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INTRODUCTION
FIFA approved the formation of continental football associations
at its Extraordinary Congress in Paris in 1953 and UEFA was duly
formed on 15 June 1954. By the following year the European
Champion Clubs’ Cup was brought into being and by 1956 the
groundwork got under way for a competition for the continent’s
national teams. Two years later, the first-ever qualifying
matches for the European Nations’ Cup began to take place,
with 16 teams taking part
France first The format for the first competition remained in
place for some time. Early rounds were played over two legs,
home-and-away, on a knockout basis until the semi-finals, which
were then played in a host country. Given the effort that Henri
Delaunay of the French Football Federation had put into UEFA and
European football generally, and this tournament in particular,
it was appropriate that in the summer of 1960 the first European
Championship Finals – named the European Nations’ Cup –
were held in France. The trophy itself is still named after him.
2000: Football without frontiers
Forty-nine teams took part in the qualification round of the
2000 UEFA European Championship in Belgium and the Netherlands,
with the two hosts qualifying automatically for the 16-team
finals.
Slovenian surprise Of the 14 sides that advanced to join the
hosts, Slovenia were the surprise team, qualifying after
shocking the Ukraine in a play-off. The accent was on attack in
the final tournament, with 85 goals in 31 matches.
England and Germany disappoint England and Germany failed to
advance beyond the group stages, but big guns France, Italy and
the Netherlands all joined Portugal’s golden generation in the
semi-finals. France prevailed 2-1 after extra-time, while Italy
overcame the Netherlands on penalties despite being reduced to
ten men after 34 minutes as the Dutch also missed two penalties
in normal time.
French flair Italy took the lead in the final through Marco
Delvecchio, but Sylvain Wiltord equalised in the final minutes.
Then David Trezeguet sealed France’s triumph with a “golden
goal” winner, as Les Bleus became the first team to win the
European Championship as world champions.
1996: Football comes home
As a result of the break up of many of the old Eastern European
countries, 48 teams entered the 1996 UEFA European Championship
- EURO '96™ - and it was decided to change the format to
reflect the increased entries.
Larger competition This time, 16 teams travelled to the finals
in England to play each other in four groups of four, with the
top two from each group progressing. In the first quarter-final,
England triumphed over Spain on penalties and France prevailed
over the Netherlands in similar fashion. Germany defeated
Croatia 2-1 and in the last quarter-final, the Czech Republic
beat Portugal 1-0. In the semi-finals, Germany overcame England
on penalties and the Czech Republic defeated France in similar
fashion.
German treble The Czechs took the lead in the final after an
hour through a Patrik Berger penalty. Germany brought on Oliver
Bierhoff, and within minutes he had headed the equaliser. The
game went to extra time and - for the first time in history -
was settled by a Golden Goal when Bierhoff scored the winner,
ending the game and winning the Henri Delaunay Trophy for
Germany once more.
1992: Surprise in Sweden
In 1992 a united Germany was represented for the first time; the
break-up of the USSR meant the CIS appeared; and the ongoing war
in Yugoslavia led their football team to be expelled from the
Finals, with Denmark replacing them.
Qualification surprises From Group One, Denmark and hosts Sweden
progressed at the expense of England and France, one of the
pre-tournament favourites. In Group Two, the reigning champions
Holland went through with reigning world champions Germany, with
Scotland and the CIS missing out. In the first semi-final,
Germany comfortably Sweden; the second semi-final was much
closer. Denmark twice took the lead and the Netherlands twice
equalised to put the game into extra time. Eventually the game
went to penalties. Peter Schmeichel saved from Marco van Basten,
of all people, and the late replacements went through.
Danish dynamite The Danes were outstanding in the final against
Germany and a goal in each half, by John Jensen and Kim Vilfort,
were enough to give Denmark a well-deserved first title.
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