UEFA EURO 2020 Review
The long awaited international football tournament has come to an end and it sure delivered on the hype that has been built up coming into it. Incredible goals, unexpected upsets, dramatic moments - there were tons of the them scattered around the 1 month of football. It was a great journey that proved that the extra year’s wait was all worth it.
I’m going to go review the entire the tournament, beginning with going through each group, and then taking a look into each knockout game individually. I hope to make this as comprehensive but compact as possible.
Whenever a team gets eliminated, I’ll try to give some of my general thoughts on them.
Let’s get the show on the road.
Group Stage
Group A
Italy set the tone for the tournament from the very start. In the opening game against Turkey in Rome, the Italians had no trouble taking 3 points from the game as they won 3-0. You could extrapolate the data from that single game and you would get the gist of how the tournament went for those two teams.
Italy went on to top the group after also beating Switzerland 3-0, before also taking a win against Wales despite rotating their entire starting 11.
As for Turkey, the supposed “dark horse” of the tournament ended up bombing out bottom with 0 points after lacklustre performances in all of their games. Wales completely picked them apart with great movement from Aaron Ramsey on the last defender. In their game for everything against Switzerland, they managed to stop total embarrassment by at least scoring a goal, but the Swiss scored 3 to make Turkey the worst team at the tournament.
Wales and Switzerland shared a point in their game and both won against Turkey while they lost to Italy. Their placement was determined by the margin that they lost to Italy. Wales had the benefit of playing a Italy side that had nothing to play for as the Italians settled for a 1-0 win. This meant that after Italy, the Welsh came out from the group second with Switzerland making it out 3rd. 4 points was almost always going to be enough to put you through from the third position and that turned out to be true at this event.
Turkey Eliminated:
Not to brag but I did consider Turkey as a high variance team. I knew they had the potential to bomb out like they did, albeit I thought they would be able to buckle their ideas up and pull through the Knockout Stage at the very least.
They set up to counter attack in their games but they didn’t seem to have any idea on how to move the ball up the pitch. It didn’t help that they had isolated Burak Yilmaz upfront who can’t have much left in the tank at the ripe age of 35.
For a counter attacking system to work, a strong defence is necessary. Sadly the Turks had anything but that as they let their opponents go right past them without any problems. In the game against Wales that was the most clear. Ramsey could have had a hat-trick in that game if he was more clinical in front of the goal.
Definitely the worst team of the tournament and given the predictions for them by many people, they were the biggest disappointment of the tournament too.
Group B
Although there were many beautiful moments during the tournament, one moment could only be described as a horrific tragedy. In the 43rd minute in first game of Group B between Denmark and Finland, Christian Eriksen collapsed on the pitch suddenly and was unconscious for a while as he received medical attention with everyone praying that he survives.
Eriksen was confirmed to be conscious as he was taken to the nearest hospital where he was stabilised. It turned out that he suffered a cardiac arrest and was obviously unable to come back to play for Denmark at the tournament. In fact, it is being said that he will likely never be able to play another professional match again. It’s incredibly sad but the minutes of Denmark players protecting him while doctors attempted to bring him back to a conscious state were nerve-wracking. People were worried of the worst outcome, but thankfully Christian was brought back and he feels great as of right now.
The match was initially called off, but was restarted a few hours later from the moment the tragic collapse happened. With the emotional state that the Denmark players were in, it was hard to imagine them playing at their best at that moment of time. Finland scored the only goal to win the match which turned out to be their only goal at the event.
Belgium looked convincing during the Group Stage. Their win against Russia was one-sided and they mounted a nice comeback against Denmark after being 1 goal down after 2 minutes of play.
With Russia winning the against Finland, this set up a very interesting final day for the group. Belgium was already through but the remaining 3 teams still had plenty to play for. Russia and Finland were on 3 points while Denmark was still on 0. Denmark was to play Russia with Finland taking on Belgium on the final day.
The team to go through kept changing throughout the night multiple times. What ended up happening was that Denmark beat Russia 4-1 with their erupt crowd supporting them during the game. Their goal tally didn’t matter for a long time as Finland were able to keep Belgium away from their own goal until the 74th minute mark. Belgium added another goal on top of that which sent themselves and Denmark to the next round.
By goal difference, Russia were placed 4th and Finland were 3rd - both on 3 points. Finland were one of the two teams that didn’t make it from 3rd place so both them and Russia were eliminated from the tournament.
Russia Eliminated:
If I’m honest, I don’t recall much of Russia from this tournament. They predictably lost to Belgium and scraped past Finland by a thin margin. Then in the do-or-die game against Denmark, they just fell flat with Denmark completely overrunning them in every department. Their only goal in that game came from a penalty while the Danes bagged in 4 goals.
I’m sure Russia expected a bit more given their relative success from World Cup 2018. Alas they couldn’t recreate the magic from 2018 and got eliminated from the tournament.
Finland Eliminated:
Many considered Finland to be a certain last place for Group B. They’ve proven to be a tough side to beat from the start, albeit Denmark played in tough circumstances. Russia only beat them 1-0 in a game that I don’t remember at all. Then it took Belgium 74 minutes to get a goal against them. Until that point, Finland were going through to the next round but Belgium spoilt the Pukki Party in the end.
I was impressed with their defensive ability during their games and that is about it. Pukki didn’t create much threat. Pohjanpalo was definitely the better of the striker duo and it’s not only because he scored Finland’s only EURO 2020 goal. He looked more dangerous in general.
Good effort but it wasn’t to be, and it never was meant to be.
Group C
Frank de Boer gave the Dutch an early scare when it appeared that Netherlands would bottle a 2-0 lead in 4 minutes against their first opponents; Ukraine, when Yarmolenko and Yaremchuk scored the goals to equalise. The first was a real thunderbolt that only a few could do with their left foot. Alas the dynamic Dutch wing-back Dumfries showed up on the back post to settle the game as a 3-2 win for Netherlands.
With that crucial win, the Dutch were relieved and went on to comfortably convert the games against Austria and North Macedonia into wins; 2-0 and 3-0 respectively.
Elsewhere, North Macedonia lost all their games and it left us with the decider game between Ukraine and Austria for who would advance from second place and who will have to wait to see if they can make it from third place. Austria ended up taking that one 1-0 to send them straight to the Knockout Stage from second place.
Ukraine had to wait until the very end but they did end up making the Knockout Stage too despite only getting 3 points. In fact they were the very last team to make it through.
North Macedonia Eliminated:
Just like Finland, many had North Macedonia as their 0 point fodder for very good reason. This ended up happening but I feel like they’ve shown a little more than what people expected.
