Golden Boot in Euro 2016

The target is the Golden boot as the Euro 2016 nears its end. However, there is no sure way of determining who will walk away with the trophy since the competitions have been overly unpredictable. There are three top players each with three goals and there are only seven tournament games remaining. Spaniard Alvaro Morata was eliminated by Wales talisman Gareth Bale who is closely edging out on Antonie Griezmann of France.

Four of the players have gone packing after they were knocked out. Other than 1984 when Michel Platini scored 9 goals the other European Championship has always been won with a record of 5 goals. Fernando Torres took the European title with a record of three goals in 2012 after which David Villa took the title with a record of four goals four years prior.

The Euro 2016 championships have been among the lowest scored in history. Only 88 goals have been scored this season thus there is no much hope that the Golden Boot winner is going to break the record of the four goals scored back in 2008. In case two players have the same number of goals by the end of the Championship, the player with the best goals-to-minute range will decide the outcome of the match. Morata will however not be able to win the crown as he exited the tournament before it ended.

The leading contenders

Real Madrid is leading the Golden Boot race after the 16^th round. This is after he scored a goal in each of his country’s three group matches. Cardiff wizard seems unstoppable, but this depends on whether Wales will be able to able to defeat Belgium who are their toughest opposition.

Despite the fact that Griezmann was dropped from the starting line-up for Group A clash with Albania he has proved to be more energetic after defeating the Republic of Ireland with great effort in the final 16. Ronaldo did not seem to stand a chance in the knock out stages during the Portugal’s draw of 3-3 with Hungary. He however managed to go through to the quarter-finals against Poland.

Payet was bestowed the title of Les Bleus’ knight in shining armor in the opening night of the tournament where he played on a 20-yard strike against Romania. He did not cause a lot of tension on Ireland players but he is still a threat to other teams. France is looking forward to reaching the finals as they await matches between Italy and maybe Iceland.

The world champions’ poacher upfront has also shown agility in games between Northern Ireland and Slovakia where he plays in places that are important. Germans are relying on Gomez to go against Antonio Conte’s brick wall.

There is a theme in development for the European Championship where Italy is looking up to Pelle to score for them. Everton forward suffered a bout of trampoline touch in the opening game against Italy but later went clinical in the destruction of Ireland has gone through an odd tournament. Lukaku was denied a chance to play by the Belgium team members for a total of 75 minutes.

Wales, Portugal or Poland will have to brace themselves for a tough competition if Hazard plays like the way they played against Hungary. However, Milik should have a chance of leading in the Golden Boot challenge since he performed well in the group stages.