Although the first funnel of European Cupthe qualification for the round of 16, is quite generous in the current format – 16 of the 24 participating teams will go to the knockout phase – some of the football stars of Old continent They were unable to cross it with their teams and were relegated from the competition in the first change, among them Luka Modric and Robert Lewandowski.
The list will consist of the following names:
– Luka Modric: The most traumatic removal. Two agonizing draws, one against Albania and one against Italy, condemned Croatia to premature elimination after debuting with a resounding 3-0 defeat against Spain. The captain of the checkered team, a position he will assume at Real Madrid after Nacho’s departure, was far from his best during his time in the tournament.
In an older Balkan team with little generational change in sight, the ravages of wear and tear from a career of more than 18 years as an international wore Modric down – he only completed 90 minutes against Albania -, was uncomfortable during matches and the only moment of brilliance came with a goal against Italy that redeemed him from a missed penalty just a minute earlier.
That goal against the transalpines meant his team’s classification, but Zaccagni’s final goal left Croatia and its rabid fans in the deepest depression. The snapshot of a dejected Modric on the bench after the tragic end could be his last wearing the checkered shirt, which he defended on 178 occasions – the player with the most appearances for the Balkan team -, which led to his team to a final and a third place in the World Cup and Nations League final. The Eurocup has indeed been its Achilles heel: in five participations it has never made it past the quarterfinals.
– Robert Lewandowski: A rebirth that remained half-finished. Poland expected the Barcelona striker to be their particular Cid Campeador, after arriving injured in the top team’s continental championship and missing the start against the Netherlands – a 2-1 defeat -. His involvement was as disappointing as his team’s, fragile in defense and, in some sections of the game, clueless in attack, especially when his ‘9’ was not on the field.
His debut in the second match of the Euro Cup, accompanied by a loud ovation from the Polish fans when he jumped onto the grass of the Berlin Olympic against Austria, was already premonitory: a spectacular elbow that cost him yellow card once he. come in A few minutes later, Austria broke the deadlock that prevailed in the coliseum of the German capital and made the match for the Poles. The 3-1 final meant the elimination of the Eastern European team – the first to lose in the Euro Cup – with one match left to play.
In their farewell to the competition, of course, Poland and Lewandowski managed to spoil France’s plans, with a 1-1 draw achieved after the captain’s maximum penalty recorded, and condemning the Gauls to the hellish part of the final draw of the Eurocup. Unlike Modric, the striker, at almost 36 years old, with 152 games and 83 goals – the player with the most caps and goals recorded in the history of Poland – has confirmed that he will continue to play for the team he is coaching by Michał Probierz.
– Dušan Vlahović: Another participation for the disappointment of Serbia, a team that has done nothing but chain disappointments after the total disintegration of the former Yugoslavia – which is now more than three decades old -, and where it should be great that star. The Juventus striker left the competition without scoring a goal in a group as dull as Group C – which included England, Denmark and Slovenia – ended up being settled by a difference on yellow cards.
Vlahović is still unable to meet the enormous expectations generated by his multimillion-dollar signing for the ‘bianconero’ club two and a half years ago, the same situation he brings to the national team. On Southgate’s debut against a drab England team, he had a half-turned shot from outside the area of his own making to neutralize Bellingham’s initial goal, but goalkeeper Pickford kept it out.
Against neighboring Slovenia he again cleared his goal – less than the failed Mitrovic -; and against Denmark, in the decisive duel, almost equally ineffective. With only two and a quarter points in the group, both Serbia and Vlahovic will leave the Euro Cup through the back door and with the repeated feeling, both, of a wasted opportunity once again to jump to the first line of the Old Continent . .
– Josko Guardiol: If the long-standing generation of Modric, Perisic, Brozovic and Kovacic has to continue dragging Croatia, it is because the one who should lead the Manchester City defender has still not taken a step forward.
After his extraordinary debut at the World Cup in Qatar, where Guardiola’s team decided to pay around 90 million euros for the then Leipzig defender, the European Championship in Germany seems the right setting to establish himself as one of the reference defenders on the continent and take the baton of the Croatian old guard, but their tournament was a complete failure.
Lamine Yamal, a 16-year-old boy, caught on debut against Spain; shown in the equalizing goal in stoppage time against Albania and exhausted by the final tragedy against Italy, Gvardiol ended the championship with his shares very low. With the exception of a great championship, which was the disastrous match against Argentina in Qatar, duels in Germany have become common. While waiting to see how the future of the checkered team’s veterans is resolved, the Manchester City defender will have to improve a lot to take the reins which, at the moment, are too big for him.
-Dominik Szoboszlai: The personification that in Hungary any past time was better. They have one match left, and it is not certain the one in which the Magyars participate, having passed the group stage, as they achieved in France 2016; but Portugal did not do its part – they lost against Georgia – and the team led by the Liverpool player will have to pack its bags before the qualifiers.
Nobody expected Szoboszlai to reincarnate as Puskás or Kocsis during the tournament, but they expected him to lead a team that went into the Euro Cup after an extraordinary qualifying period, finishing unbeaten and first in the group .
Two unfavorable defeats against Switzerland and Germany left them on a tight rope from the start. A hard-fought victory over Scotland with Csoboth’s goal gave Hungary little hope of finishing among the best third parties. But Kvaratskhelia and his people woke them from sleep.
The semi-finals that Hungary played in the 1964 and 1972 editions were a far cry, not to mention the ‘Golden Team’ of the 1950s Of course, Szoboszlai and poor performances, adding to his inconsistent time at Liverpool, did not help . of loathing to green up old laurels.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
