Fernando Torres gets Euro 2012 Golden Boot

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Fernando Torres has collected the Euro 2012 Golden Boot, scoring three goals during Spain`s title-winning campaign.
In a dramatic turn of events the 28-year-old ensured it would be who won the accolade with a superb 15-minute cameo in the 4-0 final win over Italy to put another torrid season behind him. Despite being level with Mario Gomez on three goals and one assist, he takes home the prize having played fewer minutes than his German counterpart.
Torres scored Spain`s third in the final with a calm finish before assisting his Chelsea team-mate Juan Mata for their fourth moments later, which together with his brace against Republic of Ireland in the second group game saw him top the scorer`s charts. The Spaniard also became the first ever player to score in two separate European Championship finals.
Second-placed Gomez scored the only goal as Germany defeated Portugal in their Group B opener before netting a classy brace against Netherlands in the next game. He then supplied an assist with a skewed shot in the 2-1 win over Denmark that fell to Lukas Podolski who then slotted home.
Alan Dzagoev came in third position having played the least amount of minutes of all other players who were level on three strikes but his goals were not enough to stop Russia from being eliminated at the group stage.
Mario Mandzukic suffered a similar fate to Dzagoev as his trio of goals ensured that Croatia put up a staunch fight for progression from Group C. There was a silver lining for the striker however as his impressive displays against Republic of Ireland and Italy earned him a permanent move to Bayern Munich.
Mario Balotelli and Cristiano Ronaldo complete the table despite both coming in for criticism early in the competition for their slow starts. Balotelli`s double against Italy booked his nation a spot in the final but they were powerless to resist Spain who won their third consecutive major international trophy.
After ensuring Portugal advanced to the semi-final with a double against Netherlands and the winner in the quarter-final versus Greece, Ronaldo failed to put in a decisive display against Iberian rivals Spain in the semi-final.

recyclebin

Confirmed by UEFA here:

http://www.uefa.com/uefaeuro/season=2012/golden-boot/winner/index.html

kitakyushu

Jammy git

I hope he sends Shay Given (and the rest of the Ireland defenders for that matter) a thank you note.

(also interesting that no player managed to score in more than two separate games in the tournament and that three of the 6 top scorers just happened to have had a game vs Ireland (where they all scored)).

Leftist

another victory for liverpool.

~Rebel~

Leftist wrote: »

another victory for liverpool.

?

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Al Capwned

Leftist wrote: »

another victory for liverpool.

em, wha???

LostBoy101

Fair play to the lad, Champions League winner, FA Cup and now Euro 2012 medal and golden boot after getting a lot of stick from the fans and press.

GavRedKing

Not a bad season.

Neil3030

Delighted they awarded him the golden boot, if nothing else than for his selfless decision to provide the goal for Mata, instead of shooting himself, when a goal would have put him on top of the goals scored table.

AnCapaillMor

Aquila wrote: »

It's like 7 degrees of separation, in the end every thread is linked to liverpool.

machiavellianme

LostBoy101 wrote: »

Fair play to the lad, Champions League winner, FA Cup and now Euro 2012 medal and golden boot after getting a lot of stick from the fans and press.

And rightly so. Barely kicked a ball for all of those. Whatever about 3rd choice keeper not getting much gametime for their medals, a 50m striker should be starting every game.

GavRedKing

machiavellianme wrote: »

And rightly so. Barely kicked a ball for all of those. Whatever about 3rd choice keeper not getting much gametime for their medals, a 50m striker should be starting every game.

So by your basis only the starting 11 should get a medal instead of every member of the squad?

For what its worth had Villa been fit Torres would have been 2nd choice also.

machiavellianme

gavredking wrote: »

So by your basis only the starting 11 should get a medal instead of every member of the squad?

For what its worth had Villa been fit Torres would have been 2nd choice also.

Winners get medals, onlookers and journeymen get nice seats.

