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𠏋
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𠏋
triumph with a 孄olden
goal?winner, as Les Bleus became the first team to win the European Championship
as world champions.
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 Denmark 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.
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.
The
Federal Republic of Germany hosted for the 1988 UEFA European Championship
finals, played to the same format as in 1984, namely with eight teams.
Soviet
summit
The Germans duly progressed without drama from their group to the
semi-finals along with Italy, at the expense of Denmark and Spain. In the other
group, England finished last and the Republic of Ireland almost made the
semi-finals, failing at the last gasp in their deciding match against the
Netherlands. An excellent Soviet Union side topped the group, followed by the
Dutch. In the semi-finals, the Dutch triumphed 2-1 over the Germans, while the
Soviet Union comfortably beat Italy 2-0.
Final
flourish
In the
final the Soviet Union gave as good as they got in an entertaining first half,
but were 1-0 down at the break after a Ruud Gullit goal. In the second half the
Dutch pulled away, inspired by a stunning goal from Marco van Basten: a dipping
volley from an extremely acute angle. Hans van Breukelen denied the Soviet Union
a chance to get back into it by saving a penalty, and the Dutch ?coached by
Rinus Michels ?lifted a major trophy for the first time.