Iniesta holds off Ronaldo as man of the match master
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Article summary
Since UEFA introduced the EURO man of the match award, Andrés Iniesta has been the master, but his record was under threat from Cristiano Ronaldo. We look at the award's history.
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- Key points
• UEFA has been awarding official man of the match prizes since EURO '96
• Andrés Iniesta has won six man of the match gongs
• Cristiano Ronaldo could equal him with the award in the final
• Iniesta and Andrea Pirlo claimed a record three awards in 2012
• Iniesta, Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimović are the only men to win awards in three separate EUROs
• Portugal have record 22 awards
EVERY MAN OF THE MATCH AT UEFA EURO 2016
CARLSBERG MAN OF THE MATCH
SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW: PORTUGAL V WALES
RONALDO SEEKING NEW RECORDS: NUMBER CRUNCHING
- Most awards
Andrés Iniesta (Spain) 6 – 1 in 2008, 3 in 2012, 2 in 2016
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) 5 – 1 in 2008, 2 in 2012, 2 in 2016
Andrea Pirlo (Italy) 4 – 1 in 2008, 3 in 2012
Zinédine Zidane (France) 4 – 2 in 2000, 2 in 2004
Michael Ballack (Germany) 3 – 2 in 2004, 1 in 2008
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden) 3 – 1 in 2004, 1 in 2008, 1 in 2012
- Most awards in one tournament
2016: Antoine Griezmann (France), Eden Hazard (Belgium), Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Dimitri Payet (France), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Renato Sanches (Portugal), Granit Xhaka (Switzerland) 2
2012: Andrés Iniesta (Spain), Andrea Pirlo (Italy) 3
2008: Andrey Arshavin (Russia), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain) 2
2004: Milan Baroš (Czech Republic), Michael Ballack (Germany), Wayne Rooney (England), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands), Theo Zagaorakis (Greece), Zinédine Zidane (France) 2
2000: Luís Figo (Portugal), Thierry Henry (France), Erik Mykland (Norway), Francesco Totti (Italy), Zinédine Zidane (France) 2
1996: Karel Poborský (Czech Republic), Mattias Sammer (Germany), David Seaman (England), Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) 2
- Awards in most tournaments
Andrés Iniesta, (2008, 2012, 2016), Cristiano Ronaldo (2008, 2012, 2016)
Zlatan Ibrahimović (2004, 2008, 2012)
- Other records
Youngest winner: Wayne Rooney (England v Switzerland, 2004) 18 years 237 days
Oldest winner: Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine v Sweden 2012) 35 years 256 days
- Teams with most awards
Overall
Portugal 22
Germany 21
Spain 20
France 16
Italy 16
By tournament
2016: Portugal 7 (maximum)
2012: Spain 6 (maximum)
2008: Spain 6 (maximum)
2004: Czech Republic, Greece, Portugal 4
2000: Italy 5
1996: Germany 5