The European Championships - 2004

Depending on who you ask, Greece's victory at Euro 2004 was either a victory for the footballing romantic or a dour triumph of defensiveness over attacking flair. Greece, who had only ever qualified for the tournament once before, in 1980, arrived in Portugal with a pretty straightforward philosophy - we know our limitations and will play within them. As the other major footballing nations fell one by one, the Greeks kept on plugging away and suddenly, without many people even having noticed, they were on the winners podium at the Estadio De Luz in Lisbon, having snatched the title from under the noses of the hosts, Portugal. Stranger still, England turned up, played decent football and were unfortunate to get knocked out at the quarter-final stage. There were those that had doubted whether this tournament, coupled with the perceived English penchant for drinking in hot weather and starting fights, could pass off without trouble, but English football continued the partial rehabilitation that had started in 2002 - critics of English supporters now have to satisfy themselves with drawing on crude stereotypes of English behaviour than anything that they actually do now.

The tournament started with a warning that no-one seemed to heed. Greece rushed into a 2-0 lead in Oporto against the hosts in the opening match and managed to hold on to a 2-1 win. The major disappointments in Group A were (you guessed it) Spain. Yet again, the Spanish failed to get to the latter stages of the tournament. Having beaten Russia in their opening match, were held to a draw by Greece and beaten by Portugal, and those that accuse the Greeks of wilfully negative football should remember that the Spanish were knocked out by Greece on goals scored, having managed just two in four matches. In Group B, England had to recover from about as disastrous start as one could imagine. They played excellently for eighty-nine minutes in their opening match against France in Lisbon, although the writing on the wall was there when David Beckham missed a penalty when they were already 1-0 up. In stoppage time, a free kick from Zinedine Zidane and a terrible backpass from Steven Gerrard gifted France three points that they frankly didn't deserve. In their second match against Switzerland, England toiled in the first half before relaxing to a 3-0 win, punctuated by an excellent performance by Wayne Rooney, who was displaying all of the potential that Premier League watchers had been drooling over. In the group's final matches, Rooney put in the individual performance of the tournament, scoring two and making one in a 4-2 win against Croatia to put them and France through to the quarter-finals.

There were further surprises to be found in Groups C and D. In Group C, controversy surrounded the final round of matches. Denmark and Sweden have long been friends in the international football arena (most Swedes had no difficulty in transferring their support to Sweden when the Danes made the final of Euro 92, for example), and the two teams went into the final round of group matches knowing that a 2-2 draw or higher would eliminate Italy no matter what the Italians did to the hapless Bulgarians, who were already out. Gossip and dark rumour surrounded the match, including talk of considerable amounts of money having been bet on a 2-2 draw between the Danes and the Swedes. With Italy leading 2-1 against Bulgaria and Denmark 2-1 up against Sweden thanks to two goals from Jon Dahl Tomasson, it looked as if the Swedes were going out, but then, with two minutes to play, Matias Jonson scored for Sweden and knocked Italy out. There has never been any sort of inquiry by UEFA (who stated that they felt that the rumours were "insulting" to the Danes and the Swedes), and I've watched the video of the match dozens of times and can see no wrong-doing. In Group D, the Germans were the big name casualties. They started with a 1-1 draw against the Dutch, but then failed to break Latvia down and were held to a 0-0 draw. In their final match, they were beaten 2-1 by the Czechs, who had already lost an extraordinary group match 3-2 against the Netherlands. Germany haven't won a European Championship finals match in normal time since they beat Croatia 2-1 in the quarter-finals of Euro 96.

England were knocked out by Portugal on penalty kicks. Having taken an early lead through Michael Owen, they defended reasonably admirably until Helda Postiga levelled things up with six minutes to play, and in the last minute had a "six of one, half a dozen of the other" goal from Sol Campbell disallowed. Rui Costa put the Portuguese 2-1 up in the second half of extra-time, but a late goal from Frank Lampard levelled things again. The writing was on the wall for England when David Beckham blasted England's first penalty over the crossbar, but they managed to take it to sudden death before Darius Vassell's shot was saved by Ricardo, who then stepped up himself to score the winner. The Netherlands and Sweden did everything but score in 120 minutes, which, considering their record in penalty shoot-outs, might have been bad news for the Dutch. They went through 6-5 after Olaf Mellberg's penalty was saved by Edwin Van Der Saar. The surprise of the quarter-finals came at the Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon, where a solitary goal from Angelos Charisteas was enough for Greece to put the holders, France, out. Finally, the Czech Republic brushed Denmark aside 3-0 in a performance that many said afterwards was the best team performance of the tournament.