Legendary Pandev scoring in the first game against Austria was probably a huge highlight for the nation that competed at a their very first international tournament in football. They held the 1-1 draw for a while before Austria got back in the lead in the 78th minute and added another goal in the 89th minute.
Even against Ukraine, the other well known name from the squad; Alioski, scored a goal to get in touching distance to Ukraine that had a two goal lead before that. Unfortunately North Macedonia couldn’t get anything more from that game.
At this point it was impossible for them to go through and they just simply lost to the best team in the group 3-0.
Hopefully the residents of North Macedonia enjoyed the goals they scored and were proud of what their countrymen achieved. Qualifying for the tournament itself was remarkable - anything else was a bonus.
A great way for Pandev to finish off his national career.
Group D
Group D saw the rise of a very efficient England team that won games against Croatia and Czech Republic, both 1-0, with Raheem Sterling scoring in both games. Although 1-0 wins don’t sound convincing, England were never in threat of conceding and generally looked in control of the games.
England’s game against Scotland was a little different. The Three Lions failed to create any good chances in the game, and many could argue that if anybody deserved the 3 points from the game, it was England’s northern neighbours. The game ended in goalless draw which had many fans question England’s ability to go far in this tournament.
In other news, Group D was home of some of the best goals scored during the tournament. Patrik Schick scored a brace against Scotland to give the Czechs a 2-0 win. Many will remember the game for Schick’s incredible goal from the halfway line where he stroke the ball first-time and managed to lob the Scottish keeper who was far off his line.
The Scots were also victim of the other Goal of the Tournament candidate, but this one came in their last game against Croatia. The World Cup 2018 finalists needed a hero to go through after losing to England and drawing to Czech Republic earlier in the tournament. The score was 1-1 and none other than Croatia’s talisman player, Luka Modric, stepped up in the 62nd minute. The ball was given to him on the edge of the D where he chose to blast the ball with the outside of his boot and direct it right into the top corner of the goal. Perisic scored another goal later on which assured that Croatia would go through to the next stage and Scotland would have to wave their farewell.
Croatia and Czech Republic had 4 points, the same goal difference and have drawn the game against each other. Croatia scored 1 extra goal than the Czechs which meant they were placed 2nd while the Czechs had to be satisfied by coming 3rd. Both teams made it through to the Knockout Stage regardless.
Scotland Eliminated:
I realise that the Scots have gone through more pain and misery than any other nation from the British Isles in the last decade of football. They finally managed to qualify for one of these international tournaments although their chances of making it out from the Group Stage were slim to none.
Even though Scotland didn’t make it in the end, I feel like many Scots would take the final outcome. Their countrymen fought incredibly hard to get a draw against England, in a game that was many had them destined to get battered in. If they were more clinical in front of goal, then we could have been talking about a huge upset in the Group Stage.
The draw against England left them in a do-or-die situation against Croatia in the final Group Stage game. Getting the equaliser must have been a massive boost of hope after conceding early. Alas, like I mentioned earlier, Modric crushed those hopes and dreams and Scotland were ultimately eliminated.
I commend the effort that was put in from Scotland but it is hard to say that they were better than any of the other 3 teams in their group.
It is also worth mentioning that a few key players, including Billy Gilmour who was crucial in the game against England, were not able to play against Croatia due to testing positive for COVID-19. It would have been great to see him in the game to see if he would have made the difference.
Group E
This whole group was all over the place so it’s hard to even find a starting point.
The group began with Slovakia taking a surprising win over Poland after Grzegorz Krychowiak got sent off in the second half just as Poland began building momentum. Skriniar scored off a corner to give 3 points to the Slovaks.
In the other game, Sweden managed to fend off Spain to a goalless draw. Isak was close on several occasions to actual turn the game in favour of Sweden but he wasn’t clinical enough in front of goal.
While Sweden managed to get away with a win due to a penalty against Slovakia, Spain found themselves in trouble again as they have drawn their second game against Poland. Morata’s goal was equalised by Lewandowski on the other side. A minute after Poland scored, Spain were awarded a penalty which was missed by Gerard Moreno. The ball found it’s way right into Morata’s feet after the penalty but he hilariously missed the chance as well. The game finished 1-1 which left the whole group open for the final day.
Spain needed a win against Slovakia and a win is what they got. They beat Slovakia 5-0 in the biggest win of the tournament.
Alongside that game we had Sweden vs Poland where the latter had to win to qualify. Forsberg scored a brace to give the Swedes a 2-0 lead but Lewandowski hit back with a brace of his own just as things looked dire for the Poles. Poland had about 10 minutes to score the winner. They managed to score although the goal was minimally offside. By going all in for the goal, Poland exposed themselves at the back and conceded in the last minute of the game to ultimately lose against Sweden and get eliminated from EURO 2020.
Poland Eliminated:
Everyone had higher expectations for Poland for this tournament. Mostly because they have many recognisable names and undoubtedly one of the best players in the world today in Robert Lewandowski. The star striker could not complain about having the lack of chances at this tournament. I’ve seen many occasions in the 3 games that Poland played where I would expect Lewandowski to score. Even though he did score 3 goals, he had the opportunity to put more away if he was more clinical.
Poland’s failure stems from the opening game against Slovakia. They got a great draw against Spain and fought very hard in the last game against Sweden. The problem was the lacklustre effort that has been put into the that Slovakia game. On top of that, the red card for Krychowiak was more reckless than anything else during this tournament. For a experienced player like him, you would expect better decision making than what was on show.
I want to see more of this Poland squad with Paulo Sousa leading them from the sideline. Piatek and Milik were big misses for them and I think the coach needs more time to mould in some of the newer members of the squad. Players like Moder, Jozwiak and Swiderski have not played for very long for Poland ahead of the tournament and they were expected to start and do the business right away.
It will be hard but curious to see if Poland can qualify for the upcoming World Cup.
Slovakia Eliminated:
Slovakia wasn’t high on anyone’s radar so it doesn’t come as a surprise that they didn’t qualify. With that said, they were closer than anyone would have thought before the tournament started.
The win against Poland came as a surprise but it wasn’t a total fluke. Their counter-attacking was prolific and as much as the red card did help, they still had to score to win the game after the incident.
Knowing that they only needed a draw to advance further. They tried their best to hold Sweden off but a penalty in the 77th minute ruined the plan for them.
Then the game against Spain came and Slovakia just crumbled. I wouldn’t be too surprised if the way they conceded the first goal had anything to do with it. Dubravka had an absolute nightmare where he basically shoved the ball into his own net while his intentions were to toss it over the bar for a corner. Slovakia lost 5-0 and joined Poland in the airport to head back home.
