{"id":200690,"date":"2024-07-17T16:07:38","date_gmt":"2024-07-17T16:07:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/07\/17\/the-alternative-award-ceremony\/"},"modified":"2024-07-17T16:07:38","modified_gmt":"2024-07-17T16:07:38","slug":"the-alternative-award-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2024\/07\/17\/the-alternative-award-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"The alternative award ceremony \u2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Euro 2024 is over, and here at the English arm of\u00a0<\/strong>90min<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0towers, we are trying our best to forget how it ended.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But we\u2019re sure history will look back fondly at this summer\u2019s tournament. Nothing helps the memory of football like the passing of time, after all.<\/p>\n

With the\u00a0Euros\u00a0officially wrapped up, let\u2019s review it in irreverent style.<\/p>\n

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Player of the tournament<\/h2>\n
\"Lamine<\/figure>\n

Yamal won the official Young Player award \/ Soccrates Images\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Right, we\u2019ll begin with the correction of an official award.<\/p>\n

Rodri was named the Player of the Tournament. But that\u2019s boring. You\u2019re not tuning into a game to watch Rodri play, are you?<\/p>\n

In however many years, the world will remember Euro 2024 for\u00a0Lamine Yamal<\/strong>. He was the standout, he was the story, he was the catalyst behind Spain\u2019s new, dynamic and ultimately winning style.<\/p>\n

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The real Golden Boot<\/h2>\n
\"TOPSHOT-FBL-EURO-2024-MATCH16-ESP-ITA\"<\/figure>\n

Oopsy \/ PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

UEFA decreed there would not be a tiebreaker for the Golden Boot, and so there ended up being six joint-winners on three goals \u2013 Harry Kane, Dani Olmo, Jamal Musiala, Cody Gakpo, Georges Mikautadze and Ivan Schranz.<\/p>\n

But the true winner of the award is that fabled man himself,\u00a0\u2018own goal\u2019<\/strong>, who ended up scoring ten times. Bravo, sir.<\/p>\n

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Goal of the tournament<\/h2>\n
\"Jude<\/figure>\n

Yeah, fair enough \/ Shaun Botterill\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Jude Bellingham<\/strong>. Overhead kick. In the 95th minute to save England.<\/p>\n

That is all.<\/p>\n

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Game of the tournament<\/h2>\n
\"Arda<\/figure>\n

Arda Guler lived up to the hype \/ Eurasia Sport Images\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Matchday one of the group stage in particular threw up some real corkers, and our pick of the bunch was\u00a0Turkey\u2019s enthralling 3-1 win against Georgia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Mert Muldur sent Dortmund\u2019s Signal Iduna Park crazy with a sublime volley to open the scoring, before debutants Georgia levelled through Georges Mikautadze.<\/p>\n

Real Madrid starlet Arda Guler reached deep into his bag of tricks and pulled out a screamer to put Turkey back in front in the second half, and Kerem Akturkoglu iced the game in stoppage time, slotting into an empty net after goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili went up for one last corner.<\/p>\n

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Save of the tournament<\/h2>\n
\"TOPSHOT-FBL-EURO-2024-MATCH44-AUT-TUR\"<\/figure>\n

The hand of Gunok \/ JOHN MACDOUGALL\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Turkey were involved in another thriller later in the tournament, facing an all-action Austria side who were fancied to make a deep run.<\/p>\n

With seconds left to go in their last 16 tie, Turkey battened down the hatches to try and preserve their 2-1 lead, but their resistance appeared to be broken when Christoph Baumgartner popped up with a header at the back post.<\/p>\n

Bouncing down went the ball, up again it went towards the far corner from whence it came. And there was the stretching arm of\u00a0Mert Gunok<\/strong>\u00a0to push it aside in Gordan Banks-esque fashion. On Turkey marched to the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n

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Surprise package of the tournament<\/h2>\n
\"Georges<\/figure>\n

Georgia, thanks for the memories \/ Visionhaus\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Beating Portugal, giving eventual winners Spain a fright and all the thrills that preceded.<\/p>\n

It was a true pleasure,\u00a0Georgia<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Letdown of the tournament<\/h2>\n
\"Switzerland<\/figure>\n

Italy\u2019s defence of the title lasted only four games \/ James Baylis \u2013 AMA\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

We\u2019d be remiss to not give a dishonourable mention to Scotland, who fell flat on their face, arse over head, at the very first hurdle on their return to international competition in packed-out stadiums.<\/p>\n

But the true disappointments of Euro 2024 were reigning champs\u00a0Italy<\/strong>, who were eliminated at the last-16 stage by the most last-16-exit coded team in existence, Switzerland.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s basically a bye. And they blew it.<\/p>\n

