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Euro History: France 1960

Our look back at the history of the European Championship begins with the inaugural four-team tournament in France 48 years ago.

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The European Championship, along with the World Cup and modern Olympic Games, were the brainchild of a Frenchman. Henri Delaunay's sterling work in getting the tournament off the ground was recognised in the naming of the trophy after the great man.

Just four teams arrived in France for the original 'European Nations Cup' in 1960, with the previous rounds decided in home and away legs.

Some of the big names of world football were missing, including England and Italy, but with a fired-up France and a Soviet Union team at the peak of their powers a superb tournament was assured.

The hosts were missing star forwards Just Fontaine and Raymond Kopa, but had no trouble finding the net, storming into a 4-2 lead in their semi-final with Yugoslavia.

But the Balkan nation mounted a sensational comeback, netting three times in the last 15 minutes to stun a packed Parc des Princes and reach the final.

Meanwhile, Gavril Kachalin's powerful Soviets out muscled a skilful Czechoslovakia, whose star player Josef Masopust had a tough evening.

With Igor Netto dictating the play, the Soviets were too good, cruising home by three goals to nil.

Faced with legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin: the 'Black Panther', the Yugoslavs failed to conjure another goalscoring bonanza in the final .

On a cold and rainy evening in Paris, Yashin pulled off a number of heroic saves as the sides played out a hard-fought encounter.

The sides were still locked at 1-1 after 113 minutes, when Soviet striker Viktor Ponedelnik made himself a hero.

Meshki delivered a pinpoint cross and the striker headed emphatically home to seal his country's only major footballing crown.


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Euro history: Spain 1964

Our look back at European Championship history continues with Spain's only major championship to date, on home turf in 1964.

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Luxembourg created an absolute sensation as they came agonisingly close to making the last four for the final tournament.

The tiny nation held Denmark to three-all and two-all draws at home and away to set up a play-off in Amsterdam.

Ollie Madsen, who scored all five Danish goals in the first two matches, was on target yet again to overcome the doughty Luxembourgois 1-0.

Luxembourg's Camille Dimmer reflects on his country's greatest footballing achievement with a mixture of pride and melancholy.

"After those three games, I remember I was pretty sad. But those games are now some of the most golden chapters in the history of football in Luxembourg."

"At that moment there was huge national interest for football in Luxembourg certainly."

But it was Denmark who progressed to Spain, where they and the hosts were joined by the defending champions of the USSR, and Hungary (pictured).

Although no longer the 'Magnificent Magyars' marshalled by Ferenc Puskas, they were still a formidable proposition for the hosts in their semi-final.

In front of an expectant Madrid crowd, Jus Pereda put Spain in front. But it was not all plain sailing and Athletic Bilbao's great goalkeeper José Angel Iribar made a rare error, dropping a cross at the feet of Bene, who sent the match to extra time.

Just five minutes before the dreaded coin-toss, Real Madrid's Amancio forced home a winner to send waves of relief coursing around the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Meanwhile, the USSR despatched Hungary 3-0, with 1960 hero Viktor Ponedelnik once more among the scorers.

With the Soviets looking invincible, Spanish coach José Villalonga found an innovative way to make his players believe they could win.

"[Villalonga's] methods were really quite odd," remembers Pereda. "He took us for a walk. And I remember he mapped out a football pitch on a patch of sand. Now what he did: he used stones to represent us, the Spanish players. And then he used pine cones to represent the Russians.

"Well, he convinced us that stones were stronger than pine cones; and that therefore we were going to win"

And win they did. With Luis Suarez conducting the orchestra, the pumped-up Spanish went into a sixth-minute through Pereda, only to be pegged back soon after.

Six minutes remained when Marcelino netted a diving header to send the 80,000-strong crowd into raptures.

Serial underachievers at international level, Spain have not lifted a major honour since, but the memories of glory on home turf will live on in national lore.


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Euro history: Italy 1968

Hosts Italy climbed to the summit of European football taking the 1968 title in circumstances which must rank their triumph among the most controversial in the competition's history. Join us as we take a look through the history of Europe's premier international football tournament.

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Before hostilities amongst the 31 entrants got underway, there were major off-field developments with the tournament taking on its modern-day moniker - the European Football Championship - replacing the original European Nations' Cup.

Reigning world champions England qualified for the semi-final stages for the first time in their history, and with the same squad that overcame Germany 4-2 in the 1966 final, were hotly-tipped to add continental glory to their world crown.

England were drawn against the talented but temperamental Yugoslavs, who had swept aside France 5-1 in the home leg of their quarter-final.

