UEFA EURO 2012

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Some history about the tournaments background.

The 1964 UEFA European Cup of Nations was the first European Football Championship. France were chosen as hosts are qualifying.

Controversies
• Spain refused to travel to the Communist USSR for the second round of qualifying matches under orders from their Fascist dictator General Franco.
• England, Italy, and West Germany declined to enter to tournament.
• The finals were poorly supported with only 78,958 attending the four matches. The 3rd place play-off between France and Czechoslovakia was watched by only 9438 spectators.

Trivia
• More than 100,000 attended the qualifying first-round first-leg match between USSR and Hungary in Moscow in September 1958. The USSR won 3-1.
• So late were countries that did participate in submitting their applications that serious consideration was given to cancelling the tournament. UEFA had set a minimum number of entries at 16.
• The competition, the brainchild of Frenchman Henri Delaunay, was first mooted in 1927. The first qualifying games took place three years after his death and the trophy is named in his honour.

The story
Europe's version of the other continental championships (the Copa America dated as far back as 1910) received a limited response in its first version. Neither West Germany, England nor Italy chose to enter the European Nations Cup, as it was so called, and just 17 countries in all entered.

The tournament began as a knock-out played over two legs meaning that a qualifying round had to be played between Czechoslovakia and the Republic of Ireland. However the first round game between Hungary and the Soviet Union was played before the play-off and Soviet Anatoly Ilyin scored the fledgling competition's first goal as the Hungarians exited. The Irish despite a 2-0 home win, eventually exited 4-2 on aggregate.

France, 3rd-placed at the 1958 World Cup, and including legendary forwards Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine in their ranks were highly fancied. And a 7-1 first round first leg win over Greece marked their card as a team to beat. So too the Spanish, for whom Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano had become a naturalised national team member. Their 7-2 win over Poland came as a result of three goals from Di Stefano and a powerhouse performance from Luis Suarez, then of Barcelona.

France's run continued in the last eight with Fontaine following his record 13 at Sweden '58 with a devastating hat-trick against Poland, who were demolished 9-4 on aggregate. The French lay in wait in the semis for Yugoslavia, for whom goals from Bora Kostic were enough to dismiss a young Portugese side.

The Czechs, set to be World Cup finalists in 1962 and boasting the skills of Josef Masopust, also qualified after a 5-0 aggregate win over Romania. Spain were favourites to be the fourth team making a trip to France, where the semi-finals, final and third-place play-off would be played but politics got in the way when Facist dictator General Franco barred his team from facing the Soviets, who were not allowed to cross Spanish borders.

So matters moved to France, and despite the tournament's trophy being named after Henri Delaunay, the French federation bigwig who had originally mooted the idea of the tournament way back in 1927, the French could not maintain their challenge. Yugoslavia crashed the party despite France leading 4-2 with 15 minutes to go. Three goals in three minutes sank France, for whom both Kopa and Fontaine were missing with injury.

The Soviets were in the groove with Valentin Ivanov scoring twice in a 3-0 win over the Czechs in which goalkeeper Lev 'The Black Panther' Yashin was imperious. The final was set for the Parc des Princes.

There the Yugoslavs dominated the final and led through a Galic goal. While Yashin kept out wave after wave of attacks, his opposite number Blagoje Vidinic dropped a long shot and Slava Metreveli equalised just after half-time. Extra-time came and the Soviets were now the stronger. A single chance fell to striker Viktor Ponedelnik and the USSR had won the maiden tournament through a combination of athleticism, strong defence and the dominance of Yashin.

Info

• Winners - USSR (1st & only title)
• Teams - 4
• Teams in qualifiers - 17
• Notable absentees - England; Italy; Spain and West Germany
• Surprises - None
• Golden Boot - Six players scored two goals
• Stats - The four games produced 17 goals
• Format - Semi-finals and final with third-place play-off after a series of home-and-away qualifiers on a knockout basis
• Number of matches - 4

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYm1u-GgiOg"]euro 1960 - YouTube[/ame]

 

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The 1964 UEFA European Cup of Nations was hosted by Spain after they qualified.

Innovations
• Replays if scores were level after the two legs of the qualifying matches

Controversies
• Greece withdrew from the competition after they were drawn against Albania in the preliminary round
• General Franco, Spain's Fascist dictator, who had banned his country from playing the USSR in the 1960, relented and was rewarded with being in the crowd as Spain beat USSR after extra time in the final

Trivia
• England played their home qualifying match against France at Hillborough. England, who were managed for the last time by Walter Winterbottom, were booed off after a 1-1 draw.
• Denmark qualified for the finals with wins over Malta, Albania and Luxembourg.
• Only 3869 spectators were in the massive Nou Camp for the third-place play-off between Hungary and Denmark.
Franco's refusenik approach to the first championship had seemingly altered four years later. The tournament's crescendo would see his national side host and beat the Soviets in Madrid.

The story
There were more takers this time around too and 29 countries entered the elimination tournament. While the West Germans remained aloof, England took the plunge and in Alf Ramsey's first competitive tie crashed 6-3 on aggregate to France, inspired by Kopa. Politics played a part again as Greece refused to play the Albanians and were promptly banned from the tournament without kicking a ball.

Spain were on a rebuilding operation having lost the use of naturalised players like Di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Ladislav Kubala. Coach Jose Villalong placed his faith in younger stars like Valencia's Vicente Guillot, Barcelona's Pedro Zaballa and Real Madrid's Amancio. He could also call on the huge talent of Luis Suarez, who had led Internazionale to the European Cup.

One of Suarez's club-mates, Sandro Mazzola, was part of the new generation of Italian talent. He formed an admirable inside-forward partnership with AC Milan's Gianni Rivera. The Italians demolished Turks 7-0 on aggregate while their Spanish counterparts destroyed Romania 6-1. The first round's major casualties were the Czechs at the hands of East Germany - just two years after being World Cup finallists.

The second round saw the Spanish new generation stutter to a narrow win over Northern Ireland while Yugoslavia, the previous tournament's losing finallists, exited at the hands of the Swedes. Holland, a few years away from the side that revolutionised football, lost embarassingly to Luxembourg while the efficiency of the Soviet Union ended the young Italians' participation. Yashin's saving of a Mazzola spot-kick was the Italians' last chance.

Spain cruised through the last eight with a 7-1 demolition of the Republic of Ireland but the French folded to the skills of Hungary's Florian Albert, as the Magyars despatched them 5-1. It was to be the last stand of Fontaine and Kopa's legendary Gallic partnership.

The Red Machine continued its progress with a 4-2 win over Sweden while Denmark squeezed past a Luxembourg side at the apex of its footballing achievement after a play-off was required after two legs. Striker Ole Madsen scored all six goals over the three games for the Danes.

So Spain took up its position as hosts and had to welcome two Eastern Bloc-ers in the USSR and Hungary. The Danes and Madsen ran out of gas as the Russians progressed easily in Barcelona's Nou Camp.

The hosts' progress was far less fluid. It took an extra-time strike just five minutes short of the 120 from Amancio to see off the Hungarians, who had to be content with 3rd place after a 3-1 win over the Danes. Madsen left the tournament with 11 goals to his name.

The final - a battle of rival political as well as footballing ideals - took place in the Santiago Bernabeu with Franco looking on from the VIP area. The Generalissimo must have been proud as his Suarez-inspired charges took apart the plodding Russians.

Though an early goal from Jesus Pereda was levelled by Galimzian Khusainov, a wonderful header from Marcelino won it for the hosts. A propaganda victory over the hated Communists had been achieved.

Info

• Winners - Spain (1st title & they would wait 44 years to celebrate the next triumph)
• Teams - 4
• Teams in qualifiers - 29
• Notable absentees - England, defeated 3-6 on aggregate by France in the qualifying; West Germany did not enter
• Surprises - Luxembourg beat Netherlands 3-2 on aggregate in the qualifiers and then drew with Denmark before losing a replay
• Golden Boot - Three players scored two goals each
• Stats - There were 13 goals (3.25 per match) and the four games were watched by 156253 spectators (39063 per match)
• Format - Semi-finals and final with third-place play-off after a series of home-and-away qualifiers on a knockout basis
• Number of matches - 4

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGTp7IqIkek"]euro 1964 - YouTube[/ame]

*video not up to date*

 

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The 1968 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Italy after they qualified.

Innovations
• The two-legged home-and-away knock-out stage was replaced by a group phase

Controversies
• The semi-final between Italy and the USSR was goalless after extra time and so was decided on the toss of a coin. This rule was abandoned for the final
• In the semi-final defeat to Yugoslavia, Alan Mullery became the first England player to be sent off.

Trivia
• The tournament changed its name from European Nations' Cup to the European Championship.
• The hosts were only announced after the completion of the qualifying stage.
• The British Home Championships of 1966 and 1967 were used as the home-and-away qualifying for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
• West Germany, entering for the first time, were knocked out in the group stages following a 1-1 draw with Albania. It remains the last time they failed to qualify for the finals

The story
An expanded tournament with just two members of the UEFA confederation not entering in Iceland and Malta, meaning a new system was required.
Mini-leagues were set up with the four home nations in world champions England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales being placed together as UEFA seeded eight teams, of which one was the West Germans in their first appearance in the competition.

Just like England's debut four years earlier, their campaign didn't last long as Yugoslavia beat the World Cup finalists to the last eight.

