Much like the Brexit referendum, Uefa’s player barometer was only advisory.
Dimitri Payet finished the tournament top of the barometer, leading to complaints about the West Ham man earning player of the tournament honours.
But Uefa have set the record straight, announcing that the *official* award has gone the way of Payet’s international team-mate Antoine Griezmann.
OFFICIAL: @AntoGriezmann is #EURO2016 player of the tournament! #FRA @equipedefrance @Atleti https://t.co/i9qDBsorVI pic.twitter.com/cR8eh8Drio
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) July 11, 2016
Griezmann’s award has been decided by actual living, breathing human beings, rather than an algorithm.
According to Uefa, Griezmann was chosen as the tournament’s best by a panel of ‘technical observers’ including the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson, David Moyes and Gareth Southgate.
Griezmann was also confirmed as the tournament’s top scorer after Sunday night’s final, with his tally of six goals the second-highest in European Championships history.
He scored twice in the last-16 victory over Ireland and notched another double in the semi-final win against Germany, adding to strikes against Albania and Iceland.
“Antoine Griezmann was a threat in every game he played,” said Uefa’s chief technical officer Ioan Lupescu.
“He works hard for his team and possesses technique, vision and quality finishing. The technical observers were in unanimous agreement that he was the tournament’s outstanding player.”
So, order restored then. We think.
Who do you think was the best player at Euro 2016 and why? Email Hello@JOE.co.uk, or get in touch via Facebook or Twitter.