In a bad-tempered game in Florence, Bobby Charlton rose above the foul-strewn mediocrity to twice come close to sending England through to the final.

But the Yugoslavs - who had looked dangerous on the break - delivered the telling blow just four minutes before full-time, Dzajic chesting down Petkovic's cross before smashing the ball past Gordon Banks to send the Balkan side through.

Alan Mullery's red card just a minute from the end merely compounded the world champions' woes.

Italy had a more comfortable - if infinitely more fortuitous - passage to the final, 'defeating' the USSR on the toss of a coin.

And the fates smiled on the host nation once again in the final.

Yugoslavia were leading 1-0 through Dzajic when the Azzurri were awarded a free-kick. With the Balkan side still lining up their defensive wall, Domenghini took the kick quickly, catching the Yugoslavs napping to snatch an equaliser.

The game finished all square.

The Italians made five changes to their line-up for the replay while the Yugoslavs kept faith with the eleven from the first game, the Azzurri finally overcoming their tired opponents 2-0 with goals from Riva (pictured) and Anastasi.


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Euro history: Belgium 1972

We continue our European Championship history as West Germany get their hands on some silverware.

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Holders Italy were not on hand to defend their European title in 1972, surprisingly defeated by Belgium over two legs in the quarter-finals.

In a repeat of the 1966 World Cup final West Germany faced a familiar foe and a painful trip down memory lane: England at Wembley. This time they came out smiling. A Gunther Netzer-inspired 3-1 first leg away win killed the tie, and Germany were through.

The Belgians' reward for their heroics was to host the finals as the finals moved to the low countries for the first time.

With Lady Luck on a cigarette break, they drew the formidable West Germans in the last four. Despite lacking genuine class Belgium made a good account of themselves, eventually stopped by a rampant Gerd Müller. A brace from 'Der Bomber' was enough to seal a 2-1 win.

The USSR, perennial contenders, took on Hungary in the other semi-final, scraping through courtesy of a solitary Anatoly Konkov strike to reach their third final in four tournaments.

Muller was in no mood to spare the poor Soviets, netting two more goals as Germany cruised to an impressive, if anticlimactic, 3-0 win.

Including qualifying, Müller's goal tally reached an extraordinary 11 out of his country's 15 in just eight matches.

After near misses in the 1966 and 1970 World Cups, captain Franz Beckenbauer finally got his hands on some silverware.

The Belgium finals heralded a golden period of West German football, as they went on to stun Johan Cruyff's Dutch in the 1974 World Cup, and were right back in contention in 1976.


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Euro history: Yugoslavia 1976

One image dominates the 1976 Championship, perhaps the most famous the tournament has ever produced.

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Yet Antonin Panenka's extraordinary dinked penalty to seal Czechoslovakia's victory in the final was just one of many highlights from a thrilling tournament, whose four matches provided 19 goals.

The qualifying tournament saw a rampant Dutch side obliterate Belgium 7-1 on aggregate, Robert Rensenbrink netting a first leg hat-trick in Rotterdam.

The USSR missed out on the finals for the first time as they fell to a highly motivated Czechoslovak side over two legs. The Soviets froze in front of a hostile Bratislava crowd, and failed to overturn the 2-0 deficit on home turf.

The finals, in Yugoslavia, got off to a tempestuous start as three men saw red in Czecholsovakia's semi-final summit with the Netherlands.

Czechoslovak captain Anton Ondrus scored at both ends and the game went to extra time.

Playing ten against nine, the extra man finally paid off as goals from Nehoda and Vesely in the last five minutes decided a classic encounter, sending Czechoslovakia into the final.

In the other semi-final Yugoslavia also took the holders West Germany to an extra thirty minutes. Goal machine Gerd Müller dropped two more bombs in the 115th and 119th minutes to wrap up his hat-trick and an extraordinary 4-2 win.

After the Netherlands snatched third place with another extra time win, 3-2 over Yugoslavia, the stage was set for a fittingly exceptional final.

Goals from Dobias and Svehlik appeared to set Czechoslovakia on their way top an easy win, but the Germans, as always, fought back.

Gerd Müller reduced the deficit shortly before the half-hour mark before Hölzenbein struck two minutes from time to send the game into extra time.

This time there was to be no extra time winner, and the title went down to a penalty shoot-out.

At 4-3 to the Czechoslovaks, Uli Hoeness blazed over, and Antonin Panenka stepped up for the most famous penalty of all time.

As Sepp Maier dived to his left, Panenka, under colossal pressure, chipped the ball impudently down the middle, and Czechoslovakia were European Champions.


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Euro history: Italy 1980


We continue our look back at past European Championships with more success for those West Germans.