England, as expected, qualified from their Home Championship group but not without the ignominy of losing their first game since the World Cup to Scotland in April 1967. Goals from Denis Law, Bobby Lennox and Jim McCalliog saw them beat England 3-2. England's only consolation was that it hadn't been the same line-up as in the 1966 World Cup Final so any claims the Scots had on being the true world champs were dashed by the presence of Jimmy Greaves. Their hopes were also denied by a 1-1 draw with Wales effectively costing them a trip to the quarter-finals.

There, England were joined by holders Spain but not the Portugese, who had been so impressive in reaching the World Cup semis in 1966. Their place went to the Bulgarians along with the USSR and Italy. Hungary, with Florian Albert their continuing inspiration, saw off the burgeoning Dutch, for whom Johan Cruyff was making his early bows. The French, in a rebuilding process, saw off fancied Belgium.

The quarter-finals were again on a two-legged basis and the plum tie was World Cup winners England against holders Spain. A late winner from Bobby Charlton gave England a narrow advantage at Wembley and a comeback was required in Madrid after an Amancio goal. Martin '10 years ahead of his time' Peter and Norman 'Bites yer legs' Hunter were the goalscorers.

The French revival didn't last long as the Yugoslavs hammered them 5-1 in Belgrade. The Soviets continued their great record in the competition and Indian sign over Hungary while Italy, approaching their peak but still bowed by the shame of a World Cup exit to North Korea, came back against Bulgaria to qualify.

The two met in the semi where the pressure of being the home team led to a stolid display ending up 0-0 after extra-time. The archaic practice of tossing a coin to decide progress saw the Italians take their place in Rome's Stadio Olimpico.

There the Yugoslavs were waiting for them in their second final appearance. A 1-0 win over England had been achieved after Alan Mullery had become the first England player to be sent off in an international match. England had to be satisfied with third place. Dragan Dzajic had torn apart Ramsey's England and was pinpointed by the Italians as the danger man.

But still he was able to score for the Slavs and home tension was rife before Angelo Domenghini scored a controversially awarded free-kick. Extra-time yielded no goals and a replay was in order.

There, again in Rome, fatigue showed for Yugoslavia and some more questionable refereeing from a Spanish referee already notorious for his favouring of Italian clubs in European competition allowed a Gigi Riva goal to stand despite it being clearly offside. The Yugoslavs were done and a goal from Pietro Anastasi secured Italy's first major title since 1938.

Info

• Winners - Italy (1st & only title)
• Teams - 4
• Teams in qualifiers - 31
• Notable absentees - Defending champions Spain who were eliminated by world champions England
• Surprises - None
• Golden Boot - Dragan Dzajic (Yugoslavia) (2)
• Stats - Only 7 goals were scored (1.4 per match) and 299233 spectators watched the five games (59847 per match)
• Format - Semi-finals and final with third-place play-off although the final went to a replay
• Number of matches - 5

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXXQVJsZOlg"]euro 1968 - YouTube[/ame]

 

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The 1972 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Belgium after they qualified.

Trivia
• While the official attendance for the semi-final between USSR and Hungary was just over 16,000, contemporary estimates put it at a little more than 2000 • The USSR reached the finals for the fourth time in four editions

The story
This was perhaps the tournament that saw the still-new championship come of age. This was perhaps thanks to the tournament throwing up a truly great side in the early 1970s West Germany vintage in which Gunter Netzer ruled the midfield roost. This was not quite the side that won the World Cup two years later but a side playing a flair-filled brand of football rarely seen from a German side since. By then Netzer's influence had waned but he burned brilliantly in 1972.

And with this new dawn came a new name for the championships - the Nations Cup became the European Championship. And all 32 UEFA member nations save for Iceland entered. The first round was then split into eight groups of four with the two-leg quarter-final eliminator to follow.

The Germans got into their stride quickly in the group stage and finished well clear of Poland, a side who would go on to be one of the premier sides of the next decade. England, the Soviets, Belgium, holders Italy, Belgium, Hungary and the Yugoslavs completed the final eight.

This gave the Germans the chance to exert more revenge on England for 1966 though much of that pain had been soothed by victory at Mexico 70. But it did give them a chance to take their first win away from Wembley. This was secured in some style as Netzer, minded by combative Borussia Monchengladbach colleague Herbert Wimmer, ruled the midfielder while sweeper Franz Beckenbauer was imperious at the back as his Bayern Munich team-mates Uli Hoeness and Paul Breitner also glittered.

The deadly finishing of Gerd Muller was ever a threat and his late goal rounded off a devastating last ten minutes for the Germans in their 3-1 away win. A dull 0-0 draw in Berlin saw England go out of the competition as a decade of international disaster beckoned for the Three Lions.

The Soviet Union continued its fine record in the tournament by continuing their hex over the Yugoslavs. Italy crashed out to Belgium to give up their trophy as Belgian legends Paul van Himst and Wilfred van Moer dominated. Hungary continued their recent good record in beating the Romanians after a play-off.


And so the competition moved to Belgium where an Eastern Bloc final competitor was guaranteed by a semi between Hungary and the Soviets. The poorly attended game was won by a single Antoly Konkov goal after Hungary's Zambo missed a late penalty. The other semi saw the hosts, who had lost Van Moer to a broken leg, mount a late fightback but a late Polleunis goal was not enough after twin Gerd Muller strikes. The Belgians would have to settle for third.

The Soviets were worthy finalists but they could not deal with the flow of attacks that Netzer co-ordinated. The midfielder struck the bar before Muller struck twice and Wimmer was rewarded for a tournament of relentless graft after a mistake from Russian keeper Rudakov.

Muller's goal made him leading scorer with 11 by a country mile, a distance by which his team were better than their rivals. Indeed, no team has perhaps dominated a tournament in the same way as the nationalmannschaft of 1972, and though the Germans would go on to be World champs two years later this team is regarded as their best ever by many, including Der Kaiser himself.

Info

• Winners - West Germany (1st title)
• Teams - 4
• Teams in qualifiers - 32
• Notable absentees - England; Italy
• Surprises - Belgium, who beat Italy in the quarter-finals
• Golden Boot - Gerd Muller (West Germany) 4
• Stats - 10 goals were scored (2.5 per match) and 121880 spectators watched the four games (30470 per match)
• Format - Semi-finals and final with third-place play-off
• Number of matches - 4

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfMiYTSCU-Y"]euro 1972 - YouTube[/ame]

 

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The 1976 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Yugoslavia after they qualified.

Controversies
• Three men were sent off in the semi-final between Netherlands and Czechoslovakia in what the Times said was "not a cruel, unpleasant or cynical match"

Trivia
• It was the first and only time that all four matches in the finals were decided after extra time, either on penalties or by goals scored
• This was the first tournament where the USSR failed to qualify for the finals
• West Germany lost the penalty shoot-out in the final 5-3

The story
While the Germans of 1972 had been completely dominant this was a far more open tournament and would end in a dramatic fashion then a novelty but soon to become perhaps all-too familiar to the footballing world. And whereas in Belgium four years earlier the outcome had seemed foregone, the final four who made their way to the Republic of Yugoslavia all seemed to have significant claims of being eventual champs.

Albania's withdrawal meant that Iceland were easily assimilated into the group stage in which England, absentees from the World Cup, got off to a flier with a 3-0 thumping of the Czechs. But come the return, England needed a point to secure passage to the last eight despite a 5-0 destruction of Cyprus in which Malcolm MacDonald scored all five goals. A false start in Bratislava saw fog delay the game for a day before the Czechs stunned England with a comeback to win 2-1.

The English had thus been outperformed by the Welsh, who made the last eight for the only time in their history, their best international showing except the 1958 World Cup as Hungary and Austria were left in the Red Dragons' wake. Sadly stars like Brian Flynn, John Toshack and Leighton James would go no further as they lost 3-1 over two legs to Yugoslavs in the quarter-finals with the home tie being marred by crowd trouble.

The toughest qualifying group was undoubtedly that which featured Italy with Holland and Poland, second and third at World Cup 1974 respectively. Despite losing 4-1 to the Poles in Warsaw, Holland qualified on goal difference after the Italians held Poland to a 0-0 draw. The 'Brilliant Orange' team of Johan Cruyff, Wim Van Hanegem and Johan Neeskens looked as if it could go all the way. It certainly had the talent.

The Czechs continued their surprising progress with a quarter-final defeat of the Soviet Union, the USSR's worst showing yet in this tournament. Holland, for whom Barcelona pair Cruyff and Neeskens were in their pomp, saw off Belgium in a local derby while Germany, who had lost Gerd Muller to international retirement after a record 16 finals goals, still managed to steamroller Spain.

The irreplaceable Muller was temporarily forgotten as a namesake, Cologne's Dieter, led a fightback from a 2-0 deficit to pull off a 4-2 win over Yugoslavia as the new Muller bagged a hat-trick as the Germans won in extra-time.

The other semi-final has become legendary as Welsh referee Clive Thomas took centre-stage as the Dutch prediliction to self-destruction took hold. Both Neeskens and Van Hanegem were sent off as was Czech Pollak. After Pollak had been dismissed, it looked as though Yugoslavia would struggle to hold the 'Total Football' of the Dutch despite leading through Anton Ondrus.

But then things took a bizarre twist as first Neeskens were sent off for an act of revenge for the foul that had seen Pollak red carded. The next minute Ondrus had put through his own net. Holland were back in it. But their spirit dissipated as Cruyff, making his final bow in a major tournament having already refused to go to Argentina in 1978, was booked for dissent, his second of the tournament meaning he would miss the final.

