European Championship
Origins and development of the Eurocup || France 1960 || Spain 1964 || Italy 1968 || Belgium 1972 || Yugoslavia 1976 || Italy 1980 || France 1984 || FRG 1988 || Sweden 1992 || England 1996 || Belgium-Netherlands 2000 || Portugal 2004 || Austria-Switzerland 2008 || Poland-Ukraine 2012 || France 2016 || England 2020
ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT
OF THE EUROCUP
The European Championship for National
Squads is, as well as the World Cup and Champion Clubs Cup, a French creation. Whereas the latter were devised and
implemented by two journalists (Jules Rimet and Gabriel Hanot, respectively),
the European Championship was conceived by Henri Delaunay, General Secretary of
the French Football Federation, back in 1927, in order to create a European
competition similar to America Cup (with an increasing popularity in the New
Continent). However, thirty years had to pass until his project took shape and
gained boost in
In its first editions of 1960 and 1964, the Nations
Cup lacked true notoriety. After a series of double-legged knock-out rounds―a format similar to that of Champion
Clubs Cup―the competition ended up in a final stage
gathering the four semifinalists in one country. The semifinals, third-place game, and final
were played in the same week and without a true international attention.
Starting in the third edition (1968), the competition
adjusted to a new format and received its present name: European Championship.
Although the final stage at a host country was preserved, the preliminary
knock-out rounds were suppressed. Instead, a qualifying leage stage was established,
with teams distributed in different groups (similarly to the qualifying stage
of the World Cup). Each group champion accessed a 1/4 final round, and winners
qualified for the final stage. Although the tournament became more and more
popular in
It had to be the Italian Artemio Franchi, president
of UEFA, who proposed the idea of increasing the number of participants in the
final stage to eight squads. This new format of the European Championship began
to be applied in the edition of 1980, whose final stage took place in
From the 1996 edition on, with the creation of
new European federations, the final stage was extended to sixteen teams divided
in four groups, with champions and runners-up qualifying for a quarterfinal
round. In addition, the
“Golden Goal” rule was introduced in the final: the first team to score in
extra-time will win the game, with no need to play the remaining time. The
edition of year 2000 had as a main novelty the joint organization of the competition
by two countries:
From the first edition of 1960 until 2008,
Seventeen countries accepted to participate
in the first edition of Nations Cup. This, in itself, posed a problem as the
first round of the competition was to be run on a straight home-and-away
knockout basis. That hurdle was overcome by playing a preliminary round to
eliminate the “excess” country, and it fell to Ireland and Czechoslovakia to
compete for the 16th place (although chronologically it wasn’t the first game
in the history of the competition, that being the eight-final round match USSR
vs. Hungary played in September 1958). In the first leg played in
The draw for the first round and quarterfinals was made
in Sweden during the World Cup finals, but it passed almost unnoticed by the
world’s press amidst the excitement of the World Cup itself. The first name
out of the hat was that of the USSR, who were drawn against Hungary. Thus,
the first match of the European Nations Cup proper was played on September
28, 1958 in Moscow’s Lenin Stadium (also known as Central Stadium, and later
Luzhniki) before a crowd of 100,572 spectators. Neither the USSR nor Hungary
had had a very successful participation in the 1958 World Cup and, as a consequence,
both fielded much changed teams. The USSR began with the sort of cavalry charge
associated with the mighty Hungarian team of the early 50s and took a fourth-minute
lead through Anatolij Il’in. The Russian pressure continued and they were
unfortunate to be denied a second six minutes later, when the Austrian referee
Herr Grill disallowed a seemingly good goal by Nikita Simonjan. The USSR maintained
their momentum, pinning Hungary back in their own half by an endless series
of attacks down both flanks, until, inevitably, scoring a second goal when
right winger Slava Metreveli cracked in a shot from the edge of the area.
