Euro 2020 has delivered more drama than even then-UEFA president Michel Platini could have envisaged when he announced the event would be held around Europe nine years ago, but it has still been slammed as a “joke” and “not really fair”.

The tournament has been played across 11 cities in 11 countries as the culmination of Platini’s plan for a continental-wide celebration of the championship’s 60th anniversary, albeit a year late due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But the unique set-up of the Euro — which by goals per game is the highest-scoring since 1976 -- has led to criticism and a semi-final line-up constituting of four of the nine host nations to qualify.

While England, Spain, Denmark and Italy all played all three of their group matches on home turf, others had to travel thousands of kilometres between games.

Continue reading this article on SportsDesk, the sports website of the Times of Malta

 

 

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