They gave themselves a good chance with the first game but failed to execute the plan in the following two games despite coming close against Sweden.
Group F
Group F lived up to the hype and gave us drama up until the very end. Who would have thought that was to come from the “Group of Death”?
Even though the results in the first set of games were predictable, the way they came about had many people question what would happen later. Hungary kept Portugal to a 0-0 draw up until the 84th minute when Guerreiro scored, opening the floodgates as Ronaldo scored a late brace to end the game 3-0 in favour of Portugal.
We also had a rather boring matchup between France and Germany where the match was decided in the 20th minute where Hummels scored an own goal to put France ahead. Neither team looked good as the game tailed off to the 1-0 win for France, putting some early pressure on Germany.
Fortunately for the Germans, their team rebounded in the very next set of games by providing a phenomenal performance to overcome Portugal in a 4-2 win. This came about despite giving away a penalty in the 15th minute which Ronaldo promptly converted. Portugal just couldn’t handle the German wing-backs that provided incredible threat down the wings. Gosens put on one of the best performances of the tournament in my opinion during this game.
What made the group all that much more interesting was the result of the other game on that day between Hungary and France. With a packed out stadium cheering them on, the Hungarians managed to score first on the tail end of first half after a deadly counter-attack. France recovered to equalise with a goal from Griezmann but a draw is all they got at the end. Not the result that France, nor anybody else, would have expected.
Everyone had everything to play for, including the Hungarians that had no rights competing with the likes of the others in their group. A Hungary win against Germany would mean that they would be the ones to make it to the Knockout Stage. That thought was a just a fantasy until Hungary have only gone and scored in the 11th minute to take lead in Munich. Germany did find the equaliser in the 66th minute after Havertz nodded in a goal from 2 yards, but that didn’t stop Hungary from stopping. Only 2 minutes later, Hungary found it in them to score their second of the night to be in the lead once again. Ultimately Goretzka found the back of the net in the 84th minute and Hungary couldn’t recover again. The game ended in a draw which wasn’t enough for Hungary to qualify.
Simultaneously, Portugal and France took part in a penalty fiesta - 2 were converted by Ronaldo and 1 was scored by Benzema. Benzema added another goal to his tally and the game ended in a 2-2 draw. This meant that France topped the group with 5 points while Germany and Portugal both qualified with 4 points. Germany ended up in 2nd due to beating Portugal in their head-to-head.
Hungary Eliminated:
What made Hungary’s brief run so special was the crowd. The atmosphere was hot for all the games in Budapest because it was the only stadium at full capacity during the Group Stage. They had around 55k capacity and the next closest was with 25k. It was absolutely electric and it certainly helped that Hungary played better than anyone would have expected.
They gave their all against all the giants in their group and tested them to the very end. They were so close to stealing a draw off Portugal. They were in the lead against France, and they were ahead against Germany not once but twice. It came to an unfortunate end where they were eliminated but I’m sure Hungarians would be pleased with what they saw.
All of these incredible nights were without their star player too. Dominik Szoboszlai missed out on the tournament with an injury and it makes you wonder if he would add that extra little bit to send Hungary to that next level and topple one of the heavy hitters.
Round of 16
Wales vs Denmark
For the first game of the Knockout Stage, Denmark’s manager Kasper Hjulmand decided to make a subtle change up front which had Kasper Dolberg playing as the main striker ahead of Yussuf Poulsen. Dolberg hasn’t started any of the games thus far so it was strange to see him playing from the first minute in such a important game.
Clearly Hjulmand knew what he was doing because Dolberg repaid him with 2 goals in the game. The first was a particular beauty as Dolberg cut inside on his right foot and placed the ball in the bottom right corner of the goal past the Welsh keeper.
Joakim Maehle, who has been phenomenal on the right-hand side for Denmark, found himself on the left side this time to bring the ball down from a cross, cut in and rifle the ball into the back of the net for Denamrk’s third.
Harry Wilson got a very late red card which was harsh at the very least.
Denmark got their forth goal in the dying moments of the game to settle the score on 4-0 to advance to the Quarter-finals.
Wales Eliminated:
Very poor performance from Wales in the Round of 16. Apart from a long shot in the first few minutes from Bale that came just wide, the Welsh had zero threat for the remainder of the game.
I didn’t expect prime Brazil football from them but I would have expected them to bet on themselves against this Denmark team.
I’m sure the Welsh won’t be too disheartened with getting knocked out in the Round of 16. The fact that it was a 4-0 thrashing may have left a sour mark but it is what it is. Repeating their feat from EURO 2016 would be nothing short of a miracle.
As always, Bale and Ramsey have been the standouts for the Welsh and everyone else looked below standard. Even the stars had their moments of shame. I saw plenty of sitters that Ramsey missed in the Group Stage and of course Bale had that horrible penalty miss against Turkey.
I think Rob Page should be praised for the work he has down with Wales during his limited time. His circumstance were less than ideal and I think reaching the Round of 16 was something that many Welsh fans would have taken ahead of the tournament.
Italy vs Austria
The first 90 minutes of the game were rather uneventful. There was one moment were Arnautovic actually headed the ball down into the back of the net but the goal was ruled out after a while by VAR for the Austrian being slightly offside.
The game headed to extra time where substitute Federico Chiesa opened the scoreline by beautifully taking the ball down onto his left foot and shooting across the goal to put Italy in the lead.
After a scramble in the box, another substitute doubled Italy’s lead. Matteo Pessina buried his chance with power with the Italians being almost sure that they are going to the Quarter-finals.
In the 114th minute, Austria did score off a corner with a sweet near-post header by Kalajdzic, but it was too little to late as Italy had no problems keeping the ball for the remainder of extra time.
Italy won 2-1 after extra time to advance further in the tournament.
Austria Eliminated:
The luck of the draw gave Austria a tough opponent in the Round of 16. Their manager, Franco Foda, realised that Alaba was wasted as a centre-back for Austria. Arnautovic also got reintroduced into the starting eleven after not starting the initial matches for some reason. The setup was all there and they did drag Italy through to extra time but the depth of the Italian squad showed to be superior as the likes of Chiesa and Pessina coming off the bench was too much for Austria.
There is no shame in losing to this Italian side, especially considering how far Italy went in this tournament. They gave it a good go and left everything on that pitch.
Netherlands vs Czech Republic
The first huge chance of the game came in the 50th minute when Donyell Malen made a tremendous run through the high-line Czech defence, sending him one-on-one against the keeper. He tried to round him but Tomas Vaclik read the move and stole the ball from under Malen’s possession.
