Baroš strikes for success
Monday, June 28, 2004
Article summary
With just three games to go, the race to finish as the top scorer at UEFA EURO 2004™ is into the final straight, with Milan Baroš leading the way on five goals.
Article body
Goal in each game
The Czech Republic striker has contributed five goals in four games, including two in his side's 3-0 victory against Denmark in the fourth and final quarter-final last night. The Liverpool FC forward will be eager to extend his record of scoring in every match so far in Thursday's semi-final with Greece.
Van Nistelrooij challenge
One goal behind Baroš are Dutch forward Ruud van Nistelrooij and teenage prodigy Wayne Rooney. However, unlike the young Englishman, Van Nistelrooij has the opportunity to increase his tally as the Netherlands face a semi-final against Portugal, who eliminated England in the last eight.
Three strikes
Denmark's Jon Dahl Tomasson, Frank Lampard of England, Swedish striker Henrik Larsson and French maestro Zinedine Zidane have found the net three times - but all are on their way home. Of the seven players on two goals, only Portugal's Rui Costa, Greek forward Angelos Charisteas and Czech Republic pair Jan Koller and Marek Heinz will have the chance to strike again.
Allbäck ratio
Sweden's Marcus Allbäck holds the best goals-per-minutes-played ratio, having scored once in his 34 minutes of competition action. Portugal's Hélder Postiga has also registered one goal – in the quarter-final against England – but took two minutes longer to do it. Postiga, however, has the occasion to score more goals in the semi-final and perhaps the final itself.
Van Basten goals
However, one statistic that might give Baroš cause for concern is that no player who has finished as the tournament's top scorer has also got his hands on the Henri Delaunay trophy since Marco van Basten in 1988. The Dutchman hit five goals as the Netherlands won their only major international trophy to date.
Team disappointments
Four players ended with three goals at EURO '92 – Dennis Bergkamp and Tomas Brolin as both the Netherlands and Sweden lost at the semi-final stage, while Karl-Heinz Riedle's Germany lost to Denmark in the final, for whom Henrik Larsen also managed three goals.
Five apiece
Alan Shearer scored five times for England at EURO '96™, while four years ago another Dutchman, Patrick Kluivert, shared the top scorers' award with Savo Milosevic, playing for the then-Yugoslavia. French superstar Michel Platini holds the competition record, having found the net nine times as his country clinched the 1984 title on home soil.
Fewer goals
EURO 2004™ looks like it will be a lower scoring tournament than UEFA EURO 2000™, where a total of 85 goals were recorded in 31 games. The 28 matches so far in Portugal have brought 72 goals.