Then, after Frantisek Vesely had scored a disputed goal, Feyenoord playmaker van Hanegem was sent off for refusing to take the kick off as the Dutch raged around Thomas. The Netherlands nightmare was completed by another Vesely goal. Third place after an extra-time win in the play-off was no consolation for the Dutch.

The Czechs' unexpected progress was expected to be halted by the holders in the final. But they soon launched into an early two-goal lead. But Muller continued his scoring run and Bernd Holzenbein levelled matters a minute from time. The momentum surely lay with the Germans yet they failed to breach the goal of the inspired Ivo Viktor.

Here, the world was introduced to the penalty shoot-out and perhaps the most surprised were the Czechs who headed for the dressing-room to prepare for a replay. Yet it was the Germans who cracked. Beckenbauer had to be rail-roaded into taking the fifth spot-kick while other players refused to take them.

Yet once Marian Masny, the tricky midfielder who had starred all tournament, had scored, all kicks were converted until Uli Hoeness took Germany's fourth. Another player who had not fancied taking a kick, he cleared the bar.

Up stepped Antonin Panenka to take a kick that has often been copied but rarely has been emulated with such aplomb.

As Sepp Maier went to his left, Panenka took up a short run-up and dinked the ball straight ahead into the empty net. The preparations of coach Vaclav Jezek and assistant Jozef Venglos, who knew what Panenka would do and refused to watch him take his kick, had paid off.

The Germans would now take penalty-taking seriously. They are yet to lose a shoot-out since. For Franz Beckenbauer, who never got to take the long walk to the spot, major international tournaments were now a thing of the past.

Info

• Winners - Czechoslovakia (1st & only title)
• Teams - 4
• Teams in qualifiers - 32
• Notable absentees - England; USSR; Italy; France
• Surprises - None
• Golden Boot - Dieter Muller (West Germany) 4
• Stats - There were 19 goals (4.75 per match) and the four games were watched by 106087 spectators (26522 per match)
• Format - Semi-finals and final with third-place play-off
• Number of matches - 4

Those are the Czechoslovakians wearing the traded West Germany jerseys after the match.

Czechoslovakia - Netherlands (semi-final)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxOffrKveAU"]Czechos?owacja - Holandia pd. 3-1 1976 Euro Pó?final (World-Soccer.pl) - YouTube[/ame]

Yugoslavia - West Germany (semi-final)

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3B97FMrjmg&feature=related"]JUGOSLAVIJA-SR NJEMACKA 2-4 1976 - YouTube[/ame]

Czechoslovakia - West Germany (Final) *penalties* *Fast forward to 8:50 for the 'Panenka Penalty'*

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekc7GXBpxFA"]EURO v B?lehrad? 1976: ?SSR-NSR (penalty) - YouTube[/ame]

 

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The 1980 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Italy & it was the first tournament in which the host nation automatically qualified.

Innovations
• The finals were expanded from four to eight teams

Controversies
• Riot police had to use tear gas to disperse fighting fans during the match between England and Belgium, causing the match to be held up for five minutes in the first half
• Italy fielded players embroiled in a bribery scandal, although Paulo Rossi, the hero of the 1982 World Cup finals, was banned

Trivia
• Czechoslovakia beat Italy 9-8 in a penalty shoot-out in the 3rd place play-off
• The nadir of a poorly attended event came when only 4726 watched the match between Greece and Czechoslovakia
• Hosts Italy managed only two goals in their four matches

The story
Such had been the success of the previous tournament with its twists and turns that the finals tournament was expanded to be a two groups of four from which the two finallists would be decided. With Italy given automatic qualification as host nation, the 32-team qualifiers had to be rejigged into three groups of five countries and four of four.
It was to be a happy group of qualifiers for the English as they ran away with their qualifiers with Kevin Keegan and Trevor Brooking outstanding under the management of Ron Greenwood. The Germans, still smarting from events in Belgrade, made short work of their group too.

The rest were closer with Belgium, who were feeling the benefits of a new generation of players like Jean Marie Pfaff, Eric Gerets and Jan Ceulemans to complement the playmaking skills of Van Moer, pipping the Austria of Hans Krankl. Holland once again got the better of the Poles, while France's new generation lost out to the Czech holders. The Greeks were the wild card and would be predictable whipping boys in a group featuring the Germans, Dutch and Czechs.

Sadly the new tournament structure and points system of two for a win and one for a draw brought yielded a defensive approach. England's promise faded amidst disturbing terrace scenes. In Turin, police fired tear gas into England fans as their team drew with Belgium. And then a goal from Marco Tardelli after a Phil Neal error saw the Italians all but end their chances. A win over Spain was not enough as Belgium held the hosts to go through.

West Germany, in the absence of retired stars like Beckenbauer, Maier and the Mullers now had Bernd Schuster, a playmaker of rare grace, Harald Schumacher, a keeper of class and notoriety and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, a deadly striker and new Bayern hero to replace Gerd Muller. The Dutch were on the slide with most of their 1970s heroes now retired, in exile or unable to play. Only Johnny Rep and Ruud Krol of the legends remained.

German revenge was gained quickly for 1976 as a Rummenigge goal was enough to beat the Czechs. The grudge match with the Dutch was won largely as a result of the skills of Schuster as he laid on a hat-trick for Klaus Allofs. Though the Dutch came back with a penalty from Johnny Rep and a Rene van der Kerkhof thunderbolt, the Germans had proved their mettle and were worthy finallists.

The Dutch entered a painful eight-year international exile and the Czechs received partial consolation for losing their throne with another spot-kick win in beating Italy to third place. The hosts, on their way back after a disappointing 1970s, would be world champs within two years.

The cutting edge that the Germans had in the skills of Schuster and Rummenigge told in the final in Roma's Stadio Olimpico though it would be Horst Hrubesch, a battering ram of a striker, who would be the hero.

Schuster set up the Hamburg giant known as 'The Monster' for a 10th minute first and the Germans laid siege to Pfaff's goal until the break. But in the second half, the Belgians, with van Moer, at 35, prompting his younger counterparts, played the better football and though a Rene Vandereycken penalty was harshly awarded for an Uli Stielke foul on Francois van der Elst that was outside the box, justice of a sort was done when the Belgiums equalised.

But the Germans achieved what they felt was their own just desserts two minutes from time when Rummenigge's corner evaded Pfaff's foolish flap and Hrubesch was only too happy to nod in at the far post. Pfaff, who prided himself on being the best keeper in the world, cried tears of pain.

Hrubesch, much criticised at home, lapped up the plaudits his debut international goals brought. Rummenigge would soon be crowned European Player of the Year as the Germans celebrated getting back what was rapidly becoming 'their' trophy.


Info

• Winners - West Germany (2nd title in eight years)
• Teams - 8
• Teams in qualifiers - 32
• Notable absentees - France
• Surprises - Greece
• Golden Boot - Klaus Allofs (West Germany) 3
• Stats - 27 goals were scored (1.93 per match) and 345463 spectators watched the 14 games (24676 per match)
• Format - Two groups of four with the winners of each group progressing to the final
• Number of matches - 14

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZDsz6W23rg"]euro cup 1980 - YouTube[/ame]

 

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The 1984 UEFA European Championship was hosted by France.

Innovations
• Semi-finals reintroduced after being dropped in 1980
• The 3rd place play-off, never remotely popular with fans, was axed

Trivia
• West Germany also bid to host the tournament
• Newly introduced legislation allowed a group of German hooligans to be deported on the same day they were arrested after incidents around the West Germany v Portugal match
• Michel Platini scored in all France's five matches and his tally of nine goals was three times the next highest scorer
• France are, to date, the last of three countries to win on home soil.
• Enzo Scifo (Belgium) is the youngest player to appear in the finals. He was 18 years and 115 days when he turned out against Yugoslavia.

The story
Rarely has a team dominated a tournament in the fashion in the manner that the French vintage of Platini, Giresse and Tigana did with this tournament. They had gone close in the last World Cup, and with the additional advantage of being hosts were to sweep all before them. It was the first tournament to feature the entire 33 UEFA members and the groups commenced as four groups of five and three groups of four.

Bobby Robson's England were to suffer a disastrous campaign as the Danes beat them at Wembley and nudged them out by one point.

At the time this seemed like an English disaster but a consideration that this was the golden Denmark generation of Michael Laudrup, Allan Simonsen and Preben Elkjaer Larsen, hindsight would paint it in a different light. And the Danes would light up the finals.

Portugal edged out the Soviet Union, the Welsh fell just short of Yugoslavia while Romania saw off the Swedes. All these groups were settled by one point while Northern Ireland lost out to West Germany on goal difference.

The final qualifier was decided by the same means but in highly controversial circumstances as Spain needed to win by 11 clear goals to edge out the Dutch. Amazingly, a 12-1 win saw the Spanish home and the Dutch would remain suspicious for all time.

Once the finals tournament got underway, the French were into their stride with a 1-0 win over the Danes, who were hampered by Simonsen breaking his leg. Michel Platini, part of a fabled midfield quartet with Jean Tigana, Alain Giresse and Luiz Fernandez scored the goal. It wasn't to be his last.

The Belgians, one of Europe's best sides, were swept aside 5-0 with Platini, grabbing a hat-trick and Giresse and Fernandez both getting on the scoresheet.

Next were the Yugoslavs, already eliminated, but full of fight. They were seen off by yet another Platini treble. The Danes had beaten the Yugoslavs with a 5-0 win which belied the effort of the losing team and required a late goal from Elkjaer against Belgium to gain second place in the group.

