Best individual Euro campaigns and single match performances ever

I'd go with this maybe

1 - Van Basten 1988
2 - Platini 1984
3 - Zidane 2000
4 - Tigana 1984
5 - Cruyff 1976 (only if factoring in some 'qualifying' games though - in the earlier editions the final tournaments were not very long at all, but he'd excelled in the games prior to that more than in those final games (in fact he didn't play vs Yugoslavia in the 3rd Place game either).

Best games for Van Basten would IMO be vs England and West Germany.

For Platini I think I had it down as the Portugal game plus either the Belgium one or Yugoslavia one (there was another thread on this kind of topic)

For Zidane probably the semi-final vs Portugal as prime example IIRC, but not only that one.

For Tigana I'd say the final games vs Portugal and Spain but he seems to be very good all the way through, both based on viewing footage and on the media ratings (he scored higher than Platini with France Football's scoring system even)

For Cruyff, the Italy game at home might be my number 1 choice from the qualifying phase, but not to omit the Poland game/s and the Belgium games by the looks of it (I don't think I ever did see the full games or all his touches vs Belgium, and maybe it's not possible even though Footballia could be checked)

For an XI maybe:
1 - Schmeichel 92
2 - Van Aerle 88
3 - Van Tiggelen 88
4 - Tigana 84
5 - Ondrus 76
6 - Beckenbauer 72
7 - Figo 2000
8 - Platini 84
9 - Van Basten 88
10 - Zidane 2000
11 - Cruyff 76

Maybe I'm generous to the Dutch full-backs from 88 there, but they both definitely did well I think. Maybe I shouldn't have picked two libero types in the middle of defence, but both came to mind anyway, as being good in the actual final games too.

 

For subs maybe Viktor 76, Nesta 2000, Pirlo 2012, Netzer 72, Muller 72....

 

I think this might be the best thread, for my own views/attempted performance ratings, and also some contributions from others on your topic:
European Championship players of the tournament 1968 - 2006 | Page 3 | BigSoccer Forum

I probably have it as a close call between them, but yeah I feel like it wasn't peak playmaking Platini just with a goal avalanche added on if you know what I mean (although he always did score quite frequently anyway for his clubs of course, just not to this extent). As has been talked about by a few people on here, he played very much a goalscoring role, and a lot of the playmaking was carried out by Tigana and Giresse in support of him.

 

Also 6 more (why not) could be Rijkaard 88, Sammer 96, Iniesta 2012, Dzajic 68, Villa 2008, Suker 96

I'll stop there but that's most of the main ideas I'd have covered now probably. Maybe both Senna and Xavi from 2008 would also be in contention in midfield though potentially from that Spain team too, and Baresi 88 might be in with a chance among defenders I'd think perhaps.

 

I can't remember exactly what I concluded (and maybe I didn't review all of Zidane's games did I, the same way? - I'd probably seen more of Euro 2000 live than Euro 88 or certainly Euro 84 on the other hand).

I think his highs might be fairly comparable (the Portugal game as prime example), and he did have a string of good/influential displays in general IIRC. I'd tend to think I'd give Van Basten the edge vs Zidane for the Final, even though I didn't rate it his best performance, because he probably had more good moments in general but certainly had outstanding key moments (most notably the famous goal). I'd say Totti outplayed Zidane on the other hand, and maybe Henry provided the most danger on the day for France too.

 

I honestly would say Platini as well. He scored in every game and had two perfect hat-tricks. In the final he scored with his only shot on goal. Platini had 9 goals and 1 assist (incl. one penalty), MvB had five goals and 2 assists (plus one goal incorrectly disallowed vs Ireland).

Main thing you can say against Platini is that he played only one top ten opponent (by ELO) and was playing at home. This was Belgium, which missed half of their team.

MvB played four times a top five opponent. It's harder to pass, dribble and do excellent/magical one touch stuff against better teams.

Zidane is for me a candidate for #3, alongside several others.

 

Best tournament
For the modern era Im inclined towards zinedine zidane in Euro 2000
Platini runs him close though

If advanced statistics had been available someone like dragan dzajic in 1968 with his chance creation and wizardry would've probably taken top spot
This to give a rough idea of what he was capable of(few months before the Euro championship 'proper')





For best individual performance

Gunter netzer vs England 1972
https://gameofthepeople.com/2019/01/11/netzer-vierundneunzig/

Michel Platini vs Yugoslavia 1984
https://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro-2020/match/3453--france-vs-yugoslavia/postmatch/report/

Zidane vs Portugal 2000

90% - Zinedine Zidane completed 9 of the 10 dribbles he attempted vs. Portugal in the EURO 2000 semi-final. Magician. http://t.co/I96O9qu2

— OptaJean (@OptaJean) June 2, 2012

Marco van basten vs England 1988
https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/marco-van-basten-games-changed-my-life

Unfortunately i will have to be the one (again) to mention some contemporary examples of equal standing seeing as football for many here ceased to exist at some point in the mid 2000s


