The Highs, The Lows At Euro 2024

Spain went home worthy winners after edging out England 2-1 in an exciting Euro 2024 final in Berlin, on Sunday, July 14.

While the tournament saw the emergence of young stars, the usual suspects, the big names flattered to deceive. No team lost all their games, a first at a men's European Championship since it was an eight-team event in 1992.

Some key notes from Euro 2024...

Lamine Yamal bursts on the scene

International football tournaments usually bring to the limelight young talent and it was no different in Germany.

Over the last four weeks, players like Turkey's Arda Guler, Germany's Jamal Musiala and Dutchman Xavi Simons had their moments. But the show stealer was one teenager who answers to the name of Lamine Yamal!

He had been waiting for his school exam results earlier in the tournament but that was of little consequence.

Yamal, who turned 17 the day before the final, was at the peak of his performance -- his stunning goal against France in the semi-finals made him the youngest-ever scorer at a men's European Championship.

Spain -- the deserving champions

Spain had many players come off the bench at key moments to make decisive contributions when the team needed them the most.

Every other big team struggled for a recognisable shape or pattern of play, but Spain arrived looking like a well-oiled machine.

Cucurella was one of the brightest lights of Spain's campaign. They lost mid-fielder Pedri for the rest of the tournament in an ill-tempered game against Germany and in a depleted semi-final against France, they had Dani Olmo score the winner to take them to the final which they after their most reliable player, Euro 2024 MVP Rodri, could not return for the second-half after suffering a knee injury.

Search hard and there was no fault to find in Luis de la Fuente's team that won the tournament unbeaten after 7 wins and 15 goals, the most by any team at a Euros.

Misfiring superstars

From Cristiano Ronaldo to Kylian Mbappe, this tournament was a massive failure for the big names.

A pale shadow of himself, Ronaldo could have become the European Championship's oldest-ever scorer at 39 but finished without any goals from five games.

Kylian Mbappé's tournament started with a broken nose against Austria and ended with France's semi-final loss to Spain. He had only a penalty to show for (against Poland) in his 24 attempts at goal, the most by any player. The noteworthy action was his opinion in French politics.

Harry Kane was another falling super star despite scoring three goals, and Kevin de Bruyne couldn't inspire an often-toothless Belgian team.

Another fan favourite, Germany's Kai Havertz, scored two penalties, but missed some sitters as Germany bowed out in the quarter-finals.

Fans frolic

The last Euros were held under pandemic restrictions so fans came all their splendour to light up the tournament.

From the Tartan Army of Scotland to the Orange Wall from The Netherlands, and the joyous Romanian and Albanian fans, the crowds brought incredible colour and passion.

Fans at the stadiums got a thumbs up from Germany's interior ministry stating they experienced far fewer security incidents than expected as hosts of the European Championship that drew 2.6 million people to 10 stadiums nationwide.

The fan zones for outdoor viewing had some six million people and police recorded roughly 2,340 related criminal offences, 700 of which were bodily harm.

The police presence, particularly riot police, had been the main deterrent against any major clashes between hooligans, said the ministry.

Minnows up for the challenge

The so-called smaller football nations stood up to the big guns and caused several surprises. Georgia, Albania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine and Turkey all produced eye-catching results.

Reaching the last 16, debutants Georgia were handsomely rewarded as billionaire former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili pledged $10.7 million to the team after they beat Portugal 2-0 to make the knockout rounds.

Georgia briefly led Spain in the pre-quarterfinals. Albania had the lead in two of their three games and scored a quick record-breaking goal. Slovenia didn't lose a game in regular play and were only eliminated by Portugal in a penalty shootout.

Georgia Goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili made 29 saves in four games, by a distance the most in the competition and ahead of Dutch 'keeper Bart Verbruggen who had 18 in six matches.

Refreeing and VAR controversy

The standard of officiating has generally been superb with mostly unfussy referees in tune with the players and spirit of the game.

Players going to ground got no rewards for their theatrics.

VAR had its say in a few crucial calls in key games. Denmark's Joachim Andersen had his goal ruled out for offside by VAR against Germany before VAR helped award a penalty against him shortly after.

When Dutch Defender Denzel Dumfries collided with England's Harry Kane while trying to block a shot, England were awarded a controversial penalty that changed the course of that semi-final.

In the last 8 match between Germany and Spain, when the ball struck Spain defender Marc Cucurella's hand the hosts were not awarded a penalty. Cucurella was booed every game thereafter.

Controversial celebrations

Merih Demiral, Jude Bellingham and Mirlind Daku were all in the eye of a storm for their unwarranted, ugly goal celebrations.

Inflammatory goal celebrations, crotch-grabbing and leading fans in xenophobic chants respectively drew UEFA sanctions for this trio.

Teams that disappointed

Belgium: This was supposed to be a new dawn for Belgium under Coach Domenico Tedesco, but the same problems at major finals persisted as they could not turn dominance into goals and went out meekly in the last 16.

Italy: The defending champions also bowed out with a whimper having scraped into the last 16 with a 98th minute equaliser against Croatia, only to be outclassed by Switzerland.