2024-07-15 21:10:51
The 2024 European Championship is over, Spain is European champion. And the Iberians also dominate the t-online eleven of the tournament.
Six players at the top of the scoring charts, a new European Championship record winner and still no title for England since the 1966 World Cup triumph. The European Championship in Germany is over and has written its own stories.
Several outsiders managed to surprise. Georgia and Romania, for example, made it to the round of 16, but not everyone had Turkey on their list as a quarter-finalist. Belgium, on the other hand, was particularly disappointing. Coach Domenico Tedesco’s team failed in the round of 16 and thus fell just as short of expectations as Croatia and Hungary, who were eliminated after the group stage.
The team of the tournament was without a doubt Spain, who prevailed against several top-class opponents and won every game. But individual professionals from other nations also played well at the European Championships – and secured a place in the t-online eleven of the tournament (formation 4-3-3).
Giorgi Mamardashvili (Georgia): The Georgian team was probably the biggest surprise of the tournament. The fact that the European Championship newcomer made it to the round of 16 was mainly due to Giorgi Mamardashvili. No goalkeeper has kept his team in the game against strong opponents for as long as the 23-year-old. Even though the football fairytale is long over, the FC Valencia goalkeeper’s outstanding performance has probably recommended himself to some top clubs.
Joshua Kimmich (Right-back, Germany): After the preliminary round, Andrei Rațiu was a Romanian in this position (read more about the t-online eleven for the preliminary round here), but Joshua Kimmich has now taken over. The FC Bayern professional achieved a strong pass rate of 93 percent and was constantly involved in the German attack. He was able to set up two goals thanks to his input up front.
John Stones (centre-back, England): The highlight of the English game was the defence, which was led by John Stones. He repeatedly ran balls from the opponent, structured his own defence and was the starting point for many attacks. He was also reliable in the final, repeatedly correcting his team-mates’ mistakes. A bright spot in an uninspiring English team.
Dayot Upamecano (centre-back, France): Up until the semi-finals, France had only conceded one goal – from a penalty in the match against Poland. The other opponents were Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal. The fact that France only conceded a goal from open play in the semi-finals was mainly due to the strong central defense around Dayot Upamecano. He won almost 70 percent of his duels, intercepted many balls or won back lost balls. He did all of this without seeing a single yellow card.
Marc Cucurella (Left-back, Spain): The left-back from Chelsea FC was already convincing in the group phase and confirmed this performance in the knockout round. Spain repeatedly made use of his strengths in attack. No other defender created more big chances than Cucurella (3), and he also assisted the decisive goal in the final. His weaknesses in defence were well compensated for by the rest of the defence.
Jamal Musiala (Left Midfield, Germany): “Bambi” can count himself among the top scorers even after only five games played. The FC Bayern attacker with a strong dribble scored three goals. He was dangerous in almost every German game and his movements tore gaps in the opposing defense lines. Musiala’s value for the DFB team was so great that captain İlkay Gündoğan said after the 2-0 victory over Denmark: “He is perhaps the most important player for us at the moment, such a complete player and a nice guy too.”