Innholdsfortegnelse for EURO 2020 i EURO 2020

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Alongside Holland, Italy were the most notable failures to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia (the first time they had missed one in six decades). Ineffectual, unimaginative and at times plain ugly, their horror campaign prompted pundits to predict a long and painful recovery for the mighty Azzurri. Huge props then to new boss Roberto Mancini for the speed with which he’s managed to turn things around. Since his arrival, Italy ascended from national embarrassment to genuine contenders by adhering to a staunch new ethic: rapid pressing and transitions by hungry players desperate to impress the new boss. A qualifying group containing Finland, Bosnia, Greece, Armenia and Liechtenstein doesn’t appear too tough, but the ruthless way in which Mancini’s new-look side dismantled them is…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Denmark’s qualifying campaign produced an abundance of goals for De rød-hvide (17 in eight games). This suggests they cruised through with relative ease, but unfortunately for Åge Hareide’s men, 12 of them came against Gibraltar alone and they had to survive a late onslaught from the Rep of Ireland in Dublin in their final match to secure the point they needed to progress. But secure it they did amidst an incredible unbeaten run of 34 matches stretching back to October 2016. So what is it about this team that makes them so difficult to beat? To put it simply, they rarely make mistakes. When they need to fight, they are prepared for a battle, and everyone in the squad seems to fully understand the system and…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 As part of the Soviet Union, they powered their way to the inaugural European Championship in 1960 and were well-deserved runners-up in 1964, 1972 and 1988. Aside from a hard-fought quarter-final exit on home soil to eventual finalists Croatia during 2018’s World Cup, though, Russia have disappointed in recent decades. As such, any lofty accolades look well beyond the class of 2021. Belgium represented the only biggest test in a qualifying group made up of Kazakhstan, San Marino, Cyprus and Scotland, and they will remain the sternest test for Stanislav Cherchesov’s team in the tournament proper. Being one of the host nations, Russia will play both Finland and the aforementioned Belgians on home soil in Zenit’s Gazprom Arena. This will doubtless give them the edge against…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Ukraine was only officially recognised as an independent footballing nation in 1991; before this date, it had been an abundant resource for the Soviet Union, which won the inaugural tournament in 1960 and finished as runner-up in 1964, 1972 and 1988. It took them nearly 20 years to blossom as an independent nation, but the 2006 World Cup finally saw Ukraine perform on the largest international stage of all. They surpassed all expectations, making it to the last eight of the tournament before defeat at the hands of the eventual winners, Italy. During this Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, they’ve picked up even more momentum, with six wins and two draws across their eight games in a group containing current Nations League and European Champions, Portugal. This…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Little was expected of Gareth Southgate’s young England side in the run-up to the 2018 World Cup, but their happy-go-lucky journey all the way to the semi-finals of that tournament means expectations will be relocated to the notch marked ‘too high’ in the run-up to 2020. If this England team want to improve on 2018, they have to make their first major tournament final since 1966 and find a system that helps them overcome the continent’s best teams at the biggest moments: they played Belgium twice and Croatia once during World Cup 2018 and lost all three matches. When the going gets tough then, England’s midfield and defence look exposed, and Gareth Southgate will need to rectify this. What is not up for discussion is the…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Euro 2020 is the seventh European Championship in succession that the Czechs have reached, which is an impressive statistic considering the lack of stars in the country’s ranks. Big names such as Pavel Nedvěd, Patrik Berger, Petr Čech and Milan Baroš have been replaced by the lesser known monikers of Tomáš Vaclík, Ondřej Čelůstka and Vladimír Darida. Not many Czech players are even considered good enough to play for major European club sides, it’s that stark. However, here they are again, so they must be doing something right. Right? Well, yes and no. Yes, they managed to inflict England’s only defeat of the campaign, ending their run of 43 successive European Championship and World Cup qualifiers without defeat. But no, they didn’t really convince and rarely…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 When Polish FA chairman Zbigniew Boniek hired Jerzy Brzęczek, the Poland manager’s brief was clear: arrest the slump. Usually decent performers in major tournaments, the Poles suffered badly at World Cup 2018, losing their opening two fixtures against Senegal and Colombia 1-2 and 0-3 respectively. Boniek recognised it was time for a change, and instructed Brzęczek to shake up a stagnant squad and win his Euro 2020 group. It was time to put Polish football back on the map. Such a reshuffle didn’t prove easy. Two home defeats in the Nations League and a friendly defeat to the very beatable Czech Republic sat poorly with supporters. There were even calls for Brzęczek to quit after an embarrassing 2-0 defeat in Slovenia. However, he managed to reach…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Usually considered to be the very best of the rest as opposed to one of the tournament favourites, it’s easy to forget that Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal are the holders going into Euro 2020. You will notice we didn’t describe A Seleção (The Selection) as Fernando Santos’s Portugal by the way, as the size of Ronaldo’s influence is clear for all to see. Juventus’s main man is neither the shy type nor the retiring one, at least not yet. Even at 34 years of age, he plays with the same verve and determination of his more youthful self. Okay, so some of the vicious pace and electricity has petered out, and you might see several hundred fewer stepovers per game, but the killer instinct remains. Couple that…

