The group stage of the European Championship has ended, the part of the tournament that brought the elimination of Croatia and Serbia, the relegation of Ukraine despite having the same number of points as the three teams that reached the round of 16 from that group, the bad performances of France and England...
Turkey scored three goals, of which it is not known which one was more beautiful (they scored them Mert Muldur, Arda Guler i Hakan Calhanoglu), and many records that marked the first 13 days at the Euro will be remembered.
NEW YOUNG STAR - LAMIN JAMAL
Lamin Jamal made history as the youngest football player ever at the European championships. Barcelona's teenager made his debut for Spain at the Euros when he was only 16 years and 338 days old - it was in a duel with Croatia, in a convincing 3:0 victory at the opening of Group B.
Until ten days ago, the record was held by a Pole Kacper Kozlovski who was 2020 years and 17 days old in the draw with Spain at Euro 246.
- Lamin must continue to improve and one day he will be among the best - said the selector of the "red fury" Luis de la Fuente.
JULIAN PUSHES THE BOUNDARIES
At the age of 28, he became a coach in the Bundesliga, when he took over Hoffenheim, and eight and a half years later Julian Nagelsmann was waiting to lead Germany to the Euro.
At 36 years and 327 days, he is the youngest expert to lead a national team at European championships, and that record is unlikely to be threatened anytime soon.
- I'm having fun with the team, we have a lot in common - said Nagelsman, who with the "elf" was the first in group A and in the round of 16, a duel with unpleasant Denmark awaits him.
Before Nagelsman, he was the youngest selector at the EP Lucky Katanec - In 2000, he sat on the bench for Slovenia and was only six days older than Nagelsman was on his debut.
GIANTS - MODRIC, PEPE AND RONALDO
They are bound by the fact that they both played for Real Madrid, one is the oldest scorer and the other the oldest player in the European championships. Luka Modrić i Pepe they wrote history in Germany in their own way, with the Croatian finishing the competition in the group, and the Portuguese wanting to go all the way, to the title...
Modrić shook Italy's net (1:1) and at 38 years and 289 days he is the oldest footballer to score at the European Championship. For the sake of comparison, Pepe is 25 years older than Lamin Jamal - he was 41 years and 117 days old in the match against the Czech Republic at the start of the Euros. He thus broke the record of a Hungarian goalkeeper Gabor Kiralji who performed in 2016 at the age of 40 years and 86 days.
Another Real legend - Cristiano Ronaldo, became the first football player in Germany to participate in six European championships. He made history, played three games in the group (against the Czech Republic, Turkey and Georgia), but also reached a negative record - for the first time in his career he was not a scorer in group stage matches at major competitions - the Euro and the World Cup.
AN ALBANIAN SCORE THE FASTEST GOAL
Albania went to the European Championship for the second time and did not end up in a group with big teams - Spain, Italy and Croatia.
She believed until the end that she could "squeeze" into the round of 2, and the very beginning of the tournament was something that Albanians will remember their performance at the Euros by. In the duel with Italy, in a 1:23 defeat, a goal was seen after only XNUMX seconds - he scored it Nedim Bajrami and is the fastest ever on the EP.
The footballer of Italian Sassuolo thus moved the Russian from the first place Dmitry Kirichenko who scored against Greece in 2004 after 67 seconds.
And Arda Guler, the Turkish extra-talent, is the youngest footballer to score on his debut at the European Championship (19 years and 114 days). He did it masterfully against Georgia - with a shot from over 25 meters, and replaced Ronaldo at the top. The Portuguese made his debut with a goal in 2004 in a defeat against the Greeks at the age of 19 years and 128 days.
That's not all. Hungarian Dominik Soboslai (at 23 years and 243 days) is the youngest captain in the history of the EP, Jude Bellingham the youngest soccer player to appear twice at the European championships (20 years and 353 days), while Germany is the first team since 1960 to score five goals in the opening game - it was 5:1 in the triumph over Scotland.
Bonus video:
