Runners-up England given three players, while champions Italy take up five places, led by player of the tournament Gianluigi Donnarumma; Denmark midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku also make team; See our picks for best goal, moment and more
Wednesday 14 July 2021 10:35, UK
England trio Raheem Sterling, Kyle Walker and Harry Maguire have been named in the official UEFA Team of the Tournament for Euro 2020.
Runners-up England had the second most players in the select XI, with champions Italy taking up five places, led by goalkeeper and player of the tournament Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Leonardo Bonucci, Leonardo Spinazzola, Jorginho and Federico Chiesa were the other Italian players included. The team was completed by Denmark midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Spain midfielder Pedri and Belgium forward Romelu Lukaku.
The line-up was selected by UEFA's technical observer team, which was made up of 16 former players and former or current coaches, including former England boss Fabio Capello and West Ham manager David Moyes.
Sterling, who started all seven of England's games at the tournament, scored Gareth Southgate's side's only two goals of the group stage, as 1-0 victories over Croatia and the Czech Republic helped them top Group D.
The Manchester City forward then got the crucial opening goal in England's 2-0 round-of-16 victory over Germany at Wembley. He also assisted England's opening goal in a 4-0 quarter-final win over Ukraine and won the decisive penalty in the last-four victory over Denmark.
Walker played every minute of all but one game - England's 0-0 group stage draw with Scotland - in which he was left out of the squad, switching between full-back in a four-man defence and right centre-back in a five-man backline.
The oldest player in the England squad at the age of 31, Walker's pace was vital in helping prevent opponents get in behind the defence throughout the tournament.
Maguire came into the tournament as a fitness doubt and missed England's first two games with an ankle injury, but instantly found his form to offer an improved passing option out of defence.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was named player of the tournament - the first goalkeeper to win the award at a European Championship - primarily because of the saves he made in Italy's penalty shootout victories in both the semi-finals and final.
He was an imposing presence throughout the tournament and, at 22, looks to have a long international career ahead of him.
Kyle Walker emerged as the go-to choice from the three right-backs selected by England for Euro 2020.
Walker, with his incredible recovery speed, proved almost impossible to go around and also showed his versatility by slotting into a back three when needed.
Leonardo Spinazzola missed the semi-finals and final because of an injury sustained late in the quarter-final win over Belgium, during which he made a goal-line clearance to keep Italy ahead.
His attacking runs down the left wing were a feature of Italy's breathless displays.
Leonardo Bonucci's long-time partnership with Giorgio Chiellini at the back has reached iconic levels, especially now that they are European champions.
Bonucci is 34 but as reliable as ever in the air and with the ball at his feet. He also scored the equalizing goal in the final, during which he nullified the threat of England striker Harry Kane.
Jorginho was another to enjoy an excellent tournament. The Ballon d'Or could yet be heading the Brazilian-born defensive midfielder's way after a season when he won both the Champions League with Chelsea and Euro 2020 with Italy.
Calmly stroked home the winning penalty against Spain in the semi-finals and was the conductor of Italy's recovery against England in the final.
Spain's Pedri Gonzalez was another stand-out performer. Just 18 and playing in his first major tournament, the Barcelona midfielder was a revelation with his passing, composure and technical ability on the ball.
His performance in the semi-finals, when he helped Spain to outclass a strong Italy midfield and had a 100 per cent pass completion rate in normal time, will linger long in the memory.
Federico Chiesa was not in Italy's starting line-up in their opening two games but emerged as the brightest spark of their front three.
Scorer of one of the goals of the tournament against Spain, his weaving run and curling shot into the corner, Chiesa was also on target in the victory over Austria in the last 16.
Raheem Sterling came into Euro 2020 out of form after a below-par season at Manchester City and ended it arguably as England's best player.
Sterling scored winning goals in games against Croatia and the Czech Republic in the group stage, the opening goal in the 2-0 victory over Germany in the round of 16, and won the penalty that clinched a semifinal win over Denmark.