The first European Championship, originally the European Nations Cup, was held in the home of its architect, Henri Delaunay, secretary of the French Football Federation. Major nations that had appeared in the World Cup two years earlier — such as England, Italy and West Germany — declined to take part, but 17 of the 33 European nations stepped forward. A preliminary round was staged to eliminate the 17th team from the home-and-away knockout format, Eire taking on Czechoslovakia in the competition’s first ever game. Czechoslovakia won 4-2. The tournament proper began with a mouthwatering pairing of the Soviet Union and Hungary, the latter not being able to overturn a 3-1 first-leg deficit despite reintroducing some of their ageing superstars of the 1950s for the return tie. Elsewhere, France put eight…

Despite Italy reaching the World Cup final against that Brazil side two years earlier, the Azzurri were by no means favourites to take home the Henri Delaunay Cup in 1972. This was the year of Franz Beckenbauer and what many respected commentators describe as the greatest Germany side ever — which, considering their formidable record in the European Championship and the World Cup, is some accolade. Beckenbauer had invented the role of attacking sweeper and patrolled his space magnificently. A young Paul Breitner excelled, as did an in-pomp Uli Hoeness. The exclamation mark to all of this creative brilliance was 'Der Bombe' r Gerd Müller, who finished Belgium 1972 with six qualifying goals and four in the tournament proper. Müller extinguished any hopes the host nation had in the semi-finals…

Despite Henri Delaunay concocting the Euros in 1927, his countrymen hadn’t appeared in the finals since they hosted the inaugural one in 1960. But 24 years later, they were back under the European spotlight on home turf, led by their mercurial captain Michel Platini, Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana and Luis Fernandez, collectively known as Le Carre Magique, or The Magic Square. The competition remained a two-group, round-robin affair, but semi-finals were introduced, in which group winners would play the opposite group’s runners-up. Euro 1984 began in Paris, Platini earning France a 1-0 victory over Denmark. Against Belgium, he secured a hat-trick in the final minute with a deft header and, three days later, got another hat-trick against Yugoslavia to set up a semi-final clash with Portugal. Platini scored in that,…

The most countries in the history of the tournament entered Euro ’96 (the first time that abbreviation was used): Moldova and Georgia had previously been part of the Soviet Union, USSR or CIS; Yugoslavia broke up and became Croatia, Macedonia and Bosnia-Herzegovina; and Czechoslovakia became the Czech Republic and Slovakia. To accommodate this influx of nations, UEFA expanded the finals to 16 teams. They also introduced three points for a win in the group stage. As the standardised rules of football originated in England, the oft-repeated slogan for the tournament was ‘Football’s Coming Home’; a song, Three Lions, was even penned by British comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, which was sung ad infinitum by delirious English fans. Naturally, the only country who could truly rain on this little island’s…

Football came home in 1996 to the birthplace of the game’s founders; 12 years later, to the delight of FIFA and UEFA, it arrived in Switzerland, backyard of the game’s enforcers, who co-hosted with Austria. With 52 countries taking part in qualification, each team faced more games than ever before. All the major nations would qualify, bar Steve McClaren’s blundering England, who couldn’t negotiate Group 5. Extra-time ‘silver goals’ were dispensed with. The Swiss were the first to be eliminated from the competition, after defeats by the Czech Republic and Turkey, but they retained some dignity by beating a Deco- and Ronaldo-led Portugal. Lukas Podolski punished the country of his birth by slotting two past the Poles, and though doubts were raised over Germany after a 2-1 defeat by Croatia,…

