Page 11 - Soccer360 Issue 107

verge of pulling off an almighty shock in the last 16. The Three Lions had long run out of ideas, but with only seconds remaining their star player produced a world class moment as Jude Bellingham’s brilliant bicycle kick dramatically forced extra time, where Harry Kane’s header sent them to the quarter- finals.
RONALDO ROLLER COASTER
After failing to score in the group stage, Cristiano Ronaldo was totally desperate to
find the net in Portugal’s last 16 clash with Slovenia. He ended up
going on an emotional roller coaster,
missing chances in normal time before seeing
a penalty
superbly saved by Jan
Oblak in extra time, and he couldn’t hold back the tears. Underdogs Slovenia battled all the way to the end, but Ronaldo put his disappointment behind him to score in the penalty shootout as Portugal eventually prevailed.
HOSTS SUFFER EXTRA TIME HEARTACHE
The opening quarter-final encounter between Spain and Germany promised a lot, and it truly delivered as two of the
SOCCER360 9
HITTING NEW
HEIGHTS Stephen Donovan examines some of
the numerous records that were broken during Euro 2024.
LAMINE YAMAL
Lamine Yamal rewrote the history books with his record-breaking exploits - so much so that there are too many to mention here. He became the youngest player at a men’s European Championships when he started Spain’s opening game against Croatia, then the youngest goalscorer at any major tournament when he scored that special goal against France in the semi-finals. He was also the youngest player to appear in a final on the day after his 17th birthday, taking the record set by the one and only Pele in 1958.
MOST FINALS APPEARANCES
Cristiano Ronaldo may not have
UEFA has managedtoscorectohmiesatliomnge,but
way since
he did set a record Rbeyal aMpadpried aring
in an incredible sixth European
Championship finals. Having made his
He doesn’t go quite as far back as Ronaldo in terms of the Portuguese national team, but Pepe is two years older and continues to defy his age. The 41-year-old was first-choice at the heart of defence and showed all his experience to help them to the brink of the semi-finals, beating former Hungary goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly’s record as the oldest player in Euros history.
OLDEST GOALSCORER
Luka Modric suffered the anguish
of seeing his Croatia side denied a place in the knockout stage by a last-gasp Italy equaliser, but that otherwise galling night at least saw him become the oldest player to score a goal in the history of the European Championships, at 38 years and 289 days.
MOST CARDS
When Antonin Barak was sent
off after 20 minutes in the Czech Republic’s final group match against Turkey, it was the fastest red card in Euros history. However, things got increasingly bad tempered to the extent that a record 18 yellow cards were shown by referee Istvan Kovacs, while a brawl between both sets of players after the final whistle saw another Czech player, Tomas Chory, dismissed.
first tournament outing at the age of 19 at Euro 2004, he continues to be the main man for Portugal, with the crowning moment coming in 2016 when he lifted his nation’s first major trophy.
OLDEST PLAYER
won the
very first
Champions
League Cup in 1955
LEFT:
Mattia Zaccagni’s late goal broke Croatia hearts
BELOW:
Jude Bellingham rescued England from a shock defeat to Slovakia
BOTTOM LEFT:
Ruben Vargas’ sweet strike saw Switzerland eliminate holders Italy