Famous coach and football expert Oleh Fedorchuk has named his version of the symbolic Euro 2024 team.
Oleg FedorchukGoalkeeper.
- Unai Simon (Spain). He didn't have any incredible saves, but he played steadily throughout the tournament and helped out where needed. Compared to Mamardashvili, Donnarumma and Pickford, they are more emotional, but Simon inspires confidence.
Center backs
- No. 1 is Van Dijk, even though he did not reach the final. I will pair him with Rüdiger. By the number of selections and their importance to the teams, they deserve to be in the symbolic team.
Left back
- Cucurella. Although he scored England's first goal, the Spaniard generally had a brilliant tournament, which few expected from him. He was hated a lot by the fans, but he coped with the pressure and played at the level. And let's not forget his assist against England. For me, Cucurella is the discovery of Euro 2024.
Right back
- Dumfries. He was the strongest in this position.
He was the strongest in the team.
- Rodri. He had a strong-willed attitude. And it was felt that he was the leader and link of the Spanish national team.
Central midfielders
- I will put Bellingham. Except for the final, he carried England in all the matches. It is a unique case that a guy at the age of 21 became the leader of the English national team. I will pair him with Ruiz. Olmo did not immediately shine in the tournament, and the final was a failure.
Right winger.
- Definitely Yamal. Thanks to his efforts, Spain reached the final. He proved himself a lot in important games. Plus, he had a lot of pressure on him - he is the youngest player in the history of the Euros. But Yamal played a leading role in almost all the games. The Germans were simply hunting for him, but could not catch him. This shows that the guy has character.
Do I see him as a second Messi? It is unlikely that Yamal will become a football legend. He will be an iconic player, somewhere in the top ten best players in the world, but not number 1. Yamal has no unique qualities, everything in moderation.
Left winger
- Once again, I'll have to go with the Spaniard, Nico Williams. The first three games at the Euros he was unstoppable, just a bomb! Then they started playing with him more closely. Gakpo was invisible in the last game, so he flies past the symbolic team, although he showed Liverpool that the club was using him incorrectly. A unique case of a tall guy playing well on the wing.
Striker.
- Mikautadze scored three goals, but was invisible. The same Kvaratskhelia from Georgia is much stronger. There were no bright forwards at Euro 2024, so I will put Morata. Alvaro has turned from a penalty area player into a player who performs volume. He sacrificed his habits for the sake of the team. Morata wasn't the standout striker in the tournament, but there's no one else to put in.
Best coach
- Luis de la Fuente. He demonstrated great will by taking half the team from non-elite clubs and winning the Euros with them. The basic team of Spain is Athletic Bilbao. Can you imagine? This reminds me of when Blokhin made Dnipro the base team for Ukraine and it reached the World Cup.
In addition, de la Fuente showed tactical flexibility. For the first time, Spain did not chase ball control, which made it more difficult for their opponents. "Furia Roja played very rationally, at some points reminding me of how Italy used to play.
The best player of Euro 2024
- I will give the Ballon d'Or to Rodri. Bellingham is more sympathetic to me, but England lost the decisive ball and Jude looked unconvincing in the final.
The main disappointment of Euro 2024
- I was most disappointed with the national teams of Italy, Belgium and Ukraine. The Italians had problems a year ago, and they were unable to solve them. Belgium has a lot of good players, but they have not won anything. It will be very difficult for De Bruyne to keep the brand, he doesn't look like a top player now, just like Lukaku.
Ukraine's national team has been preparing for the tournament for the last two months, and how could Rebrov not have guessed the lineup for the game against Romania? This shows that the coaching staff did not know the condition of their own players. After the first round, there was a rotation and Ukraine's game improved.
As for the players, I was disappointed with Mbappe. He played somehow frivolously. It seemed like he was about to score, but he never did. He was constantly nervous. Chiesa also played very poorly. Even Mudryk looked more interesting and played more intelligently.
Andriy Piskun
