Saúl Ñíguez wins U21 EURO adidas Golden Boot
Friday, June 30, 2017
Article summary
Spain's Saúl Ñíguez has won the U21 EURO adidas Golden Boot after finishing top scorer at the finals with five goals, three of which came in the semi-final defeat of Italy.
Article top media content
Article body
Saúl Ñíguez's semi-final hat-trick for Spain against Italy propelled him to the top of the rankings in the hunt for the U21 EURO adidas Golden Boot, and he never looked back.
Golden Boot: Saúl Ñíguez (Spain) – 5 goals, 1 assist
Silver Boot: Marco Asensio (Spain) – 3 goals, 1 assist
Bronze Boot: Bruma (Portugal) – 3 goals
Having scored twice in as many group-stage appearances, Saúl became the second Spanish hat-trick hero of these finals when he hit three in the space of 22 minutes against the Azzurrini in Krakow. The Atlético Madrid man returned to the stadium on Friday for the final against Germany and though he did not add to his tally, he still finished two goals clear of his nearest challenger.
Meanwhile Marco Asensio, Spain's other treble scorer, picked up the Silver Boot award, with Bruma of Portugal taking the Bronze prize. Both players struck the same number of goals, meaning Asensio's one assist gives him the advantage. In instances where goals and assists are the same, minutes played come into consideration (with the player boasting the better goals-to-minutes-on-the-pitch ratio taking precedence.)
Six players netted twice in Poland over the past 15 days: Enis Bardi (FYR Macedonia), Federico Bernardeschi (Italy), Martin Chrien (Slovakia), Demarai Gray (England), Davie Selke (Germany) and Kenneth Zohore (Denmark).
Past top scorers
2015 – Jan Kliment, Czech Republic (3)
2013 – Álvaro Morata, Spain (4)
2011 – Adrián López, Spain (5)
2009 – Marcus Berg, Sweden (7)
2007 – Maceo Rigters, Netherlands (4)
2006 – Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Netherlands (4)
2004 – Alberto Gilardino, Italy (4)
2002 – Massimo Maccarone, Italy (3)
2000 – Andrea Pirlo, Italy (3)