Beefy78

machiavellianme wrote: »

And rightly so. Barely kicked a ball for all of those. Whatever about 3rd choice keeper not getting much gametime for their medals, a 50m striker should be starting every game.

3rd choice keepers rarely get the goals which help get their team to those finals. Torres did that this season.

Leftist

alproctor wrote: »

em, wha???

used to play for liverpool. not as glorious as winning the world cup in 2010 because of reina but still up there.

GavRedKing

machiavellianme wrote: »

Winners get medals, onlookers and journeymen get nice seats.

No you see thats were your wrong.

UEFA hand out 23 medals to the 23 memebers of the squad. Its fairly easy to understand really.

Torres played and scored and helped his country win the tournament, hardly an onlooker.

batistuta9

Neil3030 wrote: »

Delighted they awarded him the golden boot, if nothing else than for his selfless decision to provide the goal for Mata, instead of shooting himself, when a goal would have put him on top of the goals scored table.

by making that pass for mata's goal he actually won the trophy.

they didn't award it to him, they gave it to him because he won it because of the rules, decided by;
1. most goals
2. most assists
3. least minutes played

He technically won it on least minutes played as him & gomez both had 3 goals & 1 assist but if he didn't make the pass gomez woulda won it

GavRedKing

batistuta9 wrote: »

by making that pass for mata's goal he actually won the trophy.

they didn't award it to him, they gave it to him because he won it because of the rules;
1. most goals
2. most assists
3. least minutes played

He technically won it on least minutes played as him & gomez both had 3 goals & 1 assist but if he didn't make the pass gomez woulda won it

I had a buddy who had €20 on him at 9/1 to be out right top scorer he was freaking when he passed it to Mata. :pac:

The Recliner

gavredking wrote: »

I had a buddy who had €20 on him at 9/1 to be out right top scorer he was freaking when he passed it to Mata. :pac:

I had €10 on him at 16/1, still got money off him being joint top scorer but the fecker should have scored himself

GavRedKing

The Recliner wrote: »

I had €10 on him at 16/1, still got money off him being joint top scorer but the fecker should have scored himself

I would have thrown my bottle at the tele if I had money on him at that stage.

Think he got back 1/6 of the odds, needless to say he isnt happy about it.

The Recliner

gavredking wrote: »

I would have thrown my bottle at the tele if I had money on him at that stage.

Think he got back 1/6 of the odds, needless to say he isnt happy about it.

It was a tad annoying alright :pac:

Al Capwned

Leftist wrote: »

used to play for liverpool. not as glorious as winning the world cup in 2010 because of reina but still up there.

Father Damo

Leftist wrote: »

another victory for liverpool.

Too right. I am a currently former Liverpool fan (it will take some turn around of attitude to make me care again), mainly because the way the man was treated by the club and the fans is beyond contempt and I refuse to be involved in such United like carry on. Absolutely delighted for the lad to see him returning to some form, only hope it is the start of a full return, as he has been out of sorts for over 2 years now. Wish him all the best at Chelsea, they will hopefully treat him better than the gobsh1tes at Liverpool did.

Fight_Night

machiavellianme wrote: »

Winners get medals, onlookers and journeymen get nice seats.

How can you say that when he's literally just yesterday won a Euro medal and the Golden boot despite being on the bench for most of it?

Omackeral

Can I ask why the Least Minutes Played is an important part of the criteria when it comes to winning the Golden Boot in the European Championships? That's almost punishing lads for playing well/being fit and not being hauled off is it not?

Now I understand that it could be applied in the event there is a 3rd place play off as there is in the World Cup, giving a player an extra unmerited game (IMO) to score an extra goal and claiming the accolade e.g. Davor Suker 1998.

Can a anyone elaborate or give their thoughts on this?

BKC

Omackeral wrote: »

Can I ask why the Least Minutes Played is an important part of the criteria when it comes to winning the Golden Boot in the European Championships? That's almost punishing lads for playing well/being fit and not being hauled off is it not?

