As an alternative to team of the tournament, Sandals For Goalposts have compiled a list of players who have underachieved, underwhelmed and were down-right rubbish during the tournament.
GK – Shay Given (Republic of Ireland)
The Republic of Ireland keeper was pretty poor during the tournament, conceding a variety of goal that were deemed to be “soft”, as well as looking nervy between the sticks from time to time. Although the rest of the team were bad, Shay has to shoulder some of the blame.
The second semi-final was the last to be played in Poland, contested in the National Stadium in Warsaw. This game was a hotly-contested game between two powerhouses in the tournament: Italy and Germany. Italy came into the game into the game with an undefeated record against the Germans and planned to continue this outstanding record. Italy extended this record by beating the Germans 2-1, both Italian goals scored by Mario Balotelli and Mesut Ozil scoring a penalty for Germany.
1. Super Mario Shows His Brilliance
Adding to the collection of brilliant Balotelli celebrations
For all the criticism he has received from the pundits and media (I’m looking at you, BBC pundits), not to forget the amount of racial abuse he has received during the tournament. Mario Balotelli’s mission was to not only make it into our Team of the Round, but also to prove all of his critics wrong. That’s what he achieved tonight, scoring both of Italy’s goals. He proved to be a handful for Badstuber and Hummels, both who have had excellent tournaments, by using his pace and knowledge of attacking positions in order to score the goals via a header and beating the offside trap. I told you to look out for him, didn’t I?!
The first Quarter Final match saw Portugal face off against Czech Republic. Neutrals were expecting to see Ronaldo continue his run of form and also to see Petr Cech improve his form, subsequently receiving both. After a tense tie, Portugal emerged as winners, with Christiano Ronaldo heading in the only goal of the match, concluding the game at 1-0.
1. Portuguese Talisman Shines Again
Ronaldo nods in the only goal of the game
Carrying over his blazing run of form from the previous game, Christiano Ronaldo is currently on fire, scoring the winner and only goal of the game after getting on the end of a superb cross to head the ball towards goal. He had numerous opportunities beforehand, hitting the woodwork on numerous occasions just like he did in the Group Stages. Not only he create a lot of opportunities, he also bullied the Czech Republic defence, who found him quite difficult to contain. With the semi-finals coming up soon, Portugal are one step closer to lifting the trophy, something that Ronaldo craves.
In the final round of Group C games, the Italians took on the Irish in Poznan with the former looking to progress to the quarter-finals with a win. Having already been eliminated from the tournament last week, Republic of Ireland were playing for nothing but pride tonight. Pride; it was a word which resonated with the entire team, perhaps none more so than Damien Duff who was handed the captain’s armband by Robbie Keane to mark his 100th cap.
1. Too little, too late.
Despite being considered an outside bet prior to the tournament, ROI’s qualities were never in doubt. Manager Giovanni Trapattoni shaped his team into a 4-4-2 making them hard to beat, especially with their industrious back-line and midfield. However, in their last two games at the Euros, ROI had conceded goals in the first five minutes of each half. Concentration and positioning brought into question, they needed to make sure there would be no mistakes tonight. Balotelli’s goal, Italy’s second, painted a misleading picture as this was not the Ireland we had seen in the last two games. There was plenty of grit, passion and work rate in tonight’s performance – more so than usual, certainly. Unfortunately for them, it came too late.
Matches: Portugal vs Netherlands; Germany vs Denmark
Germany needed at least a draw to ensure progression, while the other three teams would have ideally liked to win their games in order to progress into the knockout rounds. This is the Group Of Death and with situations like this, you best believe that these matches would be full of drama and goals. Final scores: Germany 2-1 Denmark; Portugal 2-1 Netherlands (therefore, Germany and Portugal progress)
1. Ronaldo Turns Up When Necessary
CR7 is back!
Lauded by critics after having a poor performance against Denmark a few days ago and been taunted by Messi chants from opposing fans, Ronaldo was hell-bent on playing brilliantly tonight and that’s exactly what he did. He scored the equalising goal in the first half, then was calm and composed to bag a 2nd goal for Portugal, which turned out to be the winning goal. He came close to scoring the first hat-trick of the tournament towards the end of the game, but only hitting the woodwork for the 2nd time in the match. Ronaldo now has the confidence to lead Portugal to victory in the knockout stages.