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Belgium were the surprise package of the 1980 European Championships, but their in-form side had to bow to the might of Germany who took the title for a second time.

Before hostilities commenced, UEFA gave the tournament a face-lift, doubling the number of countries in the finals, shaping it into an eight-team two-group competition which served as the forerunner of today's full-blown event.

European football's ruling body decided each group winner would advance to the final, with the two runners-up playing off for third place.

In a tough Group A, it was the then-West Germans who took control with a 1-0 win over Czechoslovakia - thus gaining revenge for their 1976 final defeat - before seeing off eternal rivals Holland 3-2 in a thrilling encounter. A 0-0 draw with Greece secured the Germans place in the final for the third successive tournament.

This set up a Czechoslovakia v Holland clash for runners-up spot in the group, with the defending champions squeezing through after the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

England - one of the fancied teams pre-tournament - were paired with Belgium, host nation Italy and Spain in what promised to be a tight group.

After finishing with the best record in qualifying, England were unable to recapture the form which had seen them through to the finals and stuttered to a 1-1 draw with Belgium in their opening game - Jan Cuelemans cancelling out a Ray Wilkins opener.

The Belgians - boosted by their performance against the English - then beat Spain 2-1 before securing their place in the final with a 0-0 draw against Italy.

The final could hardly have started in a worse manner for the Belgians, Horst Hrubesch popping up with a goal after only ten minutes to put the Germans into the driving seat.

But just as time appeared to be running out, the Belgians got themselves back into the game, Rene Vandereycken holding his nerve to bury a 72nd minute penalty.

With both sides holding out, extra-time looked to be on the cards, but Hrubesch dramatically snatched a winner just two minutes from time to break Belgian hearts.


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Euro history: France 1984


Michel Platini stood astride the 1984 European Championship as its undoubted star.

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Juventus star Platini was at the height of his powers, orchestrating a talented French line-up through the group stages, a 1-0 win over Denmark followed by a 5-0 demolition of the 1980 beaten finalists Belgium.

"It was a very complete team, with a nice playing system," said Platini. "We had to play good football to win games. If we didn't play good football, we didn't win... Because we didn't have a team capable of sitting back, defending and looking for the counter-attack.

"But we had eleven players who expressed themselves - who had good technique. It was a different kind of football in those days - and I loved it."

Platini rounded off the group stages by scoring all his team's goals in the final group game to rescue les Bleus and beat Yugoslavia 3-2 as the hosts went through as Group A winners.

Denmark thrashed Yugoslavia 5-0 before overcoming Belgium 3-2 to advance to the semi-finals as group runners-up, as UEFA again changed the rules with the top two in each group going into semi-finals.

The talented but temperamental Portuguese awaited the hosts after they finished runners-up to neighbours Spain in Group B.

In one of the Euro's classic encounters, full of fast-flowing football, Domergue put France 1-0 up, a lead they held until deep into the second half when Jordao rose above Michel Hidalgo's defence to head past Joel Bats and take the game into extra-time.

As both sides pushed for the win, it was the Iberians who seized the advantage, Jordao again the executioner, though his badly mis-hit shot was lucky to find the net.

But with time running out, the magical French midfield of Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana and Luis Fernandez, coupled with Platini fashioned a revival.

Tigana caused panic with a surging run deep into Portuguese territory, the chaos allowing Domergue to strike his second of the game and bring France level, before Platini himself proved the ultimate saviour, delivering the hosts with a right-foot drive to win 3-2.

Platini said: "Against Portugal we should have been leading 2-0 or 3-0. But they made it one all, and then 2-1. Well we got into the last 7-minutes and we had a tremendous will to win the game - especially as we had a player called Jean Tigana who told us he'd never won a match in a penalty shoot-out. So we knew we had to avoid going to penalties...

'Well he was the one who crossed the ball right at the end of the match and I was the one in the centre who hit the ball into the net ... A really exciting match in Marseille and the fans were fantastic."

If the France - Portugal game was to go down as an eternally glorious page in Euro history, the Spain - Denmark encounter in the other semi was instantly forgettable.

With both sides cancelling each other out - Lerby struck for Denmark with Maceda replying for Spain - the game trundled to an almost inevitable penalty shoot-out - Spain edging it 5-4, Elkjaer's miss meaning Sarabia's spot-kick sent the Iberians through.

It was the French who took the lead in front of the Parisian crowd, but it was Spain keeper Luis Arconada who they had to thank for a gift of a goal.

