Ronaldo Missing As UEFA Announce Euro 2020 Team Of The Tournament
Cristiano Ronaldo failed to make the cut as UEFA announced the Euro 2020 team of the tournament. Winning the golden boot was not enough for mercurial Portuguese to make the Euros team of the tournament as Italy had five players in the XI.
The Portuguese forward found the back of the net five times, as did the Czech Republic’s Patrik Schick, but Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku was selected in the tournament best XI ahead of Ronaldo and Schick in a front three with Federico Chiesa and Raheem Sterling.
The two other English players that made the list were Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire, but there was no place for fellow defender Luke Shaw, who scored in the final to cap an outstanding performance in the tournament, his Manchester United team-mate Paul Pogba, one of the tournament’s stars before France’s elimination in the last 16 also did not make the list.
Player of the tournament Gianluigi Donnarumma was joined by four other Italian players Leonardo Bonucci, Leonardo Spinazzola, Jorginho, and Chiesa. However, midfield maestro Marco Verratti missed out despite some fine performances in the knockout phase.
Denmark and Spain have just one player each in the team of the tournament announced by UEFA, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Pedri were the sole representatives for Denmark and Spain respectively, both teams having gone out in the semi-finals.
Romelu Lukaku in making the list also edged out Harry Kane, Karim Benzema, and Emil Forsberg, who all ended up with the same goal tally (four) as the Inter forward.
The Best Players To Miss Out
Yann Sommer who was in goal for Switzerland enjoyed an incredible tournament, saving a Kylian Mbappe penalty in his side’s shoot-out win against France in the Round of 16.
Sommer made a tournament-high 21 saves in total, 10 of those coming in the eventual defeat to Spain on penalties in the quarter-finals.
The Dutch player Denzel Dumfries saw his reputation greatly enhanced during Euro 2020, although the Netherlands were sent packing by the Czech Republic at the Round of 16 stage.
He became just the second-ever Dutch player, after Ruud van Nistelrooy, to score in his first two European Championship appearances, while also helping his side to a couple of clean sheets in his four outings.
Both Bonucci and Maguire made the team of the tournament selection but their centre-back colleagues Giorgio Chiellini and John Stones narrowly missed out despite playing influential roles in the success of their respective teams.
England conceded just two goals all tournament, with only one of those coming in open play. A large part of that was down to ever-present defender John Stones, who won 20 aerial challenges – the joint-second most of any defender in the competition, one behind Maguire.
Manchester United left-back Luke Shaw was left out for England’s opening game against Croatia, but the full-back soon made himself indispensable in the English lineup. He was even compared to the great Roberto Carlos after starring with two assists against Ukraine in the quarter-finals.
The English defender provided three assists in total and netted the fastest-ever goal in a European Championship final with his volley against Italy. Those four-goal involvements were bettered only by Schick (five) and Ronaldo (six).
Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Marco Verratti was a major fitness doubt for the tournament and sat out Italy’s first two matches, but made an enormous impact in the following five games.
Since his first game against Wales on June 20, all-rounder Verratti ranked first among all midfielders at Euro 2020 for chances created (14), passes completed (388), progressive carries (59), tackles (18), and recoveries of possession (37).
French midfield star, Paul Pogba would have shone brighter, if France had gone farther in the tournament. He scored a stunning goal against Switzerland after getting two assists in the 2-2 group-stage draw with Portugal, and his supreme link-up play with Mbappe, Antoine Griezmann, and Benzema were among the highlights of the early weeks of the tournament.
The Czech Republic striker Patrik Schick not only scored the joint-most goals, but he was responsible for surely the most memorable one of the lot – a 49.7-yard lob against Scotland, the farthest ever distance a goal has been scored at a European Championships.
The Bayer Leverkusen forward found the net in all but one of his side’s games, with three of his goals coming from open play, compared to just two for Ronaldo.
It might be far from a vintage tournament for the Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo and dethroned champions Portugal, the Juventus superstar still claimed the Golden Boot prize thanks to having one assist more than fellow five-goal forward Schick.
Ronaldo’s 72 minutes per goal ratio was the best return of any player to have played at least three times in the tournament. His goal haul also moved him to level with Iranian great Ali Daei as the all-time leading goalscorer in men’s international football with 109 goals, a record that he will get a chance to break later this year.
UEFA’s Euro 2020 Team Of The Tournament: Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy); Kyle Walker (England), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy), Harry Maguire (England), Leonardo Spinazzola (Italy); Jorginho (Italy), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Denmark), Pedri (Spain); Federico Chiesa (Italy), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Raheem Sterling (England).
