June 19 – First round games at major tournaments are often cagey, cautious affairs, the emphasis being on trying to avoid defeat.
Not at Euro 2024 where teams have gone for the jugular early doors to get points on the board quickly – some successfully, others not so.
With the first round of matches now complete, the entertainment level has been nothing short of fantastic with 34 goals scored in the 12 games so far.
The opening two days set the tone, as both Germany and Spain cruised to victory well before halftime.
Nearly all the sides in the competition have tried at some point to attack, with even the so-called ‘boring’ games seeing a decent number of shots on goal.
Georgia, the lowest-ranked team in Germany, may have been on the losing side but at times they were a revelation against Turkey who they ultimately couldn’t match for sheer individual brilliance. Rarely has the same team scored the two best goals of the opening group fixtures – which the Turks arguably did.
Upsets always add spice to any tournament and star-studded Belgium’s defeat to Slovakia despite a predominantly one-sided encounter proved, if proof were needed, that no country in these Euros can be taken lightly.
Perhaps the most notable talking point has been teams unafraid to take shots from range.
There were only 17 goals from outside the penalty box at Euro 2016, that number rising to 19 at Euro 2020. But there were 51 matches played at those tournaments.
Euro 2024 has seen 11 such goals in only 12 matches. Once spaces open, players’ eyes have lit up, much to the delight of thousands in the stands and millions more watching on tv.
One other notable factor is how both the old and new generation have lit up the tournament.
Look how Toni Kroos turned the clock back in the opening night thrashing of Scotland having been coaxed out of international retirement for this tournament. And how N’Golo Kanté, who hasn’t been seen in a France jersey since the Nations League in June 2022 because of injury, put in a masterful display in France’s midfield against Austria.
At the other end of the age gap you have Germany’s two 21-year-old wunderkids, Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala. Two years younger still, Real Madrid’s Turkish superstar Arda Guler, nicknamed the Turkish Messi, has already taken the tournament by storm.
No analysis of the opening round would be complete without reference to Spain’s Lamine Yamal, one of the rising young talents in world football, breaking all sorts of records at club and national level, not least the youngest player ever to appear the Euros – at just 16.
The records just keep tumbling – and there’s still almost four weeks to go!
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