Leboeuf: Pepe deserved Euro 2016 award over Griezmann

Matt Stead

Former France international Frank Leboeuf thinks “someone like Pepe” should have won the Euro 2016 best player award over Antoine Griezmann.

Griezmann was picked as player of the tournament by UEFA after scoring six goals in his seven matches at the competition – three more than any other player.

Despite that, Griezmann failed to bag a goal in the final as France lost in extra-time to Portugal and Leboeuf thinks the forward lacked the consistency of players such as Pepe and Gareth Bale.

“I like Griezmann a lot, but he was not the player of the tournament. I do not agree with this choice,” Leboeuf told RMC.

“We have to be critical. We only saw him from the quarter-finals on. He got two chances in the final, but he did not take them. We did not see too much of him otherwise.

“But UEFA has always worked like this. They always give man of the match to the player who scored, too.

“For me, there was someone like Pepe, you had Gareth Bale who led Wales the way. There were a number of players who showed a lot of quality.

“Pepe was in great form right from the start until the very end. Griezmann on the other hand was dropped for the second game.”

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