West Germany's love affair with the championships turned sour in France. A dull opening draw with Portugal, a luckyish win over Romania with two goals from Rudi Voeller and a last-minute loss to the Spanish saw them finish behind the Portugese and Spanish.

After a dull Spanish draw with the Romanians and a draw with the Portugese, both Iberians qualified after when a Nene goal was enough for Portugal to beat the Romanians too.

Spain's uneasy progress continued in the semi-final with Denmark. An early goal from Soren Lerby was cancelled out by a 67th minute Maceda shot. Extra-time was a damp squib and penalties went to the wire. Elkjaer, one of the stars of the tournament, was forced to suffer the poisoned chalice of missing the fatal penalty.

The other semi-final would go down as a stone classic. France took an early lead with a Jean-Francois Domergue free-kick and dominated proceedings right up until Fernando Chalana chipped in a cross for Jordao to head home.

The French pushed for a winner but time and the heroics of Manuel Bento took the game into extra-time. There the Portugese stole into the lead when Chalana and Jordao again combined.

But France weren't done. Platini's quick-thinking won time for Domergue to score his second. Now Portugal were on the rack and it looked as if penalties would be their salvation.

But Tigana's engine kept ticking as he won a tackle and crossed into the Portuguese box. Bento's luck ran out as he palmed the ball to Platini. The Frenchman wasn't going to miss from there. A nation rejoiced as Platini peeled away.

All that joy would have been tempered had the home nation lost in the final. But they were fortunate in that the Spanish team was riddled with injury and suspension. They were doubly fortunate when Spain's goalkeeper and captain Luis Arconada fumbled a 57th minute Platini free-kick and was unable to stop it dribbling over the goal-line.

It was Platini's ninth goal in a tournament he had regally dominated. But Tigana had perhaps equalled his playing prowess and his redoubtable energies saw him engineer a golden opportunity for Bruno Bellone to score a last minute settler of a game that had never been in doubt despite the sending off of Yvon Le Roux.

France, the country that had brought the tournament into fruition, could at last celebrate a major championship. And they had won in glittering Gallic style.

Info

• Winners - France (1st title)
• Teams - 8
• Teams in qualifiers - 32
• Notable absentees - England; Italy
• Surprises - Romania
• Golden Boot - Michel Platini (France) 9
• Stats - 41 goals scored (2.73 per match) and 597639 spectators (39 843 per match)
• Format - Two groups of four with the winners and runners-up of each group progressing to the semi-finals
• Number of matches - 15

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdS-tzK24_8&list=UUo410_YHxyMi-dbsES-GuFQ&index=3&feature=plcp"]euro cup 1984 - YouTube[/ame]

 

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The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by West Germany.

Controversies
• Fans, mainly from Germany and the UK, repeatedly attracted headlines for the wrong reasons despite heavy policing. After the Republic of Ireland had beaten England in Stuttgart 107 arrests were made, 89 of them of England supporters. A few days later almost a million pounds of damage was caused during riots before the England-Netherlands game and 500 arrests made. In London, the government called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the situation.

Trivia
• There were no sendings-off throughout the tournament and no match ended scoreless.
• West Germany won the hosting rights ahead of a joint bid from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, as well as one from England.
• England scored 19 goals and conceded only one in qualifying; at the event they lost all three games, shipping seven goals.

The story
Here was a tournament in which another team ended its long exile in the trophy-winning wilderness. The Dutch had lit up the 1970s with their 'Total Football' but finished potless. Much of the 1980s had been spent in turmoil after successive failures to qualify for major tournaments. A rebuilding period had begun during that time and Holland had found a new generation which was to dominate European club football for some years to come.
This would perhaps be the sole time the Dutch pulled together as a unit, for their age-old problem of in-fighting would stop this great team dominating the international scene. But they would burn brightly in Germany, where they were to gain revenge for their defeat in the 1974 World Cup Final.

They had waltzed through the qualifying rounds, even surviving having to replay a home game with Cyprus because of crowd trouble. They won the initial game 8-0 but the replay a mere 4-0. In their finals group they faced England, again under Bobby Robson, who had stormed their qualifiers with stars like Lineker, Hoddle and Robson in full flow. Sadly for England, only Robson of the three would perform at any level at all in the finals.

Italy had a burgeoning side with young stars like Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini while the Russians were strong, featuring the 1986 European Player of the Year Igor Belanov alongside Alexander Zavarov and striker Igor Protasov. Both had qualified with ease. Spain, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland, in their first major championship under the management of Englishman Jack Charlton, had made harder progress.

France, whose ageing team had largely retired after the Mexico World Cup, could only finish third in their group behind the Russians and East Germany. They were to enter their own wilderness period.

The tournament began with the hosts playing Italy and an Andreas Brehme strike was needed to cancel out a Mancini goal. The Dutch began in poor fashion and were beaten by the Soviet Union and a great strike from Vasili Rats. Their next game was with England, themselves nursing the embarassment of losing to Ireland, a team featuring a number of players born across the Irish Sea. A Ray Houghton header was never answered by England, for whom Gary Lineker - later diagnosed with hepatitis - was noticeably off form.

The Dutch simply blew away England. The Milan trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard were at their very best. Van Basten, before that game never really sure of his place in Rinus Michel's starting eleven, scored one of the best hat-tricks in living memory while Bryan Robson's brave goal was all England had to celebrate. Russia, in Frankfurt, completed the misery as England were again beaten 3-1.

Ireland's draw with the Soviets came after a great volley from Ronnie Whelan was cancelled out by a Protasov strike. Qualification behind the Soviets was left between the Irish and the Dutch, the latter of whom needed a win. Ireland looked to have their draw until a fluke stepped in their way. Koeman's volley looped off substitute Wim Kieft and keeper Packie Bonner was powerless to stop it.

The Italians and Germans had qualified on equal points from the other group. The Danes were a shadow of the 1984 vintage and Spain could only beat the Scandinavians as players like Butragueno and Michel failed to find form.

Italy's youth counted against them in the semi with the USSR. Mancini and Vialli flopped badly and even old stager Alessandro Altobelli couldn't find the net. Two ruthless finishes in three minutes from both Sergiy Litovchenko and Protasov finished off the Azzurri, whose sights were perhaps more firmly set on success in the World Cup they would host in two years.

For the Dutch, the other semi was a mission of vengeance in both historical and footballing terms as goalkeeper Hans Van Breukelen would later admit. It was a bitty first half, littered with niggling fouls and attempts to dupe the Romanian referee. But the second period was lit up by two penalties, one for Lothar Matthaeus and an equaliser one for Ronald Koeman.

Then, with extra time lurking, Van Basten wrapped his leg around a Jan Wouters through-ball to direct the ball past Eike Immel. In the stadium, and at home in Holland, there was an amazing outpouring of emotion. It was felt that wrongs, both in football and in other, more political affairs, had been righted for the moment.

It was a final between clearly the best two teams in the tournament. And the Soviets looked the stronger side in the opening salvos. But a well-worked corner saw Van Basten nod across to Gullit whose header powered past Rinat Dassaev.

Next came the image the championships will be forever remembered for. Arnold Muhren's looping ball from the left bypassed everyone, save for Van Basten, caught in what seemed too tight an angle to score from.

But the Milan man's eye was in and he looped a volley of pace, direction and power over Dassaev. It remains one of the best goals in any game of football. Van Basten's fire may have burned for not too long but he will be forever associated with one of the best instances of the striker's art.

The Soviets were not done yet and Dutch keeper Van Breukelen conceded a penalty for fouling Serguei Gotsmanov. But it was to be Holland's day as he saved Belanov's resulting spot-kick. The rest was plainsailing and a celebration as Holland's beautiful game finally succeeded at the highest level.

Info

• Winners: Netherlands (1st title & only title)
• Teams: 8
• Teams in qualifiers: 32
• Notable absentees: France (the holders)
• Surprises: Republic of Ireland
• Golden Boot: Marco van Basten (Netherlands) 5
• Stats: 34 goals were scored (2.27 per match) and 888645 spectators watched the games (59243 per match)
• Format: Two groups of four with the winners and runners-up of each group progressing to the semi-finals
• Number of matches: 15

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4_plOgBqQg&feature=BFa&list=UUo410_YHxyMi-dbsES-GuFQ"]euro cup 1988 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Smudger]

The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden.

Innovations
• It was the first major football competition where players had their names printed on their backs...

Controversies
• Yugoslavia qualified but their invitation was withdrawn because of a United Nations Resolution following civil war inside the country. They were replaced by Denmark

Trivia
• Between the USSR qualifying and the start of the tournament the Soviet Union broke up. As a result, a team under the label the Confederation of Independent States, which included a number of former Soviet republics
• East Germany entered but withdrew from qualifying after German reunification in October 1990

The story
A tournament won by a team that didn't even qualify and had spent much of pre-tournament sunning itself on the beaches of southern Europe, this was to be the last of the eight-team finals tournaments. It took place in Sweden's somewhat small stadia and almost seemed low key yet its eventual conclusion was perhaps the greatest fable in tournament history.

Italy, yet to recover from the pain of losing their home World Cup tournament in 1990, had crashed out of the qualifiers to the Soviet Union who by the time the tournament happened, had become the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) after the Soviet Bloc collapsed. Germany had reunified after the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the world champions West Germany were now able to call on East Germany internationals like Thomas Doll and Mattias Sammer.

