The round of 16 phase of the Eurocup had unexpected protagonists and here a review of those main actors who were villains and heroes.
MBAPPÉ
He was considered the great star of this Euro, the player called to dominate continental football. But it has ended as the great disappointment. Not only for missing the penalty against Yann sommer which led to the elimination of France, the current world champion, and the pass of Switzerland, but his game in the four games has been poor and his success was null. He leaves “desolate”, without scoring any goal, and in the center of the hurricane of the goodbye of the Gauls.
STERLING
Again the best in England. His third goal in the championship decided the classic against Germany at Wembley (2-0) that also awakened the scorer of Harry Kane. He showed up with the debt pending to score in a final phase of a great tournament and not only has he made it, but he is supporting Gareth Southgate’s side.
THORGAN HAZARD
Neither Cristiano, nor his brother Eden nor Lukaku, the differential factor of the duel in Seville between Belgium and Portugal, was Thorgan Hazard, next to Thibaut Courtois. A tremendous shot that surprised Rui Patricio wiped out the defending champion.
DOLBERG
“Dolberg Dynamite”, as the tabloid called “Ekstra Bladet”, took advantage of his first start at this European Championship. It was the secret weapon that Kasper Hjulmand had prepared to lead the victory of Denmark and end the new dream of Wales. He finished the game with a double.
CHIESA
Author of the goal that prompted Italy to pass to the quarterfinals against Austria (2-1), he closed a circle opened by his father Enrico Chiesa, also a footballer, who also experienced the joy of scoring in the continental tournament in 1996. It is the first time father and son scored in the Euro Cups. Federico started on the bench and his departure was decisive when he achieved the goal in extra time that ended the suffering of the “azzurra”.
UNAI SIMÓN
The Athletic goalkeeper went from villain to hero in the Spanish classification. A glaring failure when attempting to control a Pedri it meant 0-1 for Croatia. He did not sink and ended up saving Luis Enrique’s team in extra time before Morata and Oyarzábal sealed the final 5-3.
DOVBYK
National hero of Ukraine. The Dnipro-1 player, who had barely been an international twice, jumped onto the grass at Hampden Park in the 105th minute to replace one of the figures of his team, Yarmolenko, and got a header in the extension of extra time. the goal that meant 2-1 over Sweden and the historic qualification for the quarterfinals.
Hello
It was one of the banners of the Czech Republic’s bloc work to give the first big surprise of the Eurocup by defeating the Netherlands (2-0). He adorned his magnificent performance with the target that unbalanced the scales.