In the semi-finals, Portugal's 2-1 against the Netherlands was somewhat more comfortable than the scoreline might suggest. Cristiano Ronaldo (who, at the time, was just another player rather than the "greatest player in the world" that many seem to think that he is now) headed the hosts in front in the first half, and an astonishing shot from Maniche made their lead comfortable early in the second half. A late own goal from Jorge Andrade let the Dutch back into the match, but the hosts were comfortably through to their first major final. In the other semi-final, the Czechs hammered away at the Greek defence but were unable to find a way through. A single goal from Traianos Dellas in extra-time was enough to put the Greeks through, but the real star of the show was Antonis Nikopolidis, whose performance in the Greek goal resembled a scene from "Rourke's Drift" at times.

The final looked, on paper, as if it should be a coronation for the host nation. Portugal had ridden their luck against England in the quarter-finals and had already been beaten by the Greeks in their opening match, but it seemed unlikely that they would make the same mistakes again. Greece had done extraordinarily well to get through the knock-out stages, never mind all the way to the final, but logic went, as it had done so many times already during the tournament, out of the window. For all of the vast array of attacking options at their disposal, the Portuguese seemed to freeze on the night, and were unable to break the Greek defence down. The winning goal came, again, from Angelos Charisteas from a header. One of the more remarkable features of Euro 2004 was how little these headers were picked up from corners. Their goal was hardly attacked again for the remainder of the match, and the match finished with a global celebration as the Greek diaspora celebrated its nation's biggest ever sporting triumph.

England vs Croatia



The Best Of Greece At Euro 2004



All of which ties up our series of tournament reviews. We'll be doing the Champions League final live on here this evening, then there'll be a preview of the play-off semi-finals this weekend, and we'll start having a look at the runners and riders for this year's European Championships over the weekend and at the start of next week. Busy times.

The European Championships - 1996

Time, then, to debunk a couple of old myths about Euro 96. First of all, the tournament was not the stunning success that many of the history books would tell you that it was. It was certainly a success when compared with the worst, most doom-laden prophecies that the media could come up with, but there were vast numbers of empty seats at other matches with reports that the FA were over-stating the figures - a crowd that looked like about 5,000 at St James Park for the match between Romania and Bulgaria was reported as 19,000. Very few of the stadia were full for matches that didn't include England or Scotland. The perception of the tournament as a massive success has been overstated since 1996. Secondly, England were not an absolute revelation at Euro 96, playing exceptional football that swept all before them. Having played so badly since the 1990 World Cup finals, there were considerable concerns that England might not even get beyond the group stages of the competition. The team returned from a pre-tournament trip to Hong Kong in disgrace after the infamous "dentist's chair" incident, which led to calls in the press for Paul Gascoigne to be dropped. There were plenty of question marks over England's temperament and ability before it all started, and not all of these had been answered by the time that they were knocked out by Germany two and a half weeks later.

They started with a nervy 1-1 draw against Switzerland at Wembley, in which they failed to settle after taking a first half lead through a goal from Alan Shearer. A late Swiss penalty levelled things up. Scotland, meanwhile, were unable to break the Dutch down in a 0-0 draw at Villa Park. The second match was loaded with historical significance - England vs Scotland, the oldest international fixture there is, in the finals of a major tournament for the first time. It was a disappointing first half, with Scotland having the better of the play. Eight minutes into the second half, however, Shearer headed England in front, but England were still largely unable to impose their will on the game, and with twelve minutes to play, Scotland won a penalty. McAllister's penalty, however, was saved by Seaman's elbow, England broke quickly, and Gascoigne scored a brilliant goal to finish the game off. The Dutch, meanwhile, had beaten Switzerland by the same score. The final match left England requiring a draw against the Dutch to guarantee their place in the next round. It was a very even first half, punctuated by another Shearer penalty, and with the English glad to hear the half-time whistle after a strong finish by the Dutch. No-one could have been prepared for the second half performance, however. Two goals from Teddy Sheringham and a second from Shearer put them 4-0 up, and with Scotland leading the Swiss 1-0, it looked as if both Home Nations would go through, before a late Dutch consolation by Patrick Kluivert sent the Scots out on goal difference.

The other three groups went largely to type, with the biggest surprise coming in Group C, where Italy failed to qualify. They lost 2-1 against the Czech Republic, and could only draw 0-0 against the Germans in their final match, with Gianfranco Zola missing a penalty. All the excitement came in the other group match between the Czech Republic and Russia. The Czechs raced into a 2-0 lead inside the first twenty minutes, but the Russians pulled it back to 2-2 and took a 3-2 lead with five minutes to play, before an equalizer from Vladimir Smicer with two minutes to play put them through and sent the Italians home. France qualified comfortably as the winners of Group B, with the Spanish scrambling through in second place after a late goal from Guillermo Amor gave them a 2-1 win against Romania. In Group D, Portugal (in their first finals since 1984) and Croatia (in their first tournament finals) qualified at the expense of the holders, Denmark, and Turkey.

