Memphis Depay applauded Donyell Malen's impact on his first start at Euro 2020 against North Macedonia as the young forward proved a frequent creative outlet.

The Oranje won 3-0 on Monday as they finished the group stage with a 100 per cent record for only the third time in European Championship history.

While North Macedonia were by no means lacking threat in attack, as their 1.14 xG (expected goals) value suggested they were unfortunate to not get on the scoresheet, the Dutch were a cut above.

Depay put them in front in the 24th minute, playing his part in a counter that released Malen into the box and he picked out the new Barcelona signing with a square pass.

That was one of four key passes on the day for Malen, twice as many as anyone else on the pitch – in fact, only Steven Zuber and Domenico Berardi (five) have managed to create more chances from open play in a single Euro 2020 match than him.

Malen had impressed as a substitute in each of the Netherlands' first two matches, prompting fans to fly a plane over their training session on Sunday urging Frank de Boer to finally give him a start, and his team-mates were suitably impressed.

"Donyell and I haven't played together very often, but you saw that when we got the ball we had so much threat attacking from deep," Depay said.

"Perhaps that was also because of North Macedonia, but we did find each other a few times. He had his assist, I had my assist. I liked it."

Frenkie de Jong added: "Malen is just a very good player, threatening in the depths and he can score a goal. Three goals is not bad, but it could have been more."

Malen started in place of Wout Weghorst, who scored in the Oranje's opener and hit the crossbar when he came on against North Macedonia.

While Malen's pace in attack would appear to fit in better with the Netherlands' high intensity in attack, which is identified by the fact their 44 high turnovers is more than any other team at the Euros, De Boer is yet to decide what he will do in the last 16.

"It looked good at times. Wout of course also wanted to play, but he expected me to try something different today," the coach added.

"Whether we will do it again in the next game depends partly on the opponent. In any case, I think we have made progress in all aspects. At times it was a whirlwind and we are doing well."

Belgium ran out clear winners of Group B at Euro 2020 after Romelu Lukaku scored in a 2-0 victory over Finland, who are still in with a chance of reaching the last 16 after finishing third.

Finland goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky was the game's outstanding player before he scored a calamitous own goal in the 74th minute, with the superb Lukaku then netting his third goal of the tournament seven minutes later.

The Red Devils delivered another performance befitting their billing as one of the favourites, progressing to the knockout stages having scored seven goals in three group matches.

Markku Kanerva's Finland team battled hard in defence but offered little by way of a goal threat, mustering just one shot on target during the contest.

Denmark remarkably booked their place in the last 16 of Euro 2020 with a stirring 4-1 win over Russia in Copenhagen on Monday. 

After losing 1-0 to Finland – a game overshadowed by the cardiac arrest suffered by Christian Eriksen – and 2-1 to Belgium, Denmark's hopes of making the knockout stages were slim before the clash at the Parken Stadium. 

Kasper Hjulmand's side delivered a sensational display, though, to claim a first win of the tournament – and seal second spot in Group B courtesy of Finland's defeat to Belgium – Mikkel Damsgaard and Yussuf Poulsen putting them 2-0 up before the hour mark. 

Artem Dzyuba pulled one back for Russia from the penalty spot, but Denmark secured a thrilling victory late on thanks to goals from Andreas Christensen and Joakim Maehle, sparking jubilant scenes in the Danish capital and setting up a showdown with Wales in Amsterdam on Saturday. 

Fifth seed Casper Ruud secured his place in the last 16 of the Mallorca Championships with a straight sets win over Gilles Simon on Monday.

The 22-year-old claimed a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victory to set up a meeting with Tennys Sandgren in the next round.

Following Ruud onto Centre Court, the American beat Spain's Jaume Munar 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 in just over two hours.

Sixth seed Karen Khachanov is also safely through, although he surrendered a set in beating French qualifier Lucas Pouille 7-6 (9-7) 3-6 6-4.

But Dusan Lajovic, seeded eighth, was not quite as fortunate.

Lajovic, ranked 41st in the world, was beaten 6-4 7-6 (7-2) by Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein (ranked 256).

Feliciano Lopez came out on top of battle of Spaniards in the round of 32, beating Nicola Kuhn 6-1 7-6 (7-4).

Their compatriot Roberto Carballes Baena is in with a chance of joining them on Tuesday after seeing his clash with Sam Querrey paused due to light with both players having taken a set.