France were awarded a fairly dubious free-kick on the edge of the Spanish box. Platini, inevitably, was behind the set-piece and though his shot lacked power, the ball squirmed underneath the prostrate Arconada and trundled over the line to give the French star his ninth goal of the tournament.

"It was my best free kick ever... right in the corner... The keeper couldn't do anything about it...," said Platini, his tongue firmly in his cheek.

'No, seriously... Arconada is a goalkeeper I have enormous respect for... but on that occasion he didn't completely stop the ball..."

He added: "I remember it very well because it was the first official title won by France in a team sport... So a great moment for French football And for French sport...

"For us it was also something symbolic after the rather 'special' defeat we'd suffered in the semi-final of the World Cup in Seville against Germany.

"Apart from that, the French team had played a very good tournament. The team was the best and really expressed itself in its football."


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Euro history: Germany 1988


After almost two decades of knocking at the door of international glory, the Netherlands finally broke their duck in West Germany.

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Rinus Michels, creator of the great Ajax side of the 1970s, built a wonderful team to rival the likes of Cruyff, Rep and Neeskens.

Names such as Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Ronald Koeman were launched into the pantheon of footballing greats on the back of this exceptional tournament.

In group one the host nation opened their campaign for a third European Championship with a draw and a win against Italy and Denmark.

Then Rudi Völler netted both goals in a clinical performance, downing Spain 2-0 to seal a place in the semi-finals.

An Italian side inspired by Gianluca Vialli edged out the Spanish 1-0 before sweeping Denmark aside and joining Germany in the last four.

The well-fancied English squad had a torrid time in Group two, losing all three matches. A 1-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland was followed up with a 3-1 mauling by the Netherlands in a superb game.

Marco van Basten turned Tony Adams inside-out, tormenting the English defence on his way to a classy hat-trick.

"That was a game where all the things changed," reflects van Basten.

"I had a difficult year - with a lot of injury problems with my ankle, and from that moment the whole thing changed. Everything went positive."

With the Soviet Union already into the last four, thanks to a 3-1 drubbing of the hapless English, the Dutch needed a win over Ireland to join them; and nearly missed out.

With the Irish on the verge of heading through, Wim Kieft popped up nine minutes to head home an invaluable winner and break Irish hearts.

Ronald Koeman freely admits that the goal was not a classic of 'Total Football' brilliance:

"The goal was really quite strange. I had this bad shot at the goal. It hit the head of Wim Kieft and it went in. It really was a fluke."

To Stuttgart for the first semi-final, and Rinat Dassayev was in sparkling form for the Soviet Union, denying a rampant Italian side.

Just before the hour mark the Soviets' brilliant counter-attacking play paid dividends, with Litovchenko and Protassov scoring on the break. Valery Lobanovsky's men were in the final.

Then a battle royal in Hamburg, where the hosts continued their historic hostilities with the Netherlands in a spectacular encounter.

Both Koeman brothers, Erwin and Ronald, threatened Eike Immel's goal in the first half but, true to form, it was West Germany that took the lead.

Ten minutes after the break Jürgen Klinsmann tumbled theatrically under Rijkaard's challenge and Lothar Matthäus tucked away the spot kick.

But the Dutch refused to lie down, storming back with some exhilarating attacking play. They finally drew level when Kohler brought down Van Basten and Ronald Koeman matched Matthäus, firing home from 12 yards.

And the Dutch were not finished, throwing caution to the wind and pouring forward. Two minutes from time Van Basten was on target yet again to stun the home crowd and avenge the Dutch 'national tragedy' of the 1974 World Cup final.

Van Basten reveals just how much that epic win meant to the Netherlands:

"The good thing for us was that after a lot of years of remembering of the loss from '74 - Holland against Germany - finally we won against Germany in a big moment, the semi-finals. So, I think, a lot of people in Holland were more than just happy."

Gullit was adamant that the win should be marked in style.

"After the game, I arranged also to hire a discotheque, for the entire team," he said.

"And we partied the whole night long... Can you imagine? All the journalists, all the relatives of the players, all the coaches - everybody was partying."

Was there a chance that the Dutch might take their eye off the ball and come unstuck in the final in Munich?

Coach Rinus Michels was adamant that this would not be the case. Perennial purveyors of beautiful but sometimes ineffective football, he focused on turning his charges into winners.

"The Russian team was a little better at playing. Let's say in their build-up play they were smoother, they were better.

"But in the winning qualities, we were better."

Despite the fast, physical, attacking Russian attacks it was Gullit, hangover successfully shaken off, who broke the deadline just after the half hour mark.

It was momentarily the most famous goal in Dutch history, until Van Basten's extraordinary strike on 54 minutes.

