France forward Antoine Griezmann named player of Euro 2016
July 11, 2016
France forward Antoine Griezmann has been named player of Euro 2016 by UEFA after his six goals won him the golden boot as top scorer.
His personal success will do little to cushion the blow of losing Sunday´s final to Portugal, however.
The surprise champions, who prevailed at the Stade de France thanks to an injury-time goal from substitute Eder, boast four players in the official team of the tournament despite only winning one game out of seven in 90 minutes:
Rui Patrício (Portugal); Joshua Kimmich (Germany), Jérôme Boateng (Germany), Pepe (Portugal), Raphaël Guerreiro (Portugal); Toni Kroos (Germany), Joe Allen (Wales); Antoine Griezmann (France), Aaron Ramsey (Wales), Dimitri Payet (France); Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal).
The team was selected by UEFA's 13-strong panel of technical observers which included former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson.
"We have chosen dominant central defenders; full-backs who can defend and attack; deep-lying midfielders who can control the game and dynamic, flexible and creative attackers, all of whom have the ability to create and score goals," Ferguson said.
"We believe that the selected XI represents the best of the competition."