Yugoslavia had a golden generation of players. The likes of Dejan Savicevic, Dragan Stojkovic, Darko Pancev and Robert Prosinecki had graced the last World Cup and Red Star Belgrade had lifted the European Cup in 1991. They were heavily fancied to go far in this tournament, but the collapse into civil war of post-Tito Yugoslavia saw UEFA ban them on security grounds.

Denmark, who had been edged out in qualification, were installed in their stead. Their players had been settled down for a summer of relaxation, and coach Richard Moller Nielsen had been putting in a new kitchen. Star man Michael Laudrup refused to interrupt his vacation and did not play - his brother Brian was to be his replacement as star player in a team largely without stars.

When the underprepared Danes eventually arrived in their fellow Scandinavian country, they opened their account against England. Graham Taylor was England's coach and he had successfully negotiated a qualifying group including Jack Charlton's Ireland. Injury and retirements had denied Taylor the services of Peter Shilton, Terry Butcher, Bryan Robson, John Barnes and Paul Gascoigne. There was no place either for Chris Waddle - then one of Europe's most feared performers at Olympique Marseille.

An England side with Keith Curle making a disastrous appearance at full-back were given a rough ride by a Danish team they had underestimated. And nerves were jangling when John Jensen crashed a shot against a post.

England's next game was against France, under the tutelage of Michel Platini, a rookie coach who had had a galvanising effect on the qualifying tournament, and who it was hoped could achieve the same as he had as a player. With players like Jean-Pierre Papin, Laurent Blanc and Eric Cantona in his team, he seemed to have the talent yet this was to be a poor showing from the new generation of Bleus. Their first game had been a fortunate draw with hosts Sweden where Papin's finishing had secured a point.

England and France's meeting was a poor affair, only lit up by a clash of hardmen in Basile Boli and Stuart Pearce which the Englishman followed by crashing a free-kick against the bar after wiping away the blood from a Boli headbutt. With Sweden beating Denmark with a Tomas Brolin goal, Group 1 would go to the last game.

There, England gave an x-rated second half showing as Sweden swept them aside. An early goal from David Platt had put England in the driving seat and hard work had held off the talents of Brolin and fellow forward Martin Dahlin. But after half-time, Sweden played them off the park, and deserved their equalier from a Jan Eriksson header. Then Brolin, in his Parma prime before becoming the porker that played for Palace, played a neat one-two with Dahlin to crash past Chris Woods.

England had needed a draw but their hunt for it expired when Taylor made the inexplicable decision to replace Gary Lineker, admittedly off-colour all tournament, with Arsenal tower Alan Smith. England never looked like scoring, Lineker's career was over and Taylor had created a rod for his own back. He was soon to become the 'Turnip' of tabloid legend.

So the semis had a distinctly Scandinavian feel. From the other group, the expected finallists arrived in the last four. Holland still had their holy trinity of Gullit, Rijkaard and Van Basten and could now call on the fleet-footed guile of Dennis Bergkamp. Yet they looked off-form as they sneaked past Scotland and could only draw 0-0 with the CIS.

Germany had not looked convincing either. Their own draw with the CIS came only after a last-minute Thomas Hassler goal. They had finished Scottish hopes with a clinical enough 2-0 win but when they came to face the Dutch in what was a restaging of the semi-final four years they were destroyed by the thrilling attacking of Van Basten and Bergkamp.

A header from Rijkaard, a superb daisy-cutter free-kick from midfielder Rob Witschge and a header from Bergkamp were the least the men in orange deserved. A lone Klinsmann strike was all Germany could provide to a game seen as a dress rehearsal for the final.

At least the Germans were to keep their half of the bargain in the last four. They held off a brave effort from the injury-hit Swedes 3-2 through goals from H?ssler and a brace from Karl-Heinz Riedle, with Brolin and Kennet Andersson scoring for the hosts.

Holland's notorious ability to self-destruct came into being in the other semi. They were up against the Danes, there by default and infinitely inferior to them in terms of achievement and ability. The Dutch were overconfident, even refusing to step up play when Henrik Larsen headed in a Brian Laudrup cross.

Bergkamp's equaliser was expected. And beautifully created by he and Rijkaard. But on 33 minutes Larsen again struck. And the Danes took hold with Laudrup and Henrik Andersen shone before both succumbed to injury - Andersen with a sickening knee injury. Rijkaard's late header brought extra-time and it seemed the Dutch would benefit undeservedly. But Denmark held on for penalties with keeper Peter Schmeichel, having just completed his first season at Manchester United, making a series of saves.

The shoot-out made even more of a hero of the blond giant as he saved a penalty from Van Basten to put the erstwhile beach bums in the final. Van Basten would all but wave goodbye to international football and it was a sad way to go out for him.

But for the Danes, who now had the whole of Europe and most definitely the home Swedish support on their side, had the Germans to face in a final in which the world champions were expected to stroll.

And stroll they did for the opening salvos as Schmeichel made several saves in the first 15 minutes.

But then came a defining moment as Jensen, who had happily and effectively trotted around the midfield engine-room all tournament, received a Poulsen pass and thumped it past Bodo Ilgner. As Arsenal were soon to find out, the goal was to be a true rarity.

Germany, like everybody else, seemed to fold to destiny being with the Danes and failed to really trouble Schmeichel.

And when Kim Vilfort, riding on a crest of emotion in the wake of his daughter having leukemia, controlled the ball and swept it past Ilgner again. It was dazzling, it was devastating, it was Denmark, to paraphrase BBC doyen John Motson's commentary pay-off.

A lack of preparation had seemingly been the best preparation.

Info

• Winners - Denmark (1st & only title)
• Teams - 8
• Golden Boot - Four-way tie 3 goals
• Format - Two groups of four with two per group into semi-finals

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_foryfWWWxo&feature=related"]EURO Champions 1992 - YouTube[/ame]

 

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The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by England.

Innovations
• Sixteen teams in the finals for the first time
• A golden goal was introduced so the first team to score in extra time would win a match. Germany beat the Czech Republic in the final thanks to Oliver Bierhoff's 95th minute Golden Goal
• A play-off between the two qualifying group runners-up with the worst record. Netherlands beat Republic of Ireland 2-0 at Anfield

Controversies
• The Dutch squad made headlines with reports of it suffering deep racial divides. An informal photo of the team having a meal with all the black player on a separate table only fuelled the media storm
• A very peaceful tournament was marred by disturbances in London following England's semi-final exit

Trivia
• A record 47 countries entered the tournament, the number swelled by the break-up of the Soviet block
• The seven matches in the knockout stages only produced nine goals with four of them going to penalties (despite the Golden Goal)
• This was the first tournament know as "Euro"
• England's home campaign was backed by the release of the Three Lions single by Baddiel & Skinner & The Lightning Seeds

The story
It was given a trite catchphrase - 'It's coming home'. And the trophy did - in the sense that it returned to Germany, the nation that had largely dominated the tournament since 1972. Though that said it was to be England's best performance at the championships and they played a quality of football rarely expected of them.

This was an expanded finals tournament, with 16 teams now taking part. While often remembered on British shores as an epochal moment of the nation coming together in a festival of football, many of the games saw aching gaps of empty seats and only the English and Scottish games saw full capacities.

The hosts got underway with a Wembley fixture against the Swiss, and Alan Shearer, much criticised before the tournament for a 12 game England goal drought, gave England the lead by crashing home in typical style. But a nation's hope of happy beginnings were dashed by Switzerland's enterprising play. Grassi missed an open net before veteran Stuart Pearce handled in the box. Up stepped Kubilay T?rkyilmaz to equalise with just seven minutes to go.

Holland, England's expected rivals for top place, were held 0-0 by the Scots and the stage was set for a meeting between the Auld enemies. And England were given a run for their money by the Scots.

Shearer's goal from a Gary Neville cross seemed likely to be cancelled out by a penalty awarded for a foul on Gordon Durie. But Gary McAllister's kick, not helped by the ball moving just before he kicked it, was saved by David Seaman. And once Jamie Redknapp came on for a brief but effective cameo, England started to dominate. Paul Gascoigne delivered the killer blow with a flick over Colin Hendry, sweetly-struck volley past Andy Goram and famous 'dentist's chair' celebration.

Holland, who in typical style, had sent home Edgar Davids after an internal dispute, beat the Swiss 2-0 with goals from Jordi Cruyff and Dennis Bergkmap. Cruyff Jnr was no substitute for his dad but made an impression which he would henceforth fail to live up to.

So England and Holland were to fight it out for Group 1. And, in truth, it was to be no contest as England's best showing in a major tournament in memoriam saw them destroy the Dutch. Shearer and strike partner Teddy Sheringham grabbed two each as wingers Darren Anderton and Steve McManaman made hay.

The Dutch were demoralised yet a late goal from Patrick Kluivert was enough to see them through to the last eight. Even better for England, it denied the Scots, despite their win over the Swiss.

Germany, as expected, made the quarters with some ease, after beating the Czech Republic and Russia at a canter. Italy, the other expected qualifiers, had started well with a win over Russia but had lost to the Czechs after Luigi Apolloni was sent off and Gianfranco Zola had missed a last minute chance to equalise.

When they could only draw with Germany and the Czechs got a 3-3 draw with the Russians, Italy continued their poor record in the finals since that victory in 1968.

France, starring the rising talent of Zinedine Zidane and Youri Djorkaeff, made it through too, at the expense of Romania and Bulgaria, both of whom failed to capitalise on great World Cup 94 performances. Spain, solid rather than spectacular, joined the French.

Holders Denmark perished in the first round despite drawing with Portugal and beating Turkey, who were the tournament's whipping boy in their first finals appearance.

