European Championship - First Round Memorable Moments

With the First Round drawing to a close, I felt it was a good time to consolidate the best moments from the Championships so far. There have been a lot of talking points, with minnows taking most of the limelight with their courageous displays, helped no doubt by the format of the tournament. There have been some unsavoury moments too, with supporter violence high on the list of headaches for the tournament organizers. Here are some of the best moments…

Dmitri Payet in tears after scoring against Romania

His match-winning display was too much to take and Payet broke down after being substituted. He had just become the darling for his country and this reaction showed just how much it meant to him.

Fan violence mars England vs Russia draw

With the good, came the bad, as opposing ‘fans’ clashed in the stadium. The fight would spill out onto the streets of Marseille, even travelling as far as Lille.

Jerome Boateng’s goal-line clearance

This impossible acrobatic clearance from Boateng in the first half kept the scores level in Germany’s clash against Ukraine.

Republic of Ireland fans at the Euros

Irish fans (both ROI and NIR) did their countries proud at the Euros. In a tournament marred by fan violence and misconduct, the Irish fans were a treat to watch in the stands. The Republic of Ireland fans, in particular, were the most popular.

Antonio Conte the tactical genius

Conte’s tactics helped an average looking Italian team get a tremendous win over world number 2 Belgium in their opening game of the tournament. The Chelsea fans would’ve been licking their lips after this.

Hungary return with a bang

Hungary returned to the Euros after a 44 year gap and beat Austria in their opening fixture.

Ronaldo refuses to swap shirts

Ronaldo refused to swap shirts with Iceland’s Aron Gunnarsson after Iceland held on for a historic draw against Portugal. Later, the Portuguese star would make a “…small nation, small mentality” jibe at the minnows for not playing for the victory.

Northern Ireland rack up 3 points

Northern Ireland marked their return to the international stage with a 2-0 win over Ukraine in their second group game.

Croatia fans throw flares onto the pitch

The Croatian fans let themselves down by throwing numerous flares on to the pitch in their game vs Czech Republic. The break in play affected their team’s concentration and they allowed the Czechs to take a point from the game. The stadium official in the picture survived a close call after an explosive he was trying to remove from the pitch burst in his hands.

Kung Fu at the Euros

Shane Long would consider himself very lucky that neither high kicks made significant contact with his head! It was incredible how the referee did not award a penalty for this incident, let alone send one, if not both, players off.

Absolute joy for Albania

Albania pulled off their first win in a major tournament by beating Romania courtesy a Sadiku goal. The unbridled emotion in the above picture shows how much it meant to them as a country.

15% of Iceland’s population has flown to France for the Euros

With just 333,000 people, Iceland has the smallest population of all countries at the Euros. The country witnessed a mass exodus in the first week of June as 50,000 fans travelled to France to attend the Euros. The team hasn’t let them down and the mutual admiration is clear from this picture.

Zlatan bows out

The legend bowed out of international football after failing to lift his team past the group stage. Sweden would do well to find another footballing icon like him.

Best Goal – Marek Hamsik vs Russia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNjTg79FoZU

Hamsik took control of the ball in the left edge of the penalty area, beat one defender on the inside and fired an unstoppable shot from an acute angle past another, which beat the keeper and went in off the post.

Best Improvised Goal – Cristiano Ronaldo first goal vs Hungary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXHg0AYr8J0

Ronaldo drew Portugal level at 2-2 with a cheeky and genius back-flip in their match against Hungary.

Best Pass – Leonardo Bonucci assist for Giaccherini goal vs Belgium

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbsRFvr0K3I

Bonucci launched a lobbed pass towards Giaccherini form the center circle, which just cleared the Belgian defenders and landed perfectly at the strikers feet. Giaccherini made no mistake with the finish.

Best Through Pass – David Silva to Cesc Fabregas, leading to Sapin’s goal vs Croatia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lBsBxI2EDE

Silva's reverse pass took out four defenders before finding Fabregas, who squared for Morata to score into an empty net.

Star Player – Gareth Bale, Wales

While there were a few individual performances worthy of mention, Bale’s leadership from the front with goals makes him my player of the First Round. Most other big names have failed to light up the tournament, but Bale scored in all three games and was the main reason for Wales’ qualification to the second round by topping the group.

Best Goalkeeper – Michael McGovern, Northern Ireland

McGovern was brilliant in the group stages, saving his best performance for the match against the world champions Germany. The Germans could well have scored 5 or 6 goals had it not been for the Northern Irish stopper. He played well in the other games too, pulling off a few good saves and being an overall assured presence behind the defense.

Best Team – Wales

If any team has epitomised being just that, a Team, it is Wales. Solid at the back and through midfield, they have played for themselves and each other all through the group stages. Gareth Bale has led from the front and players like Aaron Ramsey and Joe Allen have been able and powerful lieutenants. Captain Ashley Williams has led the team with aplomb, ensuring that they stick to the manager's work ethic. Chris Coleman has changed them from non-entities to possible world beaters.

Biggest Upset – Austria 0-2 Hungary

Austria were dark horses for the tournament. People were expecting them to possibly go till the last week of the tournament. Hungary came out firing and blew away their neighbours in their first group game. A sublime chip over the goalkeeper from Stieber in the final minutes assured them the win. 40 year old goalkeeper Gabor Kiraly ran the length of the pitch to join in the celebrations.

Albania’s win over Romania is a close second for its romanticism with a special mention for Ireland’s win over Italy, although the Azzuri had made 8 changes to their squad.

There were a lot more things that I could’ve covered as a part of the moments of the tournament but these make for a good set. I hope you’ve been enjoying the tournament as much as I’ve been, despite it being a low scoring affair. Here’s to hoping the second round brings more goals and less defensive football. The bottom half of the draw is lining up to be explosive. The top half presents an opportunity to one of the dark horses to reach the final. What will happen in the Second Round? Well, we need to wait for another day before we start finding out.