The European Football Championship is already a tournament to remember, offering so many moments that will not be forgotten for a long time. With the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final yet to take place, more memorable moments await.
the matches of the group stage and the first knockout stage have left a lot of impression. From the horror of Christian Eriksen's collapse, not much that has happened so far at Euro 2020 will be easily forgotten.
Below we present some of the reasons that confirm that this was one of the most beloved tournaments played so far.
Elimination of champions
Portugal and France entered "Euro 2020" as champions of Europe and the World, respectively, but the two teams were eliminated in the 1/8 of the finals. Portugal failed to overcome Belgium, which defeated them with the result 1:0. While France was sent home by Switzerland's representative. In fact, France was leading 3:1 until the last minutes of the match, but Switzerland equalized the result and after penalties managed to enter among the eight best European teams, winning with the result 5:4.
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Spain is exciting again
The Spain representative faced a lot of criticism at the start of the European Championship, as she really struggled to score. But then she proved to be very efficient in two consecutive matches, with Slovakia and Croatia, scoring ten goals. He defeated Slovakia 5:0 in the last duel of the group stage and Croatia 5:3 in the 1/8 of the final. The match with the Croatians was decided after extra time, while the regular time of the meeting ended with the numbers 3:3. After disappointing in "Euro 2016" held in France and the World Cups of "Brazil 2014" and "Russia 2018", Spain is looking promising again and is one of the favorites to triumph in "Euro 2020". First, however, it must overcome Switzerland in the quarterfinals.
Schick's historic goal
The striker of the Czech Republic, Patrik Schick, wrote history at "Euro 2020" by scoring a phenomenal goal from a distance. In the group stage match against Scotland, he scored a goal closer than 45 meters and 44 centimeters, to go down in European history as the player who scored the goal from the greatest distance. There have been a number of great goals this summer, but the Czech forward's remains the top pick.
Return of the fans
After more than a year with empty, lonely and lifeless stadiums due to the coronavirus, football is back in the hands of the fans. European matches have been held in 11 cities on the continent, but two of the stadiums attracted the most attention. "Parken Stadium" in Copenhagen and "Pushkash Arena" in Budapest best showed how much more entertaining football is with crowded stands. The return of the fans is considered to have given charm to the European.
Guaranteed goals
Two of the days with the most goals in the European Championships were this summer. On Monday, no less than 14 goals were scored in the two matches of the 1/8 finals. In fact, there have already been more goals this European than in "Euro 2016" as a whole. In 42 matches, 118 goals have been scored and only two of the matches ended without goals - in that of Spain against Sweden and England against Scotland.
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More own goals than ever
Turkey's central defender, Merih Demiral, scored an own goal in the opening match of the European Championship. And so far in "Euro 2020", nine own goals have been scored, more than in all other Europeans combined. More than ever, it seems that teams are finding their "rivals" in their locker rooms.
Ronaldo's records
He was eliminated in the 1/8 finals of "Euro 2020" with five goals scored in the event, but the Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo climbed to the top of the list as the best scorer in the European Championships, with 14 goals in total. When the goals in the World Cup are added, Ronaldo has 20 goals in major events, like no other player. He is now level with former Iran striker, Ali Daei, with 109 goals scored, as the record holder of international football.
Family ties
Federico and Enrico Chiesa have become the first father and son, of any nationality, to score a goal in the European Championship. Enrico scored a goal in "Euro 1996" while Federico this summer, 25 years later. Thorgan and Eden Hazard join the legendary list of brothers - along with brothers Laudrup and De Boer - who have played together in the same European team.
"Rebellion" of small teams
Hungary, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and even the representative of Ukraine have had impressive appearances at "Euro 2020". With the exception of Hungary, which was eliminated in the group stage despite two draws in three matches played, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Ukraine have already qualified for the quarter-finals of this tournament.
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The "brilliancy" of the arbitrators
After 44 matches played so far in Europe, there have been no doubts or criticism towards the referees. Only the appearance of referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz in the group stage match between France and Portugal left a little to be desired, because he awarded three penalties in the duel that ended without a winner 2:2. In fact, the concerns were only about one penalty, as the first two were not contested by anyone. Taken as a whole, Lahozi's performance was mostly good.
