When the first match round of Euro 2020 is over, Stats Perform has identified the best player on the initial match day.
There were plenty of strong performances: Romelu Lukaku played with Russia, Cristiano Ronaldo broke even more records and Kalvin Phillips passed Croatia from the Wembley pitch.
Only one man achieved 91.1 on Opta’s player index, though – all while doing a meme by David Marshall.
Patrik Schick’s screen secured the Czech Republic’s 2-0 victory over Scotland and his place in the annals in European Championship history, with a goal that this tournament has rarely seen before.
The forward’s nasty, incredible shot from just outside the halfway line, which rose and curled out of Marshall’s reach and into the net, was a bit of spellbinding brilliance to cover a fine performance.
It was the longest distance from which a goal has been scored in the history of the tournament; 49.7 yards (or 45.5 meters) from Scotland’s goal, that was over 10 yards further than the previous record goal, one that Thorsen Frings scored for Germany against the Netherlands at the 2004 European Championships.
Statistics Execute
The goal became more amazing by the fact that it seemed so of character; Schick scored 13 goals in 36 matches for Bayer Leverkusen 2020-21, and four out of six for the Czech Republic in the European Championship 2020 qualifiers, and none of them were outside the opposition’s penalty area.
There was a lot to admire about Schick’s first goal as well, a loud nod from Vladimir Coufal’s post from the right that left Marshall without a chance. His stay took him to ten direct goal engagements (eight points, two assists) in his last nine international starts in all competitions, making him the first player in the Czech Republic to score twice in a match in a major tournament since Tomas Rosicky on 2006 World Cup.
It was a clinical display from number 10, one that defied the goal points of the day; The Czech Republic had 1.09 expected goals based on their chances created, while Scotland had 1.95. Schick hit the target with five of his six shots all the time, the highest number of any player on match day one, averaging over an attempted goal for every eight touches of the ball. In total, he earned 96.18 in the Opta index for his attacking play.
He also made 61.97 defensively and with good reason: he made five recoveries and three tackles, the highest number of any player in the game, when he pressed effectively against Scotland’s defense.
Jaroslav Silhavy’s side have placed themselves in a decent position to secure passage out of Group D, even with matches against Croatia and England not yet coming. They really hope that Schick’s outstanding form continues, even though he may be struggling to exceed that goal soon.