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy); Kyle Walker (England), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy), Harry Maguire (England), Leonardo Spinazzola (Italy); Jorginho (Italy), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Denmark), Pedri (Spain); Federico Chiesa (Italy), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Raheem Sterling (England).
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It was beautiful, touching and uplifting, so soon after a near-tragedy. Shaken fans inside the Parken Stadium were waiting for updates after Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen collapsed on the field during the game against Finland when supporters from the Finnish contingent broke the eerie silence.
"Christian! Christian!" they chanted. Danish fans gave their own booming response that reverberated around the venue: "Eriksen! Eriksen!"
Within seconds, supporters from both teams united in a huge roar when the stadium announcer said Eriksen was stable and awake.
The football family, as a whole, gave a collective sigh of relief after one of the scariest incidents in the tournament's history, one which brought the best out of Eriksen's team-mates as they tended to him and shielded him but also out of the fans of both teams involved that day.
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma might have been named UEFA's player of the tournament, chiefly because he saved the decisive penalty in the shootout in the final. But it's hard to look beyond Simon Kjaer. After all, the Denmark captain might have saved a life.
It was Kjaer who secured Eriksen's neck, ensured his airways were cleared, and started chest compressions before medics arrived. Kjaer then organised the formation of a protective ring around Eriksen with his team-mates and comforted Eriksen's partner when she came onto the field.
Kjaer took his role as a captain way beyond the field of play, addressing his team's shaken players after that distressing game against Finland and leading them on an emotionally charged journey out of the group and all the way to a semi-final match against England.
He scored an own-goal for England's equaliser, but that was unfortunate as much as anything else. It was no surprise that it was Kjaer consoling Denmark's distraught players after the extra-time loss at Wembley Stadium.
It resembled more of a golf shot. As the ball rolled loose and just across the halfway line into Scotland's half, Czech Republic striker Patrick Schick took aim from 54 yards and managed to curl the ball high and from left to right, straight into the goal vacated by goalkeeper David Marshall.
It was outrageous and by more than 10 yards the longest goal in the tournament's history, with Schick later saying he had noticed Marshall coming off his line previously.
He had waited for the right moment, and making the goal better was the back-pedaling Marshall's desperate dive in a forlorn bid to stop the ball from going in, ending up tangled in the netting.
It will go down as perhaps the tournament's greatest goal and helped give the Czechs a 2-0 win at Hampden Park in the group stage.
When Kylian Mbappe saw his penalty pushed aside by Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer to end the shootout and consign France to their last-16 exit, it capped an underwhelming tournament for a player widely regarded as the new superstar of world football.
The striker failed to score in four games at Euro 2020, which he started uncomfortably after he went public during the opening weekend of the tournament about a feud with team-mate Olivier Giroud. It did not get any better.
Mbappe, the breakout star of the 2018 World Cup, surely will be back but he will not fondly remember his first European Championship experience.
France coach Didier Deschamps was in his technical area, waiting for his team's group match against Germany to start, when he was forced to duck into his dugout and put his hands over his head as debris fell from above.
A protestor for environmentalist group Greenpeace had just glided into the stadium on a parachute, lost control and struck wires for an overhead camera attached to the roof.
That made him veer away from the playing area toward the stadium's main grandstand and he barely cleared the heads of spectators. Several supporters were treated for injuries in the hospital because of the falling debris.
Reaching the semi-finals did not appear beyond the Danes at the start of Euro 2020. It certainly did, however, after losses in their first two group games and with their most important player, Eriksen, out of the tournament while he recovered from cardiac arrest.
How amazing it was, then, to see Denmark - thrust into the role of every neutral's favourite team - get out of its group with a 4-1 rout of Russia at an atmospheric Parken Stadium and then advance to the denouement of the tournament in London with a 4-0 win over Wales and a 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic.
A repeat of Euro 1992, when Denmark was added to the tournament at late notice because of Yugoslavia's disqualification, suddenly could not be discounted. But a 2-1 loss to England in the semi-finals, following the contentious awarding of a penalty in extra-time, ended the fairy tale.
Denmark's players headed home distraught but as heroes to many football fans.