Portugal, its own 'Golden Generation' of Luis Figo, Joao Pinto and Sa Pinto playing flowing football, finished top of the group after beating Croatia, a new nation making its own tournament debut. The Croats were inspired by Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban and Robert Prosinecki and Suker's amazing chip over Schmeichel in the Danish goal signalled his true striking talent.

But in the last eight, both Portugal and Croatia were to exit. Portugal could not find the net against the Czechs and were beaten by a lob from Karel Poborsky that was either fluke or pure skill. It was his only goal for the Czechs and would remain so for years. Someone should have told Alex Ferguson.

Croatia matched the Germans until they lost Igor Stimac for a foul on Mattias Sammer, the man rapidly becoming man of the tournament for his Beckenbauer-esque sweeper play. Suker's consumate skill in dribbling round Andreas K?pke cancelled out a Klinsmann penalty but Sammer won it in dubious fashion when a push in the box gave him two chances to head in the winner. Croatia began to lash out but they failed to equalise and were, somewhat unluckily, out.

The other two quarters were matches won on spot-kicks. England rode their luck against Spain. The Spaniards had goals from Kiko and Salinas chalked off and two clear penalty claims turned down.

England had been outplayed for much of the game but won the shoot-out with outstanding contributions from goalkeeper David Seaman and Stuart Pearce, who buried the ghosts of Turin 1990 with a thumped kick past Zubizarreta and followed it with a maniacal celebration that will forever warm the hearts of beer-bellied, skin-headed England shirt wearers everywhere.

Seaman saved Miguel Angel Nadal's kick and England had their first ever penalty shoot-out win. Holland shared Spain's pain as a terrible match ended in spot-kick notoriety for Clarence Seedorf as France went into the semis.

There, they would suffer that same bitter medicine as the Czechs continued their unheralded progress. Zidane, dog-tired after a season in which he had inspired Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup Final all the way from the Intertoto, flopped as the Czechs stayed resolute. Reynald Pedros was this game's fall guy as Petr Kouba saved his kick. Miroslav Kadlec, the sixth Czech to take a kick though Kubik had wanted another go after scoring the first, beat Bernard Lama and the Euros had another surprise finallist.

Who can forget the other semi? Probably not Gareth Southgate. England matched the Germans punch for punch, even taking the lead through an Alan Shearer header in the third minute. The name Stefan Kuntz would stand out for England fans, not least because he scored the equaliser just 13 minutes later. A game of effort and commitment followed as all of England chewed its nails.

Like that semi in 1990, extra-time was full of chances. Anderton, playing the game of his life, struck a post. Gascoigne, playing perhaps the last meaningful football of his career, failed to reach a cross by the narrowest of margins. Kuntz had a goal disallowed for a push too. Then came the dreaded shoot-out. England went first and were successful with all their first five. But so too were the Germans.

Then came the bit no-one wanted. The men who didn't want to take a kick were next. Paul Ince, a man of experience, turned down the chance to take one. Up stepped Gareth Southgate, a quiet success all competition as a sweeper alongside the stopping mastery of Tony Adams. His mother knew he'd miss it. So did most of England. And judging by his kick so did he. K?pke had no trouble saving.

Andy M?ller wasn't going to miss. His bizarre goose-step celebration was laughable. England's latest heartbreak wasn't - that song about '30 years of hurt' would have to be updated.

And so all England became Czechs fans. Could the Czechs repeat 1976?

Klinsmann, who had missed the semis with an injury sustained against the Croats, was forced to play while still injured and Germany were seriously under strength. And when Patrik Berger stroked in a penalty awarded for a foul by Sammer on Poborsky, it seemed the Germans had run out of the luck many accused them of having.

But German coach Berti Vogts threw on Oliver Bierhoff, who had been pulling up trees in Serie A for Udinese all season but was rarely used by his national team. According to legend, he had been picked by Vogts on Mrs Vogts' advice. Four minutes after coming on, Bierhoff powered a header past Kouba to take the final into its first 'Golden Goal' period.

There Bierhoff would become the golden boy. After just five minutes, he turned to hit a low shot that Kouba allowed to dribble past him and in off a post. Germany had won the tournament for a third time. Not the most popular victory but one well-deserved by a German side for whom Sammer in particular was a cut above the rest.

Info

• Winners - Germany (3rd title)
• Teams - 16
• Teams in qualifiers - 47
• Notable absentees - Belgium; Republic of Ireland
• Surprises - Scotland; Bulgaria
• Golden Boot - Alan Shearer (England) 5
• Stats - 64 goals were scored (2.06 per match) and 1276137 spectators attended (41166 per match)
• Format - Four groups of four with two per group into quarter-finals
• Number of matches - 31

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtnDHFH-36Q&list=UUo410_YHxyMi-dbsES-GuFQ&index=6&feature=plcp"]euro cup 1996 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Smudger]

The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship was co-hosted for the first time ever by Belgium & the Netherlands.

Controversies
• Several outbreaks of fighting away from grounds - with England and Turkey fans to the fore - marred the group stages

Trivia
• This was the first time a major international tournament had been co-hosted
• France became the first team to win while reigning world champions. West Germany won in 1972 before going on to win the World Cup in 1974
• The final was decided by a Golden Goal for the second successive tournament
• This was the tenth time in 11 finals the winning side had scored two goals. The odd one out were Germany who scored three in 1972.

The story
An experiment in sharing a tournament which was a success both on and off the field, its conclusion was as thrilling as almost any final could wish to be. And in France, it found a side that were as worthy winners as the West Germans of 1972 and their Les Bleus predecessors in 1984.

A highlight of the qualifiers would be England's play-off with Scotland after both had stuttered through their groups. Two Paul Scholes goals put England in the driving seat in Glasgow before the return at Wembley saw England, coached by Kevin Keegan, give a horror show and come within a whisker of exit after Don Hutchison's goal and a sterling Scottish effort.

England, heavily fancied by Keegan at least, were joined by the French, then world champs, the Czechs, who had won all their qualifiers as had the Danes. It was to be Slovenia's chance to be at the championships for the first time at the expense of the highly-rated Ukraine.

Keegan's team got off to a flier against the Portugese, then approaching their peak. Early goals from Scholes and McManaman had England two goals up. But the attacking nature of Keegan's approach backfired as the defence was swamped. Luis Figo beat two players and smashed a shot at goal. It came off Tony Adams and Seaman was unable to reach it. With 68 minutes to play, the pressure now lay on England. Joao Pinto's equaliser and Nuno Gomes' winner were just rewards for Portugal who picked England apart with their passing game.

The Germans, so poor at France '98, had much to prove but could only get a point from Romania. So England and Germany were rejoined in battle, the game attritional at best, turgid at worse. It was a match almost without merit save for David Beckham's drifted cross and Alan Shearer's header. Some poor German finishing saw England home in a game to forget for all save its result.

Few except their supporters would be unhappy to see the exits of both sides when they came. Germany were crushed by a Portugal's second XI fielded because they had already qualified. Sergo Conceicao grabbed a hat-trick as the Germans went home under a storm of ridicule.

So too England, who led Romania and were hanging on for dear life after Dorinel Munteanu had scored an equaliser. Wave on wave of Romanian attack came before the inevitable happened and Phil Neville became the latest fall-guy as his clumsy trip on Moldovan handed the Romanians the chance to go through. Ganea stroked home the penalty and England were out, a minute short of qualification but a world away from challenging for the title.

The most intriguing group was that featuring France and hosts Holland. France had breezed past Denmark and got a deserved win over the Czechs to be sure of a place in the last eight while Holland had beaten the Czechs only in the last minute before similarly sweeping aside the Danes. The game between the two was something of an exhibition but an exciting one as both sides attacked freely. A Boudewijn Zenden goal won the match and secured the Dutch the easier tie in the quarters.

France would have to face the Spanish, who had steered their way through a rollercoaster group. An early defeat to Norway had put them in trouble though they managed to beat the Slovenes, who had been involved in a thriller with Yugoslavia. Slovenia had been 3-0 up and a man up as Sinisa Mihajlovic had done his usual trick of being dismissed at an important moment. But two goals from Savo Milosevic and one from Ljubinko Drulovic was enough to win a point.

After Norway's stultifying football was seen off by another Milosevic goal, it seemed that Spain's game with the Yugoslavs would be a group decider. In the event, it wasn't.

But it was a miraculous match, ebbing and flowing with the Yugoslavs taking charge and leading right until time added on. But then a penalty for a foul on Abelardo was awarded for Mendieta to stroke home. And then, with time ticking on for Spain, their hopes ticking away, Alfonso forced home a knock-down to win a game in the most dramatic fashion. Spain were through, and so too, after a numbing wait on the pitch, were Yugoslavia after Norway were held by Slovenia.

While Holland had made it through, their co-hosts fell at the first hurdle. Goalkeeper Filip De Wilde bore much of the blame. His error in the opening win over the Swedes was a portent. Italy were too good for them in the next game but then against Turkey, De Wilde erred twice as he was outjumped by Hakan Sukur and then sent off for a foul on Arif after Sukur had put the Turks through. Italy, who won every game finished Swedish hopes.

And in the next round they would end the international career of Gheorge Hagi, who self-destructed after goals from Francesco Totti and Filippo Inzaghi had ended the game as a contest. Hagi fouled Antonio Conte and then just six minutes later made a blatant dive for a penalty. Both were bookable offences and he left the field and football under a cloud.

