Patrik Schick wins Gazprom UEFA EURO 2020 Goal of the Tournament award
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(Image credit: Football For Friendship)
Czech Republic forward Patrik Schick was awarded the first NFT trophy in football history for his inspiring goal against Scotland at UEFA EURO 2020. This unique trophy was initiated by Gazprom, an official partner of the tournament.
(Image credit: Football For Friendship)
On winning the award, Schick said: “I am very proud to be the first in the history of football to receive this kind of trophy. To be honest I have never seen something like this before.”
(Image credit: Football for Friendship)
The trophy was created by Russian calligrafuturism artist Pokras Lampas. Its physical prototype consisted of 432 football balls, each covered by unique calligraphy. When it ceased to exist as a physical object these 432 balls were distributed in all the cities of the Championship. Anyone in 11 host cities could participate in this international quest and become the owner of part of the legendary award.
The central fragment of the NFT trophy was presented at the award ceremony, which was held on October 15. This is a black and gold soccer ball with orbits containing the name of Gazprom’s International Children’s Social Programme Football for Friendship and its Nine Values: friendship, equality, fairness, health, peace, devotion, victory, tradition, and honour.
Pokras Lampas said: “I found my inspiration in the idea of the programme, with the common Nine Values we share with Gazprom and the Football for Friendship programme. These values, as well as football itself, unite people all over the world.”
(Image credit: Football for Friendship)
Over nine seasons, Football for Friendship has united over 16,000 participants in 211 countries and regions of the world, has received more than 60 awards for social responsibility, sports, and communications, including three Guinness World Records™ for the most multinational football training session in history, the largest online football event, and for the largest number of virtual stadium visitors in the world.
144 Young Journalists of the Football for Friendship programme from 11 UEFA EURO 2020 host cities reported on the matches of the EURO 2020 for international media through the prism of Nine Values. The publications of Young Journalists were posted in the official accounts of the Football for Friendship programme as well as local media throughout the tournament. 11 Young Journalists who performed best in their coverage of Championship events took part in the awarding ceremony and made a report about the brightest moments of the NFT trophy creation.
The hologram of the NFT trophy is located at the UEFA headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland and Gazprom Office in Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
(Image credit: Football for Friendship)
Schick, a £22m-signing for Leverkusen from Roma last September, came into this summer's finals on the back of an impressive debut season with the Bundesliga side.
The Czech star scored 13 goals in 36 games at club level, and then went on to score five goals in five games at UEFA EURO 2020 - but none better than his second half strike at Hampden Park - magnificent 50-yard strike that caught Scotland goalkeeper David Marshall off his line and earned its place amongst some of the all-time great major tournament goals.
James Andrew is the editor of FourFourTwo, overseeing both the magazine and website. James is an NCTJ qualified journalist and began his career as a news reporter in regional newspapers in 2006 before moving into sport a year later. In 2011 he started a six year stint on the sports desk at the Daily Mail and MailOnline. James was appointed editor of FourFourTwo in December 2019. Across his career James has interviewed the likes of Franco Baresi, Sir Alex Ferguson, David Beckham and Michael Owen. James has been a Fulham season ticket holder since the mid-1990s and enjoys watching them home and away, through promotion and relegation.
