June 16 – World champions France defeated Germany 1-0 in the most anticipated match of Euro 2020’s group stages, but before the several people were injured by a Greenpeace protester who parachuted into the stadium.
UEFA confirmed that “several people” were treated in the hospital for injuries caused by the activist who parachuted into the Allianz Arena, saying that “law authorities will take the necessary action” for what it called a “reckless and dangerous” act.
The protester had ‘Kick out oil! Greenpeace’ written on his parachute. He was attended to by Antonio Rudiger and medical personnel before he was escorted away by security.
“Shortly before the start of tonight’s Euro 2020 match between France and Germany in Munich, a protester briefly entered the stadium from the air and tried to land on the pitch,” said UEFA.
“This inconsiderate act – which could have had very serious consequences for a huge number of people attending – caused injuries to several people attending the game who are now in hospital and law authorities will take the necessary action.
“UEFA and its partners are fully committed to a sustainable Euro 2020 tournament and many initiatives have been implemented to offset carbon emissions. The staging of the match was fortunately not impacted by such a reckless and dangerous action, but several people were injured nonetheless.”
Greenpeace’s German Twitter account confirmed that the stunt was a protest against the tournament sponsor Volkswagen, demanding an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars. But the protest was not without danger as debris fell on to the pitch and into the stands when the parachutist got tangled in wires carrying an overhead camera. France’s head coach, Didier Deschamps, was seen ducking out of the way of a large piece of equipment near the dugout.
The match did proceed on time and France delivered a masterclass quintessential of the Deschamps era, in control of the match and yet not entirely convincing. In midfield, Ngolo Kante and Paul Pogba starred with vintage performances. Adrien Rabiot and Antoine Griezmann also proved vital in Deschamps’ system. Germany looked laboured much of the time, often frantic going forward but finding little space and no solutions in the final third.
After just 20 minutes the French took the lead through a Mats Hummels own goal. After the break, Germany probed and poked, but it was France who held firm and had two goals chalked off for offside.
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