Literally a few seconds after, a ball got launched up the field for the big man Schick. de Ligt allowed the ball to bounce and then slipped which would have put Schick through on goal one-on-one. Whilst de Ligt was falling, he swooped up the ball with his hand preventing Schick from going through with the ball. The ref initially punished him with a yellow card, but after consultancy with VAR, a red card was given and Netherlands were a man down.
Skip around 20 minutes later and a well put in cross from a free-kick was headed down for Tomas Holes to put the ball in the back of net.
The Dutch defence was all over the place by this point and the gaps were fully exposed by the Czechs. A cutback to Schick was successful and the prolific striker doubled the Czechs lead which was carried forward until the end of the game.
Netherlands Eliminated:
We got our very first shock of the Knockout Stage and it came off the back of a red card which will haunt de Ligt for a while. Although he is considered a ready made star already, he is still only 21 years old and a mistake like that will torment him, I’m sure of it.
Many Dutch fans will solely blame de Ligt for the game but Malen’s failed one-on-one seconds earlier should also be noted. Again, young player at 22 years old and despite having a good showing in the Group Stage, he failed to deliver on the big stage. If he tucks that away, things would look differently for the remainder of the tournament.
Depay and Wijnaldum have played well during the Group Stage too, perhaps they were hyped up to move to their respective new clubs. With that said, I was extremely impressed with Dumfries, particularly with his offensive contribution. He was listed as a wing-back during the games but often he was the furthest man forward which is unlike any over wing-back I’ve seen. Despite an early exit from the tournament, I would strongly consider Dumfries in my Team of the Tournament.
With many doubts around Frank de Boer ahead of the EUROs, I think the Dutch fans can’t really blame him for the unexpected exit. The Group Stage games were largely effortless and the Czech result came off the back of some silly mistakes from individuals.
There are many exciting young players in the Dutch team and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can offer in the future.
Belgium vs Portugal
One of the biggest games in terms of the teams’ stature ended up being a rather boring affair. The game was over with a beautiful goal by Thorgan Hazard from the outside of the box which was enough for Belgium to go through with the 1-0 result. Guerreiro hit the post in the seconds half with a nice shot and that was about as close as Portugal got. Belgium defended their lead well and chose to limit their own attacks in favour of defending, a decision which ended up working out for Roberto Martinez.
Portugal Eliminated:
The defending champions failed on the first hurdle at the Knockout Stage, albeit the hurdle was higher than some of the others. Belgium was a tough draw and they ended up being too much for Portugal to handle.
With the bold decision to bench Bruno Fernandes for the game, Portugal’s midfield lacked that edge which Belgium had. As great as Renato Sanches has been during the tournament, he had Moutinho and Palhinha next to him - players that were less inspiring.
Apart from Sanches, I think Guerreiro could also lift his head high as the other stand out player from Portugal. Ronaldo done his bit when asked of him. His contribution has been inflated a little bit through several penalties which in fairness he had to convert himself.
With Bruno being tired, Joao Felix not being 100% fit, and Cancelo being out due to catching COVID, the Portugal squad was hit in all areas of the pitch. Don’t get me wrong, their team was still strong enough to put up a better fight, but I must put this context in for reference.
It was a professional job from Belgium and one of the big favourites was eliminated just like that.
Croatia vs Spain
This 8-goal thriller began with a something right off a horror film, or a comedy film depending on who you supported. A seemingly harmless back pass from Pedri went right under Unai Simon’s foot, straight into his own net to put Croatia 1-0 up. A mistake that would haunt Simon forever if it cost Spain the match.
Alas, the Spaniards began attacking relentlessly to make sure their keeper survives the night. Goals from Sarabia, Azpilicueta and Ferran Torres put Spain 3-1 by the 76th minute mark which put things to ease temporarily.
I say temporarily because super-sub Mislav Orsic started popping off on the other side of the pitch. He scored a tap in to make it 3-2 and he then delivered a perfect cross from the left for Pasalic to score using his head in the 92nd minute, sending us into extra time.
The first chance in extra time went towards Croatia. Sublime work from Orsic on the left again caused a ball scramble in the box. The ball dropped perfectly for Kramaric who shot right at Simon from a few yards before putting his hands on his head in shame from missing the chance.
Moments later, Morata was controlled a a cross and smacked the ball on a half-volley to put Spain ahead by 1 goal. 3 minutes after that, Oyarzabal was suddenly through on goal and put the Spaniards ahead by 2 goals.
The game finished 5-3 for Spain as Croatia’s hard work to make it to extra time was futile in the long run.
Croatia Eliminated:
The ageing agenda that many had for Croatia looked to be the correct prophecy in the very first game against England. They lacked that edge that would even scare England during the game.
As Croatia began putting themselves up against the wall. They rose up to the pressure moments, like they did against Scotland where Modric stepped up to put his nation forward to the next round.
I actually favoured Croatia against Spain. It was more that I didn’t believe that the Spain I saw during the Group Stage could go any further in the tournament, and it looked like I was going to be right with Simon’s error for the opening goal.
Croatia were way to passive for a large part of the game, allowing Spain to attack and get three goals in the process. The third goal from Ferran Torres was by far the worst to concede. The defender in charge of Torres was too busy drinking his water and was totally out of position during the attack. One ball over the top and Torres was through in a one-on-one. I just checked, the defender in question was Josko Gvardiol. You must be alert at all times.
Then my favourite Croatian player, Mislav Orsic, arrived and he caused chaos in the final third. It made you think where he was during all this time. He single-handidly pushed Croatia to extra time where they had chances to win. Alas Spain was more prolific and the gas has run out. Croatia got eliminated from the tournament.
A lot of people will remember Modric’s incredible goal against Scotland, but I will remember Orsic the most from this Croatian team, even though he hasn’t started a single game in the tournament. It felt like every time he was subbed on, he gave it his all and had instant impact.
France vs Switzerland
We got off to a shocking start as Switzerland took the lead with a sweet header from Haris Seferovic in the 15th minute, completely out-jumping Clement Lenglet in the aerial battle.
Skipping to the 54th minute, a big decision was called by the ref that awarded Switzerland a penalty after Parvard recklessly took down Zuber just inside the box. Ricardo Rodriguez stepped up to the plate but his shot was saved by Lloris who prevented any potential rebounds as well.
Only 5 minute after the penalty miss and France was leading the game 2-1. A quick time Karim Benzema brace put France ahead as the Swiss players lived their nightmare.
To make things worse, Paul Pogba had a cheeky shot from some distance and the ball curled right into the top-right corner to make it 3-1.