The first quarter-final between England and Spain was a disappointing match, which ended in a fortunate 0-0 draw and a penalty shoot-out. In open play, the chances were few and far between. Spain had a goal incorrectly ruled out for offside and Alan Shearer should have scored from a couple of yards out but put the ball over the crossbar. The penalty shoot-out started badly for Spain, with Hierro hitting the crossbar after Shearer had put them in front. The cathartic moment came with England's third penalty, when Stuart Pearce's exorcism of his 1990 demons was almost disturbing to watch. After Gascoigne gave them a 4-2 lead, Miguel Angel Nadal's shot was saved by Seaman and England were through. The second quarter-final saw Holland and France draw 0-0, with the Dutch continuing their penalty nightmare after Clarence Seedorf missed, allowing Laurent Blanc to send an unexceptional French side through. After two such disappointing matches, Germany beat Croatia 2-1 to get through, with the Czechs managing the goal of the tournament - their goal, a spectacular lob from Karel Poborksy being enough to win their match against Portugal.

The first semi-final, between France and the Czech Republic, finished in yet another 0-0 draw, and this time the French luck run out. Reynald Pedros missed with the final penalty for France, and Miroslav Kadlec put the Czechs through. The second semi-final, between England and Germany, was a national event, played in atmosphere of considerable tension following a surprisingly ill-advised front page in the Daily Mirror, which summed up all of the worst traits of the tabloid press in shouting "Achtung! Surrender!" at the German team. Shearer headed England in front after just three minutes, but a German equalizer from Stefan Kuntz cancelled it out. England were the better team throughout the remainder of normal time and extra time. Shearer headed inches wide just before half-time, and in the first period of extra time, Darren Anderton hit the post from six yards out when he should really have scored. Five minutes later, Germany had a goal from Kuntz disallowed for pushing, and then Shearer shot across goal and Gascoigne couldn't quite get on the end of a shot across the penalty area. It was thrilling stuff, worthy of the final itself, but the teams couldn't be separated and it went to penalties again. This time, England's luck ran out and, after both teams had scored their first five penalties, Gareth Southgate missed, and Andreas Moller put the Germans through.

Against this background, and from a purely English perspective, the final was a massive non-event. The Germans and the Czechs had already met once, with the Germans having won 2-0 at Old Trafford in their opening match. It was a disappointing match, with the Czechs taking the lead just before the hour with a Patrick Berger penalty. Germany equalized a quarter-final of an hour later, when Bierhoff headed in unmarked from a free-kick. The Germans then won the match with the first "Golden Goal" of the tournament, when Bierhoff's shot was spilled by the Czech goalkeeper and dribbled over the line. The truth of the matter is that there was there was practically nothing to choose between the German and English teams, and since they were the ones that had got lucky in the semi-finals, they deserved their win at Euro 96. For England, who rode their luck and wore out the nerves of the watching public on the way, one suspects that it might just be the last time that they get this far in the finals of a major tournament.

England vs Netherlands



England vs Scotland

The European Championships - 1992

The years between 1988 and 1992 were the most eventful in the history of Europe since the end of the Second World War. The collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe meant that the 1992 European Championships saw the first entry of a reunited German team and, in the light of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a team called the Commonwealth of Independent States represented the transitional state between the break-up of the Union and the formation of the independent nations that now play in UEFA tournaments. This sudden expansion of countries was to have a dramatic effect on international football. This would be the last eight nation European Championships, with the number of entrants being doubled for the next tournament, four years later. Held in Sweden, just four stadia, in Gothenberg, Stockholm, Malmo and Norrkoping, were used.

The tournament, held in Sweden, would be shrouded in controversy before it started. The collapse of Yugoslavia had begun with the collapse of the country's federal government a couple of years previously, and by the start of 1992 Bosnia was engulfed in a horrific conflict and the United Nations had imposed sanctions on Yugoslavia. The team had performed promisingly at the 1990 World Cup, but at the last minute, UEFA decided to uphold the sanctions and expelled the Yugoslav team from the tournament. As the group runners-up, Denmark were requested to make the short journey across the Baltic Sea to make up the numbers. The Danes weren't particularly keen to enter in the first place. One player, Michael Laudrup, refused to cancel his holiday and didn't play. His brother, Brian, was called up in his place. Most of the rest of the Danish players, however, did turn out in Sweden. The eight entrants were arranged into two groups of four, with England, France, Denmark and Sweden in one group. Germany, the CIS, first-time qualifiers Scotland and the Netherlands made up the other group. Italy and Spain failed to qualify altogether.

