Encomium
The glamourous Euro 2016 ended yesterday (July 10, 2016) at the historic Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, with a thrilling final between the host nation France and Portugal in a game that Portugal won (1-0) via an extra time goal by Eder in the 109th minute.
France forward Antoine Griezmann claimed the UEFA EURO 2016 adidas Golden Boot with six goals, three ahead of Silver Boot laureate Cristiano Ronaldo and Bronze Boot winner Olivier Giroud.
Other winners are :
Golden Ball “Player of the tournament” – Antoine Griezmann
Best young player – Renato Sanches of Portugal
Man of the match in Final – Pepe of Portugal
UEFA also announced the team of the year which included three Portuguese players, 3 French, 2 German, 2 Welsh and 1 Italian.
Hugo LLORIS (Keeper), PEPE, Leonardo BONUCCI, Jerome BOATENG (Defenders), Toni KROOS, Aaron RAMSEY, Renato SANCHEZ, Dimitri PAYET (midfielders), Cristiano RONALDO, Gareth BALE, Antoine GRIEZMANN (Forwards).
Here are some of the interesting statistics from the 51 matches played in the tournament.
A total of 108 goals were scored in the tournament ( Giroud scored the first while Eder scored the last).
Portugal is the first team to and win the tournament after finishing third in the group stage.
Most goals scored: France (13)
Most average possession per game: Germany (63.1%)
Most wins: France (five)
Most draws: Portugal (four)
Fewest losses: Poland, Portugal and Switzerland (all zero)
Most clean sheets achieved by a team: 4 (Germany, Portugal)
Most assists: Eden Hazard (Belgium) and Aaron Ramsey (Wales, both four)
Most shots: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, 45). In second place is Antoine Griezmann (France) with 28.
Most dribbles: Gareth Bale (Wales, 36)
Most tackles attempted: Jakub Blaszczykowski (Poland, 33)
Most tackles won: Jakub Blaszczykowski (Poland, 20)
Most yellow cards: William Carvalho (Portugal), Bartosz Kaputska (Poland) and N’Golo Kante (France, all three)
Most passes: Toni Kroos (Germany, 643). In second place is Jerome Boateng (Germany) with 468.
Oldest goal scorer: Zoltan Gera (Hungary v Portugal, 37 years and 61 days)
Youngest goal scorer: Renato Sanches (Portugal v Poland, 18 years and 317 days)