Although 2-0 up after only 20 minutes, still the Russians did not ease back
and, in the 32nd minute, Valentin Ivanov, the best Soviet player, scored a
brilliant solo goal to cap an outstanding first-half display. In the second
half, however, the Magyars pulled themselves together and pushed the USSR
onto the defensive. The Russian defense, solidly organized around Anatolij
Masljonkin, held out until the 84th minute, when János Göröcs scored a consolation
goal. The second leg was played almost one year later, on September 27, 1959,
before 78,481 rain-soaked spectators in Budapest. The Hungarians drafted back
keeper Gyula Grosics, playmaker József Bozsik and other ageing stars from
their great side of the early 50s. The USSR also brought back veteran players
like Lev Yashin and Igor’ Netto, and clinched the game and the tie when Yurij
Vojnov scored the only goal in the second half.
Of the countries that entered the first European Nations
Cup, France had made the best showing in the 1958 World Cup, and they cruised
into the quarterfinal round with a 8-2 aggregate win over Greece. The rest
of first round ties produced few surprises, with straight wins (home and away)
for Spain over Poland, Austria over Norway and Portugal over East Germany,
while Yugoslavia won in Belgrade and drew the return leg in Sofia to dispatch
neighbors Bulgaria, and Czechoslovakia drew in Denmark and crushed the Danish
in Brno 5-1. The remaining tie, Romania vs. Turkey, was the closest of the
round, with home wins for each country. Romania just held out in the second
leg to win the tie 3-2 on aggregate.
The most attractive tie in the quarterfinal round, USSR
vs. Spain, was never played. The Spanish government of General Franco, unable
to forget the Russian participation in the Republican side during the Spanish
Civil War, vetoed the trip of the national squad to Moscow for the first leg.
The Russians refused to play this game at a neutral venue, and as a consequence
Spain was disqualified from the tournament and the USSR received a walk-over.
In the other ties, France and Czechoslovakia progressed with straight wins
over Austria and Romania, respectively, whereas Yugoslavia lost their first
leg in Portugal (2-1) but won the second leg in Belgrade (5-1) to confirm
their semifinal place.
France was selected as the venue for the final stage.
In general, it was a very disappointing tournament, both for the poor quality
of the games and the low attendances (compared with those of the qualifying
stage). In the absence of the great European squads during the first edition
of Nations Cup, it had to be two countries from East Europe, USSR and Yugoslavia,
who played the final. The Soviets won 2-1 after extra-time, thanks mainly
to the extraordinary display of their goalkeeper, Lev Yashin, aka “Black Spider.”
The Russian player, famous for always dressing in black and wearing a cap,
caught the attention of the not so big crowd in Parc des Princes with superb
saves, some runs away from the goal line (something very unusual for goalkeepers
of his time), and precise passes both with his hands and his feet. However,
Yugoslavia took the lead just before halftime thanks to a goal by Milan Galić.
Slava Metreveli’s equalizer at the beginning of the second half again settled
the game. After a 1-1 score at the end of regulation, an extra-time had to
be played. It was then when a header by the powerful central attacker Viktor
Ponedel'nik, just six minutes from the end, turned out to be the decisive
goal that granted the victory to the USSR. It was the triumph of the Russian
solid defense and effectiveness over the brilliant and technical play of Yugoslavia.
The second edition of Nations Cup was organized on the
same home-and-away straight knockout basis as the first edition, but this time
29 out of the 33 eligible European federations agreed to compete, as the
tournament’s interest had increased. The only absences of West Germany,
Scotland, Finland and Cyprus went largely unnoticed. This time, the draw for
the first elimination round was wisely scheduled after the completion of the
1962 World Cup. Spain, the host nation for the final stage, was drawn first and
found themselves up against Romania. The absence of seeding threw up an
outstanding first round tie: England vs. France.
The four semifinalists after the qualifying rounds
(USSR, Spain, Hungary, and Denmark) gathered in Spain to play the final stage
of the tournament. In the first semifinal, the hosts defeated Hungary after an
extra-time and a goal by right winger Amancio only five minutes from the end.
In the second semifinal, the USSR got easily rid of Denmark (3-0).
