Mascots have become an integral part of the European Football Championship since Pinocchio made his debut in the 1980 finals. UEFA EURO 2020 will be one of the largest sporting events in history, so the official mascot this time should be really worthy. He was already introduced to the world last month. Skillzy (the name of the new hero) appeared in the arena of Johan Cruyff in Amsterdam before the European qualifying match between the Netherlands and Germany. Who is he and what is his role?
New hero
The organizers of the competition decided in 2020 to focus on freestyle to convey to the public the beauty of free and street football. Therefore, the mascot of EURO 2020 was a character named Skillsy - a freestyle boy, dressed in a stylish sports uniform and with a ball in his hand. He was inspired by the growing popularity of those kinds of football that go beyond the traditional game. His name comes from the English word “skills”, which translates as “skills” or “feints”. It is noteworthy that Skillzi not only looks like a freestyler, but also able to show cool tricks!
“We wanted to move away from the traditional characters that everyone saw at previous Euro-UEFA. Therefore, we created a mascot that can interact more closely with football fans, ”said Guy Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director at UEFA Events. "Skillzy really knows how to play, and this should inspire young people from different countries to try to repeat the tricks on their own."
Championship 2020 promises to be unique. In honor of the 60th anniversary of UEFA EURO, the organizers decided to hold it unusually: this time there will not be one official host country. Instead, the games will be held in 12 countries, and will end with a semi-final and a final at Wembley Stadium.
At the premiere in Amsterdam, Skillsi, as expected, was accompanied by two of the world's leading freestylers - Liv Cook and Tobias Becks. The three of them performed interesting tricks and encouraged young people around the world to show their abilities. On March 27, Skillsi visited Gazprom Arena in St. Petersburg. He was received by Alexander Erokhin, who later said that he liked the EURO 2020 symbol.
"Your turn"
People from all 12 host countries are invited to answer the challenge of Skillsi, Liv and Tobias and take part in the “Make Your Move” competition. The winners will have the opportunity to speak to the whole world and get the title of freestyler of the year! To do this, you need to remove your unique movements on video and upload to the official page. It is advisable that the performance best reflect the spirit and characteristics of football in your city.
The video can be downloaded from March 24, 2019 to Monday July 1, 2019. The competition is open to people aged 18 years and older. Of all the participants, Skillzy, along with Liv and Tobias, will choose 3 from each category. Then, by public vote, 2 people (one man, one woman) from each of the host cities will be selected. Recall that EURO will go to 12 points in the world: Amsterdam, Baku, Bilbao, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dublin, Glasgow, London, Munich, Rome and St. Petersburg. 24 winners will become UEFA EURO 2020 freestylers and will have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in individual competitions.
Symbols of past championships
Some Skillzie did not like, but this always happens. Moreover, if you compare it with past talismans, you understand that it is one of the best.Take even Super Victor, who represented UEFA EURO 2016, held in France. This little superhero boy in a raincoat was generally not very encouraging to go play football.
Plus, later it turned out that the sex toy has the same name, as a result of which fans from some countries faced an unpleasant situation: when searching for souvenirs on the Internet, the sex shop page always jumped out. The UEFA representative then commented on such an excess with the following words: “All we can say is that we are not involved in the production of Super Victor sex toys.”
Among other strange talismans, one can recall a rabbit named Rabbit from 1992. Firstly, it’s not clear, where does the rabbit come from, and secondly, why was it impossible to even think of a name for him? In 1996, the Goliath bear became the symbol of the championship in England. This is also a strange choice, given that Goliath is a negative character from the Bible who was killed by King David. In 2000, Holland and Belgium introduced the world to Beneluc - a lion with the tail of the devil and human hands.
Yes, it somehow does not work out with UEFA with talismans, but maybe after Skillsi everything will change?
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