Georgian success and 17-year-old star shine.
The European Championship in Germany offered several surprises, and players who took the next step in their careers.
Here are some of the championship's big eyebrow raisers.
The football festival in Germany is over, and the new football world has gotten acquainted with several new stars, both on an individual level and as teams.
TT has listed the championship's biggest surprises and individual breakthroughs.
+ The European Championship's biggest surprises
- Georgia
Georgia, which had never before participated in a championship, was the European Championship's biggest surprise.
The 74th-ranked nation pressed both Turkey and the Czech Republic, until the big breakthrough on the international scene finally came when the team defeated Portugal 2–0 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Something very few had counted on beforehand.
However, the future gold medalist Spain was too tough. But Georgia's success got many who were questioning the format change from 16 to 24 teams to reconsider.
- Slovenia
Slovenia had neither advanced from the group stage nor won a match in the championship before.
But against all odds, the team went through the group stage unbeaten, after drawing against England, Denmark, and Serbia. In the quarterfinals, they faced Portugal and put up a solid defensive effort, but ultimately fell on penalties.
- Slovakia
Like Slovenia, neighboring Slovakia is inexperienced in championship contexts. But despite this, the country was just a minute away from playing in the quarterfinals.
The team advanced as one of the four best group thirds, largely thanks to top scorer (along with five others) Ivan Schranz and his three goals.
In the quarterfinals against England, the exit was crushing. A bicycle kick from Jude Bellingham in the very last minute of the match killed the Slovaks' hopes of a historic quarterfinal.
+ The European Championship's biggest breakthroughs
- Lamine Yamal
For the most initiated, Lamine Yamal was no new acquaintance. The 17-year-old (who turned 18 on Saturday) Barcelona product has been hailed as one of the world's greatest talents, and when he got the chance on the biggest stage, he did not disappoint.
Yamal was behind most things, and quickly took the lead in the assist league with his triple passes. The first goal took a while to come, but when it did, it was no ordinary goal.
Yamal scored a dream goal in the semifinals, and thus became the youngest goal scorer in a European Championship. The goal was one of the most beautiful in the tournament, and the breakthrough for the general public was a fact.
After Spain defeated England 2–1 in the final and became the most European Champions with four gold medals, Yamal was named the tournament's best young player.
- Giorgi Mamardashvili
Georgia was, as mentioned, one of the championship's big surprises. And much of that can be attributed to goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. The 23-year-old goalkeeper has many times stood on his head to save Georgia's chances of advancing, and the statistics speak clearly.
Mamardashvili was unbeaten when it came to the most saves with 29. Second came the Netherlands' Bart Verbruggen with 18.
The Valencia goalkeeper is said to be one of those who could replace Manuel Neuer in Bayern Munich after the European Championship success.
- Riccardo Calafiori
The Italian center-back was the clear best player in an otherwise pale Italy.
Directly after the first group stage match, where the Bologna back impressed, the 22-year-old was showered with praise and compared to old Italian defensive giants like Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta. Calafiori's aesthetics, with long hair and a headband, did not harm the comparison either.
After the success, Calafiori is said to be close to a transfer to Arsenal.