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Funniest red card<\/h2>\n
\"Ilkay<\/figure>\n

Seems fine \/ Clive Mason\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Oh, you weren\u2019t getting off so easily, Scotland.<\/p>\n

It was bad enough when the Tartan Army crapped their kilts and went 2-0 down early on against Germany in the tournament opener, but then\u00a0Ryan Porteous<\/strong>\u00a0was sent off for a reckless challenge on Ilkay Gundogan at the end of the half that ensured he would miss the rest of the tournament.<\/p>\n

Masterful gambit, chaps.<\/p>\n

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Most deranged free-kick taker<\/h2>\n
\n

How do you reason with someone like this? pic.twitter.com\/faflkPg5Rx<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Nux (@neosvy) July 1, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

One goal in his last 60 free-kicks for Portugal now for\u00a0Cristiano Ronaldo<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Leave the football before the football leaves you, a great man (Jamie Carragher) once said.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Streets Won\u2019t Forget\u2019 player award<\/h2>\n
\"Georges<\/figure>\n

My eyes! The goggles do nothing! \/ Lars Baron\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

We need to establish criteria for \u2018Streets Won\u2019t Forget\u2019, here.<\/p>\n

The recipient can\u2019t actually be a world-beater or the like. That defeats the purpose of it \u2013 the world will already remember them.<\/p>\n

Instead, they need to be below that superstar standard. Maybe even below an ordinary star. Maybe they\u2019re just outright crap but are fun to watch.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re plumping for a player who comes somewhere in the middle of that \u2013 Georgia\u2019s\u00a0Georges Mikautadze<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Streets Won\u2019t Forget\u2019 team award<\/h2>\n
\"Ralf<\/figure>\n

Rock it, Ralf \/ Marvin Ibo Guengoer \u2013 GES Sportfoto\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

In a just and fair world, Georgia would win this category too. Unfortunately, the world is a cruel and awful place, therefore it\u2019s morally easier to give the spotlight to someone else.<\/p>\n

Austria<\/strong>, led by a rejuvenated Ralf Rangnick, lived up to their dark-horse billing and pressed other teams off the park. They were by no means lucky to reach the knockout stages and earned their spot atop the group of death.<\/p>\n

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Target man appreciation award<\/h2>\n
\"Niclas<\/figure>\n

Target men are sexy again \/ Alexander Hassenstein\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

If you want to know what kind of striker\u00a0Niclas Fullkrug<\/strong>, you can judge him blindly on his nickname \u2013 \u2018Lucke\u2019, which is German for \u2018gap\u2019, referring to his teeth.<\/p>\n

Crash, bang, wallop. Germany\u2019s exit may have been prevented had they turned to Fullkrug as a go-to option earlier.<\/p>\n

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\u2018The Last Dance\u2019 award<\/h2>\n
\"Luka<\/figure>\n

Farewell, Luka \/ Chris Brunskill\/Fantasista\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

If this was to be\u00a0Luka Modric<\/strong>\u2018s last international tournament, then he at least signed off in style and with dignity.<\/p>\n

For Croatia\u2019s opening two group stage games, the midfielder looked every bit of his 38 years of age.<\/p>\n

For roughly 50 seconds after missing a penalty against Italy, it looked like game over.<\/p>\n

But he came roaring back with one last moment of magic, scoring within a minute of that skewed spot-kick. Croatia\u2019s golden generation reverberated around him \u2013 which made it more fitting that Italy\u2019s fatal equaliser came with him off the pitch.<\/p>\n

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The fake patriot award<\/h2>\n
\"Roberto<\/figure>\n

What\u2019s going on here then? \/ Marvin Ibo Guengoer \u2013 GES Sportfoto\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Noted Spaniard\u00a0Roberto Martinez<\/strong>\u00a0is the manager of Portugal.<\/p>\n

Noted Spaniard Roberto Martinez singing the Portugal national anthem?\u00a0I don\u2019t know, that\u2019s a bit dodgy, mate.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Most one-sided rivalry award<\/h2>\n
\"Lamine<\/figure>\n

A grown man owned by a child \/ Justin Setterfield\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Prior to France\u2019s Euro 2024 final with Spain,\u00a0Adrien Rabiot<\/strong>\u00a0laid down the gauntlet to actual child\u00a0Lamine Yamal<\/strong>, challenging him to \u201cto show much more than he has until now.\u201d<\/p>\n

So in his final match as a 16-year-old, Yamal stuck one right in the top bin and knocked Les Bleus out. \u201cSpeak now!\u201d Yamal roared into the camera post-match.<\/p>\n

Checkmate.<\/p>\n

<\/p><\/div>\n