Almost as a mock of destiny, the final was played in a
fully packed Santiago Bernabéu stadium―with the very special attendance of
Generalissimo Franco in the VIP balcony―by Spain and the USSR, after these two
teams could not decide their knock-out match in the former edition of 1960 due
to political problems: Franco did not allow the Spanish squad to travel to
Russia, due to the lack of diplomatic relations between the Spanish Regime and
the Communist Block. Who knows what would have happened if the USSR had
won this final in Madrid, and Franco is in the juncture of showing the cup to
the Soviet team… In any case, this possibility was ruled out by the Spanish
victory.
The game had a spectacular beginning. Pereda scored
first for Spain in the early minutes, although Khusainov equalized almost
immediately. From that moment on, under an intense rain, Spain showed
a greater dominance of the game, although the USSR also had some good chances
to score. It wasn’t until minute 84 when a spectacular plungeon of Marcelino,
following a center cross by Pereda (not Amancio, as can be seen on TV due
to an incorrect montage of the images), was the decisive goal that meant the
victory of Spain. It was a short, yet well-deserved, win of a squad
trained by José Villalonga and having in Luis Suárez one of their best players.
Spain entered thus the list of Eurocup winners, with the hope to conquer more
championships in the future. But time did not confirm these expectations,
and up to date (2008) the European Championship of 1964 was the only international
title in the history of Spanish football (disregarding the Olympic Games in
1992).
The third edition of Eurocup—known from now
on as European Championship after the change of name was approved via
UEFA Congress—saw the number of participants increase to 31. Both for this
high number of entrants and for the change of competition format, Italy 1968
can be considered as the first modern European Championship, and it was then
clearly established as Europe’s premier tournament. Following the qualifying
system of the World Cup, the national squads were divided into eight groups,
with only winners advancing to the final stage. Also, following the FIFA World
Cup routine, seeding was applied to these groups. The greatest surprise was
the elimination of West Germany, runner-up after Yugoslavia in a group with
only three teams. After a qualifying round of quarterfinals, four squads obtained
the passport for the final stage in Italy: the hosts, USSR (a classic in this
round), Yugoslavia (with outstanding players like Osim and Džajić) and England (led by Bobby Charlton,
who had just won the Champions Cup with Manchester United).
In the first semifinal, played in Naples, Italy needed
the help of San Paolo to defeat the USSR. After a 0-0 stalemale at the end
of regulation and extra-time, the toss of a coin would decide the winner of
the game. The drawing was held in the dressing-room, with the referee and
the captains of both teams. Giacinto Facchetti finally came out and announced
the good news for Italy, to the indescribable joy of a crowd that waited silently
the outcome of this draw. In the second semifinal, played in Florence, the
world champion England was eliminated by a magnificent Yugoslavian team thanks
to a late goal by Dragan Džajić.
However, the great midfielder Ivica Osim was injured after a tough English
defense and couldn’t play the final.
The final in the Olympic Stadium of Rome was a game full
of passion.
The champion of this edition, FRG, won the
title thanks to a brilliant, solid, and basically effective play which didn’t
give options to their rivals. Well organized around their three main stars—Franz
Beckenbauer in defense, Günter Netzer in the midfield, and Gerd
"Torpedo" Müller in the attack—West Germany began to gain their
legend of rocky and invincible team that would be magnified two years later
with the conquest of the World Cup in their own country. As the English striker
Gary Lineker once stated, “Football is a sport with 11 players in which the
Germans always win.”
W
The semifinals, celebrated simultaneously in Antwerp and
The fifth edition of the European
Championship is the last one in which the final stage is played by only four
teams. European sides had fared particularly well in the 1974 World Cup, with
six of the last eight finalists from
In
In the final stage of
In the final,
Major competition changes were introduced
for the sixth edition of the European Championship. For the first time, the
host country for the finals was selected before the beginning of the qualifying
rounds. Previously, it had been the policy to choose one of the four semifinalists
as hosts, but because the finals themselves were also changed to allow for
eight national squads (instead of four, as before), this was no longer practicable.
