Day 4 of Euro 2016 saw three games take place – Spain vs Czech Republic, Republic of Ireland vs Sweden and Belgium vs Italy. While the defending champions saw off the Czech Republic with a 1-0 scoreline thanks to a late Gerard Pique header, Zlatan Ibrahimovic ensured Sweden came away with a point even though he did not score. In the final game of the day, Italy beat Belgium 2-0 to top Group E.
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Spain 1-0 Czech Republic
1 – Gerard Pique scored his first ever goal for Spain in an international tournament. He had scored 4 goals (all in 2009) in World Cup qualifiers and a friendly match.
3 – Andres Iniesta’s assist saw him get an assist in his third Euro tournament – the only Spanish player to do so. He has four assists spread across Euro 2008, 2012 and now 2016. The only other players to accomplish this feat are Karel Poborsky (Czech Republic), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Jurgen Klinsmann and Bastian Schweinsteiger (both Germany).
10 – Iniesta and Cesc Fabregas became the first players to win 10 matches in Euro history.
4 – David De Gea has kept a clean sheet in every official game he has started for Spain (international friendlies were not counted). He made his debut in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
177 – Czech Republic completed only 177 passes in the entire game. That is the same as Sergio Ramos and Iniesta combined!
13 – Spain are undefeated in 13 games at Euro. The last time they lost was in 2004 when Portugal beat them 1-0 in the group stage.
16 – Spain have conceded just once in the last 16 hours in Euro. That goal came from Antonio Di Natale in the first group stage game in Euro 2012 in a 1-1 draw with Italy.
100 – David Silva got his 100th cap for Spain, taking Spain’s tally of centurions to 11.
6 – Spain kept their sixth consecutive clean sheets at the Euros, extending their own record.
13 – This was the first time Spain won a game on 13 June
68 – Tomas Rosicky played 87 minutes for Czech Republic. That is 68 minutes more than the number of minutes he played for Arsenal in 2015/16.
Republic of Ireland 1-1 Sweden
29 – Of the 24 teams at Euro, Ireland have the oldest squad based on average age at 29 years and 297 days.
35 – Robbie Keane became Ireland’s oldest outfield player in Euro history when he came on (35 years 11 months).
2 – Clark’s own goal was the second time Sweden benefited from an own goal. The only country to have more own goals in their favour are Netherlands (3).
4 – Wes Hoolahan became only the fourth player to score for Ireland at the Euros. The others were Ray Houghton (1988), Ronnie Whelan (1988) and Sean St Ledger (2012).
1 – This was the first time Zlatan Ibrahimovic had failed to score in Sweden’s opening game at Euro. He had scored in 2004 (vs Bulgaria), 2008 (vs Greece) and 2012 (vs Ukraine). He still managed to get Ireland to score for him, though.
Belgium 0-2 Italy
157 – Gianluigi Buffon played his 157th game for Italy. Nobody else in the history of Italian football has as many caps as the 38-year-old goalkeeper. It was also his 14th game in Euro – another record for Italian players.
31 – The average age of Italy’s starting XI was the oldest ever in Euros history (31 years and 169 days)
18 – Chiellini, Barzagli & Bonucci made a combined 18 clearances for Italy against Belgium.
11 – Italy have scored in 11 consecutive games for the first time in a decade.
8 – Belgium failed to keep a clean sheet for the eighth consecutive game. Their last clean sheet was in September last year in a Euro qualifier against Cyprus.
6 – Graziano Pelle scored his sixth goal for Italy. He has played 14 times for the Azzurri.
5 – Although Belgium were very disjointed in the first half, Marouane Fellaini still created 5 chances for the Red Devils – something he never achieved with his club Manchester United (ironically also known as the Red Devils).
4 – Emanuele Giaccherini has now scored four times for Italy.
All stats courtesy of Opta, MisterChiping, Squawka and WhoScored.
