Euro 2024: Strakosha impresses despite Italy defeat

Brentford goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha made a string of impressive saves for Albania in their opening Euro 2024 clash against Italy, but he couldn't prevent his nation from succumbing to a 2-1 defeat.

After Albania unexpectedly took the lead inside the first minute through Nedim Bajrami, the Italians turned the game around thanks to strikes from Alessandro Bastoni and Nicolò Barella in Dortmund.

But Strakosha kept Albania in the game with two stunning stops: first, from Davide Frattesi, who tried to chip the ball over him before the keeper swatted it away; and then former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca, who couldn't beat the Bees man with a powerful strike.

And Strakosha's saves were almost crucial for the Red and Blacks, as they so nearly equalised in the dying embers of the game, but Rey Manaj's effort dribbled just past the post.

Albania's next game in Group B is on Wednesday 19 June (2pm GMT kick-off) against Croatia, who lost their first group match 3-0 to Spain.

Elsewhere at Euro 2024, Christian Nørgaard came on as a second-half substitute in Denmark's 1-1 draw with Slovenia.

Former Brentford midfielder Christian Eriksen put the Danes ahead with a neat finish inside the box on 17 minutes, before Erik Janža's deflected effort with 13 minutes to play levelled the scores.

Nørgaard replaced Pierre-Emile Højbjerg in the 83rd minute and looked positive in midfield for his country, but Kasper Hjulmand's side couldn't find a late winner.

Zanka, Mathias Jensen and Mikkel Damsgaard were all unused substitutes in the game, with Denmark's next Group C clash against Ivan Toney's England on Thursday 20 June (5pm GMT kick-off).

And the Three Lions picked up three points in their opening group game, with a 1-0 win over Serbia.

Jude Bellingham's powerful header in the first half was the only goal of the game, with Toney an unused substitute.

Mark Flekken was also on the bench, as the Netherlands recorded a 2-1 victory over Poland in Group D.

Adam Buksa's near-post header put the Poles ahead, before Cody Gakpo's shot hit a defender and crept in and, then, substitute Wout Weghourt won the game late on for the Dutch in Hamburg.

Flekken and co face France in their second match of Euro 2024 on Friday 21 June (8pm GMT kick-off) - but Les Bleus are likely to be without talisman Kylian Mbappe for the game, after he picked up a nose injury in their win over Austria.