Michel Platini Country: France DOB: 21/06/1955 European Championship: 1984 1984 Player of the Tournament Gallic midfield maestro At a time when European players were considered more robust and athletic than their South American counterparts, Michel Platini stood out as a man who could caress and cajole a football with the flavours of Rio and Buenos Aires. He had the ability to make a dead ball come alive and directed the French midfield for a decade, conducting play with the inside and outside of both feet. He was voted European Footballer of the Year in 1983, ’84 and ’85, and scored an incredible nine times at Euro 1984 (including two hat-tricks) to help France to victory on home soil. Did you know? Platini scored 41 goals in 72 appearances for his…

1 Patrick Vieira Won three Premier League titles – one unbeaten – and four FA Cups with Arsenal, then went on to play for Juventus and Internazionale. After a brief playing spell with Manchester City, he took a role as development executive at the club. Has since managed New York City in Major League Soccer and was most recently boss of Nice in Ligue 1. 2 Marcel Desailly The Ghana-born midfielder, with an equally distinguished club and international career, surpassed the record number of appearances for his country in April 2003 (104 caps). He went on to make 116 appearances for France, a figure eclipsed by Lilian Thuram at the 2006 World Cup. Desailly opened a sports facility in Ghana in 2011, in memory of his late mother. A Ghana…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 It’s official: there’s never been a better time to be a Wales fan. After waiting an exhausting 57 years to reach a major football tournament, two have come in semi-quick succession. The 2018 World Cup proved beyond them, but they blossomed incredulously at Euro 2016 – winning hearts, minds and seriously difficult football matches – and reaching the semi-finals of the tournament before capitulating to Cristiano Ronaldo’s eventual winners, Portugal. Such miraculous endeavours have given the nation the kind of confidence boost that has made them fearless as opposed to reckless, although they did make hard work of the qualifying phase. Under Ryan Giggs’s stewardship, they started slowly, beating Slovakia 1-0 at the Cardiff City Stadium before losing to both Croatia and Hungary away from home.…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Where do you start when it comes to the Finnish football team of 2019/20? Totally against the odds, a group of largely unknown players have managed to deliver the country its first taste of major tournament action ever, and it’s left football academics and aficionados speechless. Apart from Teemu Pukki at Norwich, Lukáš Hrádecký at Leverkusen, Fredrik Jensen at Augsburg and Jesse Joronen at Brescia, none of the squad draw their salary from a club side in one of the top five European leagues. Yet they have managed to unite a nation behind them. In 2019, Finland’s Prime Minister Antti Rinne gave French President Emmanuel Macron a Finland shirt with Pukki on the back; #PukkiParty became a thing on social media; and during Markku Kanerva’s postmatch…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Austria haven’t really achieved anything of note since the post-WWII era, when they finished third in the 1954 World Cup. They played in their very first UEFA European Championship in 2008 by virtue of being the co-hosts, but only secured one point and scored one goal via a late Ivica Vastić penalty. In fact, it’s been almost 30 years since Austria last recorded a victory at a major finals, when they defeated the USA 2-1 at World Cup ’90. At Euro 2020, the question marks remain. What looked like a simple enough qualifying campaign on paper — in a group that contained Poland, Slovenia, Latvia, North Macedonia and Israel — got more difficult on grass after a home loss to the Poles was followed up by…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Since the country began to represent itself as an independent nation in 1993, Croatia’s record on the international footballing stage has been nothing short of remarkable. They’re not only one of the youngest national teams (since formation) to reach the knockout phase of a major tournament (they came third at World Cup 1998), they’ve managed to remain a persistent and potent force ever since, lodging their best performance in 2018, where they lost in the final 4-2 to France. So how does a country with a meagre population of just over 4 million (that’s 1 million less than Scotland) continue to persevere at the highest echelons of world football? Simple: when one batch of superstars begins to fade, another emerges. And, happily for ‘The Chequered Ones’,…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Ten years ago, La Roja were undisputedly the hottest property in world football, conquering all before them. It’s almost incredulous to think that they’ve now gone three tournaments in a row without winning a knockout game. They were dumped out of World Cup 2018 by a lacklustre Russian side and have dropped to a lowly (for them, at least) world ranking of eighth. However, since that penalty shootout defeat in Moscow, energies have been refocused. They head into Euro 2020 following an extremely successful qualifying campaign, where they topped Group E with eight wins and two draws from their 10 games, scoring 26 goals and claiming 26 points. Impressive stuff for a team in transition. Thankfully for Spain, goals are not hard to come by. With…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Despite being one of the newest national football teams in the world – they formed in 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia – Slovakia have an impressive record: Euro 2020 will be their third major tournament after qualifying for 2010 World Cup and Euro 2016 where they beat Russia, drew 0-0 with England and reached the last 16 to climb to a lofty 14th in the FIFA world rankings, their highest position ever. Fast forward four years and – man-mountain Martin Škrtel aside – the fulcrum of that side remains, its key being effervescent schemer, 33-year-old Marek Hamšík: leader, creator and facilitator supreme. It’s difficult to imagine a successful Slovakia team without Hamšík actually, at least one that is capable of unlocking top-level opposition. Slovakia’s qualifying…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Strange to think that the World Cup holders, and many people’s outright favourites to snatch the European Championship title away from the Portuguese, didn’t make the top seeding pot for Euro 2020. Despite it being their only loss of the entire calendar year, a sensational 2-0 defeat in Turkey in June was enough to demote Les Bleus to the ignominy of Pot Two alongside teams such as Poland, Switzerland and Russia. It meant the French could face an incredibly tough draw that could include Portugal and one of their archrivals for the title. And so it came to be. At Bucharest’s Romexpo Centre, France were drawn in the same group as 2014 winners, Germany (Pot One), and current holders, Portugal (Pot Three), in a coming-together quickly…