The tournament started with a 1-1 draw between the hosts, Sweden, and a French team that was in a transitional stage between the successful team of 1986 and that which would win the World Cup in 1998. The following day, England (who had, after performance at the 1990 World Cup and a decent qualifying campaign, had high expectations for the finals) huffed and puffed to a goalless draw against Denmark. In the second round of matches, England drew 0-0 again, this time against France, while Sweden practically booked their place in the semi-finals with a 1-0 win against Denmark. Going into the final round of group matches, any of the four teams could still qualify for the finals. Denmark surprised France 2-1 in Malmo book their place in the semi-finals. The England vs Sweden match would go on to become famous for being the first match when the true folly of hiring Graham Taylor would become apparent. England scored first, a very early goal from David Platt, but Jan Eriksson levelled early in the second half, and a wonderful goal from Thomas Brolin gave the Swedes a thoroughly deserved 2-1 lead. It was this point that Graham Taylor withdrew Gary Lineker for Alan Smith, a decision that would create the mistrust for him that would undermine his position in the media for the remainder of his time in charge.

The other group contained the favourites, Germany, and their arch rivals, the Dutch. Both sides started off surprisingly unconvincingly. The Dutch needed a late goal from a young Dennis Bergkamp to claim a 1-0 win over Scotland, while the Germans left it even later - an injury time equaliser from Thomas Hassler snatched a 1-1 draw for them against the CIS. The second round of matches saw Germany beat Scotland 2-0 to knock the Scots out with a game to spare, while the Dutch's 0-0 draw against the CIS effectively put them out, too. In the final game, the Dutch comfortably beat Germany 3-1, while Scotland picked up a tidy consolation win with goals from Paul McStay, Brian McClair and Gary McAllister beating the CIS. The semi-finals, therefore, threw up Sweden against Germany in Stockholm, while the Netherlands would face Denmark in Gothenberg. In the first match, the extent to which the competition had failed to capture the imagination of the public became apparent when just 28,000 people bought tickets for the 40,000 Rasunda Stadium in Stockholm for the hosts' match against Germany. After a dull group stage, the semi-finals were a lot more open. Thomas Hassler gave the Germans an early lead, and it looked all over when Karl-Heinz Riedle doubled their advantage just before the hour. However, Thomas Brolin pulled a goal back for Sweden and, when Riedle made it 3-1 to Germany with a couple of minutes to play, Kennet Andersson pulled a second goal back for Sweden to get German nerves jangling again.

The second semi-final is one of the featured matches for this competition. The Dutch had been expected to roll the out of shape Danes over in their match in Gothenberg, but the Danes took an early lead through Henrik Larsen. Dennis Bergkamp levelled for the Dutch when his shot slipped under the body of the Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, but Larsen retook the lead for the Danes just before half-time. Denmark held out until four minutes from time, before Frank Rijkaard levelled things up. There were no more goals in extra-time, and in the penalty shoot out that followed it, only Marco Van Basten, the hero of four years earlier, missed, with Kim Christofte scoring the penalty to knock the Dutch out. The Germans were the clear favourites to win the final, but the Danish team had a built up a clear head of steam by now, and John Jensen gave them an early lead. The Germans battered away at the Danish goal, but an inspirational performance from Peter Schmeichel kept the score down to 1-0, before Kim Vilfort put the result beyond any doubt. The Danes, who would probably have been the underdogs of the eight entrants had they had the same amount of time to prepare as everyone else, had achieved something truly incredible in dragging themselves off the beaches of the world and beating the very best in Europe.

Netherlands vs Denmark - The Match



Netherlands vs Denmark - The Penalties



Denmark vs Germany

The European Championships - 1988

So, Euro 88. That was the one that the Dutch won at a canter, all crowned by Marco Van Basten's magnificent volley against the USSR in the final, right? Well, yes and no. The Netherlands were, in their pomp, an extraordinary team to watch when in full flow. However, they were beaten by the USSR, flattered by a 3-1 win over England (a match in which England hit the woodwork twice) and required a late winner against Ireland in the group stages, needed two late goals to beat the host nation, West Germany in the semi-final, and might have had a tense end to the final had not Hans Van Breukelen saved a penalty for the USSR in the final.

After their failure to get to the finals, England had made it this time, and the Republic of Ireland were there for the first time. Other than that, it was business as usual, although the holders, France, had carelessly failed to qualify, and Italy were in something of a transitional stage with a team that was expected to peak for the World Cup in 1990. Again, the nations were divided into two groups of four, with West Germany, Italy, Spain and Denmark in Group A, and the Netherlands, England, Ireland and the USSR in Group B. The top two from each group would qualify for the semi-finals. Group A started with a nasty surprise for the Germans when Roberto Mancini gave Italy the lead against them in Dusseldorf, though they recovered quickly to earn a draw. The pre-tournament favourites (who had been the runners-up to Argentina in the World Cup two years previously) then coasted through to the semi-finals with comfortable wins against Spain and Denmark. Italy won their second match against Spain, and also gained a semi-final place with a 2-0 win over Denmark, a result which they didn't even need, with the Germans beating Spain at the same time.

