Cracks and revelations of what is going on in Euro 2020

LEuro 2020 has already crossed its ‘equator’. After the group stage, 36 of the 51 matches of the tournament have already been played. It is a good time, therefore, to take stock and review the cracks and the revelations of what we have in the tournament.

Goran Pandev (North Macedonia)

His team, debutant, was the first eliminated from the tournament, but the former Inter, Lazio or Naples has left his mark in a big way. His goal in the defeat against Austria (3-1) made him the second most ‘veteran’ scorer (37 years and 321 days) in the tournament’s history. He is only surpassed by the Austrian Ivica Vastic, who scored in 2008 with 38 years and 257 days. Pandev also forced the penalty that preceded Alioski’s goal in the stumble with Ukraine (2-1). In the defeat against the Netherlands (0-3), his teammates honored him with a hallway to commemorate his farewell to the national team: he left with 122 caps and 38 goals.

Raheem Sterling (England)

In the ‘three lions’ there have been several players, especially the youngest, who have shone briefly: Bukayo Saka, Jack Grealish, Kalvin Phillips, Tyrone Mings … At the moment of truth, the most decisive has been Raheem Sterling. The Manchester City winger scored twice in his first 45 caps. Now, on the other hand, he is on a roll: he has 14 goals – and six assists – in his last 19 games with the ‘Three Lions’. England’s only two goals have been signed: 1-0 against Croatia and 0-1 against the Czech Republic. This is how Alan Shearer began in 1996 … we’ll see how it ends.

Billy Gilmour (Scotland)

The young Chelsea midfielder has had as much good luck … as bad. They started as a starter in the Euro in the 0-0 against England and completed a real match. In fact, he was voted ‘MVP’, a sort of tradition for Gilmour, who also won the ‘Man of the Match’ award in his FA Cup debut against Liverpool and in his Premier debut against Everton. However, he immediately suffered a severe blow: he tested positive for COVID-19 and had to be removed. Perhaps with Gilmour on the pitch, Scotland could have avoided defeat against Croatia (3-1) and fought for a pass to the second round. We will never know…

Joel Pohjanpalo (Finland)

The Unin Berlin striker, despite being haunted by injuries throughout his career, is a player of ‘special moments’. His name is already in the history of Finland. Pohjanpalo scored the winning goal against Denmark (0-1) in the ‘royal owls’ debut in a European Championship. He scored another in the defeat against Russia (0-1) … but it was canceled. In Finland Hradecky also shone … but he had the misfortune to score the goal with which Belgium (0-2) opened the can on the final match.

Patrik Schick (Czech Republic)

Bayer Leverkusen’s ‘9’ completed the first major individual performance of the Eurocup. His letter of introduction was a double against Scotland (0-2). The second, however, was not just any goal. Schick surprised Marshall with the furthest goal in European Championship history: he scored from 49.7 meters !!! The ex of the Rome and Sampdoria returned to mark against Croatia (1-1) and already has three goals. Its price goes up like foam. Rest against England. Former Sevilla player Tom Vaclk has also scored highly under sticks.

Denzel Dumfries (Netherlands)

The right-back of PSV opposes the title of great appearance in the European Championship. At least for the general public. Dumfries scored two goals and took the ‘MVP’ in victories over Ukraine (3-2) and Austria (2-0). Special mention for the goal he achieved in the 85th minute on his debut. His story is curious. He was international for Aruba, but resigned to focus on his club career … and now he shines in the Euro. Its price is 16 million. Brides will not be missing.

Manuel Locatelli (Italy)

Sassuolo’s ‘regista’ has been the great novelty in Mancini’s Italy, which has passed the first phase as a leader with full victories, seven goals in favor … and none against. Verratti’s injury opened the doors of the eleven for Locatelli and he has taken advantage of it. Ray at a high level against Turkey (0-3) and signed a double against Switzerland (3-0). Only Casiraghi (1996) and Balotelli (2016) had achieved two goals in the same match with the ‘Azzurra’ in one Euro. In Italy there are more candidates for the ‘revelation’ poster, such as his partner Domenico Berardi and Leonardo Spinazzola.

