5 players who shone the brightest in Euro qualifying
The UEFA Euro 2016 is scheduled to be held in France next summerThe group stages of the 2016 Euro qualifiers ended this week and now nineteen more teams have secured their places for the tournament along with hosts France. Eight of the nine teams which finished third in their respective groups will be engaged in play-offs later this year and the four teams which emerge victorious from their respective games will also be involved in the first ever Euro with 24 teams.As the curtains fall on a qualifying round that entertained as well as threw a few major surprises our way, we take a look back at five players who made a significant contribution in their country’s quest of playing in the big stage.There were many outstanding performers who saw their team through to the tournament like Kevin De Bruyne for Belgium or Marek Hamsik for Slovakia and then there were others like Steven Fletcher for Scotland, who did their individual best and yet saw their team fall short in the end. But the following players stood out and reaped praises in abundance for the same.
#5 David Alaba (Austria)
David Alaba is a well-known figure among football fans as one of the best active full backs in the game. Although the Austrian has gained fame as an amazing left back, his incredible versatility means that he is equally good in midfield or in central defense.
Alaba started his career as a midfielder before switching to the left back position for Bayern. However, he still plays in central midfield for his nation.
Austria proved to be one of the surprise packages of the qualifying phase this year as they earned qualification with two games to spare in a group consisting of Sweden and Russia. Austria went unbeaten in the qualifying games and their only draw came against Sweden at home in the opening game.
The Bayern Munich man is the pivot around whom the whole team revolves. Alaba has shown maturity beyond his age and has performed his defensive duties in midfield exceptionally well with his relentless pressing. This has helped the team’s forwards to push forward with more freedom and threaten the opposition.
Alaba has also scored four goals in the qualifying games. He scored one each from the spot, home and away to Sweden, another from the spot against Moldova and one against Liechtenstein.
The Austrian was also named in UEFA’s official Euro qualifying dream-team XI.