Also, as in the World Cup, the host country received automatic qualification
for the final stage. The eight participants in the finals were divided into
two groups of four teams each. The semifinals were entirely dispensed with,
and instead the group winners qualified directly for the final, whereas the
runners-up played the third-place match. This new format was devised by UEFA
in order to increase the sport interest (and also the revenue) of the competition. However,
things didn’t turn out to be as expected, because the final stage of Italy
was characterized by the poor quality of games and low audiences (in Rome,
Naples, Milano, and Torino, attendances were disappointing, except for the
games of Italy).
After their failure in the preceding
edition of Eurocup, a renewed and young West Germany was able to win the title
after defeating Belgium in the final. The team coached by Jupp Derwall,
with classy players such as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bernd Schuster, Hans-Peter
Briegel, Uli Stielike, and Horst Hrubesch, qualified easily in their group.
Belgium, on the other hand, surprisingly ended up ahead of Italy, England, and
Spain, squads theoretically more powerful than the Belgian side. The final,
held in the Olympic Stadium of Rome, was a balanced match that was finally
decided thanks to a late goal by Hamburger’s striker Horst Hrubesch.
Two years after their memorable semifinal
in 1982 World Cup in
Further changes were made in the competition
system of the seventh edition of the European Championship finals, bringing
them in line with the World Cup. By popular demand, straight knockout semifinal
games were re-introduced for the top two countries from each qualifying group,
and the third-place match was entirely dispensed with. The qualifying stage
brought about the elimination of teams like
The greatest surprise of the Final Stage was the elimination
of
With two titles backing them, West Germany
was the host of the 1988 edition of the European Championship, which had great
expectations thanks to the presence of top level squads like Holland, England,
Italy, Spain, USSR and, of course, the hosts FRG. The title holder, France, was
surprisingly eliminated in the qualifying round.
Outside of sport, this edition of the
European Championship was tainted by the violent clashes between English
hooligans and German supporters (especially serious in Düsseldorf).
Unsurprisingly, FRG,
The final between
The champion of this edition,
The 9th series of the European Championship
began at a time of momentous change throughout
In the final stage,
In order to revitalize the competition, and
following the enlargement of their member federations to over 40 countries,
UEFA decided to introduce new modifications in Eurocup 96. The Final Stage
would be extended to 16 teams divided in four groups. The four countries that
had expressed an interest in staging the finals—Austria, England, Netherlands
and Portugal—were thus viewed as potential hosts in the light of the
requirement that they had eight stadia of sufficient size and quality to
accommodate the sixteen finalist. English clubs, having been excluded from
European competitions following the Heysel tragedy in 1985, had been
re-admitted recently without any serious hooligan problems, and this opened the
door for
Forty-seven countries (the largest-ever entry)
participated in the preliminary round, divided in seven groups of six teams
and one of five. The group winners and the best runners-up qualified for the
final stage, whereas the two worst runners-up played-off for the last berth.
As usual, the host country (
Dissapointing from the sporting point of view (with a
goal average of only 2.06 goals per game), the European Championship in England
would go down in history as the first in which the final was decided thanks to
the “Golden Goal,” which grants the victory to the first team to score a goal
in extra-time (in this case Germany, who obtained their third European
championship). Outside of sport, the Eurocup of England was positively
marked by the absence of serious incidents between the fans (given the violent
precedents of English hooligans in international competitions).
Without playing a spectacular football, Germany proved
to be a solid defensive block throughout the tournament (only received three
goals in six games), with a good team attitude of all their members and the
experience of players like Matthias Sammer, Thomas Häßler, Andreas Möller and
Jürgen Klinsmann. However, the most decisive man of the final against the
In spite of losing the final, the
For the first time in the history of the
competition, two countries were chosen to jointly organize the Final Stage of
the European Championship: the games of this phase would be equally played in
The final was played between France (current
World Cup champions) and
Without a doubt, the European Championship
celebrated in Portugal will be remembered by the enormous surprise of having
Greece as the final winner, since the Hellenic team didn’t count in any of the
bets before the competition. Some of the favorites in the Final Stage (Spain,
Italy, Germany) didn’t even make it past the group phase, whereas the teams
that showed the best play of the tournament, Czech Republic and Netherlands,
were eliminated in semifinals. The defensive play that qualified Greece for the
final proved to be their best weapon when they also beat host Portugal in the
decisive game thanks to a single goal by Charisteas.
