Portugal recorded a historic win to lift their first major international trophy when they beat France in the Euro 2016 final on Sunday night.
The tournament produced some fine performances from individual players and teams as a whole.
TOP INDIVIDUAL PERFORMERS
TOP SCORER – ANTOINE GRIEZMANN
Cristiano Ronaldo walked away with the trophy but he was one of four players who were second to Antoine Griezmann in the scoring charts. The Atletico de Madrid forward scored six goals in the competition, twice as many as Ronaldo, Olivier Giroud, Dimitri Payet and Gareth Bale. Griezman was also named player of the tournament.
β½ SIX goals.
— UEFA EURO 2016 (@UEFAEURO) July 11, 2016
π TWO assists.
π Player of the Tournament.
Bravo, @AntoGriezmann! πππ#EURO2016 pic.twitter.com/wIw912RH07
MOST ASSISTS – EDEN HAZARD/AARON RAMSEY
Eden Hazard produced some good moments during the tournament and managed to register four assists. Meanwhile, Aaron Ramsey matched the Belgian’s tally and was considered a major miss in Wales’ semi-final defeat to Portugal. The duo were closely followed by Ronaldo (3).
Aaron Ramsey's game by numbers vs. #BEL:
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) July 1, 2016
86% pass acc
7 crosses
6 chances created
2 assists
Never stopped running. pic.twitter.com/pxaqzjtKKi
FASTEST PLAYER – KINGSLEY COMAN
Kingsley Coman wasn’t deemed worthy of a regular starting berth under Didier Deschamps but when he did take to the field, he left defenders for dead on a few occasions. The Bayern Munich winger clocked a top speed of 32.8 km/h while the likes of Yannick Carrasco (32.3), Eric Johansson (32.1), Sime Vrsaljko (31.9) and Albin Ekdal (31.9) weren’t too far behind.
MOST SAVES – HANNES HALLDORSSON
Iceland went on the most memorable run at Euro 2016, all the way to the semi-finals. That would’ve never happened though if it wasn’t for their man between the posts, Hannes Halldorsson. The 32 year-old was put under plenty of pressure and did well to deny oppositions time and again.
Quelle action !!! Super boulot de Ronaldoππ½β½οΈππ½π΅πΉ quelle occasion #PORISL pic.twitter.com/ZZ2ytVZpPL
— Nawel Hadjaf (@NawFootballeuse) June 14, 2016
TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW
The tournament wasn’t exactly a goal glut. During the first couple of rounds in the group stages, teams appeared to draw blanks or win by the odd goal. Several games from the knockout rounds needed extra-time or even penalties. It all resulted in an underwhelming goals per game average of 2.12, the least in the European Championship since Euro 1996 (2.06).
The bulk of the goal scoring was done on either side of half-time with teams often starting games cautiously. Meanwhile, the tournament did see plenty of late goals as well with a total of 28 being scored between the 76th minute and the end of regulation time.
BEST TEAM STATS
It’s no surprise that Spain and Germany dominated the passing statistics although Switzerland registering pass completion percentage of 91% does raise a few eyebrows. Spain were hardly at their best while Germany never really got out of third gear either. England sneak in with 59 % possession, the third best in the tournament.
France were the favourites to win the tournament and from the above stats, you can see why. Les Bleus had the most attempts and the highest goals per game average, which was boosted no doubt by their 5-2 win over Iceland in the semi-finals.
Tournament winners Portugal matched the hosts in terms of attempts while it’s not surprising that they lead the way in shots off target, considering the eagerness of a certain Cristiano Ronaldo.
