Griezmann leaves Golden Boot rivals trailing in his wake
Thursday, July 7, 2016
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Antoine Griezmann has half a foot in the adidas Golden Boot after taking his UEFA EURO 2016 tally to six goals – a single tournament haul only one man has ever bettered.
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Antoine Griezmann has established a three-goal cushion at the top of the adidas Golden Boot standings after hitting his fifth and sixth goals of the tournament as France beat Germany 2-0 to reach Sunday's final.
The Atlético Madrid forward, who missed a penalty in May's UEFA Champions League final, converted from the spot on the stroke of half-time in Marseille. Midway through Thursday's second period he then poked in a second, his sixth of UEFA EURO 2016. Only one man, nine-goal Michel Platini in 1984, has registered more at a single finals.
Cristiano Ronaldo, in his fourth EURO, equalled Platini's overall record on Wednesday as Portugal booked their place in the Saint-Denis showpiece. Ronaldo heads a group of six players on three goals, including team-mate Nani and two of Griezmann's France colleagues, Olivier Giroud and Dimitri Payet.
All of them are likely to be involved on Sunday but it will take a hat-trick – the first at a EURO since David Villa in 2008 – to deny Griezmann the adidas Golden Boot.
Assists are used to separate players on the same number of goals, before minutes played are then taken into consideration.
Golden Boot leaders *
1 Antoine Griezmann, France: 6 goals (2 assists, 435 minutes)
2 Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal: 3 goals (3 assists, 600 minutes)
3 Olivier Giroud, France: 3 goals (2 assists, 378 minutes)
4 Dimitri Payet, France: 3 goals (2 assists, 448 minutes)
5 Gareth Bale, Wales: 3 goals (1 assist, 533 minutes)
6 Nani, Portugal: 3 goals (1 assist, 586 minutes)
7 Álvaro Morata, Spain: 3 goals (0 assists; 289 minutes)
NB: Only goals scored in normal or extra time count towards a player's tournament haul – penalties in a shoot-out do not.
*Accurate as of 22.50CET on Thursday 7 July
Previous UEFA European Championship top scorers
(1960–1976: from semi-finals; 1980–2008: from final tournament group stage)
2012: Fernando Torres (Spain) 3
2008: David Villa (Spain) 4
2004: Milan Baroš (Czech Republic) 5
2000: Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands), Savo Milošević (Yugoslavia) 5
1996: Alan Shearer (England) 5
1992: Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands), Thomas Brolin (Sweden), Henrik Larsen (Denmark), Karl-Heinze Riedle (Germany) 3
1988: Marco van Basten (Netherlands) 5
1984: Michel Platini (France) 9
1980: Klaus Allofs (West Germany) 3
1976: Dieter Müller (West Germany) 4
1972: Gerd Müller (West Germany) 4
1968: Dragan Džajić (Yugoslavia) 2
1964: Ferenc Bene (Hungary), Dezső Novák (Hungary), Jesús María Pereda (Spain) 2
1960: Milan Galić (Yugoslavia), François Heutte (France), Valentin Ivanov (Soviet Union), Dražan Jerković (Yugoslavia), Viktor Ponedelnik (Soviet Union) 2