In spite of playing an unimpressive
football, the success of the Greek team lies in a very solid team play
inculcated by German coach Otto Rehhagel. Their victory against Portugal in the
initial game, which many considered as an “accident,” was just the introduction
card of Greece for the rest of the tournament: ironlike defense, order and
cohesion between all their lines, and maximum profit of scoring opportunities.
The football style practiced by Greece during the competition re-opened the
eternal discussion between defenders and opposers of defensive play, which
Italy used so successfully during many years.
If Greece was the unexpected winner of the tournament,
the biggest disappointment fell to the Czech Republic. The brilliant generation
of players led by Pavel Nedvĕd undoubtedly played the best football of the
tournament until semifinals, winning all their games and showing a high quality
play (especially against the Netherlands, in one of the best games of the
competition). However, the great Czech football was unable to neutralize the
solid defensive play of Greece, which took the most of one of their scarce
opportunities and qualified for the final.
As in previous editions, Portugal 2004 was a showcase
for new football stars, like English Wayne Rooney (top scorer of the
tournament) and Czech Milan Baroš.
Forty-four years later, Spain won again the
European Championship, and they did it in style, proving that quality play
can also win titles. Although the Spanish team has always had classy players,
on this occasion they also showed the psychological strength and determination
to overcome their historical complexes and conquer a major tournament. Coach
Luis Aragonés is to be commended for this, as he underwent much criticism
in the Spanish media for not selecting Real Madrid’s star Raúl for the tournament,
but in the end his decision proved right, as Spain played as a solid block,
in which no player was more important than others and they all contributed
equally.
The Eurocup organized jointly by Austria and Switzerland
will go down in history as one of the best in recent years, with some excellent
games (in particular Netherlands-Italy and Netherlands-Russia), plenty of
thrill and the best team of the tournament as final winner. The competition
left some great moments of football, like the qualification games of Holland
(with amazing victories over Italy and France), the revival of Russia after
a shaky start (led by its star Arshavin), and especially the incredible comebacks
of a combative Turkish team (they won three games with goals in the last minutes).
Individually, the Eurocup will be remembered for the outstanding performances
of Roman Pavljuchenko (incredible speed and coordination for a striker as
tall as him), the also Russian Andrej Arshavin (who couldn’t play the first
games due to a sanction, but then showed his class against Sweden and Holland),
and Spanish forward David Villa (top scorer of the tournament, even though
he couldn’t play the final due to injury). In general, all the Spanish players
showed a high level, and it’s difficult to highlight one in particular, although
midfielder Xavi Hernández deservedly earned the award of MVP of the tournament
thanks to his vision of play and intelligent passes. On the side of disappointments,
there is Luca Toni (who was completely missing in the games he played), Cristiano
Ronaldo (who once again failed to live up to expectations in decisive games,
as he did before in the Champions League final with Manchester United), and
the French team (who suffered the consequences of the generational change).
In the case of Greece, their early elimination was not as surprising as their
unexpected success four years before, thanks to the same stingy and ultra-defensive
play which, on this occasion, was deservedly punished.
Another note left by the Eurocup was the confirmation
that Germany is one of the most competitive teams in the world. Although the
Germans have been missing world-class players for many years, the history
behind their shirt (and also their combativeness and psychological strength)
always seems to give them the edge they need to qualify for finals.
Spain made history after becoming the first national squad to win three consecutive major tournaments back-to-back. Although Vicente del Bosque's side was heavily criticized during the competition for being “boring” and playing with no recognized strikers, they proved that they’re still in a league of their own and saved the best for last to produce a majestic display to beat Italy 4-0 in the final, thus completing a marvelous triad of two European Championships (2008, 2012) and a World Cup (2010).
