The two major football tournaments in Euro 2020 and Copa America 2020 were finally concluded last weekend, after being delayed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The mouth-watering finals of Italy vs England and Brazil vs Argentina kicked off within 24 hours of each other, treating the millions of fans around the globe a delightful taste of exciting football in an otherwise gloomy pandemic period.
Gareth Southgate and his young England team charged into the Euro 2020 final with convincing wins over Germany, Ukraine and Denmark. Their splendid performances had tens of thousands of England fans dreaming of their first international glory since 1966, when the Three Lions lifted the FIFA World Cup. For the UEFA European Football Championship, England has never reached the final until Euro 2020, let alone winning the trophy.
But in the end, it was Italy who triumphed England, after a 1-1 full-time draw that sent the game into a goalless extra time and nail-biting penalties. England missed the last three penalties, handing the prestigious trophy to Italy. It was only the second European Championship Italy has won. They themselves had suffered a long 53-year wait – their previous Euro victory was in 1968.
With the win, Italy is now on a 34 match unbeaten run in all competitions, the second longest unbeaten run in international football after Brazil (1993-1996) and Spain (2007-2009), which were unbeaten for 35 straight games. Manager Roberto Mancini deserves all the credits for bringing Italy from their worst ever FIFA ranking and missing 2018 World Cup to the champion of Europe.
Young Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was awarded the Best Player of the Tournament, whereas Cristiano Ronaldo claimed the Golden Boot with five goals to his name. He also became the all-time top scorer in the European Championship history with a total of 14 goals.
At South America, Lionel Messi and his Argentina team finally broke the curse by beating Brazil and winning the Copa America trophy. It was Messi’s fifth attempt in the Copa America tournaments, in which Argentina finished as runner-up three times in 2007, 2015 and 2016. The previous time Argentina claimed Copa America was in 1993, a good 28 years ago.
In what may be his last Copa America outing, 34-year-old Messi was at his very best. He sparkled in the tournament, scoring four goals and assisting a further five. In doing so, Messi became the first player in Copa America history to claim the trophy as well as the awards of being the tournament’s best player, top scorer and the player with most assists.
Emiliano Martinez, with four clean sheets, also became the first Argentine goalkeeper to claim the Golden Glove award.
13.07.2021
Best 100 Footballers in the World 