On the European continent, one of the main sports tournaments, the European Football Championship, is in full swing. Euro 2020, which was canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, has already been remembered by fans for its bright moments and set a record for the Ukrainian team. Your attention is an overview of interesting facts, figures and statistics about EuroCup 2020.
#one. Anniversary of the tournament. Although only the 16th edition of the European Championship is taking place now, the football championship in Europe is celebrating its anniversary - 60 years since the debut European championship in 1960.
#2. 11 host cities. In honor of the big date, the organizers of the UEFA championship have chosen a non-standard format: not one country, but 11 at once (England, Italy, Azerbaijan, Russia, Spain, Romania, the Netherlands, Scotland, Denmark, Hungary and Germany) became the hosts of the tournament.
#3. 2020 or 2021? For the first time, a European Championship or a World Championship will be held in an odd year. The last time a competition of this level was postponed or canceled due to the Second World War. Nevertheless, the tournament at the official level retained its name - Euro 2020.
#four. 90 thousand fans can accommodate the largest stadium in the tournament - Wembley in London. It is in this arena that the semi-finals and the final will be held. According to the decision of the UK government due to restrictive measures, the stadium will be filled to a maximum of 75%.
#5. The national team of Ukraine is one of the youngest teams. The average age in Andriy Shevchenko's team is 26 years and 4 months. This is the 4th indicator among 24 participating countries. 18-year-old Ilya Zabarny and Georgy Sudakov are on the list of the youngest players who got into the application for Euro 2020.
#6. Record for Ukraine. Our team for the first time in history will perform in the 1/8 finals of the championship. According to the results of the group stage in quartet E, the Ukrainians guaranteed themselves access to the playoffs, finishing third in group C (we lost to the Netherlands 2-3 and Austria 0-1, won against North Macedonia 2-1). This is how the second halves of our football players root for their beloved ones.
#7. The Blue-Yellows help the Blue-Yellows. Getting into the playoffs was made possible thanks to the victory of the Swedish team over the Polish team. Ukrainian fans even thanked another "blue-yellow" team: in Kyiv, in front of the Scandinavian embassy, the flags of the two countries were hung out. It is with the Swedes that our team will play the next game.
#eight. Andriy Shevchenko first came to the European Championship as the head coach of the Ukrainian national team. In 2016, the ex-football player was part of Mikhail Fomenko's assistants. Our coach has his own powerful support at home - wife Kristen and four sons.
#9. Silver trophy. The cup of the winners of the tournament is made of pure silver. Euro champions will become the owners of the Henri Delaunay trophy, which weighs 8 kilograms and costs 20,000 euros.
#ten. The number "10" has become one of the symbols of the tournament. Danish team number 10 Christian Eriksen suffered a heart attack during a match against Finland. The native team, rivals and fans around the world were worried about the life of a football player whose heart stopped right on the football field. Fortunately, the story ended well: Eriksen was discharged from the hospital a few days later, and the participants in the tournament, who scored a goal, dedicated him to Christian, showing his number - the number 10.