In Group B, one might have expected England to impress. After starting slowly, England had been impressive in the 1986 World Cup, coming within inches of taking Maradona's Argentina to extra-time in the quarter-finals, and had played excellently in their qualifying campaign. Their opening match against Ireland, however was a disaster for them, with Ray Houghton scoring the only goal of the game. Meanwhile, the Dutch were beaten 1-0 by the USSR. England started their second match, against the Dutch, reasonably well, and things were looking bright for them when Bryan Robson cancelled out Marco Van Basten's opening goal. Van Basten hadn't even been expected to start the tournament in the first team, but his two second half goals knocked Bobby Robson's team out with a match to spare. Meanwhile, the Irish held the USSR to a 1-1 draw to leave themselves with an excellent chance of making the semi-finals with one match to play. England's miserable time at the tournament was completed with a 3-1 defeat in their final match against the USSR, but the real tension came in the match between Ireland and the Netherlands. Ireland only needed a draw to get through to the semi-finals, and it looked as if they were going to do it (a header from Paul McGrath which hit the post in the first half could have put things beyond doubt) until eight minutes from time, when Ronald Koeman's mis-hit shot was headed in by Wim Kieft to put the Dutch through.

The semi-finals placed Italy against the USSR and West Germany against the Netherlands. Neither match went to the expected script. In the first match, in Hamburg, the Germans took an early second half lead through a penalty from Lothar Matthaus. The match turned on its head in the final fifteen minutes. First of all, a Ronald Koeman penalty brought the Dutch level, and then, with two minutes left to play, Van Basten was put through and rolled the ball in to put the Dutch through. The next day, the USSR, who had been functionally impressive in their group matches, beat Italy 2-0 with goals from Gennadiy Litvachenko and Oleg Protasov. The final, played at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, proved to be a disappointingly one-sided affair, though the Dutch needed until the second half to take the lead, through Ruud Gullit. It did, however, provide the defining image of the tournament when, with fifteen minutes to play, Van Basten volleyed in an extraordinary shot from an absolutely impossible angle to put the match beyond any doubt. The Dutch may have ridden their luck to get to the final in the first place, but there could be no doubt that they had the players of the tournament in Van Basten and Gullit, and their victory was a victory for the son of Total Football.

Republic of Ireland vs Netherlands



West Germany vs Netherlands

The European Championships - 1984

After a fairly disastrous opening tournament, the European Championships were given a lick of paint for the 1984 finals, with rules being changed to prevent a repeat of the torpid affair that had taken place four years prior. It was still an eight team tournament, but this time there would be no pointless third/fourth place play-off, and the top two from each group would play in semi-final matches. After the infamous World Cup finals match between West Germany and Austria in Gijon, when the two sides walked around for ninety minutes to ensure the 1-0 victory that saw them both through to the next round, the final group matches would be played simultaneously, and seven venues would be used rather than the four used in Italy. This format would remain unchanged until UEFA doubled the number of entrants in 1996.

The tournament would come to be defined by one man and one man alone - Michel Platini, would go on to score an astonishing nine goals in five matches for France. The French started nervously, requiring a late goal from Platini to beat Denmark 1-0 in Paris. From here on, Platinni would make the tournament his own, scoring two successive hat-tricks. The first came in a 5-0 demolition of Belgium. The second, with France already effectively through to the semi-finals, came in the space of eighteen second half minutes against a spirited Yugoslavia. They were joined in the semi-finals by Denmark. The Danes (who had knocked England out in the qualifying stages by beating them 1-0 at Wembley) were coming into their own golden generation of players. They bounced back from their defeat by the French to beat Yugoslavia 5-0 in their second match, setting up a straightforward final match shoot-out against Belgium. With a massively superior goal difference to the Belgians, a draw would see them through, while the Belgians would still qualify if they won. On a dramatic evening in Strasbourg, Belgium went 2-0 up with goals from Ceulemans and Vercauteren, but the Danes clawed their way back to win 3-2.

The other group featured fewer goals, but was just as tense. After West Germany and Portugal had played out a goalless draw in Strasbourg, Spain were surprisingly held by Romania. The Germans then beat Romania, but the draw between Spain and Portugal meant that any of the four teams could still qualify for the semi-finals going into the final round of matches. Both of the eventual semi-finalists would leave it late. Portugal beat Romania 1-0 with a goal from Tamagnini Nene nine minutes from time in Nantes, but the real drama came in Paris. Nene's goal for Portugal left the Germans need to hold on for the final ten minutes or so to qualify, but a winner in the dying seconds from Antonio Maceda sent them home, and sent Spain through to the semi-finals.

