Adrián leads race for Under-21 adidas Golden Boot
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Article summary
Spain forward Adrián struck his third goal of the tournament in the final game of the group stage to take the outright lead in the race to win the adidas Golden Boot award.
Article top media content
Article body
With three goals to his name, Spain's Adrián is setting the pace for the adidas Golden Boot award at the conclusion of the group stage in Denmark.
The honour will be presented to the top goalscorer at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship final tournament. Adrián struck both goals in his team's 2-0 win against the Czech Republic on Matchday 2 before adding a third against the Ukraine on Sunday.
Team-mate Juan Mata scored twice in that same fixture to join a clutch of four players a goal adrift of Adrián in the Golden Boot race. Czech Republic captain Bořek Dočkal and Switzerland forward Admir Mehmedi also registered both their efforts in a single game, while Danny Welbeck found the net in England's matches against Spain and the Czech Republic. Only Welbeck will have no further opportunity to add to his tally.
Sweden's Marcus Berg holds the record for the most goals scored at an U21 final tournament having struck seven times in the 2009 edition on home soil.
In the event of a tie
While goals scored will always be the first criterion in deciding the leading marksman, further parameters will be used to separate players with the same goal totals – firstly, assists, and then minutes played (with the player boasting the better goals to minutes on the pitch ratio taking precedence).
Get involved
Have your say on who you think will end up top of the goalscoring pile at the U21s by voting on UEFA.com.