Luxembourg provided the biggest upset of the qualifying round when they beat the Dutch 3-2 on aggregate (1-1 and 2-1). They narrowly missed reaching the tournament proper after a three-game marathon against Denmark, the sides finally separated by a goal from the Danish captain, Ole Madsen. Denmark didn’t make a big impression on their arrival in Spain, though. They were swamped by the Soviet Union, doing little to counter a convincing 3-0 scoreline. Spain were pegged back in the 84th minute by an unadventurous Hungary in the other semi-final, after a thumping Jesús María Pereda header had put them 1-0 ahead. But they triumphed in torrid heat when, in the 115th minute, their best forward, Amancio Amaro, scored the winning goal. So to the final at a boisterous Santiago Bernabéu…

Czechoslovakia, Holland, West Germany and Yugoslavia would contest the fifth and last finals to feature only four teams, and the last one for which the host country had to qualify. The home crowd were happy, then, to welcome their heroes into the final four, where they faced current champions West Germany – and, with better finishing, Yugoslavia might have been 5-0 up at half-time. They only went 2-0 up, however, and would regret not adding to that tally. Goals from German substitutes Heinz Flohe and Dieter Müller changed the course of the game and forced extra time to be played. A spent Yugoslav side, bereft of ideas, succumbed to two more Müller strikes in extra time. On the other side of the draw, the elegant Dutch had two players, Johan…

Not one player was sent off during the 1988 tournament, no knock-out games were forced into extra-time or penalties, and at least one goal was scored in every match. West Germany was a success then, but much to the chagrin of the home support it belonged to the dazzling Dutch. With their sublime movement, passing and sheer style echoing the Cruyff-led teams of the 1970s, all lasting memories of the tournament seem to glow Orange, its brightest moments involving the jumping, pumping dreadlocks of Ruud Gullit and the sumptuous bullet boots of Marco van Basten. Lothar Matthäus, if a little keen to con the referee with his theatrics and machinations, dictated much of the German play, and the home crowd had something to cheer as the hosts downed both the…

The 2000 Championship welcomed the Heysel Stadium, now known as the King Badouin Stadium, back into international action. This didn’t help Belgium, though: they exited the tournament at the first hurdle, coming third in Group B behind Turkey and Italy. Spain rescued their tournament by beating Yugoslavia 4-3 after trailing 3-2 going into injury time, while Portugal won all of their group matches, coming back from 2-0 down to beat England 3-2 and wiping the floor with Germany, 3-0, Sérgio Conceição scoring a hat-trick. World champions France lost their final group game to the Dutch, but went through in second place to face Spain in the quarter-finals. Holland, it seemed, peaked too early, failing to score in 120 minutes of their semi-final against Italy, despite being awarded two penalties —…