Our featured game from this tournament is the first semi-final between France and Portugal - probably the greatest match in the history of the European Championships. I don't recall ever have seen a match in which the atmosphere inside the stadium (in this case, the Stade Velodrome in Marseille) ever leapt out of the television screen and grabbed hold of you the neck in quite the same way. France had been expected to beat Portugal comfortably, and it looked as if this would be what happened when Jean-Francois Domergue put them into an early lead, but after they missed a string of chances, Rui Jordao levelled for Portugal with fifteen minutes to play, and silenced the stadium completely when put them in front, eight minutes into extra-time. The second period of extra-time would permanently change France's perception of its national team. The Portuguese goalkeeper, Bento, had been playing outstandingly, but with six minutes to play, the ball bounced off Platini's shins and into the path of Jean-Francois Domergue, who tied things up at 2-2, and with a minute to play, Jean Tigana carried the ball to the touchline and dragged the ball back for Platini to score the winner.

The other semi-final and the final couldn't live up to the match in Marseille. Spain and Denmark played out a tense 1-1 draw in Lyon, and Spain won 5-4 on penalties, with Preben Elkjær missing the final penalty for the Denmark. The final was played in Paris at Parc Des Princes, and after a quiet first half, turned on its head when Luis Arconada, the Spanish goalkeeper, fumbled a Platini free kick over the line to give the French the lead. With Spain pushing forward in the final seconds of the match, Bruno Bellone broke away and lobbed Arconada to give France a 2-0 victory. You can see the goals from this match here, but it is that semi-final between Portugal and France that lives long in the memory - if any two of this summer's sixteen entrants can play out a match like that, they'll have come up with something really rather special. You can see extended highlights of it on YouTube, in seven parts, here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six and Part Seven.

The European Championships - 1980

As you may have noticed, we've had a little lick of paint this afternoon ahead of this summer's festivities and, to get you in the mood still further, we'll bringing you a quick round up of the previous European Championship tournaments, along with some brief highlights of some of the great matches from the tournament's history. I'm starting the round-up because this was the first of the proper, eight team tournaments. The competition had actually started in 1960, and was notable for the previous five competitions having been won by five different nations. As well as West Germany and Italy, who might have expected to have won it, it had also provided the USSR, Spain and Czechoslovakia with their only major tournament wins.

By 1980, though, UEFA sought the expand the programme, though the ham-fisted way in which they did it would result in a tournament in which teams were so afraid to lose matches that they didn't even try to play attacking football. The problem was this: the tournament was made up of eight teams, divided into two groups of four. UEFA, however, decided not to bother with semi-finals, with the group winners meeting in the final and the runners-up playing a third and fourth place play-off match. What this meant in practice was that defeat meant almost certain elimination, so most of the teams involved played ultra-defensive formations, leading to a string of terrible games.

Coupled with this, Euro 80 was England's first tournament since the 1970 World Cup, and English hooliganism, which had some sort of point to prove, scented its opportunity. The match Belgium was disrupted by riot police with tear gas - they used it enough of it to leave England's reserve players in tears on the touchline. After the match, there were calls to bring the team home, but there was no need for England to be sent home - they were perfectly capable of doing that of their own accord, drawing against Belgium and losing to the hosts, Italy, before winning Spain in a meaningless final fixture. Belgium won the group on goals scored from Italy, and there was little arguing with it. Italy scored one and conceded no goals in their three matches - a poor return for a host nation.

The other group provided a little more interest, although West Germany were already through to the final by the time they drew their final group match 0-0 against Greece. The group also saw the lowest crowd of a poorly-attended tournament, when just 4,726 hardy souls turned out to see Czechoslovakia beat Greece 3-1 in Rome. The critical results saw West Germany beat Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands in their opening match. This tournament proved to be the last hurrah for the great Dutch team of the 1970s - they failed to reach the finals of another major tournament until the 1988 European Championships in West Germany. The Germans beat them 3-2 in arguably the match of tournament, and you can see highlights of it below here. The final saw West Germany beat Belgium 2-1 in front of just 47,864 people in Rome. Horst Hrubesch scored both of the German goals, with the winner coming just two minutes from time. UEFA would go on to add semi-finals for the next finals in France, four years later.

West Germany vs Netherlands (First Half)


West Germany vs Netherlands (Second Half)

Match Of The Seventies - 1974/75

All is quiet in the football world (apart, that is, from the financial crisis engulfing Rotherham United - more of which at a later date - and Celtic getting beaten at home by Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup), so it's time for another episode of Match Of The Seventies. This one is from the 1974/75 season, so it features a very angry Brian Clough, West Ham United and Fulham supporters turning the FA Cup final into a celebration of hating Chelsea, Manchester United in the Second Division (tee hee!) and Kevin Keegan & Billy Bremner getting naked at Wembley. Well, nearly.