Despite all the criticism around the play of La Roja in Euro 2012, the statistics prove that, in fact, they improved their numbers with respect to previous tournaments. For example, Spain averaged 626.3 passes per match—more than they did at the 2010 World Cup (588)—and 60.03% possession per game, more than any other side in Euro 2012. Despite playing with no recognized striker for most of the competition, they scored more goals (12) and conceded less (1) than any other team. Spain’s 4-0 win over Italy is the biggest-winning margin ever recorded in a World Cup or European Championship final. The Spanish captain Iker Casillas became the first player to reach 100 international wins.
The Group Stage of the competition produced few surprises,
left aside the predicted elimination of co-hosts Poland and Ukraine and the
not so predictable failure of Netherland (World Cup runners-up) and Russia.
Germany was the most impressive team at this stage, winning all their games
in the so-called “Group of Death” (also with Holland, Portugal and Denmark).
All the favorites qualified after the quarterfinals, producing four big names
in the semifinals (Spain, Germany, Italy, Portugal). Whereas Spain qualified
for the final on penalty kicks in the Iberian derby with Cristiano Ronaldo’s
Portugal (with the star Real Madrid attacker once again failing to live up
to expectations in a crucial game), Italy shockingly defeated heavy favorites
Germany in the second semifinal with a masterful display by Andrea Pirlo and
two goals by Mario Balotelli. In the final, the Spanish play was too much
for the Italians, who had to bow down to the best football team in history
(as it was unanimously proclaimed after Euro 2012).
Portugal, eternal underachievers, won their first major tournament at the end of a roller coaster of a competition, and they did it without their star player Cristiano Ronaldo, who was injured early into the final and had to be replaced. Substitute Éder became the Portuguese hero by scoring the winner in extra time, in what was the second-latest goal in a Euro final, four minutes before Viktor Ponedel'nik’s goal for the Soviet Union in 1960. The Portuguese victory came at the end of a tournament highlighted by the elimination of some big names like Spain (defending European champion) and Germany (world champion) and the emergence of new names like Wales and Iceland. Ironically, the teams who offered a better football proposal (Croatia, Hungary, Belgium) were eliminated early in the competition, whereas Portugal and France, who struggled throughout the tournament, made it to the final. In the end, the Portuguese became the new European champions after winning just a single game in regulation time and surviving three extra times and a penalty shoot-out.
The European Championship was expanded to a record 24 teams to allow for a series of growing football nations, and the new competition system proved its worth, as the new arrivals not only didn’t fall behind the traditional names, but in some cases produced some shocking surprises. The likes of Wales, Iceland, Hungary and Albania showed that European football has progressed everywhere in the continent. The most improved teams were Gareth Bale-led Wales (who made it to the semifinals) and the sensational Iceland, the smallest country ever to participate in the European Championship, who produced the biggest surprise in the history of the competition by defeating England with a simple but effective football (only to fall in the quarterfinals to host France). On the other hand, defending champions Spain had a disappointing performance and was eliminated by Italy, whereas world champions Germany, heavily favored after showing the most consistent play throughout the tournament, fell to a clinical France in the semifinal and failed in their attempt to win back-to-back major tournaments (like Spain did between 2008 and 2012).
Despite the fresh air brought by the new arrivals, the football level of Euro 2016 was by and large disappointing, highlighted only by some moments of magic (such as Xherdan Shaqiri’s magnificent scissor-kick goal against Poland), late drama (a record number of games were decided by goal scored in the final minutes) and several acts of hooliganism (despite the tight security measures). Individually, the most remarkable players of Euro 2016 were Antoine Griezmann (the tournament’s top scorer and the inspiration of the French attack), Cristiano Ronaldo (decisive for Portugal on their way to the final, despite his early injury), Gareth Bale (the engine behind the Welsh miracle), Dimitri Payet (one of the tournament’s sensations) and Mario Gómez (a scoring guarantee at the front of the German attack). Iceland is also to be commended; for a team with many amateur players and not a single star, they produced a very solid performance topped by an amazing victory over England. On the disappointing side there are Thomas Müller (who went by another European tournament without scoring a single goal, not even in the penalty shoot-out against Italy), Wayne Rooney (at the end of his football career), Zlatan Ibrahimović (unable to help Sweden advance beyond the group stage) and the whole Spanish team (the end of a glorious generation).