Euro 2012
Pirlo shares the honour of best individual match performance with Cristiano Ronaldo, the former getting a mark of 8.80 for his exhibition of passing against England, the latter for his demolition job on Holland
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2012/jul/02/euro-2012-andres-iniesta-guardian-readers

ATG individual performances without a shadow of a doubt

Xavi Hernandez vs Italy in the Euro 2012 final was walking on ice

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I remember watching it live and being completely mesmerized at how he rendered Italy's midfield obsolete
For my money its firmly amongst the best continental/international final performances of all time

Comparable to ones of Geoff hurst vs England 1966,Zidane vs Brazil 1998,Pele vs Sweden 1958 and baresi vs Brazil 1994

 

I was thinking about an XI over multiple tournaments (a bit off topic) and came up with this:
1 - Edwin van der Sar
2 - Stefan Reuter
3 - Bixente Lizarazu
4 - Patrick Vieira
5 - Laurent Blanc
6 - Marcel Desailly
7 - Brian Laudrup
8 - Rui Costa
9 - Marco van Basten
10 - Zinedine Zidane
11 - Andres Iniesta

Subs: Petr Cech, Paolo Maldini, Franz Beckenbauer, Pavel Nedved, Ruud Gullit

Extras: Frank Rijkaard, Xavi, Wesley Sneijder, Luis Figo, Dragan Dzajic, Gerd Muller

For an extra extra name maybe Dennis Bergkamp too lol!

 

The Reuter pick is possibly questionable, but I was struggling slightly for right back.

Here his group stage ratings anyway aren't actually too good (while in 1996 La Repubblica gave him generally decent ratings as opposed to fantastic, as shown on another thread):
Euro 1992 Championship GS grades of all players | BigSoccer Forum

The reminder about Van Tiggelen at Euro 92 might make me lean towards giving him Maldini's place as a sub though now I think about it. He played on the right side a bit that year too I know, but not enough to replace Reuter himself I wouldn't think.

 

I remember now Gerd Muller didn't play in 76 of course, so Bergkamp can just slot in for him but I'm wondering whether I'd raise him above Gullit in the pecking order too overall. Maybe Raul is an alternative striker/support striker option, at a stretch, despite missing out on Spain's success in the end. Henrik Larsson even, but probably I'd slot Bergkamp into a subs slot.

 

This and the other thread between them have covered 1968-2012. UEFA's player of the tournament in 2016 was Griezmann despite France not winning the final.

That leaves 1960 and 1964. Amancio looks a strong candidate for best player in 1964, doing well for winners Spain and being their leading scorer overall with four goals.

1960 is not clear. It is tempting to go for Yashin who conceded only two goals in four matches for the champions USSR. But the Russians missed two matches when Spain refused for political reasons to play them in the two-legged quarter-final.

Also, runners-up Yugoslavia were reckoned to be the best team. The Yugoslavs themselves certainly considered themselves superior to USSR. Four of the Yugoslav side made UEFA's team of the final tournament: Durkovic, Galic, Sekularac and captain Kostic. Of these only Sekularac played all six matches, including qualifying. The others each missed one. This might outweigh Kostic's captaincy and three goals.

Yugoslavia won the Olympic tournament a couple of months later without Sekularac. USSR did not participate.

 

I would prefer Platini 84 anytime,He played a lot of 9 in this tournamemt and he showed the world that outside of his god playmaking skills he had wonderful shooting technique and great finisher in the penalty area too.

Zidane 2000 is the best in term of beauty and elegance.This tournament he showed the elegance that never seen from other players in the history of the game and he was very good in controlled tempo and organizing team.Howewer,Platini great finishing final products with 9 goals win by a small mergin

 

I would prefer Platini 84 anytime,He played a lot of 9 in this tournamemt and he showed the world that outside of his god playmaking skills he had wonderful shooting technique and great finisher in the penalty area too.

Zidane 2000 is the best in term of beauty and elegance.This tournament he showed the elegance that never seen from other players in the history of the game and he was very good in controlled tempo and organizing team.Howewer,Platini great finishing final products with 9 goals win by a small mergin.

Honourable mentions

Franz Beckenbauer 72-A leader of the team,great in both defense and attack(playmaking and organising the team).

Marco Van Basten88-A prolific scorer with the elegance of swan.
MVB best game probably Holland vs West Germany when he won the duel vs the great Kohler.

Toldo 2000/Schmeichel 1992-A historically great performance by goalkeeper especially Toldo vs Holland.

Netzer1972-A great midfielder with supreme long passes and god like intelligence and vision in this tournament.

Sammer1996-great in defence and attack,The last"Libero".

Iniesta2012-dribbled like a wizard and created a lit of chances for Spain despite not having assist.

Xavi2008-A perfect conductor of the team.

Tigana 1984-Tireless motor,great ball skills,I hope Kante do this in Euro 2021

......and many

 

not finished editions,It's my failure and mistake.

