From Portugal's Nani to Poland's Kamil Glik: Five unsung heroes of Euro 2016

Portugal were crowned European Champions after shocking France 1-0 in the Euro 2016 final at Stade de France on Sunday. The Selecao’s fate seemed sealed when Cristiano Ronaldo had to be substituted in the 23rd minute after suffering a knee injury. Nobody expected Portugal to hold their own after Ronaldo left the field, but his support cast, that had been working well in his shadows, stepped up on the big occasion and won the trophy for their captain.

Euro 2016 will be remembered for the big performances from the likes of Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Antoine Griezmann, and Eden Hazard, but what may skip the minds would be the men who worked under radar. Those players who dished out a seven out of ten performance every game and made their teams tick.

Beyond the list of superstars, there is a longer list of players who have worked tirelessly but got little recognition. Here’s a look at five unsung heroes of Euro 2016.

Nani (Portugal)

Nani’s career has pretty much passed under the shadow of Ronaldo. For all his good work in a Portuguese shirt, there was always a stellar Ronaldo show, that overshadowed it. The story was similar at Manchester United as well. The Portuguese winger’s career seemed to have taken a downward turn in recent years after Manchester United sold him to Fenerbahçe in the Turkish league. However, at Euro 2016, he showed glimpses of his old self.

A lot of credit for that has to go to coach Fernando Santos who played Nani in a free role upfront. The 29-year-old thrived in the role, and with an assist and three goals, took lot of pressure off Ronaldo. Nani’s pace and clever movement upfront gave opponents problems throughout the tournament and the once wasteful winger looked more like what he was expected to be when he followed Ronaldo to Old Trafford.

Even today, Nani remains in his shadow, but now he knows how to best play deputy to Ronaldo and enhance each other’s game.

James Chester (Wales)

Wales’ has been one of the stories of Euro 2016. For a country whose last appearance in a major competition came in 1956, reaching France was already a huge achievement. But Chris Coleman’s side refused to rest on their laurels and took to the field in France with a mission. A 3-5-2 formation employed by Wales raised a few eyebrows, but it worked wonders.

Gareth Bale, Aaron Ramsey, Joe Allen and Ashley Williams led the Welsh charge, but a player that proved to be a vital part in their system was James Chester. His reading of the game was immaculate and was the most consistent Welsh defender in the tournament. Another aspect of his play that received plenty of praise was his distribution. He made 197 successful passes in the tournament.

While the likes of Bale and Ramsey were brilliant, young Chester more than played his part too.

Kamil Glik (Poland)

Poland can consider themselves unlucky for not progressing to the semi-finals, as they fell to a penalty shootout defeat to Portugal. They conceded just two goals in five games and Kamil Glik played a big part in them finishing as one of the tightest defences in the tournament. He had answers to everything that was thrown at the Polish defence and ended the tournament with highest number of clearances (54), despite his team being knocked out in the quarter-finals.

His performances caught the eye of some of the biggest clubs and AS Monaco finally snapped him up before the tournament ended. Glik will now get to taste Champions League action at his new club and his evolution into a top-notch defender could receive the ideal tonic.

The fact that Poland wasn’t just about Robert Lewandowski was proven thanks to their march to the last eight, but come the 2018 World Cup, Glik could be shoulder to shoulder with Lewandowski among the country’s star names if he continues to blossom as he did at Euro 2016.

Laurent Koscielny (France)

It was heartbreak for France as they fell at the last hurdle against Portugal. France - who were the top scorers of the tournament - had the finest battery of attacking midfielders which wreaked havoc almost throughout except the final. Antoine Griezmann and Dimitri Payet ran the show for the French and deservedly hogged the limelight.

However few realise that the French defence - considered as the hosts’ prime weakness at the start - upped their game significantly. Laurent Koscielny, a man who often receives criticism for his inconsistency, was  the pillar at the heart of the French rearguard. His partners changed through the course of the tournament, but Koscielny remained rock steady. He won 60% of the duels, made 6 blocks and 48 clearances in the competition.

The Koscielny-led French defence provided the stability for the artists upfront to work their magic. He was left a bit wanting when Eder scored the winner for Portugal, but the Arsenal man was as good as anyone during Euro 2016 and played a huge hand in helping France reach the final.

Jonas Hector (Germany)

Getting into a World Cup winning side is never easy and when it’s in place of someone like Phillip Lahm, the task gets even more daunting. There are few boots that are bigger to fill than Lahm’s. The German World Cup winning captain was not only a top leader, but also one of the best full-backs the game has seen in the past decade.

For 26-year-old Jonas Hector, the challenge of filling in Lahm’s boot was huge. Yet, he came and conquered. Hector was a mainstay in the German defence and was among the top full-backs in the tournament. While it was young Joshua Kimmich who stole all the limelight, Jonas Hector’s supreme consistency in the German backline went unnoticed. The left-back was in supreme form and won seven tackles in the tournament. He also provided the German side great width with his bombarding runs down the left flank.

In addition, Hector portrayed nerves of steel and scored the winning penalty in the crazy shootout win over Italy in the quarter-finals.

We once again saw a new batch of talented Germans coming through at Euro 2016 and Jonas Hector is certainly one of them who could be one for the future.