Short tournaments lend themselves to giving us stories of heroes and footballers who justify a sporting career through a series of spectacular matches. However, the pressure from these parties is immense. For something No player so far has managed to score more than three goals in a single Eurocup final phase match..
Only seven footballers have managed to score a hat trick in this tournament. Among them is a Spaniard, David Villa, who achieved it in Spain’s 4-1 victory against Russia in the group stage of the 2008 Euro Cup. The first achieved it to open the scoring in the 20th minute. He just had to push Torres’ gift into the empty door. The second came in the 44th minute after a great filtered pass from Iniesta that left him one-on-one in front of Akinfeev. And, the third, in the 75th minute, was made by himself, after cutting down Shirokov and finishing at the short post..
| Player | Selection | Year | Game |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Villa | Spain | 2008 | Spain 4 – Russia 1 |
| Patrick Kluivert | Netherlands | 2000 | Netherlands 6 – Yugoslavia 1 |
| Sergio Conceição | Portugal | 2000 | Portugal 3 – Germany 0 |
| Marco Van Basten | Netherlands | 1988 | England 1 – Netherlands 3 |
| Michael Platini | France | 1984 | France 3 – Yugoslavia 2 |
| Michael Platini | France | 1984 | France 5 – Belgium 0 |
| Klaus Allofs | Germany | 1980 | Germany 3 – Netherlands 2 |
| Dieter Müller | Germany | 1976 | Yugoslavia 2 – Germany 4 |
Platini deserves special mention, who achieved it twice. In fact, He did it in the same edition of the 1984 Euro Cup, the one he hosted and which France won thanks to its great captain. In that tournament, the Juventus footballer finished with 9 goals, scoring in all the matches of the tournament. It helped him win the second of his three Ballon d’Ors.
It should be noted that the second of them, the one he achieved against Yugoslavia, was done in 18 minutes. With the score 1-0, he scored goals in the 59th, 62nd and 77th minutes to turn the game around. For the first, the 10 took advantage of a ball at the far post to score before the goalkeeper could regain position. He made it 2-1 with a header from the penalty spot. And he extended the lead with a great goal from a direct free kick from the edge of the area. A full-fledged exhibition of one of the legends of European football.
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