Mikkel Damsgaard (Denmark)

Denmark received a ‘blow’ with the collapse of Christian Eriksen. Replacing him was not an easy mission, but the Sampdoria midfielder has taken a step forward. He scored a great goal to open the scoring in the win against Russia (4-1) and become the first player born in the 21st century to score in the history of the European Cup. They say that Barcelona is following in his footsteps closely.

Romelu Lukaku (Belgium)

The Inter attacker is running as the great candidate to fight the Pichichi of the Eurocup against Cristiano Ronaldo. Especially as their ‘connection’ with Kevin de Bruyne continues to work and they manage to eliminate Portugal in the second round. For now, ‘Big Room’ has three targets. Against Russia (3-0) he achieved a double dedicated to his teammate Eriksen and returned to ‘wet’ in the 0-2 against Finland.

Emil Forsberg (Sweden)

The realistic Isak is completing a great European Championship, but the scoring responsibility in Sweden, in the absence of Ibrahimovic due to injury, is being assumed by a ‘reborn’ Emil Forsberg. The RB Leipzig midfielder’s performance had plummeted since he handed out 21 assists in the Bundesliga in 2016-17. The Swedish ’10’ scored the winning goal with a penalty against Slovakia (1-0) and signed a double against Poland (3-2). Add three targets already.

David Alaba (Austria)

The future Real Madrid player is the wild card of Austria. He plays everything and does almost everything well: lbero, central, lateral … It is the ‘common thread’ of football for Franco Foda’s pupils. Alaba assisted Gregoritsch in the 2-1 against North Macedonia and ended up taking the ‘MVP’. His was also the goal pass to Baumgartner in the victory over Ukraine (0-1). How far Austria goes, will depend, to a large extent, on Alaba. Almost never a selection depended so much in attack of a defender …

Robin Gosens (Germany)

The Atalanta winger completed one of the best individual performances of Euro 2020 in Germany’s 2-4 win over Portugal. Gosens was a constant threat from the left side. A cross from him provoked Rben Dias’ own goal. Already in the second half, Gosens assisted Havertz at 1-3 and scored the 1-4 on a pass from Kimmich. A deserved award for his tremendous band deployment.

Attila Szalai (Hungary)

Hungary has had many outstanding players: Schfer, dam Szalai, Roland Sallai … However, the Fenerbahe defender exemplifies like almost no one the resistance capacity of ‘Magyarorszg’. Marco Rossi’s pupils started as a ‘stone guest’ in the ‘group of death’ and were six minutes away from getting into the second round. They tied with France (1-1) and Germany (2-2) and reached 0-0 with Portugal until 84 ‘, although they ended up losing 0-3.

Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands)

The former PSV, Newcastle and Liverpool player was always a streaker … and now he’s going through a very good one. It has a capacity to reach few flakes and the Netherlands is optimizing it to the maximum. Only Cristiano Ronaldo (5) exceeds his three goals. Wijnaldum scored a goal in the victory against Ukraine (3-2) and doubled against North Macedonia (0-3). Paris Saint-Germain takes a ‘gem’ at zero cost.

Luka Modric (Croatia)

His goal with the outside in the victory against Scotland (1-3) is one of the ‘postcards’ of the European Championship. It served, among other things, to bring the world runner-up to the eighth. The Real Madrid footballer is all quality … and all heart. Only Kovacic has outnumbered Luka in Croatia. He has also become the youngest and oldest player to score for his country in a Euro. They started scoring in 2008, repeated in 2016 and scored again in 2020. Almost nothing. He is 35 years old, but looks 18.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

He had a huge string of records to break before the Euro started and he has already smashed almost all of them. Cristiano is the Pichichi of the Euro with five goals. He has unseated Platini (9) as the tournament’s top scorer in history. He already has 14. He has also surpassed Poborsky as the best assistant of all editions. In addition, with his double against France (2-2), equal to Ali Daei (109) as the all-time leading scorer in national team football. You don’t know the word limit.