Elsewhere, Corentin Moutet beat Lloyd Harris to set up a meeting with top seed Daniil Medvedev, while Jiri Vesely and Stefano Travaglia also progressed.

Monday's other scheduled ATP event in Eastbourne saw play cancelled due to rain, with the scheduled match between Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Egor Gerasimov pushed back as a result.

James Harden has followed Brooklyn Nets team-mate Kevin Durant in committing to play for Team USA at the Tokyo Games, according to reports.

The United States team is taking shape as they prepare to defend their gold medal at the delayed 2021 Olympics.

Reports at the weekend detailed the expectation Durant would join the team after the Nets exited the NBA playoffs.

Durant was on the victorious USA teams in 2012 and 2016 and this year averaged 26.9 points per game in the regular season and 34.3 in the postseason – the 25th-best mark of all time.

The 2014 MVP will not be the only Brooklyn player on the Olympic team, according to The Athletic.

A hamstring injury limited Harden to 36 regular season games for the Nets following his trade from the Houston Rockets, before he played nine times in the playoffs, scoring an underwhelming 20.2 points per game.

Harden went to London in 2012 after his final season as a bench scorer for the Oklahoma City Thunder but not to Brazil four years later having established himself in Houston.

Golden State Warriors great Stephen Curry was involved on neither occasion – although he won the World Cup in 2010 and 2014 – and will not make his Olympic bow this year either, the report added.

Curry almost single-handedly carried the undermanned Warriors to the brink of the playoffs this year, taking the NBA scoring title with 32.0 points per game.

Donovan Mitchell, who struggled with an injury as the Utah Jazz lost to the Los Angeles Clippers, has also declined an invite, ESPN revealed.

Bam Adebayo, the Miami Heat center, will join the 12-man roster, though, aiming to bounce back from a playoff sweep at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks in which he scored just nine points on four-of-15 shooting in Game 1.

Oleksandr Zinchenko criticised Ukraine's mentality and described their behaviour as "unacceptable" after they lost 1-0 to Austria to take their Euro 2020 hopes out of their hands.

Ukraine needed only a point from their final Group C match to be sure of second place and a last-16 meeting with Italy at Wembley on Saturday.

However, Christoph Baumgartner's first-half goal gave Austria a narrow victory to book a clash with the Azzurri, advancing from the group stage for the first time at a European Championship.

Despite the narrow margin of defeat, the scoreline flattered Ukraine.

Austria had 13 shots before half-time – behind only Italy's 14 versus Turkey in terms of the most in a first half at the tournament so far – along with eight corners.

The interval slowed their momentum a little, but Austria still outshot Ukraine 18 to five, their chances boasting a far superior combined expected goals value of 1.5 (0.3 for Ukraine).

Andriy Shevchenko's side had thrilled in a defeat to the Netherlands and then beating North Macedonia, yet they must now wait to see if they finish as one of the four best third-placed finishers.

"I'm so disappointed," Manchester City's Zinchenko told UEFA. "I don't even know what to say.

"Our performance in the first half was unacceptable. The way we behaved on the pitch was unacceptable.

"We felt very well ahead of the game in the training sessions, but nothing worked for us tonight.

"I don't think Austria's physical qualities were the key reason for our defeat. I think it's more about the mentality.

"We have to be the winners on the pitch. We have to fight and try to win all individual duels. But now we, probably, just have to accept our level."

Zinchenko's emotions were in contrast to those of Austria coach Franco Foda, although he was not impressed by a question relating to Marko Arnautovic's performance at his news conference.

Arnautovic returned from suspension to start for the first time at the finals, but he hit the target with only one of his four shots and was guilty of one particularly glaring miss.

"We managed to achieve something historic. We wrote history," Foda replied. "And you ask me such a question? Just be happy with us, with the team.

"You ask me such a question, how I would evaluate the performance of Marko Arnautovic? Just tell us we played well.

"Don't be mad at me, but I don't like questions like that. I don't want to answer them.

"I'm happy with him, I'm satisfied with him and he showed on the pitch what I was expecting."

Gareth Southgate once again found himself preaching calmness after coronavirus uncertainty hit England's plans for their concluding Euro 2020 Group D game against the Czech Republic.

Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell are self-isolating after interacting with their Chelsea team-mate Billy Gilmour, who featured for Scotland in last Friday's 0-0 draw at Wembley before testing positive for coronavirus.