Match Of The Seventies - 1973/74

We're up to 1973/74 on "Match Of The Seventies", and what a peculiar season it was. Tonight's episode features Leeds United's record-breaking unbeaten run, Liverpool tearing Newcastle United a new hole in the FA Cup Final, England failing to qualify for the World Cup, Spurs fans rioting in Rotterdam at the UEFA Cup final and (be still, my beating heart) Denis Law back-heeling Manchester United down in a last day of the season Manchester Derby (before the pedants write in, results elsewhere guaranteed that United were already down - Law's goal was merely the icing on the cake). What a strange season.

Match Of The Seventies - 1972/73

Match Of The Seventies - 1970/71

Many years ago, the BBC produced two (relatively) light-hearted TV programmes about football in the 1970s and the 1980s. Some enterprising soul has seen fit to put them up on YouTube so, over the next few weeks I'm going to be putting them up on here. Each episode is divided up into four ten minute long chunks, and they should show up on here in the correct order. Thanks, then, to the original uploader, and a quick message to any watching BBC lawyers - if you're really that concerned about this copyrighted material being available on the internet, why not release them for sale on DVD, hmm?

A Video Of Coventry City Tearing Liverpool A New Hole

Strange, really, but at the end of such an eventful week, what I really want to do this evening is sit down and have a couple of delicious, cold gin and tonics. It's also been a stressful week. I may turn up back on here later on this evening, full of gin and fraternal love, but for the time being here's a video from December 1983 of Liverpool (about who's current woes I have quite a lot to say) coming up against what I can only presume was an unexpectedly feisty Coventry City side in the First Division. Commentary comes from a pre-histrionics John Motson.

Required Viewing

Some sort of campaign might be in order.

Manchester United Get Savaged, Plus More Baker & Kelly

A double treat for you to finish off the evening. First up, another truncated edition of Baker & Kelly, from the 6th November 1998 (the first fifteen minutes of the evening edition are missing).

11.30

17.44

In addition to that, how about Manchester United getting a hiding at the hands of Ipswich Town? United went to Portman Road in 1980 with Ipswich challenging for the First Division championship, and they contrived to get an absolute thrashing here. Commentary by my mate Gerry Harrison (only long-term readers will get that reference).

Video Time!

Just a quickie tonight. This month's edition of "When Saturday Comes" plopped through my letterbox this morning, and amongst the insightful and informative articles about this year's Copa Del Rey Final (that's the Spanish Cup, for those amongst you currently scratching your heads), Crystal Palace's attempts to break the US market (yes, that Crystal Palace) and just how much of an arsehole Graeme Souness could be, there was a review of a video about the formation of FC United called "Manchester Disunited". Through the magical powers of the internet, you can see it free of charge. It's a little light on the details of how the club was formed, but it shines a valuable light on the dislocation that so many people feel towards the Premier League. I strongly suggest watching it. You can see it here.

Great Uncle Bulgaria

Many apologies for not having updated over the last few days. I promise that I will put something proper up on here in the morning. In the meantime, sit back and enjoy highlights of the 1985 Bulgarian Cup Final between CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia. The commentary, perhaps unsurprisingly, is in Bulgarian.

Derby Day

You know what? I think I deserve a night off from insightful football writing. In fact, I thought that just over a year ago, and have been keeping it up admirably ever since. Ho ho. Actually, after last night's European Cup final gubbins, I could just do with an evening in front of the television dribbling. Anyway, it's the play-offs this weekend in the Football League, so I'll stick something about them up on here tomorrow. Ahead of that, sit back and enjoy some highlights of last year's Championship play-off final between Leeds United and Watford.

The FA Cup Final On YouTube

Yeah, I know. It's really difficult to get worked up over the FA Cup Final this year, isn't it? Ironic, really, because it should be the one we've all been waiting for years - the first major cup final at Wembley since 2000. However, Chelsea and Manchester United look upon the world's oldest cup competition with such contempt that it's starting to rub off on the rest of us. If Spurs hadn't bottled their quarter-final against Chelsea or Blackburn hadn't bottled the semi-final (when, to be honest, they had a great chance of winning), we'd have something to look forward to. As it is, though, we've got two teams in the final,neither of whom really want to be there (though I would offer this quick word of caution to any gloating Liverpool supporters - you're absolutely, categorically, not one of the best two teams in Europe, regardless of what your tickets for Athens next Wednesday might say) and who will be going through the motions to a hitherto unseen extent. Of course, the high excitement on the day could be provided on the subject of whether Jose Mourinho will have to be wheeled up Empire Way, strapped to a gurney and with foam pouring from his mouth, having been nipped by his rabid Yorkshire terrier. We shall see. Meanwhile, though, I'm going to do what I always do when the present seems a bit too boring to deal with, and dive back into the past with five FA Cup Finals from the archives.