This tournament was all about the impeccable, possession-heavy, tiki-taka traditions of Vicente del Bosque’s Spain. They averaged 626.3 passes per match, more than any other team, didn’t concede a goal in their last five matches in succession, and maintained an unbeaten run of 12 European Championship finals matches up to and including their 4-0 thrashing of Italy in Kiev, the biggest-winning margin ever recorded in a World Cup or European Championship final. It was a month-long performance of sublime skill and confidence in the face of daft accusations of a boring style, and it was thoroughly deserved. Holland, despite being many people’s favourites, crashed out without picking up a point. Poland became only the second host nation to fail to win a group stage match at the Euros (after Austria…

Helmut Schön 1 The most famous German football manager ever with impeccable taste in flat caps. Under Schön’s stewardship, the West Germany team were World Cup runners-up in 1966, third in the 1970 World Cup, European champions in 1972, World Cup winners in 1974 and European Championship runners-up in 1976. An incredible run from an incredible gaffer. Jupp Derwall 2 After an eight-year apprenticeship under Schön, Derwall moulded his West Germany to be more pragmatic, ruthless and efficient. In a largely forgettable Championship, his 1980 side gloriously beat the Dutch 3-2 in Naples, with one of Derwall’s newbies, Klaus Allofs, grabbing a hat-trick. They later beat Belgium 2-1 in the final. Michel Hidalgo 3 Best remembered for his France team’s impeccable performances on home soil in 1984 and the nurturing…