Can a anyone elaborate or give their thoughts on this?

Less time on pitch + more goals = more clinical?

I don't know. They have to decided it somehow and to be fair it is the 3rd criteria. I don't see what else they could do.

machiavellianme

Fight_Night wrote: »

How can you say that when he's literally just yesterday won a Euro medal and the Golden boot despite being on the bench for most of it?

As a failed hurler, quite easily. Sitting on the sidelines watching my teammates pick up a junior b title and feeling awkward when I got my medal. Sure, I got a run around when the games were won, I even scored once against some 17 year old on his first night in goal but I never deserved a medal.

kitakyushu

It seems to me that it would be fairly impossible to come up with a fair way to decide the golden boat in the result of a tie that would satisfy everyone.

One on hand you got people saying it's unfair that certain players get more games than others by virtue of playing for a top team. On the other hand you have people saying the guy with the least minutes has put in a lesser performance than someone who has played every minute for their team and therefore his shortcoming should not aid his winning of the trophy.

You could add on top of this that a free scoring team like Spain (12 goals) is more than likely gonna contain the top scorer than say a team like Croatia (4 goals). But both offered up a top scorer this time. If anything Mandžukić's strike rate was the most impressive of all (75% of all his teams goals and a goal ratio of 1.00).

J. Marston

kitakyushu wrote: »

It seems to me that it would be fairly impossible to come up with a fair way to decide the golden boat in the result of a tie that would satisfy everyone.

Sudden death penalty shoot-out between the tied players. I'd watch it.

Pinturicchio

Mario Gomez had the ball for less than 30 seconds in the entire tournament.

Richy06

machiavellianme wrote: »

And rightly so. Barely kicked a ball for all of those. Whatever about 3rd choice keeper not getting much gametime for their medals, a 50m striker should be starting every game.

Yeah, he barely kicked a ball, alright.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5OaZxIO8LI&feature=player_detailpage#t=632s

Will I Amnt

Father Damo wrote: »

Too right. I am a currently former Liverpool fan (it will take some turn around of attitude to make me care again), mainly because the way the man was treated by the club and the fans is beyond contempt and I refuse to be involved in such United like carry on. Absolutely delighted for the lad to see him returning to some form, only hope it is the start of a full return, as he has been out of sorts for over 2 years now. Wish him all the best at Chelsea, they will hopefully treat him better than the gobsh1tes at Liverpool did.

Can I get a rrrrrrolleyes??

daddydick

Father Damo wrote: »

Too right. I am a currently former Liverpool fan (it will take some turn around of attitude to make me care again), mainly because the way the man was treated by the club and the fans is beyond contempt and I refuse to be involved in such United like carry on. Absolutely delighted for the lad to see him returning to some form, only hope it is the start of a full return, as he has been out of sorts for over 2 years now. Wish him all the best at Chelsea, they will hopefully treat him better than the gobsh1tes at Liverpool did.

Let me guess, you're now a Man City fan?

Sir Gallagher

Father Damo wrote: »

Too right. I am a currently former Liverpool fan (it will take some turn around of attitude to make me care again), mainly because the way the man was treated by the club and the fans is beyond contempt and I refuse to be involved in such United like carry on. Absolutely delighted for the lad to see him returning to some form, only hope it is the start of a full return, as he has been out of sorts for over 2 years now. Wish him all the best at Chelsea, they will hopefully treat him better than the gobsh1tes at Liverpool did.

I'd hazard a guess and say you don't follow Liverpool anymore bacause we're not as good as we were a few years back. If Liverpool's fortunes change over the next few years do us all a favour and stick with supporting Chelsea.

GavRedKing

machiavellianme wrote: »

As a failed hurler, quite easily. Sitting on the sidelines watching my teammates pick up a junior b title and feeling awkward when I got my medal. Sure, I got a run around when the games were won, I even scored once against some 17 year old on his first night in goal but I never deserved a medal.