1. Chelsea vs Leeds United (1970 - Replay)


Now then. Here's something great. The most-watched football match in the history of British television and, strangely, the first FA Cup final of the twentieth century to go to a replay. For reasons that I'm uncertain of, they played the replay at Old Trafford. Still, Leeds, as was their wont at this period in their history, bottled it. They went from having a great chance of the treble to winning nothing in the space of about three weeks. That might ring some bells Stamford Bridge, you know.

2. Coventry City vs Tottenham Hotspur (1987)


God. Spurs were SO certain that they were going to win the cup that year. Mind you, it was an absolutely cracking match - the best FA Cup final in years and years, at the time. Note the fact that only about six of the Spurs players have the sponsors' names on their shirts. Apologies for the poor picture quality.

3. Liverpool vs West Ham United (2006)


Oh, go on then. I mean, it was an absolutely terrific match, wasn't it?

4. Crystal Palace vs Manchester United (1990 - In Two Parts)



Extended highlights of another great FA Cup final. The match that introduced Ian Wright to a mass audience for the first time. Grrr.

5. Arsenal vs Manchester United (1979)


Another great cup final. Three goals in the last five minutes, and Arsenal win their first major trophy in eight years. Note: FC United of Manchester will be wearing shirts exactly like those Manchester United shirts next season.

Five FA Cup Semi-Finals

The MLS will have to wait. It's FA Cup Weekend again! You don't need me to tell you that at least one of this year's semi-finals is more or less a done deal. The FA Cup spoilt us last year, and this year it is applying its retribution through the medium of serving up Chelsea and Manchester United at Wembley next month. If they get through to the Champions League final, this year's FA Cup Final won't even be the most important match of the week for the two teams involved. Still, when they've all been taken over by billionaire uber-capitalists, maybe they'll leave the rest of us alone. We can but hope.

All of those debates are for another day, though. This weekend, Watford (with their reserve goalkeeper, most significant prior TV appearance was appearing on "Dragon's Den" last year, apparently) take on Manchester United at Villa Park, whilst Blackburn Rovers face Chelsea at Old Trafford. Neither match, by the way, is sold out. Chelsea supporters are unhappy at having to travel all that way for a mere FA Cup match, whilst Watford have failed to sell their allocation for the match at Villa Park as well. Blackburn Rovers, of course, don't even have 30,000 fans. But never mind. It's their loss. I've seen it noted elsewhere that FA Cup shocks are most likely when a big club is feeling complacent and a smaller club is up for it. There is no question in my mind that the "Big Two" are complacent, but the gap in quality is so great now that it's difficult to see where a shock is going to come from. The current Watford team had a great win against Portsmouth on Monday, but it's fair to say that they are no more than a mid-table Championship team playing in the Premiership, whilst Blackburn, who are plenty capable of giving Chelsea a game, capitulated feebly in their semi-final two years ago. Having said all of that, FA Cup semi-finals can be great matches, so here are five from the archives.

Liverpool vs Crystal Palace (1990)


Arsenal had reached the previous two FA Cup finals, completing the double against Liverpool in 1971, and losing to Leeds United the following year. In 1973, they played Second Division Sunderland at Hillsbrough. A foregone conclusion, surely?

Chelsea vs Sheffield Wednesday (1966)

At a Villa Park still being re-built for the forthcoming World Cup, Chelsea play Sheffield Wednesday for the right to take on Everton at Wembley.

Liverpool vs Nottingham Forest (1989)

Lest we forget. Bill Shankly was wrong, you know. Football isn't more important than life or death.

Friday Night Football

I've had too much booze to be able to say anything very coherent tonight, so sit back and wallow in the opulence that is Brazil at the 1970 World Cup. You know you want to - even if you've seen it a million times before.

A Quick Reminder...

...to any Liverpool fans still crowing about their "achievement" in reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League. This season's team (or, indeed, even the one that won the damn thing in 2005) is not a great team. The Liverpool team above, however, is a great team. In this match, from 1988, they absolutely carved a pretty talented Nottingham Forest team into little pieces, chewed them up, and spat the pieces back at Brian Clough's feet. Because of the post-Heysel ban on English clubs playing in Europe we'll never know for sure, but they must have amongst the best teams in Europe, if not the best team in Europe at the time.

By the way, I'll be attempting one of my sporadic minute-by-minute commentaries tonight - Spurs vs SC Braga in the UEFA Cup. Kick-off is at 20.15 GMT - it would be lovely if you stopped by.