Germany and Spain up and running at Euro 2022 with convincing wins

Germany and Spain eased to convincing wins in their opening Euro 2022 Group B fixtures on Friday.

The pair made their mark on the tournament early while Switzerland could not hide their frustration at having to change their training venue at the last minute.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the latest from the tournament.

Denmark demolished

Germany thumped Denmark 4-0 at Brentford with goals from Lina Magull, Lea Schuller, Lena Lattwein and Alexandra Popp as they opened their campaign in style.

Group B has been labelled the ‘Group of Death’ as it has eight-time Euro winners Germany, the bookies’ favourites Spain, and 2017 runners-up Denmark.

Spanish stroll after early shock

Spain, who lost star player Alexia Putellas through injury earlier this week, suffered another setback against Finland after conceding a goal inside the opening minute, Linda Sallstrom the scorer in Milton Keynes.

However, the Spanish rallied and were ahead by half-time through goals from Irene Paredes and Aitana Bonmati before second-half efforts from Lucia Garcia and Mariona Caldentey wrapped things up.

“We have overcome adversities, bad news — this is a team. We know how to pick ourselves up,” Bonmati said.

Pitch problems

Switzerland boss Nils Nielsen criticised the pitch at their original training base after his team were forced to train in Huddersfield ahead of their Group C game on Saturday. He said: “It wasn’t up to standard.”