The FA announced Mount and Chilwell had returned negative PCR and lateral flow test on Sunday and Monday respectively but, after then training with the England squad, they were advised to isolate following consultations with Public Health England.

Speaking at a pre-match news conference, where Mount had initially been slated to join him, Southgate conceded both players were major doubts for the Czech Republic clash, which England need to win to top the group.

He will wait until Tuesday morning before making a final decision on his starting XI, by which point further advice on Mount and Chilwell's case is likely to be forthcoming.

But, as he did in the immediate aftermath of a disappointing performance against Scotland, Southgate again urged composure under pressure – citing Spain midfielder Sergio Busquets testing positive for COVID-19 and Christian Eriksen's shocking cardiac arrest while playing for Denmark as examples of the unexpected difficulties that can arise during tournaments.

"Spain had a similar situation, they've ended up drawing their two games. Denmark have obviously had a tragic situation," he said.

"This is tournaments, you have to adapt, you have to respond. It's why the depth of the squad is so important and calmness around whatever's going on at any given time is critical.

"We don't have all the information so we're going to take our time to see exactly where we stand in the morning."

Southgate also pointed out there was a wider context to be acknowledged when it came to football players being ruled out of matches against the backdrop of a global health crisis.

"It's obviously a massive disappointment for players to miss any matches but we are in the same situation as everybody else in the country," he said.

"Other people, their working lives and ability to earn money have been affected. In a more serious sense, the deaths we've had.

"Of course, at this moment in time, ours is a high-profile situation and it's not ideal. But, in context, it's just one we have to adjust to."

Two players who will be available are Manchester United centre-back Harry Maguire and Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson, with their recoveries from respective ankle and groin injuries having restricted them to watching briefs so far.

Southgate praised their influence on the squad over recent weeks and the return of two experienced heads could come as a timely boost.

"Both are training very well and both will be involved tomorrow," he said.

"We're happy with their progress. Already, without being on the pitch they've had a massive impact around the training sessions and the squad.

"I couldn't be happier with the influence that our senior players have had. Of course, they want to get on the pitch and are hoping they can play a big part in this tournament for us."

Harry Kane's form and the omission of Jack Grealish from Southgate's starting line-ups have dominated recent discussion around the England side, although Jadon Sancho's negligible role at Euro 2020 to date is also a curiosity.

The winger, who scored 16 goals and supplied 18 assists in all competitions for Borussia Dortmund this season, was an unused substitute against Scotland after missing out on the matchday squad for the 1-0 win over Croatia, where Raheem Sterling scored the only goal.

"We just have so many good attacking players. Raheem, Phil Foden in terms of wide players who can play in those area and come inside," Southgate added.

"We have Jack Grealish, we have Marcus Rashford, we have Bukayo Saka and we have Jadon.

"If you weren't asking me about Jadon, you'd be asking me about one of the others. That's the nature of it."

Petra Kvitova came from a set down to beat Katarzyna Piter on her return from injury at the Bad Homburg Open, while no play was possible in Eastbourne on Monday due to rain.

Kvitova withdrew from the French Open after suffering a freak ankle injury during her post-match media duties at Roland Garros.

The two-time Wimbledon champion recovered to get her grass-court season under way in Germany and battled to a 4-6 6-1 6-4 over Polish outsider Piter.

A week before the third grand slam of the year gets started at the All England Club, top seed Kvitova trailed 2-0 in the final set as she struggled with her serve, but broke three times to book a second-round meeting with Ann Li.

Sloane Stephens withdrew ahead of her scheduled match with Laura Siegemund due to a foot injury. Riya Bhatia stepped in with Stephens absent, but Siegemund consigned her to a 2-6 7-6 (7-1) 6-1 defeat.

Angelique Kerber needed only 50 minutes to see the back of Ekaterina Yashina 6-1 6-1 on home soil, grasping all five break-point opportunities.

Kerber will do battle with Anna Blinkova in round two and Jessie Pegula's next assignment is an encounter with Katerina Siniakova following a 6-1 6-2 defeat of Amandine Hesse.

Blinkova beat Clara Tauson 7-6 (7-4) 4-6 6-2, while Sara Sorribes Tormo saw off Martina Trevisan 6-4 3-6 6-2

Miserable weather in Eastbourne prevented Karolina Pliskova, Madison Keys, Bianca Andreescu and Madison Keys from playing at the Viking International.

