The 60th anniversary of the European continental tournament ( Euro 2020 ) vows to be something extraordinary and unique, with Twenty-four teams playing 51 matches across 12 cities in what would be the biggest ever celebration of Europe’s footballing legacy.
The rescheduled Euro 2020 will gets underway in Rome on June 11 and runs through to Sunday, July 11; Semi-finals and final would take place at Wembley Stadium.
From a solid sporting viewpoint, the postponement of Euro 2020 has come as a solace to certain countries who were dealing with one or two issues, while for others, it is doubtlessly a fount of resentment. UEFA’s decision to push the tournament to 2021 has been a blessing in disguise for some players while it is a big disadvantage for some.
Here are the winners and losers of the delayed Euro 2020.
The Losers
- Dani Carvajal
While the dream of every player is to be 100 percent fit when the opportunity to play for their nation avail itself. However, for Carvajal fate never smile at him due to his injury problems when it was time to represent La Furia Roja.
The Real Madrid right-back is no doubt one of the best right-backs that top managers would like to have in their team. However, his recent injury worries have continuously made him drop off from the list of top five right-backs.
Carvajal had a brilliant 2019-20 campaign with Los Merengues appearing in 42 games, assisted eight times, and scored once. The Spaniard was no doubt in the form of his life going into the Euro 2020 Championship.
Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic happened and the tournament was postponed to 2021 and halted his chance of featuring at the tournament due to injury.
With the competition push back for a year, a lot has changed and happened since 2020 to players and countries that would be participating in the tournament. Had it been the Euros wasn’t push back for a year, Carvajal would probably have played at the Euro with Spain following his impressive 2019-20 campaign with Real Madrid but unfortunately, he won’t be with the squad due to injury he had this campaign.
- Virgil Van Dijk
The Dutch captain couldn’t make the team list released by Frank De Boer due to his knee injury. This time last year the former Southampton center-back was just reaching the end of a wonderful season in his career, winning the English Premier League with Liverpool.
In the mood of his impressive season with Liverpool, it was evident that with his form he would lead the Oranje to Euro 2020. Unfortunately, the postponement of the tournament dealt him a great blow, and now with his injury, it means Van Dijk won’t play at the Euro.
The Oranje would definitely feel the absence of their captain in terms of what he brings into the team, leadership, calmness, and compactness defensively.
- Marc-Andre Ter Stegen
The 2019-20 campaign was a failure for the Blaugrana, the team didn’t win a single title which was pretty bad for a top team like Barcelona. However, amidst the unimpressive season, the Blaugrana had one player Ter Stegen stand out amongst the rest with the impressive performances he shone out in between the sticks.
The former Monchengladbach goalie has been Barcelona’s shield since 2014, and is no doubt an undisputed starter for the Blaugrana anytime, any day baring injury. With his consistent performances for the Catalan giants, when the conversation about the best goalkeepers in world football comes up the German would definitely be in that discussion.
The bad news for the German goalkeeper is that he won’t be on the plane with the Die Mannschaft squad to the Euro due to injury. Following the conclusion of the 2020-21 campaign, the German had to go for surgery on his knee for him to be in perfect condition for next season.
Had it been the Euro went on last year as plan, Ter Stegen may not have been on this divide and he would have strolled into Low’s team list comfortably, having had a wonderful season. Unfortunately for him, the tournament was postponed, a lot has changed and among all was his injury, which deprives him of going to the championship.
- Ansu Fati
The Barcelona youngster hasn’t been able to win the battle between him and the meniscus injury he picked up since November 2020.
Ansu Fati was one of the few bright players for the Blaugrana in the 2019-20 season. The Guinea-Bissau-born began the year as the darling of all Barcelona faithful amidst been the emergency back up to the injury-prone Ousmane Dembele and the aging Luis Suarez.
The La Masia graduate didn’t waste time in showing the Blaugrana fan what he could bring to the team. He supported the hard work of the greatest player the club has ever seen Lionel Messi with his goals and assists.
Following that brilliant outing he had with Barcelona in the 2019-20 season at the age of 17, hopes and expectations from La Furia Roja and Los Cules fans were very high that the youngster would go to the Euro Championship to dazzle for Spain.
Regrettably, young Fati won’t be on the plane to the competition with his colleagues since he couldn’t recover in time for the European tournament
- Sergio Ramos
Luis Enrique has to drop the captain of the team due to multiple injuries he has suffered throughout the season. The 2020-21 season wasn’t a palatable one for the center-back due to fitness issues which eventually led to his omission from the Spain squad to Euro 2020.
Ramos played a pivotal role in Los Blanco’s quest in winning the 2019-20 LaLiga title. But this season he only managed to participate in five-time this calendar year due to injures.
According to Luis Enrique: “I feel bad for him, he’s a very good professional and he helps the national team a lot and I hope he could help in the future, but I seek the benefit of the whole group”.
With this kind of statement, it is evident that Enrique thought about his decision carefully before he decides to drop Ramos.
READ ALSO: Most Clean Sheets: Europe’s Top 5 Goalkeepers 2020-21
The Winners
- Eden Hazard
The former Chelsea star has been a shadow of himself since he moved to Real Madrid due to multiple injuries which have hindered him from fulfilling the main reason why he was brought to the Santiago Bernabeu.
Had it been the Euro tournament went down as plan in the summer of 2020, the Real Madrid winger may not have made it or even thought of participating in the competition due to the fact he was still suffering from reoccurring injuries at that time.
However, the good thing about the tournament been push back is that it favors the Belgian and it’s going to commence at the time he’s back to full fitness physically and mentally after a long battle with a fracture to his fibula.
A perfect time for the manager Roberto Martinez to now count on his talisman for a good outing at the Euro Championship.
- Ousmane Dembele
Given Dembele’s injury and inconsistency, he had a torrid first half of the season with Barcelona with his chances of playing at the Euro Championship very slim. However, the postponement of the tournament bought him more time to rediscover his form and stay fit.
With the Barcelona winger in Les Blue squad to the Euro 2020 slated for July 11, having had a decent second half of the season and also won his battle with a hamstring injury that has affected his form and performances for long.
Dembele would see the Euro 2020 delay as a real blessing for him.
- John Stones
The former Everton center defender is back to his best for Manchester City, especially this season where they won the Premier League, League cup, and also got to the final of the Champions League.
Before now, Stones was totally out of form and playing sparingly for City, fortunately for him he got back from injury and things turnaround for the Englishman and he ended up paring the new signing and rave of the moment, Ruben Dias.
Should the Euro have gone down according to plan, perhaps the former Everton man would have missed out on the tournament due to loss of form and injury.
Thankfully for him, he’s benefitting from the delay of the Championship.
- Karim Benzema
The Real Madrid forward wouldn’t have made Les Blue squad had it been the Euro 2020 went down in the summer of last year. He has been in a sex scandal limbo with France for a long time and it doesn’t seem he would be recalled soon.
However, despite the challenges with French Football Federation (FFF) with the indefinite suspension given to him by President Noel Le Graet in 2015, Benzema never relents in dishing out impressive performances for Los Blancos.
Benzema’s consistency and patience finally provide positive results with his recent inclusion in the Les Blues squad for the Championship.
For a player who has missed out from international duties for a while now, and also saw his colleagues played at the Euro 2016 and even won the 2018 World Cup without him, that would certainly have been a torrid time for him emotionally.
However, with him back in the team after a well-taken decision from the French Football Federation, having scored 30 goals in all competitions for Real Madrid to earn his first call up in over five years definitely depict a victorious battle for Benzema.