1 Peter Schmeichel Voted the World’s Best Goalkeeper in 1992 and 1993, Peter Schmeichel captained Manchester United to the Treble in 1999. Scored 12 goals during his career, including one for the national team (a penalty against Belgium in a June 2000 friendly). Now works as a pundit on British and Scandinavian television. His son, Kasper, plays in goal for Leicester City and will represent the Danish national team at Euro 2020. 2 John Jensen Became a Danish legend when he scored the opening goal against Germany in the 1992 final, subsequently earning himself a move to the Premier League to replace David Rocastle at Arsenal. He later began a management career that saw him at Blackburn Rovers, Brøndby and, for a limited period, with his national team. 3 Kim…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Şenol Güneş inherited a side somewhere between unsettled and in total disarray in February 2019, so in many respects it’s a surprise to see them line up at Euro 2020, let alone play in the gala-ridden opening fixture in Rome against Roberto Mancini’s rejuvenated Azzurri. So how did he do it? Well, taking four points off World Champions France didn’t do Turkey’s confidence or points haul any harm. They dominated Les Bleus in the home game, their imperious defence — marshalled with aplomb by Leicester City’s Çağlar Söyüncü — stopping France’s superstars in their tracks. Mistakes from the French allowed Turkey to score both their goals, but the manner in which said mistakes were punished shouldn’t be lost on other teams in Group A. Turkey let…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 In their last three major tournaments, the Swiss have vanquished their group and managed to secure knockout football, becoming renowned as a difficult team — with little enviable history — that give nothing away even to the continent’s biggest sides. Whilst the Swiss have by no means been given an easy task in Euro 2020 — drawn alongside the rejuvenated Italians, bullish Turks and fearless Welsh — Vladimir Petković and his players will in no way be overawed by the opponents on offer in Group A. Switzerland have consistency and experience on their side, you see. The backbone of the squad — Granit Xhaka, Xherdan Shaqiri, Yann Sommer, Ricardo Rodríguez, Fabian Schär and Haris Seferović — have played together for an extended period of time, achieved…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 When you have a squad sprinkled with stardust and not got any trophies to show for it, you are entitled to feel aggrieved and hungry — nay, ravenous — to put things right. With Eden Hazard, Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku and Dries Mertens in their ranks, Belgium have the best group of individuals in their history. They absolutely cruised through qualifying, winning all 10 matches, scoring 40 goals and only conceding three, and currently rank number 1 on FIFA’s auspicious ranking system. It absolutely feels like it’s the Red Devils’ time to shine. It felt like that in 2018 after knocking Brazil out of the World Cup, but a rather meek — certainly by their standards — surrender against France in the semis suggested otherwise.…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 The Oranjemen took victory in the 1988 European Championship, thanks to a stunning Marco van Basten volley and a Ruud Gullit bullet, and have reached three World Cup finals, in 1974, 1978 and 2010. Their illustrious footballing history has illuminated both the stadiums and strategies of the beautiful game. It came as a big surprise then when The Flying Dutchmen not only failed to qualify for Euro 2016 — finishing fourth in their group — but messed up qualification for the World Cup, too. Step forward then the team of 2020. A side hardly awash with the kind of flair and flamboyance befitting of their brilliant orange kit and historic Total Football tag, they’ve made an incredible amount of progress under the tutelage of playing legend…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 North Macedonia played their first official international football match in 1993 following the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and were never really given a chance at reaching a major tournament. This current side has proved the doubters wrong. A single Goran Pandev goal in the Path D play-off final in Tbilisi against Georgia booked their place at Euro 2020, with the recently renamed country’s first ever tournament match due to take place against Austria in Bucharest on 13 June. It’s been quite the journey for the Red Lynxes. After winning the Nations League D group – the fourth and lowest league in the division, containing Armenia, Lichtenstein and Gibraltar – they were assured of a Euro 2020 play-off place. They beat Kosovo 2-1 in the playoff…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 When David Marshall saved Aleksandar Mitrović’s crucial fifth penalty in the play-off final shootout against Serbia, it signalled Scotland’s return to elite international football for the first time since France ’98. Typically, they didn’t make it easy on themselves. Steve Clarke’s side scraped through their first play-off against Israel on spot kicks and, just when you thought Ryan Christie’s goal would ensure a less dramatic passage, a last-ditch Luka Jović header forced extra time. They start their campaign on 14 June at Hampden Park in what appears their most winnable group game versus the Czech Republic. Scotland lost both Nations League meetings against Jaroslav Šilhavý’s side, but will fancy a more positive result in front of raucous support. Next, they travel 400 miles south to face…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Sweden enjoyed their best World Cup campaign since coming third in 1994 when they were ousted from World Cup 2018 by a rejuvenated England team at the quarter-final stage. It represented quite a coup for Blågult (The Blue and Yellow) and gave coach Janne Andersson a solid foundation from which to kickstart this Euro campaign. The renaissance continues unabated two years on, with Sweden finishing comfortably second in their qualifying group, their only loss coming away in Spain. They also won their UEFA Nations League group ahead of Turkey and Russia, gaining promotion from Tier B to Tier A. Small steps sure, but evidence that Andersson’s team are steadily going from strength to strength, building confidence and elevating themselves once again to the esteemed status of…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 Despite knowing they would face perhaps the toughest European Championship group of all time at the finals, Hungary were not deterred, and a dramatic late reprise in their play-off final snatched victory from the Viking minnows of Iceland. With two minutes remaining on the watch and Iceland 1-0 to the good, substitute Loïc Négo pounced on a loose ball to equalise. And four minutes later Dominik Szoboszlai capped a dramatic turnaround – and a quite superlative personal performance – by curling home the winner off the post. In the blink of an eye – but, sadly, in front of zero fans – Hungary had qualified for their second European Championship in a row. But how will Magyarok fare come June? Having their first two games –…

JOURNEY TO EURO 2020 To be German is to understand footballing success. Die Mannschaft are one of the most decorated teams in international competition, having won four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) and three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996), and been runners-up in three Euros and four World Cups. The Germans have qualified for every European Championship tournament, except for the very first European Championship they entered in 1968, and only finished out of the top eight on two occasions, in 2000 and 2004. The other 10 times have seen Nationalelf reach the semi-final stage at the very least. Oh, and they’re the only national team to have won both the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Decent legacy, then. So are the 2020 team ready…

Along with a change in format came a change of name, from the European Nations Cup to the European Championship. Qualifying groups were introduced, with teams visiting each other’s home ground. Those who finished top of their league qualified for the finals. An exciting qualifying round resulted in a semi-final line-up of England v Yugoslavia and Italy vs USSR. England, World Cup winners two years earlier, were so confident they played a friendly against West Germany four days before the semifinal and then travelled to Italy. There, Dragan Džajić earned his nickname ‘Magic Dragan’ by tearing the English defence to shreds (after Alan Mullery had been sent off). England restored some pride in the third-place play-off by beating the USSR 3-0. Nearly 70,000 fans turned out in Naples to see…

