The national team is one of the big favorites to win the title of European champions, in the tournament that will take place in Germany between June 14 and July 14. The team coached by Roberto Martínez has this status on its own merit, as it was the only one to finish the qualifying phase with only wins in the 10 matches along the way, to which it added the best attack with 36 goals scored and the least leaked defense: only two members members.
Combined with this string of records comes the great quality of the players available, including the “eternal” Cristiano Ronaldo, but also João Cancelo, Rúben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, João Félix, Rafael Leão and Diogo Jota playing in the best teams . in the world, as well as some players who are candidates for world stars, such as Diogo Costa, António Silva, Gonçalo Inácio or João Neves. After all, these are enough arguments that strengthen the Portuguese candidacy to repeat the achievement of 2016, and now the status with which it presents itself at Euro 2024 is much greater than that with which the Quinas team left for the tournament eight years ago. that took place in France.
A proof that Portugal will be in Germany with the aim of lifting the trophy for the second time are the recent statements of Fernando Gomes, president of the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), who defined in an interview with the newspaper O Jogo that “the minimum. All that is needed is to reach the semi-finals” and at the same time raise the bar: “What I would like to do is become European champion.”
Martínez’s statement
Spaniard Roberto Martínez, 50 years old, has a huge responsibility on his shoulders, especially after the corner team came over from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was a huge disappointment. The former Belgian coach was chosen to replace Fernando Santos, the most successful coach ever in charge, and has not shaken off the pressure on his shoulders, even after an impeccable qualification. “The national team has a dream and the players want to make the Portuguese happy,” noted the Spanish coach, who in seven years in charge of the Belgian team took third place at the 2018 World Cup, falling in the quarter-finals of Euro 2020. (after the elimination of Portugal in the eighth finals) and the World Cup in Qatar did not progress beyond the group stage.
In this sense, the next European Championship is also seen as a litmus test for a coach looking for the first international title of his career, as the two trophies he won were an FA Cup with Wigan (2012/13) and a League One (third tier of English football) with Swansea in 2007/08.
For the time being, Roberto Martínez has not adopted any form of favoritism in winning the European Championship, but made it clear in a recent interview with SportTV that everyone is “happy to be part of the group of teams that can fight for the title”.
Lower premiums
In addition to the prestige inherent in winning the title, the winner of Euro 2024 can collect up to €28.25 million in prizes. In addition to the participation fee of 9.25 million euros, each victory in the group stage represents an income of one million euros, while a draw yields 500 thousand euros.
On the way to the final, qualifying for the round of 16 represents a prize of 1.5 million euros, the one who reaches the quarter-finals will receive 2.5 million euros, while participation in the semi-finals amounts to 4 million euros. Finally, the losing finalist receives an additional five million euros and the winner receives an additional prize of eight million euros.
In total, UEFA will hand out €331 million in prizes, interestingly down from Euro 2020, which distributed €371 million, with champions Italy pocketing €34 million, while defeated finalists England received €29.75 million. pocketed, more than what the future champion will receive.
Ronaldo’s records
The European Championships have been the competition par excellence for the national team, which goes to the eighth final stage in its history and seventh in a row, with a title in 2016 and a second place in 2004, having reached the semi-finals three times ( 1984, 2000 and 2012), one to the quarter-finals (2008), with their worst participation being the last, at Euro 2020, in which they did not progress beyond the round of 16.
The 2024 European Championship in Germany has everything to be historic for the national team, which, in addition to the opportunity to win the title, should also allow Cristiano Ronaldo to consolidate a series of records, first and foremost as the player with the most finals played, like him, he makes two more on Friday than a group of 21 players, which also includes Pepe and João Moutinho.
Ronaldo is already the top scorer of all time in the final stages, with fourteen goals (five more than Michel Platini with nine), and can now increase that figure even further, and is also the footballer with the most games played, as he currently has. 60 (two more than Gianluigi Buffon).