Switzerland were brought back to life with a glancing header from the main man upfront once again, Haris Seferovic.
Then in the dying moments of regular time, a perfect through ball from Xhaka found it’s way to Gavranovic, who skipped past Kimpembe and slotted the ball past Lloris to equalise the game at 3-3.
France was the only threat in extra time but it didn’t matter too much as no goals came off it. Coman was the closest with his effort striking the crossbar.
When it came to the penalties, every player was on top of them. It was 5-4 for Switzerland with Mbappe stepping up to equalise in the shootout. He shot with power but the placement wasn’t exactly there and Yann Sommer saved the penalty to eliminate France from EURO 2020.
France Eliminated:
The supposed heavy hitter of the tournament was eliminated in the very first Knockout Stage game, making everyone question their predictions.
It came rather unexpected because France did look better than any other team in “The Group of Death” and that is saying something considering the disappointing draw against Hungary.
I do think there were several managerial mistakes that went into the game against Switzerland. Lenglet starting was an obvious one, something that Deschamps realised and chose to sub him off for the start of the second half.
The substitutions were also very suspect from the French manager. You look at their starting eleven and you think of pure class. Then you see the eleven playing at the end of extra time and you are questioning if France has the stronger team out there. Seriously, how can you justify subbing on Olivier Giroud and Moussa Sissoko out of all the options on the bench?
It wasn’t only the managers fault. After Lloris saved them with the initial penalty save, they went 3-1 up and bottled that lead. Then it got to extra time and Mbappe had a ridiculous miss where he had to pretend that he pulled a hamstring as an excuse for missing the chance. Then of course Mbappe was the one that ultimately missed the decisive penalty in the shootout.
Despite his star status, he is only 22 years old and I hope he bounces back from the defeat. I haven’t been on top of French media but I suspect they were slating him for his match performance. He still has over a decade of top tier football to make up for the mistake.
Shout out to Karim Benzema who upon his call back to the national team, performed better than any other man in that French team. Clinical finisher that doesn’t require many chances to convert. At 33 years old, he showed up but sadly we weren’t able to see him further in the tournament.
England vs Germany
With Netherlands being knocked out ahead of this match, the winner of this game would be a big favourite to make it as far as the final with the way the bracket turned out to look like.
Both teams came in reserved initially before Germany broke through first towards the end of the first half. A well-weighted ball from Kai Havertz put Timo Werner through on goal but the Chelsea striker failed to score with Pickford making a great save.
Jack Grealish came on in the 69th minute and 6 minutes later he was integral in spreading the ball to Luke Shaw who whipped in a cross for Sterling to tap it home, putting England 1-0 up.
Once again, Havertz played a great through ball over to Muller this time and the German was one-on-one with the keeper. This time Pickford didn’t save it, but he didn’t have to because the shot was put wide to the disappointment of every German.
Moments later, the roles were slightly changed for the second England goal. Luke Shaw made a great interception and spread the ball over to the left to Jack Grealish. A simple cross into Kane gave England’s captain his first goal of the tournament and the win in the Round of 16 over Germany.
Germany Eliminated:
The game against Portugal showed that the Germans were capable of pulling off great performances. Due to coming second in their group, they got treated by playing England which wasn’t ideal I would have to imagine. What am I talking about, obviously it wasn’t ideal because they lost to England.
I think the Germans are going to be sad more than any other emotion. It’s not like they lacked chances in the game. The first unfortunately came to the man that is notorious for missing sitters and the other came to a returning veteran looking to prove that he has a place in the national team. Werner’s chance was at least at a tighter angle, but Muller had no excuse. I would put that as the miss of the tournament along with Malen’s failed one-on-one against the Czechs.
Considering Germany played away at Wembley for the game, they’ve done well to keep it close against one of the favourites for the tournament. With better finishing, they could have easily gone through to the next round.
As for the players that impressed me; Gosens and Kimmich come to mind first. Those wing-backs were fantastic in those 4 games they played. Their performance against Portugal was exceptional as I previously mentioned.
Kai Havertz has continued his form from the tail end of the season under Chelsea. He scored a few goals and was ever-present in the attacking third. Not only was he there to score, but he has created so many chances that were just fluffed by his teammates. he literally should have had 2 assists in that England game.
Excited to see if Hansi Flick is going to be able to rejuvenate this Germany squad. They should be competing at the very top, but that is something they haven’t really done since 2014.
Sweden vs Ukraine
With all due respect, this was probably the least anticipated Knockout Stage game and it sort of lived up to it’s lack of hype.
Zinchenko stroke the ball into the back of the net off a half-volley after a beautiful outside of the foot by the one-footed man himself, Yarmolenko.
Sweden responded right before the first half ended as Sweden’s talisman, Emil Forsberg, had a crack from long range. The ball took a massive deflection off a Ukraine player to go over the keeper and into the goal to make the score 1-1.
Ukraine hit the post once in game, but Forsberg himself hit the woodwork double that which was rather unfortunate for him.
In extra time, Swedish defender Marcus Danielson was given a straight red for a reckless challenge which gave Ukraine a big advantage. The advantage was big enough for Ukraine to capitalise with a headed goal from Dovbyk in the 121st minute of the game, crushing the dreams of the Swedes by eliminating them from the EUROs.
Sweden Eliminated:
I’m not even going to lie, I think Sweden has been the biggest one-man team of the this tournament.
Emil Forsberg was about the only threat coming from the Swedish side, and that has been the case in all of their games. The craziest part is that he was the one creating the chances for himself too. Isak showed some promise against Spain but went quite since then, while Kulusevski hasn’t really featured until the game against Ukraine where he didn’t provide much of anything.
At point it legit looked like Forsberg was going to be able to carry this team into the Quarter-finals, but a red card in extra time had Sweden defending for the rest of the match, hoping to get it done in the penalties. Unfortunately for them, Ukraine scored with a last ditch effort to eliminate them.
Apart from Forsberg, only Olsen really stood out for the Swedes because they were so focused on defending for the majority of the tournament. It’s a strategy that has been working out for them in the most recent tournament so I suspect they will continue to deploy it in subsequent international events.
Quarter-finals
Switzerland vs Spain
The Swiss got off to a very unlucky start to the game. A hopeless long shot from Jordi Alba ricocheted off Zakaria, who tried to clear the ball, but the ball went directly to the back of the net, leaving Sommer without a chance of saving the shot. Spain were 1-0 up within the first 8 minutes of the game.