Meeting a deep Arnold Mühren cross close to the right by-line, the Milan man struck an unstoppable dipping volley from an impossibly tight angle over the stranded Dassayev, sealing his country's first international honour in incredible style.

Faced with such genius the Soviet number ten could not help but be magnanimous in defeat.

"Holland were extremely strong. They showed all their best qualities and their stars shone with their individual skills," commented Oleg Protassov.

"They won the final, we finished second. But we were happy to runners up as we lost to a team that played brilliantly on the day."


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Euro history: Sweden 1992

Euro '92 provided the biggest shock of this or any other international tournament, as the winners were not even supposed to be there.

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Yugoslavia had qualified ahead of the Danes but UEFA excluded them as the country descended into civil war.

As group runners-up and the second-placed team with the best record, Denmark were an obvious replacement.

The early stages showed little of what shocks were ahead. Having had minimal preparation, Richard Moller-Nielsen's men failed to score in their opening two group one matches - drawing 0-0 with England and going down 1-0 to host nation Sweden.

In the final group games Denmark would have to beat France and pray for an English defeat against Sweden. David Platt's fourth minute goal in Solna appeared to have set England on their way.

But Jan Eriksson levelled the score and Graham Taylor famously withdrew Gary Lineker as his side searched for a winner. It was a sad end to a sparkling international career; even sadder when Thomas Brolin stuck away a fantastic winner eight minutes from time.

Henrik Larsen got Denmark off to a flier in Malmö with an eighth-minute opener, only for the exceptional Jean-Pierre Papin to restore parity on the hour mark. With time running out Lars Elstrup notched the Danish winner, and it was a Scandinavian party as France and England were unceremoniously dumped out.

The Netherlands and Germany were in confident form in group two, but with the former-Soviet CIS also in contention it fell to lowly Scotland to play a deciding role.

Already eliminated, the Scots pulled out a miraculous performance to thrash the CIS 3-0 thanks to goals from McStay, McClair and McAllister.

Meanwhile the Dutch were continuing their red-hot rivalry with Germany. Victors in 1988, Holland got their comeuppance in the 1990 World Cup, This time the men in orange powered to a 3-1 win to seize cross-border bragging rights.

The last four was a bridge too far for the hosts. Against the star-studded Germans, Sweden went behind to a Thomas Hässler free kick that completely wrong-footed the hapless Thomas Ravelli.

"The game before [Hässler] scored against Russia. He had a good shot to the left of the goalkeeper. I thought he would shoot the same shot against me. He put it over the wall - and I didn't see the ball before it was too late," reflected the rueful Swedish custodian.

Karl-Heinz Riedle made it two just before the hour, and despite a late flurry of goals Berti Vogts's men held on for a 3-2 win.

Striker Jürgen Klinsmann came into the side at the injured Rudi Völler's expense, and recounts how both he and the German squad grew in confidence:

"From game to game I had more and more fun. Pass by pass I made progress.

"By the time we got to the semi-final against Sweden I was convinced that we could do it. And before the final we had a lot of self-confidence - maybe too much self-confidence."

The Netherlands, never short of self-confidence themselves, went into their semi-final against Denmark as huge favourites, but got an equally big shock in the opening minutes, when Larsen converted Brian Laudrup's cross.

A young Dennis Bergkamp hit back on 23 minutes, but once again the Danes showed enormous spirit, Larsen once again van Breukelen just after the half hour.

Holland weren't finished. Frank Rijkaard swooping to level as time ran out to take the match into a goalless extra period and penalties.

It came down to Europe's best striker against a man soon to be recognised as the continent's best goalkeeper - Van Basten against Schmeichel. The Dane saved to set up a dream final.

Ruud Gullit was certainly impressed by Schmeichel's presence: "A very powerful guy. Charismatic also. You had a feeling that there was somebody there in the goal that makes you already very strong as a team."

The final was not a classic game, but certainly provided a classic result. After 20 minutes of unbroken German onslaught - with Schmeichel once more saving the Danish bacon - the underdogs broke.

The ball fell to the unlikely figure of John Jensen and the normally goal-shy midfielder struck firmly past the unsighted Illgner.

Again Schmeichel denied Klinsmann before, with 12 minutes remaining, Kim Vilfort sealed a remarkable 2-0 win.

"A lot of people, after we actually won that trophy, said that we were probably not the best team in the tournament," playmaker Laudrup said.

"But I think: Do not underestimate a team like that. Maybe we were not playing the most fantastic football in all the games. But I think if you beat teams like Germany and Holland, obviously you deserve to get the title."