In addition, the Saudi Al Nassr striker is preparing to consolidate his status as the player with the most appearances (205) and the most goals (128) while playing for the national teams. But there’s more! If he scores on German soil, CR7 will become the oldest footballer to score in a final tournament, surpassing the record of Austrian Ivica Vastic, who scored against Poland in 2008 when he was 38 years and 257 days old. In fact, Portugal has another player who is a candidate to surpass this feat: Pepe, who will reach the European Championship at the age of 41 and, if used, could even become the oldest player ever to be used in a closing phase. surpassing Hungarian goalkeeper Gábor Király, who played in 2016 at the age of 40 years and 86 days.
Germany from the favorites
The 17th edition of the European Championship will be the third with 24 teams, and perhaps for the first time in football history, Germany will host the final phase of a major competition without being among the favorites. After all, of the eleven matches they played this year (all private matches), they only won three, while they won four in 2022, after being eliminated in the group stage of the World Cup in Qatar and finishing third in group 3 of the Nations League A. Moreover, the decline of the German team started in 2014, after winning the World Cup in Brazil, with several stars retiring or entering the twilight of their careers, such as Miroslav Klose, Phillip Lahm, Mesut Özil, Schweinsteiger, Sami Khedira, Mario Götze, among others.
Among the favorites to win Euro 2024, in addition to Portugal, are the teams from Italy, who will defend the title, France, Spain and England, the finalist who lost in the previous tournament. Germany appears in a second batch of teams with the potential to reach the final of the tournament, along with Croatia, Belgium and the Netherlands.
During the four-week competition on German soil, spectacle is guaranteed if you take into account the many stars who will parade, including, in addition to the Portuguese, the Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, the English Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham, the Belgian Kevin de Bruyne, the Spaniard Rodri , the Dutchman Frenkie de Jong and the Italian Donnarumma, all with the quality to become the biggest star of the race.
Haaland is the big absentee
Euro2024 will be without one of the biggest stars in world football: Erling Haaland, who at the age of 23 is one of the most powerful strikers of today, best player and scorer in the Premier League and Champions League last season with Manchester City. Born in Leeds, England, the country where his father Alf-Inge Haaland played for ten seasons, he preferred to represent Norway despite the temptation of the England team. An option for his origins, but which for the time being comes at a cost in his international career, as the Norwegian national team is far from competitive enough at the moment, despite some good players such as midfielders Martin Odegaard (Arsenal), Fredrik Aursnes (Benfica) or striker Alexander Sorloth (Villarreal). Haaland will therefore watch the European Championship from the couch, as happened in December 2022 with the World Cup that was held in Qatar.
There is another world star who is at risk of being left out of the tournament being held in Germany. This is Robert Lewandowski, the Barcelona forward who won FIFA’s Best Award in 2020 and 2021. The goalscorer will depend on what the Polish team does in the play-off to reach the final stages, where they will have to compete against Estonia and, if they win, the winner of Wales-Finland.
Other emerging footballers also have to make it through the play-offs, such as the Georgian Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, who shone at Naples, but also the Ukrainians Mykhaylo Mudryk (Chelsea) and Benfica player Anatoliy Trubin. There are certain absences of other young players who tried to shine on big stages, such as striker Viktor Gyökeres, who performed excellently at Sporting and in the Portuguese league, but was a victim of Sweden’s poor qualifying campaign, where Dejan Kulusevski (Tottenham) and Aleksander Isak (Newcastle) are other players with a big future who will watch the European Championship on television.
Final in Berlin and opening in Munich
Berlin’s Olympic Stadium will host the Euro 2024 final, scheduled for July 14 at 8 p.m. Opened in 1936 by Adolf Hitler, this iconic venue was built to host the 1936 Olympic Games. Throughout history, other major events have also taken place, such as the 1974 and 2006 World Cup matches, including the final in which Italy defeated France in the penalty shootout. gunfight. It was also the venue for the 2015 Champions League final, in which Barcelona defeated Juventus 3-1.
The opening match of the European Championship, on June 14, between Germany and Scotland, will take place in Munich, at the Allianz Arena, the venue of Bayern Munich, which will be called Fussball Arena Munich during the European Championship, as UEFA bans the name stadium sponsors.
The stadiums
Source: DN