Although a year behind schedule due to the world pandemic, Euro 2020 could finally be held in the summer of 2021. Italy, after the tremendous setback of not qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, became European champions by beating England in a penalty shoot-out and achieved the glory that had eluded them for more than 50 years, with an eye-catching and attacking game that has made fans forget the traditional Italian catenaccio —although curiously the key to their success has been their goalkeeper, Gianluigi Donnarumma (selected best player of the tournament), and their veteran center-back duo, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini (a guarantee of defensive solidity). England, despite playing at home all but one of their tournament games, were unable to win their first ever European title and once again lost in a penalty shoot-out, as they did in the Euro 1996 semifinals against Germany, when the current coach Gareth Southgate missed the decisive spot-kick. Despite Luke Shaw's early goal in the final against Italy, England’s speculative approach ended up being penalized by the Italian effectiveness... and by bad luck, as Southgate's gamble on Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford, who were brought on in the final moments of extra-time to take the penalties, misfired as both players missed their kicks from 11 meters.
Spain, after a shaky group stage, in which they had to overcome their poor play, rival defenses and the poor state of La Cartuja pitch —which coach, players and press complained bitterly about after the matches but nobody cared to supervise during the previous months—, lost in the semifinals to Italy on penalties. Despite his youth (18 years old), FC Barcelona's midfielder Pedri González was one of the rising stars of Euro 2020 and won the title of best young player of the tournament, after taking part in all of La Roja's matches and achieving a passing efficiency of 92.3%. Cristiano Ronaldo, despite not being able to help Portugal retain their title, won the Golden Boot trophy with five goals (tied with Czech striker Patrik Schick but ahead of him by one more goal assist than his rival). Like the other two qualifiers in the so-called "group of death" (Germany and France), Portugal was knocked out in the round of 16. Other great favorites to win the European Championship, Belgium (number one in the FIFA ranking) and the Netherlands (after a spectacular group stage), were eliminated in the final rounds after disappointing performances against Italy and the Czech Republic (respectively).
However, the real protagonist of Euro 2020 (albeit in a negative way) was Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen, who in the 43rd minute of Denmark's opening match against Finland collapsed on the pitch of Copenhagen's Parken as a result of a cardiac arrest and, as one of the doctors who treated him in the emergency room admitted, "he was dead for a few moments." Thanks to the rapid intervention of the medical team and the use of a defibrillator, Eriksen was stabilized on the pitch and taken to a medical center in the Danish capital, where he recovered and was able to follow enthusiastically the brilliant trajectory of Denmark, who recovered amazingly after losing their first two group matches and went on to reach the semifinals, where they lost to England after a controversial penalty awarded to the local team following a flagrant dive by Raheem Sterling without the Danish Joakim Mæhle even touching him, which the VAR, the new review technology introduced in this edition of the Euro, not only didn’t disallow, but incredibly ratified as a penalty.
Euro 2020 was the highest-scoring tournament in history, with 142 goals in the 51 matches played (2.79 goals per game). Overall, the quality was far superior to previous editions, with some spectacular matches —such as Germany-Portugal (4-2), Netherlands-Ukraine (3-2) and France-Switzerland (3-3 and Swiss victory on penalties after coming from two goals down to the world champions in the last ten minutes)— and goals for the history of the tournament —such as Patrik Schick's second against Scotland from midfield and Pedri's own goal in the Spain-Croatia match after a terrible blunder by goalkeeper Unai Simón when trying to control the ball sent to him by his teammate, which ended up becoming the farthest own goal in the history of the European Championship (from 45 meters).
|
© www.linguasport.com Website designed and maintained by Santiago Velasco |