Euro 2020: Goals of the tournament

Another tournament has come and gone with Giorgio Chiellini holding aloft the Henri Delauney trophy after Italy’s nail-biting penalty shootout victory over England at Wembley.

Gianluigi Donnarumma was the hero on the night and collected the ‘Player of the tournament’ award while Cristiano Ronaldo claimed the ‘Golden Boot’ by virtue of having more assists than Patrick Schick.

18-year-old Spanish midfielder Pedri had a breakout tournament in midfield, winning the award for best young player after a seismic performance against eventual champions Italy in the semi-final.

There is no official award for goal of the tournament but it feels extremely unfair that those breathtaking moments go unrewarded. Here’s a rundown of the top five goals from the festival of football, with a few honourable mentions for good measure.

Honourable mentions

Federico Chiesa (Italy vs Austria)

Andriy Yarmolenko (Ukraine vs Netherlands)

Karim Benzema (France vs Switzerland)

Luka Modric (Croatia vs Scotland)

5. Lorenzo Insigne (Italy vs Belgium)

Italy and Belgium went head to head in Munich in a battle of firepower as both sides swung punches looking to land the knockout blow. Step forward to smallest man on the pitch in Lorenzo Insigne to ensure Belgium’s ‘Golden Generation’ went home empty handed once more.

At times certain footballers are very predictable. Think Arjen Robben cutting inside on to his left foot. What was particularly spectacular about the Dutchman was the opposition’s complete inability to stop it.

This was in a similar vein. Insigne picked up the ball in the inside left channel and headed towards goal. The whole world knew he would looking to bend it into the far corner with his right foot. Yet one of the best goalkeepers in the world in Thibaut Courtois was powerless to stop this magnificent curling effort. ‘Les Diables Rouges’ were sent packing.

4, Andreas Christensen (Denmark vs Russia)

Sometimes great goals are heavily boosted by virtue of being scored in front of a raucous crowd. Plenty of goals scored in the past year of empty, soulless stadia will fail to live long in the memory.

You get the sense Andreas Christensen’s strike will never be forgotten in Copenhagen. The Danes, needing a win to stand any chance of going through, were leading their Russian visitors yet had just conceded a goal to Artem Dzyuba and the tension was high in the Parken Stadium.

Denmark had received a lift following news of Belgium taking the lead against Finland and began peppering Matvei Safonov’s goal. The ‘keeper performed heroics and the danger looked to be averted as the ball was cleared towards goal shy defender Christensen. The Chelsea man had other ideas and strode forward to smash the ball venomously past Safonov. The stadium erupted and Denmark would progress.

3. Paul Pogba (France vs Switzerland)

The French were staring down the barrel as Ricardo Rodriguez stepped up to take a penalty that would hand the Swiss a two goal lead. Hugo Lloris saved brilliantly and France took the handbrake off.

A devastating spell turned the game completely on it’s head and the French were purring. This was epitomised by Paul Pogba. The midfielder was running the show in midfield and scored a simply stunning goal to seemingly send the world champions through.

Having controlled the ball while unbalanced, Pogba opened up his right foot and curled the ball beautifully into the top corner. Yann Sommer was one of the best goalkeepers in the tournament but when the ball is hit as cleanly as that, no ‘keeper in the world is saving it. It was a goal worthy of deciding any match but unfortunately for Didier Deschamps, not this one.

2. Kevin De Bruyne (Belgium vs Denmark)

Long-range screamers and majestic volleys are what every football fan dreams of scoring growing up and are generally a stable of ‘best goal’ compilations.

Yet there is something very satisfying about seeing a well crafted team goal. So much more is required with the margin for error so thin.

Romelu Lukaku started the move off here, running into the channel and doing brilliantly to hold up the ball before finding Youri Tielemans. The Leicester midfielder fed the ball to the edge of the penalty area where brothers Eden and Thorgan Hazard linked up brilliantly to tee up De Bruyne. On his ‘weaker’ left foot, De Bruyne let fly. The ball flew past Kasper Schmeichel and most of the world stood up to applaud. This was Belgium at their scintillating best.

1. Patrick Schick (Czech Republic vs Scotland)

There could only really be one winner in this competition. For all of the quality of the goals mentioned above, there is just no beating Patrick Schick’s magnificent second goal against Scotland.

Schick had the tournament of his life and was buoyed by scoring the opener in this Group D clash. That was an excellent header to the bottom corner but nothing compared to what was to come.

Jack Hendry’s shot was charged down and the ball broke to Schick just inside the Scotland half. Having had a brief look up and spotted David Marshall off his line, the striker took it first time and lifted the ball over the goalkeeper, stunning the onlooking Hampden Park crowd. The angle from behind the goal showcases it even better, highlighting just how far out the ball had started before curling in.

Schick’s goal was an easy pick for goal of the tournament and will find itself up there in any conversations about the all-time winner.

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