The prime minister of Italy has called for the Euro 2020 final to be moved from Wembley due to coronavirus concerns.

Mario Draghi says the level of infection in the United Kingdom means alternative venues must be considered.

"I will try to stop the final being held in a country where infections are rising quickly," he said on Monday when asked if Rome could be considered a possible replacement.

Wembley is due to host five knockout matches, including both semi-finals and then the final on July 11. Italy will also play their last-16 game in London against Austria on June 26.

Cases of COVID-19 have been increasing in recent weeks in the UK, fuelled by the Delta variant first identified in India, with a further 10,633 confirmed on Monday.

There are also still strict travel restrictions in place, with almost all travellers required to quarantine for 10 days after entering the country.

This is said to have prompted concerns among foreign officials, VIPs and media members who wish to attend knockout matches at England's national stadium.

UEFA admitted last week that there was a "contingency plan" in place should it decide holding the final in London was impractical after reports suggested president Aleksander Ceferin was prepared to move the game to Budapest.

However, it was reported in England on Monday that the UK government is prepared to allow a crowd of 60,000 people for the game – matching the proposed capacity from the Hungarian capital – while around 2,500 VIPs and media members could be exempt from having to quarantine after arriving for the fixture.

Austria deservedly defeated Ukraine 1-0 in Bucharest to finish second in Group C and set up a last-16 meeting with Italy as their beaten opponents wait to learn their fate.

Only goals scored separated the sides heading into Monday's matchday three clash, but Austria had to win to leapfrog Ukraine and secure a top-two place along with the Netherlands.

Christoph Baumgartner's first-half goal ensured they progressed from the group stage of a European Championship for the first time and their prize is a trip to Wembley to face the in-form Azzurri on Saturday.

Although Ukraine could yet join them in the knockout stage, Andriy Shevchenko's men underwhelmed and might do well to advance as one of the four best third-placed teams with only three points and a negative goal difference.

Austria were on the front foot from the outset but created little of note until David Alaba delivered a dangerous corner into the centre of the box and Baumgartner toed his finish beyond Georgi Bushchan after 21 minutes.

Baumgartner had taken a blow to his head prior to scoring and eventually made way after going down again, but his team-mates continued to pose the greater threat and Marko Arnautovic should have done better than prod a tame effort wide three minutes before the break.

Ukraine's best first-half chance saw Daniel Bachmann slightly fortunate as his parry from Mykola Shaparenko's shot narrowly evaded Andriy Yarmolenko.

Shevchenko's side showed scant improvement after the interval, yet Austria's inability to add a second set up a nervy last 10 minutes.

Even then, Ukraine could not muster a second effort on target, their exciting play in the first two matches quickly forgotten as they failed to prey on their opponents' evident nerves.

 

What does it mean? First-half flurry just about enough

In the first half, Austria had eight corners and 13 shots – second only to Italy's 14 against Turkey through 45 minutes in the tournament. This attacking endeavour secured their first ever half-time lead at a European Championship.

It was still an extremely profligate performance, though, and Austria will surely be punished by Italy if they similarly fail to take their chances again.

Alaba always looks most likely

Having fulfilled a variety of roles for his country, Alaba settled back into the left-back position in which he established himself at Bayern Munich. Even from there, though, he was Austria's chief creative force.

Four first-half key passes brought Alaba only one shy of Martin Harnik's single-game Austria record at the Euros (five vs Croatia in 2008).

Arnautovic almost costs his country

While it might be a little harsh to criticise an Austria player after a vital victory, Arnautovic's failure to effectively put the game beyond Ukraine could so easily have proven costly.

Returning to the side following suspension, Arnautovic had four shots but scarcely troubled Bushchan, who faced 18 attempts yet only four on target.

What's next?

Austria know their travel plans, but Ukraine – already behind four-point Switzerland, third in Group A – must wait and see if they have another match or are instead heading home.

England players Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell have been forced to self-isolate after coming into close contact with Billy Gilmour – the Scotland midfielder who tested positive for coronavirus.

Gilmour was named man of the match in Scotland's 0-0 Euro 2020 Group D draw at Wembley on Friday but it was confirmed on Monday he would have to isolate for 10 days, forcing him out of Tuesday's crunch clash with Croatia at Hampden Park.

England also conclude their group campaign with a match against the Czech Republic at Wembley, although manager Gareth Southgate has now had his plans disrupted after Mount and Chilwell interacted with their Chelsea team-mate.

