Curiosities of the Eurocopa 2020

The most important national team tournament in continental football is about to begin. With the end of the season, it is the turn of Euro 2020, which will close a football year marked by the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, the championship should have been played last year, but UEFA decided to postpone it to this summer, keeping the dates. We review the curiosities and everything you need to know about the Euro that is about to start. It will be the first time that it is held in 11 venues spread throughout the continent. UEFA decided to mark the 60th anniversary of the competition by expanding it throughout Europe. Contrary to what happened in the previous 15 editions, this time there will not be a host country, but there will be 11: England, Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland, Denmark, Hungary, Romania, Russia and Azerbaijan. Regarding the cities that will host the championship, two of them have fallen in recent months. Initially, Group E matches were to be played in Bilbao and Dublin. However, the UEFA Executive Committee decided to change San Mamés to the La Cartuja Stadium in Seville, while it decided to leave Ireland without a venue and move it to Saint Petersburg, which will host seven matches, instead of the four that were planned. One of the special measures of this Eurocup will also be the extension of the calls. After the little rest compared to last season and the load of matches, UEFA wants to avoid an increased risk of injury. Added to that is the possibility of positive cases of coronavirus. For this reason, each team has the possibility of bringing 26 footballers.Of course, for each game they will only have the 23 that were usually taken, having to discard the rest of the players. Furthermore, the lists will not be final until one day before the debut of each team. There may be changes due to injury or if there are cases of COVID-19 up to 24 hours before the selection in question plays the first game. In the case of Spain, for example, Luis Enrique -who will travel with 24 players- has the possibility of making a mandatory change until June 13, when he debuts against Sweden on June 14, one of the star measures, introduced last season , is that of the five substitutions per game. Everything indicates that it is a change in the regulation that has come to stay. For the moment, in Euro 2020, it will remain in force and each coach may introduce up to five variations during the match, spread over three windows. In case of extra time, they will have an additional one during extra time. Who has won the Eurocup more times? The winners of the Eurocopa are led by Spain and Germany. Both teams have three titles. La Roja achieved them in the years 1964, 2008 and 2012, while the Mannschaft prevailed in the years 1972, 1980 -as Federal Germany- and in 1996. France has two titles and this summer starts as the main favorite to be proclaimed champion of Europe. Their titles were given in 1984 – against Spain – and 2000. In addition to the three that complete the podium of titles, there are seven other teams that have been proclaimed champions. All of them have a Eurocup to their credit. These are Russia (as the USSR, in 1960), Italy (1968), the Czech Republic (as Czechoslovakia, in 1976), Portugal (2016), the Netherlands (1988), Denmark (1992) and Greece (2004).The Hellenic team is also the only champion absent in this edition, the team that has played in the final the most times has been Germany, with six. They are followed by Spain and Russia with four, France and Italy with three and the Czech Republic, Portugal and Serbia (always like Yugoslavia) with two. Besides the Serbian team, Belgium is the other team that has played at least one final and has never won. The case of England stands out, which has never reached the game for the title. In this edition, they start as one of the favorites and the last two rounds will be played at Wembley. What is the format like? The Eurocup introduced a new format in its previous edition, by expanding the number of participating teams from 16 to 24. Previously , four groups of four teams made up the group stage, the first two qualifying for the quarterfinals. However, since France 2016, the groups have been increased to six, with the top two of each and the top four third ranked. In addition, a round of 16 was added. The expansion to 24 teams allows, in this edition, there will be two teams making their debut in the Eurocup. These are North Macedonia and Finland. The former got it in the repechage, while the Nordics sealed their pass after a great qualifying round, finishing second in a group led by Italy. In addition, in 2016 there were five teams that played their first European Championship. Of them, Wales and Slovakia repeat in this one. The Netherlands – absent in 2016 – and Scotland, which had not qualified since 1996, return, the opening match will correspond to Group A and will be played at the Olympic in Rome. Euro 2020 will open with Italy-Turkey, in which it will be the only match to be played on June 11.The group stage will end on June 23, with the last day of groups E and F. Between days 26 and 29 the eighth will be played, on July 2 and 3 the quarterfinals will be played, on 6 and 7 the semifinals and the final will be played on July 11, at Wembley. Top scorersTwo players tie at the top of the scorers table in the final phase of the European Championship. Michel Platini and Cristiano Ronaldo accumulate nine goals, although the former UEFA president did so in five games, while the Portuguese has played 21. They are followed by Alan Shearer, with seven goals; Griezmann, Van Nistelrooy, Kluivert, Henry, Ibrahimovic and Nuno Gomes, with six goals. Cristiano Ronaldo is also the top scorer if you take into account the qualifying stages for the European Championship, with a total of 29 goals. In addition, in the final stages he is the player who has played the most games, with 21, followed by Bastian Schweinsteiger, with 17, and Gianluigi Buffon, with 16. The Spanish striker who has scored the most goals in the history of the final stages of the European Championship is Fernando Torres. The forward, champion in 2008 and 2012, scored a total of five goals. If the qualifying stages are taken into account, Raúl scored a total of 19 goals, while David Villa scored 17. Most wins The biggest win in the history of the European Championship, in the 60 years, occurred in the 2000 edition. in the quarterfinals, played between the Netherlands and Yugoslavia, in which the Dutch won 6-1. Precisely, the Balkans also took another of the biggest defeats of the competition, losing 5-0 against Denmark in 1984. In that same edition, the champion France won by the same difference against Bulgaria.The biggest victory in a final was taken by Spain in the Euro Cup in Poland and Ukraine, in 2012. Then, the current world champion beat Italy 4-0, revalidating the title won four years earlier. The next biggest win in a final came in 1972, when West Germany beat the USSR 3-0. Finals Of the 15 Euro Cup finals played to date, there is only one that has been repeated on more than one occasion. Germany fell in 1976 against Czechoslovakia. Precisely, that final was the only one to date that has been decided in the penalty shootout, after a draw at two. Two decades later, in 1996, the Germans took revenge, also winning the first final decided with a golden goal. Also by a golden goal, the final between France and Italy was decided four years later, in which Trezeguet gave victory to the Gauls . The Italians also prevailed in the only double final in history. In 1968, the Olympic Stadium in Rome hosted the final against Yugoslavia, which ended in a 1-1 draw at the end of extra time. Then, there were still no penalties as a form of tiebreaker, so a new game was played two days later, which ended with a 2-0 victory for Azzurro.The first final in history was played in 1960 and we had to wait for the extra time to meet the champion. The Soviet Union beat Yugoslavia in the Park of Princes by 2-1, with a great performance from the Russian goal Lev Yashin, who would win the Ballon d’Or three years later. It is to date, the only final in which the winner was known at the end of 120 minutes.