Football Own goals, little complaining and late goals: The trends of the European Championship
The late equaliser by Niclas Füllkrug (No. 9) was part of a trend at the European Championships. Photo
© Federico Gambarini/dpa
The preliminary round of the European Football Championship in Germany has ended. And the tournament has already brought some trends. Some were expected, others were surprising.
There were numerous own goals, but only a few sendings off, many age records and a lot of goals in injury time and from distance. These are the trends in the preliminary round of the European Football Championship in Germany.
Own goals
It became a joke on social media in the preliminary round: A certain “E. Igentor” was leading the European Championship’s goal scorers list. And by a wide margin. A player scored seven own goals. But that actually only confirmed the trend of the previous European Championship, when there were eleven own goals by the end of the tournament. Which was strange at the time, though. Because in the five previous European Championships combined there were a total of eight.
Goals in injury time
A record has already been set here after the preliminary round. Ten goals were scored after the 90th minute, compared to nine in France eight years ago. Some goals were also very decisive. Niclas Füllkrug’s equaliser against Switzerland secured Germany’s group victory instead of the Swiss, while Mattia Zaccagni’s goal against Croatia secured Italy’s progress and Croatia’s elimination.
Only the captain is allowed to complain
The annoying pack formations have almost died out in one fell swoop – and you wonder why no one thought of it sooner. For the European Championship, UEFA introduced a rule that only the captains of both teams are allowed to complain to the referees about their decisions. If the captain is a goalkeeper, a player is named as his substitute. Everyone else is in danger of receiving a yellow card. The implementation went surprisingly quickly and well, there were significantly fewer discussions. And the DFB is now checking whether the rule can be implemented in the Bundesliga.
Age extremes: From 16 to 41
Age is no protection from performance – but it is also no obstacle. At this 17th European Championship finals, there were several age records in both directions. At the age of 16, Spaniard Lamine Yamal became the youngest player to ever play in a European Championship, while Portuguese Pepe was the oldest at 41. Former world footballer Luka Modric became the oldest European Championship goalscorer at the age of 38 with his ultimately worthless opening goal against Italy. DFB coach Julian Nagelsmann, meanwhile, set a record on the sidelines. The 36-year-old is the youngest head coach at a European Championship.
Hardly any expulsions
It started well: The first sending off came in the first half of the opening game when the Scot Ryan Porteous stepped on DFB captain İlkay Gündoğan’s ankle in the penalty area and was shown a straight red card. It was (almost) the only sending off in the entire preliminary round. In the final match between Turkey and the Czech Republic, two Czechs were sent off with a yellow-red card and a red card respectively. At the end of the previous European Championship, six players were sent off. But after the preliminary round, there were only two.
TV experts
It has been a trend in recent years. But for the first time, so many women were used as TV experts at a major men’s tournament. Almuth Schult (ARD), Friederike Kromp, Laura Freigang, Kathrin Lehmann (all ZDF) and Tabea Kemme (Magenta TV) brought a breath of fresh air. Schult in particular was frequently praised.
dpa
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