European Championship concluded Matchday one with its extreme highs and lows. Fair to say it has been highly eventful. From a sparkling opening ceremony to a horrific moment for an athlete on the pitch, Euro 2020 will go down in the history books.
Matchday one has lived up to its expectations with teams showing their early standards on the pitch. Some high-profile records have been set in those entertaining games in this mega stage. We look back to most of them starting from the first game of the tournament.
1) Goal hungry Azzurri
The opening ceremony of Euro 2020 at Stadio Olimpico bought in goosebumps to all viewers, especially Andrea Bocelli, the star tenor, performance. Italy played on his strings and produced an emphatic attacking display. A changed side under Roberto Manchini, Azzurri lit up the stage with their new style of football smacking three goals past Turkey. The first time they have ever scored more than two goals in European Championship. A welcome return to the major stages.
2) Ronaldo and record
Whenever Cristiano Ronaldo stepped onto the pitch you know records going to be broken and made subsequently. Not only that he likes to erect his name with every grand competition. Playing against defensively decorated Hungary, Cristiano Ronaldo has already appeared in more Euro finals than anyone else with a record 5 times. He remained poised to create even more as his two strikes on Tuesday made him the all-time top goalscorer in the tournament with 11 goals. The Portuguese megastar suppressed Michael Platini's record of 9 strikes.
3) Youngest ever
Gareth Southgate's England boasted one of the young talented squad in the tournament. So, it was a no-brainer to know that one of them will turn out to be a baby to feature in the competition and he will break a record. This achievement went to Borussia Dortmund's talented midfielder and England's very own Jude Bellingham. At 17 years 349 days, he became the youngest ever play to feature at the Euros when he replaced Harry Kane as a substitute in their 1-0 win over Croatia at Wembley. Quite obviously, Jude became the youngest England player at a major competition overtaking the record hold by Michael Owen (18 years 183 days). 17 years old is regarded as babies of football. No! Seriously.
4) Into your net
Euro 2020 has also witnessed a flurry of goals being scored and will be scored. A total of 28 strikes found the back of the net with only a single game going goalless (We need to speak about that later). In those, three have been own goals and two of them scored by a Juventus player. The first one came in the opening game itself between Italy and Turkey. Merih Demiral turned in a cross from Domenico Berardi to score the first goal of Euro 2020, an own goal to start for the first time in tournament history. Demiral's club and Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny did something similar when Slovakia's Robert Mak's strike ricocheted from the post onto his head and in. He became the first goalkeeper in the Euros to do so. People are creating records by scoring on the same side, Jeez!
5) Holding for no reason
Now to that goalless draw between Spain and Sweden. Why am I writing this? It's Morata's fault. Spain had all of the ball in the game, it seems for every second of the game. La Roja made a record of holding 85.1% possession of the ball and attempted 5 shots on target yet left empty-handed due to their fault and opposition brilliance. Morata, you should have scored buddy! Luis Enrique tried all of his brain cells he got access to and hoped his players produce the trick but nothing resulted. However, a Euro record was made and that is what we are speaking or writing about.
6) First wins
Euro always give the stage for every nation to sing their stories. Especially for the underdogs making debuts in the competition or registering their first-ever win. A dream come true. A moment to remember. That what happened to Austria who registered their first-ever win at the Euros after featuring in their third ever European Championship. Even a greater story lies for North Macedonia as a united nation scored their first-ever memorable goal in that 3-1 defeat through their talisman, Goran Pandev.
Denmark vs Finland game came into the headlines for all the happy reasons as well as for a sad moment. Finland, first time in the tournament, registered their first-ever win but celebrations were muted because of an incident that shook the footballing world two hours earlier after the game was momentarily suspended for medical emergency.
Heading towards the first half, Denmark's starman Christian Eriksen collapsed to the floor suffering a possible cardiac arrest. Due to the quick thinking of his teammates, Simon Kjaer saving his life by preventing him from swallowing his tongue unconsciously, and heroics from the medical team Eriksen is very much alive now and sending heartfelt messages from the hospital. Football showed a sense of solidarity, support and love in such a heart-wrenching moment. Get well soon Chris!
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