr1lKvDsF
— Fat Toasty (@FatToasty) July 7, 2021
Pickford’s head’s gone
— Swiss Ramble (@SwissRamble) July 7, 2021
Pickford should've saved that free-kick, that should've never went in, it wasn't in the corner and it just went over his hand. Poor goalkeeping.
— FutbolBible (@FutbolBible) July 7, 2021
Wow! What a goal. Think maybe Pickford’s starting position could’ve been slightly more central…but I think it’ll be really interesting to see how England react, with this being the first time we’ve gone behind this tournament. #ENG #DEN
— Olivia Buzaglo (@OliviaBuzaglo) July 7, 2021
It’s a well struck ball. It’s a well struck ball Pickford should do better with, I think.
— Gareth Southgate enjoyer Ryan Conway (@RJConway92) July 7, 2021
Others defended the Everton keeper though, pointing to a Danish masterstroke for obscuring his view and also citing the menacing swerve and dip that the 21-year-old Damsgaard had added to his strike.
Master Set Piece Theatre alert!
— Total Soccer Show (@TotalSoccerShow) July 7, 2021
Danish wall slides over and completely blocks Pickford’s view just as Damsgaard starts his approach. -T pic.twitter.com/ybPXUgHdKD
1 - Mikkel Damsgaard has scored the first direct free kick goal of the #EURO2020 . Timely. pic.twitter.com/j3n834YoQS
— OptaJean (@OptaJean) July 7, 2021
Think criticism of Jordan Pickford would be harsh. That moved in about three different directions before it got to him.
— Seb Stafford-Bloor (@SebSB) July 7, 2021
Having conceded their first goal of the tournament, England did at least respond well.
Raheem Sterling drew a superb save from Kasper Schmeichel, before the hosts did get the equalizer when good work down the right from Bukayo Saka forced Danish skipper Simon Kjaer to turn the ball into his own net in the 39th minute.
That mean the teams headed into the break at Wembley level as they chased a spot in Sunday’s final against Italy – in what would be a first major final for England since 1966, and a first for Denmark since they won this tournament in 1992.
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