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Euro history: England 1996

Euro '96 was meant to be the tournament when England shook themselves out of the 30-year slump they had endured since the 1966 World Cup and again scooped silverware on home soil. It ended in painfully familiar style: defeat to Germany.

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After opening draws, England and Scotland locked horns in a famous 'derby' at Wembley, in which David Seaman and Paul Gascoigne were England's heroes.

The former saved a Gary McAllister penalty; the latter scored a remarkable solo effort, capped off with a tabloid-mocking celebration (pictured) that aped the infamous 'dentist's chair' incident that took place in a Hong Kong nightclub before the tournament.

Things went from good to better for the host nation when they race into a scarcely believable 4-0 lead over the Netherlands. Patrick Kluivert's late reply was more than a consolation: it sent the Dutch through at Scotland's expense.

Group B saw France and Spain progress at the expense of Romania and Bulgaria's East European flair, while Group C threw up a massive surprise.

After beating Russia, Italy boss Arrigo Sacchi rested several key players against the Czech Republic and paid the price.

Goals from Pavel Kuka and Radek Bejbl, and a remarkable last-gasp miss by Pierluigi Casiraghi, handed the Czechs a shock 2-1 win.

A 90th-minute Vladimir Smicer equaliser helped Dusan Uhrin's unfancied side survive a Russian onslaught to salvage a 3-3 draw, and they joined Germany in the quarter-finals. Italy were out, and Sacchi paid with his job.

It was a fantastic achievement for a Czech Republic team playing its first tournament since splitting from Slovakia.

"We certainly had a magnificent group of players who were proud to wear the colours of our National team," reflects playmaker Pavel Nedved.

"That was the key: pride - in representing our country. It was our performance against Italy that set us on the road towards the final."

Holders Denmark came undone in Nottingham, destroyed by the brilliance of Davor Suker who sealed a 3-0 victory with an extraordinary late chip over the bewildered Peter Schmeichel. Croatia joined Portugal in the latter stages.

Croatia's reward was a quarter-final date with the favourites, in which they gave Germany a real fright. It took a vital header from the majestic Matthias Sammer to seal a narrow 2-1 victory.

"All together, I believe we showed in this game that we had the necessary calmness and that we knew that we were physically strong," said Sammer.

"And in the end... of course we won." Of course they won; they were Germany.

Karel Poborsky scored the goal of the tournament, and earned a move to Manchester United, with an astonishing lob for the Czech Republic against Portugal.

The 100-1 outsiders were in the last four, where they played France, conquerors on penalties of a disappointing Dutch outfit.

A dreary 120 minutes, and more spot kicks. Reynald Pedros saw his kick saved, and Kavalec put the Czech Republic, incredibly, into the final.

Next was the small matter of yet another Anglo-German summit with England spurning classic red for controversial grey shirts. The shirts were the only dull thing about a pulsating game.

Alan Shearer headed the hosts ahead early on, before Stefan Kuntz dashed English hopes of a triumph in ninety minutes.

Then to 30 minutes of golden goal tension, and two fantastic opportunities for England to slay their nemesis; Anderton hit the post, Gascoigne came agonisingly close to touching in a low cross across the face of goal.

Five expertly-taken kicks each, and England were running out of set-piece takers. Gareth Southgate stepped nervously up and scuffed into Andreas Köpke's arms. Andy Möller had no such trouble, and English hearts were broken again.

The suspended Matthias Sammer was happy to admit to the luck of the Germans: "We performed very well by achieving a score of 1-1 in normal time an then a goalless draw in extra time. A penalty shootout is always based on luck."

But was it lucky that David Seaman got nowhere near any of the six German kicks? "I have to hold my hands up that the penalties that the Germans took were really, really good penalties," conceded the England stopper.

An anti-climactic final saw the Czechs unable to pull off one final shock. Five minutes into golden goal extra time, Petr Kouba failed to hold Oliver Bierhoff's tame shot and looked on in horror as the ball spun in off the post.

The Queen gritted her teeth and presented Sammer with the trophy, but her mind was elsewhere. "Why on earth didn't Ince take that sixth penalty?" pondered Her Majesty. Two years later she would find out why.


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Euro history: Belgium / Holland 2000

A fiercely competitive tournament where standards reached an all-time high; Euro 2000 was international football at its best.

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Belgium and the Netherlands played host to a fantastic roller-coaster ride of brilliance, drama and tension that kept fans enraptured right up to the final kick.

In the first phase, Group A heralded a changing of the guard as lumbering and technically-deficient England and Germany sides were eliminated by the nimble, clever Portuguese and Romanians.

