With Euro 2020 now over, we reflect on the stand-out players from across the last month and unveil our top XI of the tournament.
In a tournament which saw over 620 players called up, there were plenty of superstars like Ciro Immobile and Romelu Lukaku at their very best alongside surprise performers featuring Emil Forsberg, Kasper Dolberg and Leonardo Spinazzola to name just a few.
It therefore has been a difficult task to pull together a top XI which reflected the stand-out stars and surprise players who outperformed initial expectations, yet we have managed to create a fair list celebrating the eleven best players of Euro 2020.
Goalkeeper
There has been several standout goalkeeping performances throughout this summer from Denmark’s Kasper Schmeichel, Switzerland’s Yann Sommer and Italy’s Gianluigi Donnarumma amongst others, yet England’s Jordan Pickford has been the stand-out goalkeeper with just two conceded goals all tournament.
Just to underline Pickford’s performance, he has faced Croatia, Scotland, Czech Republic, Germany, Ukraine, Denmark and Italy throughout the campaign, who are all difficult opposition yet he managed to concede just twice across those seven games.
Compare those numbers to those of Donnarumma who conceded in all four knockout games en route to the title with Italy and made just six punches to Pickford’s seven, you will definitely find it difficult to justify not naming Pickford as the best overall goalkeeper of the tournament.
Defence
With plenty of impressive defensive displays across all 24 teams, there are certainly plenty of candidates who deserve to make the combined XI of Euro 2020.
The easiest place therefore to start is at left-back because Luke Shaw has simply been outstanding in that position for England in terms of his pace and creativity on the attack – as evidenced by his quick opener in the final, as well as defensively when forced to track back and help his defence out.
Across at right-back, Italy’s Giovanni Di Lorenzo is my pick simply because he has been hugely consistent like Shaw and played a hugely important role in stopping the left-flank players of opposition from creating many opportunities.
In central defence, England’s Harry Maguire is the obvious pick because after missing the first two matches through injury, he has just been the Three Lions’ defensive rock at not just set pieces but defending in open play as well with proper leadership in the back lines.
Denmark’s Simon Kjaer meanwhile deserves high praise as the second central defender pick because he been outstanding defensively and particularly showed excellent leadership skills following Christian Eriksen’s cardiac arrest, whereas others would of simply broke down which deserves recognition.
Midfield
Throughout Euro 2020, there have been several notable big-name performances from players yet I have been more impressed by those who have quietly delivered their tasks without playing too big a role in the fortunes of their teams.
Declan Rice therefore is one of those players who fit that description perfectly because all tournament, he has been excellent in the central midfield role for England whether it is moving the ball around midfield to create opportunities out wide or helping defence out when necessary without much fanfare.
Italy’s Jorginho also fits the same bill as Rice because he was just brilliantly in control throughout the tournament, irrespective of whether he was triggering attacks or just defending deep to aid his veteran central defence as he made his position
Looking across to the flanks, there haven’t really been any stand-out attacking midfielders which caught my eye, despite Denmark’s Joakim Maehle and England’s Mason Mount being notable highlights but Pedri was a surprise performer for Spain at just 18 years-old on his tournament debut.
Combining his excellent youthful pace and ability on the ball, Pedri certainly proved influential in Spain’s attacking play, even though the team as a whole struggled initially before pulling through to the semi-finals because he added extra quality to their game despite not getting hyped much by pundits.
Forward
With 142 goals scored across 51 matches of which a majority of goals came from up front, there are plenty of forwards to choose from starting with England’s Harry Kane.
Although he seemed subdued during the Group Stage, Kane proved his worth when it mattered most in the knockout stage with four goals, although his work rate was his finest quality as he dropped deep on several occasions to help create attacks even if often cost himself chances to score goals.
Whilst Kane was dropping deep, Raheem Sterling stepped up brilliantly for England as he created several opportunities upon goal with a tournament-high 34 dribbles to boot, in turn answering questions by critics over his inclusion after a disappointing campaign for Manchester City.
As for the final striker to complete this XI, there are plenty of choices from Italy’s Lorenzo Insigne to France’s Karim Benzema for example, yet Czech Republic’s Patrik Schick deserves the biggest shout out for the spot because he was the biggest surprise of the tournament with five goals.
Whilst Schick hasn’t lit up the statistics, he was fantastic up front for the Czechs with clinical strikes which is mightily impressive for someone who most football fans wouldn’t of even expected to be the Golden Boot runner-up by virtue of no assists to one assist produced by Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo.
It is therefore a great credit to Schick that he deserves the nod purely on performance unexpectedness compared to Ronaldo, whose achievements shouldn’t be ignored after he became the record goalscorer of Euros with 14 goals plus the outright top goalscorer in major tournament Finals with 21 goals.
Leave a Reply