The action calmed down for a long time but some major miscommunication between the Spaniards in defence allowed Frueler to carry the ball into their box. He laid it off to a unmarked Shaqiri who had no problems scoring to equalise the score.
It was a shame that Frueler couldn’t hold in his composure 10 minutes later when he tackled through a Spanish player in such a way that left the ref no choice but to give him a red card.
Switzerland managed to carry on with 10 men and drag Spain into a penalty shootout. I must mention that in extra time Gerard Moreno was doing his best Morata impression by missing sitter after sitter.
Alas, those misses from Moreno won’t be remembered by anyone because Spain won the penalty shootout despite missing two penalties themselves. Busquets and Rodri missed for Spain, while Schar, Akanji and Vargas were the victims of the shootout from the Swiss side.
With that, Spain moved on to the Semi-finals while Switzerland had to settle for their tournament exit.
Switzerland Eliminated:
I truly think that this Switzerland wide with Granit Xhaka in it would have taken Spain out of the EUROs. Xhaka was unable to play due to his yellow card suspension from his previous games. I remember many people talking about the yellow against France being soft and that it shouldn’t have affected his opportunity to play one of the most important games in his national career. At the end of the day, he got the yellow and couldn’t play. It was unfortunate that his replacement, Denis Zakaria, was the one to score the own goal but he couldn’t do anything about it really.
There was also that red card for Freuler which was debated among fans, many suggesting that it shouldn’t have been a red because it ruined the game. To that I say those people are stupid. You can blame the player for making a poor challenge which could have seriously hurt the victim. He let himself down, and more importantly, he let his nation down.
Luckily for him, Switzerland managed to just about contain Spain to get to penalties. Of course the Swiss won their shootout against France where they didn’t miss a single penalty. This time around, they missed 3. Furthermore, all of the 3 that missed have scored their penalty against France. It just shows you the large variance that goes into a penalty shootout.
There were several stand out players in the Switzerland squad during this tournament. Sommer had incredible saves throughout. Seferovic, Embolo and Shaqiri were a threat in all the games they played, while Granit Xhaka played unlike I’ve ever seen before during his half a decade at Arsenal. Although his minutes were limited, I was also impressed with Mbabu. I’m not too sure why he didn’t start more games to be honest.
Reaching the Quarter-finals is a great achievement for Switzerland. After getting eliminated in penalties in EURO 2016, it must have been gutting to be knocked out in the same fashion again. At least they got to be on the other side of the shootout this time around, and it happened against the favourites for the tournament of all teams.
Belgium vs Italy
The deadlock was broken in the 31st minute when Nicolo Barella dribbled his way past three Belgium players in the box to find some space to have a shot across Courtois’ goal. The ball hit the inside of the side netting, giving Italy the 1-0 lead. This was also where Immobile famously recovered to celebrate with his teammates after laying down in the box in pain seconds prior to the goal.
Not long after that, Insigne carried the ball from his own half to form an attack. He skipped past Tielemans and then took a lovely curved shot to the far post. The ball snuck just in the top corner as Insigne celebrated the goal.
Belgium was desperate to get anything before heading for the half time break. Doku broke through the left flank and was fouled in the box by Di Lorenzo to win a penalty. Lukaku stepped in confidently and made it 2-1 heading into the second half.
Although Belgium tried their best to equalise the game, the effort alone was not enough to make it happen. The second half had no goals in it and the game ended 2-1 favouring Italy which went on to advance to the Semi-finals, while Belgium were eliminated.
Belgium Eliminated:
This was the sort of game I expect to see between the top teams. It was a close affair yet you could see the quality of both of them in both defensive and attacking departments. All of the goals came from moments of individual brilliance. Even the penalty came off the back of a great run made by Jeremy Doku, although Di Lorenzo didn’t have to make the foul in fairness.
Not much more Belgium could have done to try and steal the Semi-final spot from Italy. The defensive work from the Italians was incredible despite playing against one of the most electric players from this tournament, Jeremy Doku. Seriously, this kid is only 19 years old and is the least known from the squad, but he played phenomenally in this game. Italy struggled to contain him at times and he was centimetres away from scoring one of the best goals of the tournament. The future is bright for the Anderlecht kid. I’m sure he’ll get a big move within a year or two.
Belgium’s Knockout Stage was cursed from the get go. The fact they would have been so much better off coming second in their group shows that there are clear issues in this whole format where the 3rd placed teams sometimes advance through to the next stage. They got to play Portugal first and now Italy; by far the toughest run, and that came after topping their group.
The time for the golden generation of Belgium is running out and the fact they haven’t achieved anything significant in the last decade seems incredible. As much as their attacking players will last a little longer, their defensive options are going to be seriously thin in a year or two. Vermaelen is 35 years old and he started in the game against Italy. I doubt we’ll see him even next year in the World Cup. Vertonghen and Alderweireld are 34 and 32 years old respectively so they aren’t spring chickens themselves. Belgium needs to start looking at potential replacements and try to integrate them into the squad.
Czech Republic vs Denmark
Denmark have showed that they are up to play football from the moment the initial whistle blows. They scored in the 2nd minute against Belgium, and they proved the same here against the Czech Republic when Delaney nodded the ball in from a corner for a goal in the 5th minute.
The Danes doubled their lead off the back of a beautiful outside of the foot cross by Joakim Maehle right into Dolberg who bagged himself another goal for this tournament.
That man Schick managed to get one back in the 49th minute but that was about it for the Czechs. Kasper Schmeichel kept them quiet whenever they got close to the Danish goal and the match ended 2-1 in favour of the Danes.
Czech Republic Eliminated:
It was possible that the Czechs could climb over the mountain that was Denmark, but there was no doubt in my mind that Denmark was the better team. The Danes proved me right in the game where, despite only a 1 goal difference, they were largely in control of the situation.
For a team that many thought would be dead last in their group, the Czechs have made a solid run that they could be proud of. They played nice football and contributed with one of the best goals of the tournament thanks to Patrik Schick.
Schick obviously was the man that gained the most plaudits from the Czech squad. He was the man getting the goals and often he was isolated up the pitch doing his best to make things work that way.
Holes and Soucek kept things stable in the midfield and of course you had Coufal tossing in dangerous crosses once in a while. In fact Coufal was the one to assist Schick on the goal in the game against Denmark.
Ukraine vs England
The knackered Ukraine side where given no time to rest as England went 1-0 up in the 4th minute. Sterling made a cut-through pass over to Kane who buried the goal without hesitation.
England were satisfied with holding the 1-0 lead while Ukraine were struggling to get anything done up front.
A free-kick allowed Luke Shaw to whip in a hell of a cross for Maguire to nod home to get England that secure 2-0 lead.