Could a decade of dominance by West Germany culminate in a third consecutive European Championship final? Jupp Derwall’s team had a young nucleus at Italy 1980, driven by 20-year-old Bernd Schuster and European Footballer of the Year Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, and though not expected to conquer, Die Mannschaft again refused to be denied. The tournament format had changed: there were now two groups of four teams who would play each other in a round-robin format. The winners of the groups would go straight to the final (there were no semi-finals), while the runners-up contested third place. West Germany faced the holders Czechoslovakia first, in front of a disappointing 10,500-strong crowd in Rome’s Olympic Stadium, winning 1-0. Their second match, against the Dutch, was more entertaining, with Schuster having a hand in…

Pre-tournament, it was difficult to look beyond the usual contenders, but 1992 produced one of the great underdog stories in football history. Despite booking their passage to Sweden 1992, Yugoslavia would leave behind a country torn by war and atrocity. To show the world’s disapproval, the United Nation’s Security Council imposed sanctions on Serbia, which resulted in the disqualification of the Yugoslav team. Denmark would take their place — and to some effect. Grouped with England, France and Sweden, they scraped through after beating the French 2-1 in their final group game, thanks to a 78thminute strike from Lars Elstrup. Against reigning champions Holland in the semi-finals, the Danes played with more freedom, going ahead early through Henrik Larsen, who also regained the lead after Dennis Bergkamp had equalised. They…

So to 2004 and one of the greatest upsets in sporting history. As usual, the pretournament hype surrounded major European nations: which of the giants would win the title and who among their teeming ranks would be the tournament’s stand-out star? No one could really have imagined what would transpire, as Otto Rehhaggel’s men not only beat the hosts, Portugal, in their opening game, in front of nearly 50,000 spectators in Porto, but did it again in front of nearly 63,000 in the final in Lisbon. Along the way, they disposed of the Czech Republic and France. They may not have been the most exciting team in Euro history — or even in the tournament for that matter — but the resilient Greeks played to their strengths, frustrated then dismantled…

Football is a team game full of great individuals, the truly great ones being able to drag the collective to the biggest accolades on the back of their talent and determination. Cristiano Ronaldo’s intentions were clear from the start of Euro 2016: he had 30 shots in his three group games, which was more than eight entire countries: Albania (29), Czech Republic (26), Slovakia (26), Turkey (26), Italy (25), Iceland (23), Sweden (23) and Northern Ireland (17). Portugal failed to win a match — the only eventual winners not to win a group game — but qualified with three draws to progress. A slightly unusual path to the final saw them overcome Luka Modrićs Croatia 1-0, beat a rejuvenated Poland on penalties — including shootout heroics from Rui Patrício —…

1 Ruud Gullit The first and, to date, only Dutch captain to have held aloft international silverware, Gullit later had a much-publicised tactical spat with coach Dick Advocaat that forced him to quit the international scene. His return in May 1994 was shortlived and, after another dispute with Advocaat, he walked out of a pre-World Cup 1994 training camp and away from his Holland career forever. Had spells as a manager of Chelsea, Newcastle and Feyenoord before becoming a respected pundit. Coined the phrase ‘sexy football’ during his spell as a BBC analyst for Euro ’96. 2 Jan Wouters The Dutch engine room motored on for eight more years after 1988, finishing his playing career at PSV and notoriously fracturing Paul Gascoigne’s cheekbone during a 1993 World Cup qualifier. Recently…

Ryan Giggs 1 Captain of England schoolboys, Giggs didn’t qualify for the full team because of Welsh grandparents and the fact he was born in Cardiff. It must be of some relief then that he will get the chance to walk out in a major footballing tournament for the first time in Euro 2020 as the manager of his beloved Wales. His chance to leave a mark has come at last. DavidGinola 2 As common a feature of football as any is that of the French national side squabbling. Unfortunately, as in Ginola’s case, these fractions all too often result in the omission of some of their finest talent. After a falling out with Gérard Houllier over France’s failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup, the French wizard saw…