"We don't know at the moment," Southgate said when asked at a pre-match news conference whether the pair would be available to play. 

"There's got to be quite a doubt but there's still a lot of discussions and investigations going on behind the scenes,

"At the moment they are isolating, we just have to find out over the next 12 hours or so."

The duo returned negative lateral flow tests on Monday and trained with their international colleagues but, on the advice of Public Health England, they will now be kept away from the rest of Southgate's squad and backroom staff until further advice is received.

"As a precaution at this time and in consultation with Public Health England, Ben Chilwell and Mason Mount are isolating after interaction with Scotland player Billy Gilmour at Friday's match," a statement published on England's official Twitter account read.

"The pair will be kept away from the rest of the England players and wider support team, pending further discussions with Public Health England.

"The entire squad had lateral flow tests on Monday afternoon and all were again negative, as was the case with Sunday's UEFA pre-match PCR tests.

"We will continue to follow all COVID-19 protocols and the UEFA testing regime, while remaining in close contact with Public Health England."

In the event of a 10-day isolation period, beginning from their contact with Gilmour, Mount and Chilwell would be ruled out of facing the Czech Republic – who are level on four points with England at the top of the group – but would be available to return for a potential last-16 encounter on Monday or Tuesday of next week, providing they do not return a positive COVID-19 test in the interim period.

Left-back Chilwell is yet to feature for England at Euro 2020 and did not make the matchday squad for their opening 1-0 win over Croatia.

Mount, who had been due to take part in the news conference alongside his boss, has been an integral part of Southgate's side for some time, however, starting both Three Lions' matches at the tournament so far.

England's performance in the draw with Scotland was heavily criticised and if Mount has to sit out against the Czechs, it would only further increase the clamour for Aston Villa's Jack Grealish to be handed a starting berth.

Memphis Depay and Georginio Wijnaldum were in fine form as they inspired an easy 3-0 win for the Netherlands over North Macedonia on Monday, as the Oranje scored two goals in 10 successive games for the first time ever.

Frank de Boer's men were already confirmed as Group C winners and their opponents' Euro 2020 campaign was over regardless of the result in Amsterdam, and although North Macedonia put up a spirited fight, the Dutch outclassed them in the end.

A thrilling first half saw the Netherlands under pressure in spells, with Ivan Trickovski having a goal disallowed and Aleksandar Trajkovski hitting the upright, though the Oranje looked sharp going forward and went ahead through Depay.

The new Barcelona signing then teed up Wijnaldum to make it 2-0 and also played a major role in the latter's second of the day, as the Netherlands won all three group stage games at a European Championship for only the third time.

An agonisingly tight offside call that was verified by VAR denied Trickovski an early opener as he went fractionally early to reach a flick from Goran Pandev, making his final international appearance.

Pandev's ingenuity wreaked havoc again in the 22nd minute, a clever lay-off teeing up Trajkovski whose 20-yard effort crashed off the post.

But two minutes later it was 1-0 to the Oranje, Donyell Malen squaring to Depay for an easy finish at the end of a rapid breakaway that started with Pandev being clattered by Daley Blind.

The Netherlands' dominance resumed after the interval, as Depay passed across the face of goal for Wijnaldum to tap home.

The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder then got his second on the rebound after Depay had been denied at the end of an incisive move, before substitute Wout Weghorst hammered against the crossbar.

Pandev was withdrawn with the game beyond North Macedonia in the 69th minute, his team-mates giving him a guard of honour as he trudged off into international retirement, and their final chance for celebration was taken away as Darko Churlinov's well-taken goal was wiped out for offside.

What does it mean? The Netherlands show their class but doubts remain

There have been times in Euro 2020 – including in this match – when the Netherlands have arguably played the best football on display. For all of the pre-tournament sneering at De Boer, his men have, largely, dealt well with their group phase.

But it still feels a little early to have a comprehensive idea of just how far they will go. After all, most would have expected them to comfortably beat North Macedonia, and they did have a brief wobble against Ukraine.

There is a real possibility that they could get one of France, Germany or Portugal in the next round. Either way, the Dutch will entertain whoever they face.

What's next?

As Group C winners, Netherlands will next play a third-placed team from either Group D, E or F in the last 16. North Macedonia's tournament is over and are not in action again until September when World Cup qualification resumes.