Late surge earns Torres adidas Golden Boot
Sunday, July 1, 2012
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Fernando Torres's goal and assist in the closing six minutes of the UEFA EURO 2012 final win against Italy were enough for the Spain striker to take the adidas Golden Boot award.
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Fernando Torres scored one and set up another in the closing minutes of UEFA EURO 2012 to take the adidas Golden Boot award.
Torres finishes tied with five other players on three goals for the tournament, with he and Germany's Mario Gomez also on one assist apiece. The Spain striker, a second-half substitute in the 4-0 final win against Italy, takes the top scorers' honour having played fewer minutes (189) at the finals than Gomez (282).
Four years ago, Torres scored the only goal in the decider against Germany but it was team-mate David Villa who finished as leading scorer. At the time, Villa became the first player to claim both that honour and the Henri Delaunay Cup since Denmark's Henrik Larsen earned a share of the scoring prize in 1992.
Netherlands striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finished as UEFA EURO 2012's top scorer overall thanks to his 12 qualifying goals, a combined tally two more than Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and Germany striker Miroslav Klose, whose team-mate Gomez managed nine goals in qualifying and the final tournament.
Michel Platini's nine goals at the 1984 UEFA European Championship makes him the top scorer for a single tournament – no one else has managed more than five – and also overall in a finals. The former France captain's tally is two more than Alan Shearer's seven for England, while six players – including Zlatan Ibrahimović and Ronaldo, who both struck at UEFA EURO 2012 – have managed six goals in finals.
When players finish level on goals:
The following criteria are applied, in this order, to determine who wins the adidas Golden Shoe:
a) highest number of assists;
b) fewest minutes played.
NB: Only goals scored in normal or extra time count towards a player's tournament total – penalties scored in a shoot-out do not.
UEFA EURO 2012 final tournament top scorers
3
Fernando Torres (Spain)
Mario Gomez (Germany)
Mario Balotelli (Italy)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Alan Dzagoev (Russia)
Mario Mandžukić (Croatia)
2
Nicklas Bendtner (Denmark)
Cesc Fàbregas (Spain)
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)
Petr Jiráček (Czech Republic)
Michael Krohn-Dehli (Denmark)
Václav Pilař (Czech Republic)
Dimitris Salpingidis (Greece)
Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
Xabi Alonso (Spain)
David Silva (Spain)
UEFA EURO 2012 overall top scorers
12
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar (Netherlands)
10
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)
Miroslav Klose (Germany)
9
Mario Gomez (Germany)
7
Antonio Cassano (Italy)
Alan Dzagoev (Russia)
Mikael Forssell (Finland)
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden)
Robbie Keane (Republic of Ireland)
Robin van Persie (Netherlands)
David Villa (Spain)
UEFA European Championship finals top scorers year by year
(1960-1976: from semi-finals; 1980-2008: from final tournament group stage)
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
UEFA European Championship final tournament overall top scorers
9: Michel Platini (France)
7: Alan Shearer (England)
6: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Thierry Henry (France), Zlatan Ibrahimović (Sweden), Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands), Nuno Gomes (Portugal), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands)
5: Milan Baroš (Czech Republic), Jürgen Klinsmann (Germany), Savo Milošević (Serbia), Wayne Rooney (England), Marco van Basten (Netherlands), Zinédine Zidane (France)