Few minutes later, Shaw floated in another cross, this time over to Harry Kane who had also scored with his head to make it 3-0.
The Ukraine humiliation was complete when Mason Mount took a corner which was met by Jordan Henderson who scored his first goal for England.
4-0 to England is how the Quarter-final bout finished which eliminated Ukraine from the tournament.
Ukraine Eliminated:
This was one hell of a mismatch. Ukraine barely made it to the Knockout Stage from 3rd place and then were fortunate to face Sweden in the Round of 16 game - a game that was even and could have gone either way if it wasn’t for the red card in extra time for Sweden. Then Ukraine had to face England and as soon as Kane scored the first goal in the 4th minute, the match was over in my head.
There is not much to discuss here. Ukraine were never going to win this match, even more so given that they were tired off the back of the Sweden game that went to extra time. Poor Yarmolenko barely played any football for West Ham and he is supposed to deliver for his nation roughly twice a week. The gas was bound to run out for this Ukraine team.
At the very least, their EURO 2020 run was much more successful than it was back at EURO 2016. Literally anything would have been better than that run but that is besides the point.
Shout out to Yarmolenko who is a closed contender for the biggest carry job of the tournament next to Forsberg. It makes you wonder why he doesn’t get more opportunities at West Ham.
Semi-finals
Italy vs Spain
Although the first half of the game was goalless, it did feature some nice football where both teams could have taken the lead. Emerson hit the crossbar while Donnarumma made some solid saves to keep it 0-0.
In the 60th minute, Italy broke through on a counter-attack starting from their keeper. The ball was lost in transition close to the Spanish penalty box, but Federico Chiesa picked it up and curled the ball into the far corner of the goal to make it 1-0 to Italy.
Olmo and Oyarzabal had some close calls to get the equaliser, but in the 80th minute it was Morata that played a marvellous one-two with Olmo to break through the tight Italian defence and the striker tucked the ball against the back of the net to set the score 1-1.
Extra time didn’t have much for us. If anyone was to score during those 30 minutes, it would have been Spain but none of the chances that significant.
With that, we headed to the dreaded penalty shootout. The first set of players missed their penalties; those players were Locatelli and Olmo. Then the players went on a streak of scoring until we got to Morata whose penalty was saved by Donnarumma. Italy still had to score and it was none other than Jorginho who was on the final pen and the specialist converted to put Italy through to the Final at Wembley.
Spain Eliminated:
I don’t know what it is but the narrative just doesn’t want Morata and Werner to succeed. Werner missed a sitter in the deciding game against England and Morata’s equalising goal against Italy meant nothing as people will remember him missing his penalty in the shootout which ultimately got Spain eliminated from the EUROs. Just when you think Morata scoring the goal will start a redemption arc, the narrative Gods make him miss the pen to put him down once again. I seriously feel bad for the guy.
When I watched Spain in the Groups Stage, I did not expect them to make it as far as they did. They done the classic Spanish thing of keeping hold of the ball without making anything happen with it. Things began to change since they battered Slovakia and they started to actually create many more chances and were much more direct about it.
In the game against Italy, they could have very easily been the team to go through to the Final. I mean they lost in penalties - obviously they could have won it. I was more thinking about winning in regular time. If I was to be honest, Spain were probably the better team over the course of the 120 minutes that were played. Italy had their chances but Spain suffered more from being bad in front of goal.
Spain was also one of the teams which I struggle to point out a stand out player. I suppose the defence done well for the majority of the time so players like Azpilicueta and Jordi Alba should get some credit.
There was also Pedri that got a lot of love from the football fans. As good as he was, I think people people overhyped him for what he was doing. Yes, he is only 18 years old and played incredibly for his age, but there is more to football than 95% completed passes stats. He kept things ticking for sure, however I can’t say I remember him adding much on the attacking front. Perhaps this is just me being needlessly harsh or ignorant.
Morata and Moreno had a tournament to forget really. Both strikers kept getting rotated because they kept being worse than the other alternatively.
I expected Ferran Torres to be a key player for them but Luis Enrique didn’t fancy him at a certain point and then he made his return to the starting team for this game only to fail to deliver anything of note.
I’m happy that Spain got to the Semi-finals only to cover up for some of the horror mistakes and errors that were made along the way. It started from Enrique’s squad selection before the tournament started and it carried through the tournament in the form of shocking misses and comedic ways of conceding goals. I will never forget Simon, don’t you worry about that.
England vs Denmark
Denmark shockingly were the first ones to strike as a needless foul lead to Damsgaard bending in a free-kick past Pickford to make it 1-0 to Denmark.
England fought hard to equalise as soon as possible. Sterling managed to shoot right at Schmeichel from 2 yards but England did get their goal soon after with a sweet through ball from Kane to Saka, who drilled it into the box for Sterling. Kjaer got to it ahead of Sterling but the ball found it’s way to the back of the net regardless.
From that moment onwards, it was all the Schmeichel show. The Danish keeper made some incredible saves to keep his team in the game. The Danes were not creating anything - it was all England.
Extra time happened and England was still on top. A run into the box by Sterling was met with a foolish foul Mathias Jensen that gave away a soft penalty. Kane stepped up to take it, and although Schmeichel got his hand to the ball, Kane was aware and scored on the rebound to put England ahead.
England kept the lead for the remaining few minutes and they went through to the Final after 120 minutes of play.
Denmark Eliminated:
What a run it has been for Denmark. A true rollercoaster ride that nobody expected.
It began with the tragic collapse of Christian Eriksen and it finished with them pushing to be in the Final of the entire tournament. I’m certain that if your nation got eliminated from the tournament, then you were supporting Denmark to win it all. Sadly England was the stronger team in the end and fully deserved to go through to the Final.
Denmark didn’t really put much of a fight against England. As I said, Schmeichel had an amazing game but Denmark never looked like scoring. The fact they scored that free-kick was an anomaly more than anything.
The most important part of this tournament run from Denmark is their desire and fight to push forward despite the obstacles. They lost their first 2 games in the Group Stage and still picked themselves up to be inches from the Final. I, along with millions around the globe, were devastated to see them lose but England were the more deserving team.
Maehle was phenomenal in every game for Denmark.
Hojbjerg lead the midfield like none other. He even contributed in the offence, something that I haven’t seen him do too often for Spurs.
Schmeichel was crucial for the Danes to get where they got.
All the attackers linked up well together in different combinations. Dolberg, Braithwaite, Damsgaard, Wind and Skov all had their time and proved to be useful throughout the tournament.
It was a great journey that captured all out hearts.
