Who would have thought the quarter-finals would feature no team from the group of death comprising France, Germany, Portugal and Hungary? Football has once again rendered logic redundant. When it comes to the Beautiful Game, our appetite for consumption is gargantuan. I’m already worried about the onset of emptiness after July 11. I hope the Olympics will fill the void.

Here are my high points from Euro 2020

Patrik Schick’s missile against Scotland: Goals from distance have an allure of their own; they are adored universally. Schick’s effort was royalty among long-range missiles. Forget the fact that he found the target from 45 metres with a first-time shot. It was the beautiful trajectory of the ball that made the goal unforgettable.

Federico Chiesa’s brilliant goal against Austria: Italy was on the back foot for the first time in the tournament. It needed a goal early in extra time to calm frayed nerves down. Up stepped Chiesa on the right to control a high diagonal ball with his head and beat an onrushing defender with a deft touch from his right foot before blasting the ball in with his left. All in one seamless motion. Shall we say poetry in motion? Chiesa made a difficult goal look bewitchingly simple.

Karim Benzema’s outrageous touch against Switzerland: When Kylian Mbappe played the ball to him, Benzema was well ahead of it but he somehow cajoled the spherical thing with his trailing left foot before hitting the target -- with the same foot. Audacious. The ball-watching defenders of Switzerland contributed their bit to the goal but nothing could diminish the Frenchman’s sublime improvisation.

Joachim Maehle’s sumptuous assist against the Czech Republic: Few would have heard about the Denmark left wing-back before Euro 2020 but the dynamic player has become a household name in the football community after a string of superb performances. Maehle set up Kasper Dolberg with the outside of his right foot for the assist of the tournament. As a right-footed player deployed on the left, the Dane had no option other than going for the extraordinary. The assist was so perfect that all Dolberg had to do was stick a foot out bang in the middle of the six-yard box.

(The writer has reported the Fifa World Cup from South Africa, Brazil and Russia)