Twice England threw away leads to lose 3-2, and their laboured 1-0 win over Germany, the football equivalent of two old drunks brawling in a car park, was the tournament's low point.

Italy started their campaign in fine style, cruising through Group B as Francesco Totti came of age as an international player, while Turkey knocked out the despondent co-hosts Belgium.

Spain did things the hard way, as usual, mounting an astonishing comeback against Yugoslavia. A goal down in the 93rd minute, they needed two to stay in the competition, and got them. Gaizka Mendieta's spot-kick and Alfonso's smartly taken winner sealed a remarkable 4-3 win.

Yugoslavia thought they were out until news of Norway's failure filtered through. The stunned Slavs had earned a reprieve.

Group D was a hard-luck story for the Czech Republic, unluckily beaten by the Netherlands, then by a French side inspired by Zinedine Zidane at the peak of his powers. The two favourites progressed.

Italy continued their impressive progress in the last eight; goals from Filippo Inzaghi and Totti despatched Romania. Dino Zoff's side were looking like potential champions.

They went through to face the Dutch, fresh from a 6-1 demolition of Yugoslavia in an thriling quarter-final in which the rampant Patrick Kluivert bagged a hat-trick.

In an epic tie, ten-man Italy repelled an almost constant barrage of Dutch pressure, but had to ride their luck; twice the men in orange had the chance to score from the spot in normal time. First, Frank De Boer's weak kick was easily saved by the excellent Francesco Toldo.

"I remember that the first major incident in the match was a penalty taken by De Boer. I tried to anticipate the direction and I saved it very well. After that I remember a sequence of shots at my goal and a ball that obviously never wanted to go in," Toldo said.

"I realised it was going to be our lucky day."

Toldo's theory was put to the test when Kluivert stepped up for the second penalty and sent him the wrong way. The ball rebounded back off the post.

The match, inevitably, went to a penalty shootout. Psychologically battered, the Netherlands scored just two out of five and Italy were in the final.

France's path to the final was filled with incident, much of it involving kicks from 12 yards. At 2-1 up against Spain Fabien Barthez needlessly hacked Abelardo for a 90th minute penalty. If Raul had been wearing the white of Real Madrid, the net would surely have bulged. He ballooned the kick over.

In the last four Portugal put up a sterling fight until the 114th minute, when Abel Xavier stopped a David Trezeguet shot with his hand.

Referee Günter Benkö awarded a hotly-dispute penalty and, after three minutes of vigorous Portuguese protests, Zidane nervelessly smashed the ball into the top-left corner of Vitor Baia's net. Unstoppable, and so were France.

To the final in Rotterdam where France, looking to become the first World Champions to then win in Europe, appeared to lose their bottle.

Ten minutes after the break Marco Delvecchio gave Dino Zoff's men the lead, and the French bid for an historic double was petering tamely out. Alex Del Piero squandered two gilt-edged chances, but it seemed as though it would not matter. Then, with the Italian bench poised for a triumphant pitch invasion, Silvain Wiltord's 94th minute shot bobbled through a sea of legs and into the far corner.

Italy were broken, there would be only one winner. Robert Pires turned Fabio Cannavaro and crossed for David Trezeguet to deliver a stunning knockout punch with the decisive golden goal.

"It started with a great move by Robert Pires on the left. Pires dribbled around Cannavaro and got to the byline, then he put in the cross," Trezeguet remembers of his most famous goal.

"It was a fairly difficult cross, but I was on the penalty spot and I hit the ball as it dropped and it went in.

"It all happened so quickly, you don't have much time to think but it was enormously satisfying for all of us."

Trezeguet's thunderbolt of a half-volley elevated that French vintage to another level of greatness. The World Cup win on home soil had been no fluke.

Perhaps more significantly Euro 2000 proved that, in Zidane, France had a successor to Pele, Cruyff and Maradona: the world's finest player.


eurosport.yahoo.com | Football | Euro '08 | Article Here!

Euro history: Portugal 2004

The second European Championship of the 21st century produced one of the biggest shocks in football history, as a completely unheralded Greek side battled their way to Euro glory.

eurosport.yahoo.com wrote:


Under German coach Otto Rehhagel the Greeks proved that discipline and tireless endeavour could overcome even the most talented opposition, but few could have anticipated the drama that was to come when they began the tournament with a surprise 2-1 victory over hosts Portugal in the opening game.

A mistake from Portuguese right-back Paulo Ferreira allowed Georgios Karagounis to put Greece ahead within seven minutes, before Cristiano Ronaldo - making his major tournament debut - conceded a 51st-minute penalty that Angelos Basinas tucked away to seal a 2-1 victory.