Final
Italy vs England
Not even 2 minutes into the match and Italy were behind for the first time at this tournament. Kieran Trippier picked out Luke Shaw on the back post with the left-back striking the ball first time to score his first of the tournament. England went 1-0 up before the players could even warm up properly.
The game settled a little bit with Federico Chiesa being the closest to get Italy back into the game.
In the second half, Italy got a corner which was extended by Cristante’s header to the back post. Verratti got his head to it but Pickford parried the ball into the post. The ball found its way right into Bonucci who tapped the ball home to equalise in the Final.
The game fizzled out into extra time, and even then the teams couldn’t find a single goal that would separate them.
We headed into the penalty shootout that would ultimately decide who lifts up the trophy and who will walk out as the best losers of the tournament.
England were put in the lead with Pickford saving Belotti’s penalty, but tragically Rashford and Sancho missed their penalties in the next set of penalties meaning a goal from Jorginho would secure Italy the championship. Jorginho stepped up and his shot was unbelievably saved by Pickford that read him completely.
Young Saka was up next and the English fans couldn’t celebrate for too long because the Hale End teenager’s shot was also saved, which resulted in Italy winning 3-2 on penalties.
England Eliminated:
Just when you thought it was coming home. In all seriousness, England proved that they are here to stay among the best teams in international football. Their squad is incredibly young still and their players will only mature into better players so England’s best years are probably still to come.
The English fans have a right to feel disappointed after making it to the Final for the first time in 55 years because the win was just within their reach. They were in the lead in regular time, and they lead in penalties first. You could say that they bottled it when it mattered most.
The fact of the matter is that Gareth Southgate has been assigned a role to win games and that is something that England has been very good at doing here at EURO 2020 and back in the World Cup 2018. The football isn’t as exciting when compared with other nations but it does the job, and that is what matters the most in tournament football. In a league format, you want your team to play nice football because you have to watch it every week. At these tournaments, you only care about winning a few games and then you go away celebrating for a few years before you run it back in a few years back. It’s a different mentality all together.
The abuse towards the players that missed the penalties and Gareth Southgate are totally unacceptable. I don’t understand how these people can talk trash about the people that brought them so much joy in the past month. It’s unbelievable how ignorant some people can be. All you need is a moment of reflection and you can’t even do that without typing away on your anonymous social media accounts.
I’ve heard so many people criticising Southgate for his passive approach in the Final, as if England were playing for the penalty shootout. People forget that England only conceded a long range free-kick against Denmark before this match so why wouldn’t England shut up shop when they scored in the 2nd minute? The aim was to win and that strategy has worked well up to the Final. The equaliser came after a ball scramble off a corner. Of course those things can happen but it’s not like Italy broke through the English defence.
I could seriously name all of the English players to credit here because they all contributed something to the team during the event.
Maguire, Stones and even Mings at the start were rock solid. Shaw provided many assists and scored in the Final. Phillips and Rice made for a strong duo in the midfield, Henderson didn’t even get a sniff getting into the team which nobody saw coming. Sterling forgot his rough patch at Man City and came out strongly for England. It took some time but Kane got scoring as well in the Knockout Stage.
If anything, the most disappointing players were the ones that a lot of people were raving about to start before the tournament started. Mason Mount and Phil Foden have not had a good time whenever they were on. Foden especially looked to be the focal point of the attack but was benched after the first game and never returned to it after that.
This England team is very exciting and has potential to win any international tournament they enter within the next decade. They will only grow with this defeat. Stay strong Marcus, Jadon and Bukayo.
Italy Win EURO 2020:
Italy were always on that cusp towards being one of the favourites for the tournament. Their record leading into the tournament was better than any other nation and they only have built upon on that during the event. Right after the Group Stage, everyone was aware of Italy and they suddenly were mentioned in the conversation to take it all to Rome.
It’s worth mentioning the togetherness of this Italy squad. Like England, they looked like they were their for each other no matter what and were desperate to succeed at this tournament.
Huge credit for the squad atmosphere must got to Roberto Mancini who made sure nobody leaves this tournament without contributing to the journey. The story behind Mancini using all his reserve players against Wales so they don’t have to live through what Mancini did when he was a player was very touching. Even Sirigu got a few minutes on the pitch in a substitution that some thought was a bit far.
The win would mean a lot to the defensive pair of Chiellini and Bonucci. These two have been in the Italian squad for over a decade but they never tasted that success in 2006 when Italy won the World Cup. They were in the squad when Italy didn’t make it to World Cup 2018, and they were the centre pieces in the rebuild to win EURO 2020.
Donnarumma ended up being the Player of the Tournament - pretty certain that is a first for a goalkeeper to win the accolade at the EUROs. He won two penalty shootouts and generally looked phenomenal in goal when Italy was under any sort of pressure.
Special shout out to Spinazzola, who really impressed everyone from that left wing-back position before he torn his ACL against Belgium. Mancini claimed that the devastation was shared among all the Italian players, and it motivated them to win the whole thing for him. Hopefully he recovers as soon as possible because I’m sure Mourinho would love to see him return to Roma.
Barella and Jorginho were the stable rocks in the midfield as was Insigne and Immobile on the front line.
The craziest part of this Italy squad was the importance of the players that weren’t starting every game. Federico Chiesa scored some of the most important goals in the tournament for Italy and he wasn’t even starting in the first few games. Berardi was ahead of him but later things changed up when Chiesa proved himself.
Locatelli and Pessina showed how depth is very important for these international tournaments, especially when more often than not you end up playing 120 minutes in the Knockout Stage. Both players filled in those midfield positions and even came up to score a few goals to settle scorelines.
Tremendous shift from everyone in the Italian squad as they continue their unbeaten record. Their last loss was on August 2018 where they lost 1-0 to Portugal in the Nations League. In that team, 6 of the starting players were not even called up.
Crazy run and it’s not even over yet.
Team of the Tournament
To finish off this massive write-up, I’m going to write up my own personal Team of the Tournament.
Goalkeeper:
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy)
Defenders:
Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands)
Leonardo Bonucci (Italy)
Harry Maguire (England)
Luke Shaw (England)
Midfielders:
Jorginho (Italy)
Emil Forsberg (Sweden)
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Denmark)
Forwards:
Federico Chiesa (Italy)
Patrik Schick (Czech Republic)
Raheem Sterling (England)
Honourable Mentions:
Giorgio Chiellini (Italy)
Lorenzo Insigne (Italy)
John Stones (England)
Pedri (Spain)
Joakim Maehle (Denmark)
Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)
Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine)
Karim Benzema (France)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)