By David Owen
July 8 – We will have to wait and see whether hosts France or Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal lift the European Championship trophy at the Stade de France on Sunday. But we can already say with absolute clarity that the US mark Nike has won Euro 2016’s Battle of the Brands.
In the continent of its main rivals, Puma and Adidas, Nike not only supplies both finalists, its six teams emerged victorious from more than half of the 28 matches they have contested.
Three of the five defeats suffered by teams equipped by the swoosh brand were inflicted by fellow Nike partners. By Sunday night, the Nike half-dozen will have run up a total of 16 wins – one more than the number registered by the nine Euro 2016 finalists supplied by arch-rivals Adidas.
Germany’s defeat on Thursday thanks to tournament top scorer Antoine Griezmann’s brace for hosts France means that Adidas squads finish with 15 wins and 18 defeats from their combined 38 matches.
Sides supplied by Puma, whose direct interest in the competition ended with Italy’s quarter-final defeat by Germany following an eventful penalty shoot-out, mustered just five wins out of 19.
The accolade of runner-up in Euro 2016’s Battle of the Brands must go to Italy’s Erreà, whose sole team Iceland were the tournament’s surprise package, along with Adidas’s Wales.
In a competition in which goals have been at a premium, Adidas teams amassed 42 of them, not much more than one per game. Their Nike counterparts have managed 36 – plus the aggregate notched by France and Portugal in Sunday’s final.
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