Flash back: 11 July 2021, Wembley Stadium, London
After Jorginho’s failure to score which would have decreed the end of the match, Saka appears on the spot for what will be the last penalty taken at the 2020 European Football Championships (held a year later due to the Covid-19 pandemic) .
In fact, Donnarumma neutralized the English recovery attempt and the Italian national team coached by Roberto Mancini was proclaimed European champions for the second time in the history of the competition.
Flash forward: 24 March 2022, “Renzo Barbera” stadium, Palermo
In a match that might seem like a formality, reigning European champions Italy, already capable of complicating their lives during the qualifying phases, managed the inglorious feat of not beating Macedonia (at the time 65th in the FIFA rankings ) and sadly says goodbye to the 2022 World Cup, repeating an absence that had lasted since 2014.
Today: June 14, 2024, Germany
The 17th edition of the continental football event is officially inaugurated and will see the German country do the honors against Scotland.
In the recent history of the Azzurri, it is worth remembering that, last year, the Italian bench saw a change which led the technical commissioner Roberto Mancini to resign, leaving his place to Luciano Spalletti who had reached the end of his adventure with Naples.
Leaving aside the aspect of patriotic fans, we at Info Data have decided – as we usually do – to dedicate a small in-depth data that can serve as a sort of interactive guide to better understand the six groups for the group stage and the rosters of the participating teams.
The following is a dashboard that allows you to consult the squads of the twenty-four participating teams, divided into groups from A to F, of which it is possible to see the name, position (also combined with the color which sees blue for goalkeepers, green for defenders, purple for midfielders and orange for forwards) age as attributes, while as regards the metrics the histogram bar indicates the number of matches played with the shirt of one’s national team, accompanied by the indication of the number of goals scored and represented with the icon of the soccer ball.
At the beginning you can see the Italian squad but you can consult the other teams by moving the cursor over the names/flags of the other nations (click from mobile devices).
Among the Azzurri there are only three players who can boast more than 50 appearances and they are captain Donnarumma (62 games) followed by the midfield pair formed by Jorginho (54) playing for Arsenal and by Inter player Nicolò Barella (53) who – curiously – he also turns out to be the best striker among Mr. Spalletti’s boys.
In fact, there is no truly experienced or particularly representative striker in the recent history of the Azzurri, probably also because, with the exception of a few names over 30, the average age of the Italian squad is overall low, with decidedly young elements such as Riccardo Calafiori (22 years old) fresh from the great season among the ranks of Bologna and Nicolò Fagioli (23) called to moral redemption after the unpleasant events of the last championship.
But let’s now see how the other potential favorites for the final victory are made up.
Germany
As mentioned, they are playing at home and it will not be a negligible detail, especially for a team accustomed to prestigious positions in international events, despite the transition between one generation and the next.
A snapshot of this scenario is the attack department which sees the eternal Thomas Muller (34 years old), who has made 129 appearances accompanied by 45 goals, alongside the twenty-five year old Kai Havertz of the Gunners (46 games and 16 goals), without forgetting that then , in other parts of the pitch, there are other “historic” figures such as goalkeeper Neuer (38 years and 119 appearances) and Toni Kroos who certainly need no introduction in light of their respective palmares enriched also with club teams.
France
The world final lost at the end of 2022 is still a very open wound and Deschamps’ gang will not make concessions to anyone, being able to field a squad that fears no comparison even outside of Europe.
Just with a couple of names among the attackers you could get an idea of the French firepower which mixes the 37 years of Giroud (133 appearances with 57 goals) with the 25 of the absolute star Kylian Mbappè (79 and 47) fresh from the agreement with Real Madrid, passing through the 33 years of another name known as Antoine Griezmann (129 and 44).
England
Another great suspect, especially by bookmakers, for the final victory, giving continuity to the dream shattered on penalties three years ago.
We obviously start with captain Harry Kane and his 63 goals in 91 games which will open your eyes and – in a certain sense – will divide the mood of the Bayern Munich fans in which the English striker plays.
Walker and Stones are instead pillars of the British defense with 83 and 72 appearances, accompanied in midfield by Declan Rice (51) as the only ones above the quota of 50 games played.
Spain and Portugal
Considered as two potential outsiders among the greats, on the Spanish front the attack sees an old acquaintance of the Italian championship in Alvaro Morata (73 and 35) now playing for Atletico Madrid, flanked by the talent of Ferran Torres (41 and 19) who plays for Barcelona; for its part, Portugal could also field the undersigned in the attack department because with the number 7 shirt there is THE name that will capture 99.9% of the headlines in every match played, namely Cristiano Ronaldo who with his 130 goals in 207 games, at the age of 39 he will have the task of representing the Portuguese national team (perhaps) for the last time.
Some say “be careful about Belgium”, others say “yeah but Holland isn’t bad”.
Instead, we use numbers and, in order not to make a fool of ourselves, we avoid exposing ourselves excessively with compromising predictions, leaving you free to explore all the numbers of the participating nations.
We just allow ourselves one last “go Azzurri” before wishing you a happy European Championship 2024.
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