 

Fun fact:

Dribbles completed

Mesut ozil Euro 2012
2.3 dribbles per 90

Andres iniesta Euro 2012
2 dribbles per 90

If iniesta was a wizard then zidane was probably a grandmaster(gandolf or even professor Dumbledore lol)

Zidane completed 9 dribbles in one game vs portugal(24 in the whole tournament)

Iniesta completed 12 dribbles in the entire Euro 2012 edition



Key passes?
Minimum 4 matches played

Mesut ozil
4.5 per 90

Samir nasri
4.5 key passes per 90

Xavi Hernandez
4.2 key passes per 90

Franck ribery
3.3 key passes per 90

Andrea pirlo
2.7 key passes per 90

Cesc fabregas
2.6 key passes per 90

Nani
2.5 key passes per 90

David silva
2.2 key passes per 90

Karim benzema
2.1 key passes per 90

Joao moutinho
1.9 key passes per 90

Cristiano Ronaldo
1.9 key passes per 90

Jerome boetang
1.8 key passes per 90

Danielle de Rossi
1.2 key passes per 90

Phillip lahm
1.2 key passes per 90

Andres iniesta
1 key pass per 90

Goals/assists?
Youve already covered it
Or should i say there is nothing to actually cover

The advanced statistics for stuff like through balls per 90 aren't earth shattering either

For reference Wesley sneidjer played half the minutes of iniesta and completed more then double the amount of through balls

Defensively he(iniesta) was good/adequate but it is nowhere near enough to mask the glaring deficiencies



For me he was the most overrated MVP in euro championship history
I won't comment on someone like matthues sammer(1996) but i cant imagine he was worse as this

https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/2...tics/International-European-Championship-2012

 

It would be worth asking @comme since he has written a fine book on the history of the European Championship that contains plenty of detail.

 

My estimate(i think /field player only)

Best performance ever
1. Platini(euro1984)

2. Marco van basten (euro1988)

Top3 contender
3. Zidane( euro 2000)
4. Gunter nezter( euro 1972)

Top5 contender
Franz beckenbauer(euro 1972)
Gerd muller(euro 1972)
Figo(euro 2000)


Top10 contender

Griezmann(euro2016)
Thiery Henry( euro 2000)
Totti(euro 2000)
Pirlo(euro 2012)
Iniesta(euro 2012)
Marcos senna(euro 2008)
Xavi hernandez(euro 2008)
Tigana(euro1984)
Sammer(euro 1996)

 

Maybe it's not valid to include the Italy/Poland games for Cruyff, since that phase is more like traditional qualifying (but the Belgium games, as well as for example Germany vs England in 1972 are in the final stages of qualifying and equivalent to part of the tournament in some respects but with home/away format...and also happened in the year of the final tournament).

So I'm not quite sure who would be my call for 5th in that case. Could be Figo from 2000, maybe even Pirlo from 2012....

For a top 5 games, without that one vs Italy by Cruyff (and without having access to see his full performances vs Belgium) I might go with these:
Van Basten vs England & West Germany 88, Zidane vs Portugal 2000, Schmeichel vs Germany 92, Suker vs Denmark 96

But without ruling out Netzer vs England 72 since that was indeed more like part of the finals in some respects than Cruyff vs Italy (Euro 76, but in 1974, even if a group containing Poland and Italy back then leading to a short end tournament would be in some ways equivalent to a longer tournament more recently), and also not ruling out from consideration some others: Zavarov vs Italy 88, Pirlo vs England 2012, Sneijder vs France & Italy 2008, Rui Costa & Figo both vs England in 2000 (maybe for a top 7 I would insert the Pirlo & Rui Costa performances....not to go overboard on games vs England lol as sometimes the home media can probably I know, and I can remember examples vs England myself better I suppose too...but these ones do merit big consideration I do think probably).

 

I don't have the time to give a longer more elaborate answer, so I will try to be concise:

I think the goat in this category is Platini at Euro 1984.

Zinedine Zidane's Euro 2000 was beautiful; for reference, Zidane vs. Portugal arguably reached an extra step that Platini did not at Euro 1984; but in terms of overall performance, I think it is virtually impossible to equal, let alone beat, Platini's 1984.

I have not watched Euro 1988, so both Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit are glaring omissions in any observations I have to offer to this thread.

I remember watching the Netherlands vs. England game at Euro 1988, like 7 years ago; I was probably more impressed with Gullit, than with Van Basten at the time.

I should get around to actually watching Euro 1988.

I consider myself something of a fanboy of Luis Figo, but to be honest, I think that Figo's Euro in 2000 is overrated; he looks a shadow of his Barcelona self; he appears to be injured, which would make sense, because he was injured when Barcelona played the UCL Semi Finals; so it would make sense that Figo would carry with him this unimpressive form to the Euro.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Euro 2012, is very impressive in the group stage, but unfortunately fails to advance to the knock out stage; in terms of group stage performance, I would argue that Zlatan 2012 was arguably as good as it gets, and he did it in a difficult group against difficult teams like France and England, not to mention the host country Ukraine (host country factor); all of which adds to the fact that Zlatan himself played for a third-tier national team.