I forgot the sitting on the becnh for a Junior B medal was the same as playing over 90 games for you country scoring over 30 goals including the golden boot and becoming the 1st player to score in consecutive Euro Finals was the same thing. When i look at it that way i can now see how he doesnt deserve a medal.
:rolleyes:

Sir Gallagher

gavredking wrote: »

I forgot the sitting on the becnh for a Junior B medal was the same as playing over 90 games for you country scoring over 30 goals including the golden boot and becoming the 1st player to score in consecutive Euro Finals was the same thing. When i look at it that way i can now see how he doesnt deserve a medal.
:rolleyes:

He deserves a medal but i wonder what it means to him, would he be fulfilled? I'm not so sure. Better than a kick up the arse in fairness.

Corholio

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

He deserves a medal but i wonder what it means to him, would he be fulfilled? I'm not so sure. Better than a kick up the arse in fairness.

This really. He deserves it, but he wasn't involved for the majority of the tournament. He deserved to play more, but can't say dropping him wasn't justified in the end.

Sir Gallagher

Corholio wrote: »

This really. He deserves it, but he wasn't involved for the majority of the tournament. He deserved to play more, but can't say dropping him wasn't justified in the end.

They would have won either way in fairness, playing your man Negredo over him in the QF was baffling. Maybe Del Bosque just isn't into him or is secretely a Liverpool fan.

Where To

I'd love it love it love it if he won WPOTY this year.

No reason why he shouldn't either when you think about it.

kryogen

I hear he sent a special thank you text to the Irish squad thanking them for their part in his achievement

kryogen

Where To wrote: »

I'd love it love it love it if he won WPOTY this year.

No reason why he shouldn't either when you think about it.

No reasons other then the obvious ones I guess.

kryogen

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

They would have won either way in fairness, playing your man Negredo over him in the QF was baffling. Maybe Del Bosque just isn't into him or is secretely a Liverpool fan.

The story going around with a few of the journalists is that they were told privately by Del Bosque that the 460 was out of necessity rather then choice because of the injury to Villa and lack of form of Torres. That he didn't fancy Negrado, that Llorente had an injured knee and that he couldn't rely on Torres so that was the reason for the formations etc

More on that may or may not come out now the tournament is over, was never going to come out during it for obvious reasons, but since Spain won there is also no reason for that to become a big talking point either.

Sir Gallagher

Where To wrote: »

I'd love it love it love it if he won WPOTY this year.

No reason why he shouldn't either when you think about it.

Cop on would ya.

Gamb!t

Not a bad trophy haul for a guy that barely featured this season.

Fight_Night

machiavellianme wrote: »

As a failed hurler, quite easily. Sitting on the sidelines watching my teammates pick up a junior b title and feeling awkward when I got my medal. Sure, I got a run around when the games were won, I even scored once against some 17 year old on his first night in goal but I never deserved a medal.

He was the top scorer for Spain. I'm guessing you weren't the top scorer for your hurling team.

General Relativity

Where To wrote: »

I'd love it love it love it if he won WPOTY this year.

No reason why he shouldn't either when you think about it.

Messi; 80 goals, club and country is a fairly big reason tbh.

~Rebel~

General Relativity wrote: »

Messi; 80 goals, club and country is a fairly big reason tbh.

I reckon it's Ronaldo's year. Similar scoring record, but also was in a league winning team and made it to the semi's of the EC, while Messi didn't score in the copa america and went out in the first knock out phase after finishing second in their group. The success of the team is always taken into account. And also Messi has won the last 3.

SantryRed

Father Damo wrote: »

Too right. I am a currently former Liverpool fan (it will take some turn around of attitude to make me care again), mainly because the way the man was treated by the club and the fans is beyond contempt and I refuse to be involved in such United like carry on.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

Hahahahahahahahahaha.

Ha.