The remaining co-hosts ended the career of Yugoslav legend Dragan Stojkovic. Holland were rampant as Patrick Kluivert scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 win. The Orange nation looked headed for glory. But in their way would be Italy's brick wall of a defence.

Both France and Portugal continued their expected progress. A Nuno Gomes brace saw off the Turks in a comprehensive win. French progress was not so serene. Zidane and Djorkaeff goals had put them ahead of the Spanish, for whom Mendieta had scored one of his trademark penalties.

And when Abelardo won a penalty, just as he had against Yugoslavia, the Spanish could have done with Mendieta again. But he had been subbed and so stepped up Real Madrid golden boy Raul. With just a couple of minutes to go, he blazed over. France had made it. Not for the last time in the competition it was by the skin of their teeth.

The semi-finals were both dramatic. Holland, now surpassing England for fear of the spot-kick, had the game with Italy in their grasp many times but still the host nations exited in a climax that saw coach Rijkaard break into very public tears.

Both Frank De Boer and Patrick Kluivert missed normal time penalties while Italy also had the disadvantage of losing red-carded Gianluca Zambrotta on 34 minutes. Francesco Toldo was Italy's hero in a superb rearguard effort from the Azzurri. Extra-time's tension turned into the purgatory of the shoot-out.

Italy were clinical with their first three but De Boer, bravely taking a spot-kick considering his earlier miss, missed again. Then Jaap Stam drilled a kick of incredible power over the bar. That ball is still perhaps to land. When Maldini missed with the scores at 3-1, there was a glimmer of hope for the Dutch but Toldo, the keeper of the tournament, saved.

The penalty-spot was also key in the other semi. A goal from Thierry Henry, rediscovering the form of early tournament, levelled an early Nuno Gomes strike and the game went into the now customary extra-time period.

Both sides had chances before substitute Sylvain Wiltord passed over from the right of the Portugese penalty area. Defender Abel Xavier deflected the ball away with his hand and threw himself laughably to the ground as if to prove it hadn't hit his hand. It had.

And referee G?nter Benk? was right to point to the spot. What was wrong was the Portugese protest. Gomes was sent off and Pinto and Xavier eventually received long bans for their part in the rumpus. Figo too all but walked off.

Zidane, who had been by far the best player in the tournament with his range of skills bewitching everyone, stepped up to steer his penalty past Vitor Baia and put France in their rightful place in the final.

And the drama wasn't done. The final saw Italy reject much of their defensive game to mount a series of attacks before being pegged back by the attacking of Henry and Zidane and Toldo made a couple of his trademark great saves before the break.

Alessandro Del Piero's introduction brought new Italian impetus and they carved open the French defence to score in the 55th minute from close range through Marco Delvecchio. When Del Piero missed another chance four minutes later, the game could have been up. France coach Roger Lemerre threw on attacking subs in Sylvain Wiltord, Robert Pires and David Trezeguet as Toldo seemed sure to keep out the French.

But then the Italian wall collapsed as Wiltord, in the 90th minute, stole away to equalise past Toldo. Italy were broken, France's tails were up and the Golden Goal looked to be set for just one side, though Del Piero's lack of spatial awareness did cost him a scoring chance. Zidane began to come into his own and he sent Pires down the left past an achingly tired Italian defence. He slotted the ball across and Trezeguet crashed first-time into the net with two minutes of first half extra-time remaining.

The world Champions were now Europeans champion and had achieved it in the most dramatic way possible.

Info

• Winners - France (2nd title)
• Teams - 16
• Teams in qualifiers- 49
• Notable absentees - Republic of Ireland
• Surprises - Norway
• Golden Boot - Patrick Kluivert (France)
• Savo Milosevic (Serbia) 5
• Stats - 85 goals were scored (2.74 per match) and 1122833 spectators watched (36220 per match)
• Format - Four groups of four with two per group into quarter-finals
• Number of matches - 31

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MESfyrtBHl4&feature=autoplay&list=UUo410_YHxyMi-dbsES-GuFQ&playnext=1"]euro cup 2000 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Smudger]

The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Portugal.

Innovations
• The Golden Goal, which had decided the previous two finals, was ditched

Controversies
• Accusations of match-fixing were levelled after Sweden and Denmark drew their final group match 2-2, a result which ensured both went through at the expense of Italy. Before the game bookmakers were quoting odds of 7/2 for that particular score, the shortest odds ever quoted for that outcome
• Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy was awarded a two-match ban for insulting referee Anders Frisk after the semi-final against Portugal

Trivia
• This was the first time in either the Euros or World Cup that the teams who played the opening match met again in the final (Greece and Portugal)
• Aside from being the oldest man to coach a winning team, 65-year-old German Otto Rehhagel was the first foreign manager to do so
• This was only the second of 12 finals not to be won by a team scoring two goals the previous instance was West Germany in 1972 (3-0)

The story
Years on the shock has yet to fully abate; Greece as reigning European champions and therefore, officially at least, the best footballing nation in Europe.
Ahead of the tournament Greece's record in international competition was poor to say the least, in fact their last outing, at the 1994 World Cup, was an unmitigated disaster as they lost all three games, conceding 10 goals and scoring none.

The 2004 Greek vintage comprised honest hardworking players, but no world-beaters and no stars of any great note, while their manager, German Otto Rehhagel, was largely thought by most Greeks to be after one last paycheque before retiring.

If the Greeks were rank outsiders then by contrast the Portuguese were amongst the very favourites.

The Portuguese had the advantage of being the host nation and, unlike their Greek counterparts, had a side boasting some of European football's most gifted players; from the ageing, yet still supreme Luis Figo, to exciting youngster Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese were also coached by much-vaunted Brazilian Felipe 'Big Phil' Scolari, who amongst other successes, had won South America's Libertadores Cup with two different Brazilian clubs and in 2002 coached Brazil to their fifth World Cup victory.

So, as the two sets of players left the pitch at the Estadio do Drago on June 12 after the opening game it was a shock of seismic proportions that Portugal did so as losers after a 2-1 humbling.

As the tournament progressed pundits and fans were left reeling as they tried to grasp time and again that Greece had somehow managed to traverse the considerable footballing obstacles before them.

Greece's tireless brand of industrious, inventive, predatory football not only spoilt Portugal's opening day party but also claimed the scalp of reigning European champions France in the quarter-finals and did for the technically gifted Czech Republic (by virtue of silver goal) in the semis.

Ahead of the final there were concerns that the naturally attacking and expressive Portuguese game would be stymied by Greece, who would attempt to suffocate the game.

However, Portugal could only blame themselves for their failure. Deco, Figo and Ronaldo froze, much as they had done on the opening day, and Greece capitalised on their stage fright.

The superb Georgios Seitaridis, Konstantinos Katsouranis, Traianos Dellas and Angelos Charisteas, the man who headed home the final's only goal in the 57th minute, typified the work ethic instilled by Rehhagel, who to his eternal credit managed to create an exceptionally efficient team, far greater than the sum of its technically-limited parts.

However, the considerable achievements of Greece at Euro 2004 should not totally overshadow what was a fascinating tournament graced by many magical moments.

Taking a game from early in the tournament as an example; France 2-1 England would have been a fitting final such was the drama and intrigue of those 90 minutes.

The match was destined to be a classic before kick-off. A palpable rivalry existed between the two sets of fans and particularly between the two sets of players as a result of hostilities carried over from their domestic travails.

It was the game in which Wayne Rooney was unleashed, who, with his fearsome pace, skill and shooting prowess had France on the back foot from the off. Yet the game still belonged to Zinedine Zidane.

Lampard gave England a 1-0 lead in the 38th minute, while France were ragged and out of sorts. As captain, Zidane had to act. As England waited for the restart Zidane gathered his 10 teammates into a huddle in the middle of the pitch and issued his rallying cry; it was a powerful spectacle and an inspired piece of motivation.

Despite Zidane's best efforts the score remained locked at 1-0 until the game's dying moments and France had surely lost until England pressed the self-destruct button and Zidane exploited two calamities to the full.

After a needlessly conceded foul Zidane despatched a free-kick with seemingly effortless precision. Moments later a loose back-pass resulted in David James upending Thierry Henry for a penalty; again Zidane stepped forward.

While readying himself to take the spot-kick a clearly exhausted Zidane went down on his haunches and threw-up twice. Was it nerves? Had his body refused to accept a huge gulp from a water bottle? Regardless, with his body clearly in turmoil, Zidane summoned the strength to again calmly and clinically despatch a dead-ball in the death throws of the game.

In a game so rich in spectacle Zidane's performance as a leader as much as a player was immense.

The game of the tournament saw the Czech Republic come from two down to reach the last eight by beating Holland 3-2.

Liverpool duo Milan Baros and Vladimir Smicer grabbed the second-half goals that turned the game on its head. Wilfred Bouma and Ruud van Nistelrooy had grabbed early goals to put Holland in command before Czech giant Jan Koller started the fight-back.

The Czechs were left to celebrate in front of their delirious fans while the orange hordes melted away in disbelief.

In a tournament marked out by the achievements of the underdog it would be remiss to leave unmentioned the joy of the Latvians after their triumphant 0-0 draw against the might of Germany.

Competing in their first major tournament, Latvia approached Euro 2004 with a refreshing zeal. Simply reaching Portugal was a triumph for Latvia, the tournament an adventure for the country and for the players who were not burdened by the expectation that weigh down on the leading nations.

Germany conversely, despite an unspectacular squad, were expected to reach the final stages and negotiate the 'group of death' by brushing aside Latvia and getting results against the Czech Republic and Holland.

