Tag Archives: European Championships

Spain’s Rodri Named Best Player of the 2024 European Championships, Lamine Yamal Named Best Young Player

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Rodri is officially the best…

The 28-year-old Spanish professional footballer, who plays as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the Spain national team, has been named as the best player of the European Championships, with team-mate Lamine Yamal winning the best young player of the tournament award.

RodriRodri started in six of his nation’s seven matches throughout the tournament, only sitting out the final group stage victory — which Spain 1-0, having already qualified for the last 16 stage.

Rodri man was influential for his nation throughout Euro 2024, even scoring in the round-of-16 victory over Georgia.

Rodri was taken off injured at halftime in the final after suffering hamstring discomfort in the first half, being replaced by Martin Zubimendi of Real Sociedad.

Meanwhile, Barcelona forward Yamal — who had a tournament-high four assists — was named as the young player of the European Championships, awarded to the best player aged 22 or younger, having celebrated his 17th birthday on Saturday.

His Barcelona teammate Pedri, who was injured in the quarterfinal victory over Germany, won the award in Euro 2020.

Spain defeated England 2-1 in the final with goals from Nico Williams and Mikel Oyarzabal. Luis de la Fuente’s side had previously defeated hosts Germany and pre-tournament favorites France on their path to Sunday’s decider in Berlin.

Rodri’s award caps off his successful club season as he helped Manchester City to win the Premier League title, with the only defeat in which he played for club or country throughout the season the FA Cup final loss to Manchester United in late May.

Dani Olmo Among Six Players Sharing Euro 2024 Golden Boot Award

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It’s the golden hour for Dani Olmo…

The 26-year-old Spanish professional footballer, who plays for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig and the Spain national team, is among six players who’ve shared the Euro 2024 Golden Boot, having all scored three goals during the tournament.

Dani OlmoOlmo is sharing the European Championships top-scorer prize with Harry Kane (England), Cody Gakpo (Netherlands), Georges Mikautadze (Georgia), Jamal Musiala (Germany) and Ivan Schranz (Slovakia) make up the congested leaderboard.

Olmo and Kane couldn’t pull clear of the pack with a goal in Sunday’s final which Spain won 2-1 against England.

UEFA confirmed on Friday that they would share the Euro 2024 Golden Boot between six players if Sunday’s final between England and Spain failed to produce a clear winner of the trophy.

It marked a change in policy for the tournament organizers who had previously awarded the prize to the player who had registered the most assists when more than one player were tied for goals scored.

At Euro 2020, Cristiano Ronaldo won the Golden Boot, though he had scored the same amount of goals as Czechia‘s Patrik Schick (5), the Portugal forward had also contributed one assist.

Three goals is the lowest tally for a Golden Boot winner since Euro 2012 when Fernando Torres (Spain), Mario Gomez (Germany) and Alan Dzagoev (Russia) all ended the tournament with three goals.

Torres was awarded the golden boot that year as he played fewer minutes than the other players who had scored three goals.

Olmo started just three of Spain’s seven matches at Euro 2024, before taking Barcelona midfielder Pedri‘s place in the team after he was injured in the quarterfinal victory over hosts Germany.

The RB Leipzig midfielder scored in all three of Spain’s matches in the knockout rounds before Sunday’s final.

Andres Iniesta Joins United Arab Emirates Pro League Side Emirates Club

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Andres Iniesta is headed to the Middle East.

The 39-year-old  Spanish soccer legend has joined United Arab Emirates Pro League side Emirates Club on a one-year contract.

Andres Iniesta, Iniesta, a Spain international and Barcelona legend arrived in Dubai on Monday ahead of signing his deal.

The veteran midfielder will have an option to extend his stay until June 2025.

Iniesta, who spent the last five seasons playing in Japan for Vissel Kobe, joins Emirates Club as a free agent.

He’s eager to have more playing time having clocked just 94 minutes across 18 appearances for Kobe last season.

“There was difficulty in not being picked to play after putting my heart into training,” Iniesta said last month after playing his last game for Vissel Kobe. “I’ve experienced a lot of things over these five years, which is a long time.”

Iniesta scored the winning goal for Spain in the 2010 World Cup final. He also was a key part of Spain’s two European Championship wins, in 2008 and 2012.

Iniesta began his career at Barcelona and won nine league titles and four Champions League among other trophies in his 16 seasons at the club.

del Bosque Named National Soccer Team Coach of the Year

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Vicente del Bosque isn’t only the man of the hour… He’s the man of the year.

The 62-year-old Spanish soccer coach was named the 2012 national soccer team coach of the year in a vote organized by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).

Vicente del Bosque
Del Bosque, who guided the Spanish men’s soccer team to victory in the 2008 and 2012 European Championships and the 2010 World Cup, garnered 231 votes from among the soccer insiders and sports journalists surveyed by the IFFHS.

It’s the third time del Bosque has picked up the IFFHS World’s Best National Coach award. He’d previously earned the title in 2009 and 2010.

The Salamanca native picked up almost three times as many votes as the 83 that went to runner-up Cesare Prandelli of Italy, who was followed by Mexico’s Luis Fernando Tena with 70 votes.

Next came German coach Joachim Löw, with 48 votes; Herve Renard of Zambia, 38; Argentina’s Alejandro Sabella, 21; Paulo Bento of Portugal, 16; Jose Pekerman of Colombia, 15; and England coach Fabio Capello, with 13 votes