Page 11 - Keynsham Town v Ashton & Backwell 310721

sick after curving in a goal from the halfway line in the teams’ first tournament
game.
T is for Tartan Army. Speaking of Scotland fans, tens of thousands of kilted
footsoldiers invaded London for the group stage game against England. They saw
Scotland’s best performance of the tournament — fighting the eventual runners-up
to a tie. But travel to the match was later blamed for a spike in coronavirus cases.

U is for underperforming. France and Germany were knocked out early, but
perhaps no team disappointed more than Portugal. Despite a dazzling array of
world-class attacking talent and a solid defense, the Portuguese peaked in their
first match against Hungary and went downhill from there. They soon exited the
tournament, with a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Belgium in sweltering Seville.
V is for variant. As Scotland discovered, the Delta coronavirus strain surged in
Britain during the tournament, leading some European lawmakers to call for the
final matches to be removed from London. UEFA and the U.K. government resisted
the demands — but, as typical with COVID-19, the full effect of that decision won’t
be known for some weeks.
W is for water. H2O got a bizarre boost from Cristiano Ronaldo early in the
tournament. In a viral moment, the Portuguese superstar removed two bottles of
Coca-Cola from his table at a news conference and told the assembled press corps
to “drink water.” The move started a liquid craze, with France’s Paul Pogba getting
rid of bottles of Heineken at his press event; Russian coach Stanislav Cherchesov
downing a bottle of Coke for the media; and Scottish midfielder John McGinn asking
journalists why he didn’t have any bottles of Coke on his desk.
X is for Granit Xhaka and Xherdan Shaqiri. The bit-part Premier League players
helped inspire Switzerland to its dramatic victory over France — and then came
close to toppling Spain in the quarterfinals in St. Petersburg, before their
teammates lost their composure in a penalty shootout.
Y is for youth. A handful of young players lit up the tournament. Under-21s Bukayo
Saka of England, Jérémy Doku of Belgium and Mikkel Damsgaard of Denmark were
instrumental in their sides’ successes. No star shone brighter than Pedri, however.
The 18-year-old Barcelona player was pivotal for Spain and invited comparisons
with the legendary Andrés Iniesta.

Z is for zero to hero (and back again). Spain dominated Italy in the semifinal at
Wembley, and recovered from 1-0 down with a well-worked goal finished off by
substitute striker Alvaro Morata, who’d been criticized for profligacy early in the
tournament. But his joy was short-lived. In a dramatic penalty shootout, Morata’s
weak strike was easily saved by Donnarumma and Spain departed for home.