Latvia's spirited display in the face of a German side who dominated possession was one of Euro 2004 highlights, not only for the game itself but for the Baltic team's triumphant celebrations at full-time.

And if Rudi Voeller thought 0-0 was bad it could have been so much worse if either of Latvia's two decent penalty claims had been given.

It is largely a moot point whether the relative successes of Latvia and Greece at Euro 2004 were a result of pure endeavour overcoming superior opposition, or an example of increasingly gruelling club schedules impacting on national sides. The final standings reflect facts, not conjecture. Greece were European champions.

Info

• Winners - Greece (1st & only title)
• Teams - 16
• Teams in qualifiers - 50
• Notable absentees - None
• Surprises - Greece; Latvia
• Golden Boot - Milan Baros (Czech Republic) 5
• Stats - 77 goals were scored (2.48 per match) 1156473 spectators watched (37306 per match)
• Format - Four groups of four with two per group into quarter-finals
• Number of matches - 31

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MyxUjo8FIM&feature=BFa&list=UUo410_YHxyMi-dbsES-GuFQ"]euro 2004 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Smudger]

The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship was co-hosted for the 2nd time by Austria & Switzerland.

Innovations
• Teams from Groups A and B, and C and D could not meet in the quarter-finals, meaning it was impossible for two teams in the same group to meet in the final

Controversies
• Repeated concerns were raised about the match ball, a new creation by Addidas, which players claimed deviated in flight

Trivia
• Electrical storms meant that the global TV feed for the Germany v Turkey semi-final was interrupted several times
• A new trophy, almost identical to the old Henri Delaunay Trophy, was commissioned from Asprey of London

The story
Two temporarily-twinned Alpine nations welcomed the cream of Europe to fresh air and awesome scenery, and the nearly-men of world football finally delivered. Spain's title, their first since they hosted the 1964 tournament, arrived in a superior style to the world title that would follow two years later. A previously missing collective spirit, and all four units of the team - goalkeeper, defence, midfield and attack - working at optimum level, had them streets ahead. As in South Africa, the narrowness of victory in their matches belied their dominance.

There were notable absentees from the tournament in the English, whose qualifying campaign was farcical. Away defeats in Croatia and Russia should have killed off their hopes before a shock victory for Israel opened the door again. On a night always remembered for coach Steve McClaren sheltering his thinning ginger quiff under an umbrella as his team threw away their golden chance, Croatia, easily the better side, won through. They would be a credit to the tournament in a fashion it is credible that England could ever have been.

The two hosts themselves, while a credit for their hospitality, both suffered troubled finals campaigns. The Swiss failed to build on the promise of their Germany 2006 adventure when losing their first two matches. The tournament opener saw key striker Alexander Frei injured as the Czechs won 1-0 in Basel.

The next match saw Switzerland achieve the dubious honour of being the first team to exit, and did some amid the drama of a rain-sodden last-minute defeat to Turkey, who were to develop into party spoilers and all-weather specialists as the tournament went on. Portugal, winning their first two games, and with Cristiano Ronaldo coming off his high Manchester United watermark, won the group but obliged the hosts by being defeated in the final match by the co-hosts. Drama was reserved for Fatih Terim's Turks, who denied the Czechs with yet another late show, via two strikes from Nihat when they had been losing 2-1.

Austria's pre-tournament hopes had been minimal and those expectations were hit when their single point was gained in a draw with fellow also-rans Poland. Enthusiasm was the co-hosts' greatest asset - a million people thronged Vienna's streets to see their opening match against Croatia. The Croats won that and pulled off the tournament's first surprise by beating the fancied Germans in Klagenfurt.

The Germans had to partially sweat on beating Austria in their final match, winning just 1-0 against their Germanic brothers, and breathing a sigh of relief after Michael Ballack supplied the winner. Germany coach Jogi Loew, banned after an alteraction during the Croatia defeat, was forced to sit out the match in an executive box, where he could be seen agonising and chainsmoking throughout.

A Group of Death saw big-hitters Netherlands, Italy and France duke it out, though in truth the French were so poor as to belie any elevated status. A dreadful draw with Romania was followed by destruction by the Dutch in Berne. Marco Van Basten's team had already despatched world champions Italy in an opener best remembered for Ruud Van Nistelrooy's opening goal, scored after the Real Madrid man had used new offside rules about being 'active' to steal in and score.

The Dutch completed a perfect opening round by beating Romania 2-0 before the French ignominy continued in Zurich. Eric Abidal fouled Luca Toni to be both sent off and concede a penalty, converted by Andrea Pirlo but hopes had already gone when Franck Ribery was carried from the field with torn ankle ligaments after ten minutes.

Group D provided former and future champions. The Greeks could not repeat their heroics under "Konig" Otto Rehhagel, being easily beaten in Salzburg by the Swedes to signal that the trick would not work for a second time. Their exit was all but confirmed by a narrow loss to Russia, who did well not to reel from a 4-1 Innsbruck thrashing by Spain. The Spanish blazed to a perfect record, with David Villa scoring four times, including a hat-trick against the Russians.

Russia, managed by international gun-for-hire Guus Hiddink, beat the Swedes 2-0 to go through, via goals from Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko, both of whom would win moves to the Premier League after fine showings at the Euros.

The last eight saw Portugal confirming their flattering to deceive. Defensive weakness to the crossed ball cost them a 3-2 defeat to the Germans, with both Miroslav Klose and Michael Ballack scoring headers. Ronaldo departed the tournament goalless, warding off accusations of his being distracted by his potential move to Real Madrid.

The following night saw Turkey supply their latest late show to deny the Croatians, whose celebrations of a late extra-time goal were led by death-metalling manager Slaven Bilic. Ivan Klasnic, recently returned to football from a kidney transplant, scored with a minute to go but Croat nerves failed them when Semih Senturk drilled an equaliser two minutes into injury time. Croatia were understandably devastated and missed three out of four penalties, while Terim's team continued their haphazard but thrilling progress.

The Dutch's spirit of adventure came to a crashing halt when Van Basten's tactics failed against a more experienced Dutch master in Hiddink. Though Van Nistelrooy took the game to extra time after levelling out Pavlyuchenko's goal, Russia's superior energy took them away from the Dutch, with Andrei Arshavin, who had missed the opening two matches through suspension, marking himself out as a potential man of the tournament.

Spain's footballing history, both in club and international form, had seen them lose out to Italy on many a bitter occasion. And while they played much the better football, and Giorgio Chiellini was required to put in the type of performance that the missing-through-injury Fabio Cannavaro once provided. Penalties arrived, a point at which both teams had previous for heartache. This time, the Spanish took the spoils, with goalkeeper Iker Casillas the hero. Daniele De Rossi missed Italy's second, before Daniel Guiza and Antonio Di Natale exchanged saved efforts. Cesc Fabregas, on as a substitute, scored the decider and the Spanish began to believe.

The Turkey show had to come to an end at some point, and did so in the semi-final in Basel, but only after another helping of Terim-inspired drama. The incendiary football almost matched the thunder storm in Vienna - where international pictures were being beamed out from - which denied much of the TV audience a large portion of the game. Having taken the lead against the Germans, they found themselves needing another late equaliser, which Terim again supplied. Finally though, a taste of Turkish medicine was received when full-back Philipp Lahm scored on the overlap.

Affairs were less dramatic in Vienna, where Spain played like a team with destiny on its side as Russia's high hopes came to an end. Xavi's metronomic passing had been their engine all tournament and he supplied their first goal. Xavi and Andres Iniesta were given a platform to play by naturalised Brazilian Marcos Senna, with David Silva on the flanks behind a pairing of Fernando Torres and David Villa who were playing at the peak of their powers. Further strikes from sub Guiza and then Silva were just reward for a slick display which had most believing the Spanish were finally to deliver.

Vienna was the venue for victory. Torres had been goalless throughout the tournament though an excellent foil for Villa. The Valencia striker missed the final after a thigh injury in the semi-final and Torres played in front of a five-man midfield, where Fabregas was added in Villa's stead.

As had happened to the Russians, Germany could not get near to the passing movement of the Spanish and never enjoyed the comfort of possession amid frantic pressing. Outgoing Luis Aragones had his team playing his country's best football since the early 1960s. Torres got his goal in the 33rd minute, seizing on a typical Xavi throughball to power past Lahm and score. The game was won there, since Germany barely threatened, kept at arm's length by the Spaniards, who continued to create chances, enjoying a ratio of seven-to-one efforts in the final 20 minutes.

Spain, at last, had performed to their potential on the international stage. First Europe, now for the world.

Info

• Winners - Spain (2nd title)
• Teams - 16
• Teams in qualifiers - 50
• Notable absentees - England
• Surprises - None
• Golden Boot - David Villa (Spain) 4
• Stats - 77 goals were scored (2.48 per match) and 1140902 spectators watched (36803 per match)
• Format - Four groups of four with two per group into quarter-finals

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xYFkmckZHw"]EURO 2008 - Best Goals - YouTube[/ame]

 

[TooTall]

Someone give this man some GPA's. Awesome stuff, Smudger.

 

[Smudger]

Spain striker David Villa to miss Euro 2012 - SI

As expected he won't be a part of Spain's defense of both European & World Cup championships in a few weeks. I'm thinking Llorente will be the starter up top. I wonder who del Bosque will select to take his place as he's got a plethora of options in Torres, Roberto Soldado, Alvaro Negredo & the upstart Adrian Lopez.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/soccer/05/22/spain.villa.ap/index.html