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Arda Guler scored an early contender for goal of the tournament, putting Turkey on their way to a 3-1 victory over Georgia in their first match in the European Championship. Hours later the 21-year-old Francisco Conceicao scored a minute and 51 seconds after coming on to earn Portugal a late 2-1 victory over the Czech Republic, also in their opening match of this European Championship.
The 19-year-old ‘Turkish Messi’ Guler is the third teenager in history to score in his debut Euros match, after Ferenc Bene for Hungary in 1964 and Cristiano Ronaldo for Portugal in 2004. His 20-yard shot made him the youngest player to score on his debut.
Arda Guler, whom Real Madrid hired from Fenerbahce in July, started out sluggish ‘because physically he wasn’t where he needed to be and his form wasn’t quite right’, but he came on strong in the final month of play, striking five times in five La Liga games to help Real take the top league prize and, for the first time, to lift the Champions League trophy.
On BBC One, former Wales captain Ashley Williams enthused: ‘What an amazing goal. We said this was his chance to show himself on the big tournament stage and he certainly flipped the world on its sides there. Poor goalkeeper. He showed his quality. We were expecting some skills from him.. but this.. this was unbelievable!
Former England defender Stephen Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live: ‘Early on in the game with Arda Guler showing his touches of skill. We needed the moment of magic with a goal and Guler came with a brilliant goal – a glimpse of what he can do.’
Veterans such as Robert Lewandowski, Luka Modric, Ronaldo and even 41-year-old Pepe might be playing in their last European Championship – Guler could be the face of the future of football in Europe.
‘This young Turk is the new Messi,’ said the commentator Guy Mowbray, ‘what a tournament for the youngsters.’
The second and decisive match of the day for Group F saw yet another youngster getting the last word, after a skewed pass fed Portugal’s Conceicao on the edge of the area and he dispatched it into the bottom corner.
Bayern Munich’s 21-year-old forward Jamal Musiala was arguably the star player as Germany thrashed Scotland on the opening day. Jamal Musiala, who spent much of his childhood in England and won youth caps, received praise from the Arsenal legend Ian Wright in post-match analysis, with Wright describing Musiala as ‘like Kaka’.
Florian Wirtz: Another German teenage sensation who was starring on Friday night, the Bayer Leverkusen forward is now the youngest German player to score at a European Championship.
Lamine Yamal: At 16, Yamal became the youngest player ever to feature in the Euro Championship, helping Spain to a 3-0 win against Croatia on Saturday. Yamal was several years young than those who had faced him and played the ball away for Spain to make a statement in their first match of Euro 2024 on the 20st of June.
Jude Bellingham: England’s 20-year-old Real Madrid midfielder is the first European to have played in three major international tournaments before the age of 21. He scored the winner for the Three Lions against Serbia.