It was the first game that Greece, 80-1 outsiders at the beginning of the tournament, had ever won at a major championship.

Portugal responded with a 2-0 victory over Russia in the next game, and a Nuno Gomes goal secured a 1-0 win over Iberian rivals Spain in the final group game that sent them through as group winners, with Greece edging Spain out of the competition on goals scored.

The Spaniards scored just two goals in Portugal, with coach Inaki Saez coming under fire for persistently selecting his clearly out-of-sorts captain Raul.

Spain were not the only big name to go crashing out of the tournament after just three games, with both Italy and Germany forced to catch early flights home after insipid showings at the group stage.

The Germans limped out after drawing against the Netherlands and Latvia and losing to the Czech Republic in Group D, while uninspiring draws against Denmark and Sweden ensured that the Azzurri finished third in Group C, but only after a controversial 2-2 draw between the Scandinavians had ensured the progress of both.

Italy's exit was a particularly low point for Francesco Totti, one of the stars of the tournament during his country's run to the final at Euro 2000, but given a three-game ban for spitting at Denmark's Christian Poulsen in the 0-0 stalemate between the sides.

For England fans Euro 2004 will be remembered as the international breakthrough tournament of 18-year-old striker Wayne Rooney, then an Everton player with just a handful of eye-catching goals to his name.

Having lost their opening game 2-1 against reigning champions France thanks to two injury-time goals from Zinedine Zidane, England responded with a 3-0 win over Switzerland followed by a 4-2 dismantling of Croatia.

Rooney netted a brace in both games and played with a swagger and an insouciance that suggested he was born for the international stage, but an foot injury early in the quarter-final against Portugal robbed his team of their attacking spearhead, and an exit on penalties followed after skipper David Beckham and Darius Vassell missed from 12 yards.

Sweden had grabbed the attention with a 5-0 thumping of Bulgaria at the group stage, but they went out of the competition in the next round after losing a penalty shootout to the Netherlands, with Olof Mellberg missing the first penalty in sudden death after the game had finished goalless after extra time.

The Czechs, with Pavel Nedved supplying the bullets and eventual Golden Boot winner Milan Baros in uncharacteristically prolific form, won all three of their games in Group D, including a thrilling 3-2 comeback victory against the Netherlands.

A comfortable 3-0 victory over Denmark in the quarter-finals had many pundits tipping them to go all the way.

But the shock result of the last-eight stage was Greece's 1-0 victory over France, with Angelos Charisteas's 65th-minute goal and the team's accompanying defensive efforts establishing a smash-and-grab formula that was repeated to stunning effect in the semi-final, when defender Traianos Dellas's extra-time header put paid to the Czechs by the same scoreline.

Portugal ensured the final would be a repeat of the tournament's opening game by beating Holland 2-1 in the other semi-final, thanks to a goal from Ronaldo and a stunning 25-yard effort from the left-hand edge of the penalty area by Maniche that was named Goal of the Tournament.

And so to the final at the famous Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. Portugal, with a home crowd behind them and a squad featuring 'golden generation' stars such as Luis Figo and Manuel Rui Costa alongside new talents like Ronaldo and Deco, were fully expected to claim the first major title in the country's history.

But once again Rehhagel's men were not reading the script, and another header from Charisteas with just over an hour remaining proved enough to secure the trophy and send the people of Greece into raptures.

"The Greeks have made football history," said Rehhagel in the aftermath of the triumph. "It's a sensation.

"We took advantage of our chances. The opponent was technically better than us but we took advantage of our chances.

"The differences between the big teams and the so-called smaller teams have become smaller."

Ronaldo's post-final tears encapsulated a feeling of immense disappointment for the thwarted hosts, but by taking a limited squad to the biggest prize through sheer hard work and organisation, Rehhagel created a blueprint that has gone on to provided inspiration for countless sporting underdogs.


eurosport.yahoo.com | Football | Euro '08 | Article Here!

[RobsonLegend]

We allowed to comment in here, or is this thread only for the tournament profiles? I ask, because maybe it'd be neat to share our memories of any specific editions.

[Mark]

yes mate, discussions are allowed


it would be awesome if you could help/completing me around

[RobsonLegend]

Originally Posted by Mark

yes mate, discussions are allowed


it would be awesome if you could help/completing me around

I'll happily chip in with my recollections of 84, 88, and 92. Looks like you have a template from the eurosport links right now, though?

[Mark]

yes the guys from eurosport will review a tournement per day, so i think all tournaments 'till and inclusive '04 will be up, but if you have something in plus would be nice to share with us

[RobsonLegend]

I'll post thoughts relative to specific editions when they show up.