The tournament’s best 11 is made up of five countries: Italy, England, Denmark, Spain, and Belgium
Uefa announced a team of the best players at this year’s European Championships. There have been some notable exclusions such as top goalscorer, Cristiano Ronaldo.
As expected, fans across the world have shown their frustration with some of the decisions made in the team.
If you’ve missed the squad, here it is below:
🚨 The UEFA Euro 2020 Team of the Tournament is here! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/R2XuCBsGSl
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 13, 2021
The squad includes five of Italy’s title winning team: Donnarumma, Bonnuci, Spinazzola, Jorginho and Chiesa. The team won the tournament after beating both Spain and England on penalties.
England had three players named in the side after they came second, only conceding two goals in the entire tournament. Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker were in the team with Manchester United captain Harry Maguire.
The team was rounded off with Spain’s Pedri, Denmark’s Emile Hojbjerg, and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku.
Congratulations to @sterling7, @HarryMaguire93 and @kylewalker2, who have all been named in the #EURO2020 Team of the Tournament!
Well done, lads 👏 pic.twitter.com/cC0jRE3gc2
— England (@England) July 13, 2021
Why are some fans unhappy with the team?
Many fans have voiced their disdain for the team on social media after some of the competition’s top performers were left out of the side.
The competition’s two joint top scorers, Patrik Schick and the before mentioned Ronaldo were neglected for Lukaku in striker. This seemed surprising after the Czech Republic’s shock performance at Euro 2020 getting to the quarterfinals, mainly down to Schick’s five goals.
Steven Zuber also finished the competition with the most assists. But his country, Switzerland, losing in the quarter-finals was not seen as good enough.
England’s Jordan Pickford also finished the tournament with more clean sheets and saves than his counterpart, Donnarumma. This decision was likely down to the Italian’s performance in the penalty shootouts, saving England’s last two shots.
Cristiano Ronaldo – Euro 2020 Golden Boot Winner. 🥇
Patrik Schick – Euro 2020 Silver Boot Winner. 🥈
Karim Benzema – Euro 2020 Bronze Boot Winner. 🥉NONE OF THEM MADE IT TO THE EURO 2020 TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT. 🤯 pic.twitter.com/eqDoaahdmp
— AZR (@AzrOrganization) July 13, 2021
The Italian shot-stopper ended up winning Best Player of the Tournament for his goalkeeping while Pedri was also named Best Young Player at the tournament.
There is no doubt that the 11 players named by UEFA played very well at Euro 2020 and deserve the praise that they are given. Football will continue to be a subjective and divisive topic for many passionate and opinionated fans.
