The journey through the history of the Eurocup takes us to the 2012 edition, jointly organized by Poland and Ukraine. Spain won the World Cup in South Africa, in 2010, so in 2012, everyone considered the Red Fury as the main candidate to retain their crown in the Euro.
Again 16 teams participated and, as had happened four years before, the two hosts were eliminated in the first phase. Holland was the great disappointment, because they finished in the last place in their group.
In the quarterfinals, the most anticipated challenge was that of England against Italy, which ended without goals. From the penalty spot, the Azurris had better aim than the English. Furthermore, Germany was better than Greece, 4 by 2; Spain, with two goals from Xavi Alonso, finished with France and Portugal, with a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, eliminated the Czech Republic.
In the Euro 2012 semifinal, the Italians once again demonstrated their superiority over the Germans in their particular duel, by beating them 2 goals by 1, with special emphasis on Mario Balotelli, who scored both; meanwhile, Spanish and Portuguese played 120 minutes without scoring goals, so it was necessary to go to penalties. In this instance, Moutinho and Alves failed, so Spain was again included in a final of the Eurocup.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_6k3q5fPTo
On July 1, 2012, at the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, the golden generation of the Spanish Red Fury lived a magical night and thrashed no less than 4-0 against an Italy that never knew how to stop their rivals. David Silva opened the scoring, in the 14th minute, and then the goals of Jordi Alba, Fernando Torres and Juan Mata fell. In this way, the team, led by Vicente del Bosque, won its third European Championship. Andrés Iniesta was chosen as the best player of the tournament.
EURO 2016: CR7’s dream
Our journey through the history of the European Football Championship takes us to 2016 edition, held in France. For the first time, 24 teams participated! An expansion that helped the economic issue, but had an impact on the decrease in the level of the contest.
In the qualifying stage, there were not many surprises and, then, in the round of 16, the reign of Spain ended, as the Italians, led by Antonio Conte, left the European champions on the way; although this was not the most surprising result, because England fell by 1 to 2 no less than to Iceland, which was one of the teams that most impressed in the contest, along with Wales.
In the quarterfinals, Germany and Italy had a vibrant match and this time the Germans prevailed, in an unforgettable penalty shootout that spanned nine rounds.
France put an end to Iceland’s dreams and thrashed 5-2, while Wales, led by Gareth Bale, also surprised by beating Belgium and Portugal completed the semi-final quartet, beating Poland on penalties.
The most anticipated semifinal of course was that of France against Germany. The world champions had not had the best contest; but they seemed favorites anyway; However, the hosts, with two goals from Antoine Griezman, pleased their millions of fans and were included in the final, where they faced Portugal.
The Portuguese relied on a goal and an assist from Cristiano Ronaldo to beat Wales, advancing to their second Euro Cup final. Let us remember that in Euro 2004, which they organized themselves, the Portuguese were considered super favorites to beat Greece and ended up falling by 1 to 0. Now, in France, the Gauls were the wide favorites and this condition increased when, in the minute 18, Cristiano Ronaldo had to abandon the challenge, due to injury.
Everything seemed lost to the Portuguese; but we already know how the story ended: the Portuguese held on and, in overtime, Éder silenced the fans at the Paris Stadium, with a goal that gave Portugal its first major triumph in a football event.
With their victory at Euro 2016, Portugal became the 10th country to lift the Champions Cup. The top winners are still Spain and Germany, both with three titles, although the Germans have played six finals, 4 to the Spaniards. Cristiano Ronaldo and Frenchman Michelle Platini have scored the most goals, with nine, only that the Frenchman did so in a single edition, while Ronaldo has scored in 4 tournaments, since 2004.
Can CR7 break the tie with Platini in the Eurocup of this 2021?
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