Harry Maguire was the only Manchester United player to make the Euro 2020 best XI team as his teammate for both club and country, Luke Shaw, was left out. There were additional snubs, as you would always expect with these kinds of honors, and England/Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford is certainly another.
The two tournament finalists, Italy (5) and England (3) combined to dominate the list, as one would expect. Four more Premier League stars joined Maguire on the All-Euro team, meaning we had five footballers from the English top flight in the team.
Take a look at the team below and be sure to make your feelings known about who else was snubbed, and who you believe didn’t deserve their place, in the comments section at the end of the post.
UEFA Team of the Tournament
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Italy), Kyle Walker (England), Leonardo Bonucci (Italy), Harry Maguire (England), Leonardo Spinazzola (Italy), Jorginho (Italy), Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg (Denmark), Pedri (Spain); Federico Chiesa (Italy), Romelu Lukaku (Belgium), Raheem Sterling (England)
While Shaw and Pickford were deserving, it’s easy to understand why Gigi and Leonardo got in ahead of them.
In my opinion, Shaw was better than Spinazzola, but he’s a good sentimental selection, as he ruptured his Achilles tendon in the late stages of the knockout round.
Congrats to Maguire for making the team, as he was late in getting to England camp and wasn’t fully integrated into the side until well into the competition.
That’s due to his late season ankle injury, which really put his Euro campaign in doubt. His arrest last summer while on holiday in Greece was also thought to have put his international selection in jeopardy.
So kudos to England manager Gareth Southgate for sticking with slab head, and maintaining faith in him, as it truly paid off.
Also, United fans must begrudgingly say congratulations to Manchester City, for landing two players on the Best XI, both of which are England players.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune.