历届欧洲杯回顾

By Bill Edgar

2000




HOSTS: Holland/Belgium
WINNERS: France
ENGLAND REACHED A nadir in the Low Countries. In a stunningly poor campaign,
they were lucky to beat Germany and somehow escaped with narrow defeats by
Portugal and Romania. They were arguably the worst of the 16 teams on show.

Yet England were five minutes away from reaching the quarter-finals when Ioan
Ganea scored Romania’s winner with a penalty conceded by Phil Neville.
Still, the 1-0 win over Germany brought some joy, Alan Shearer scoring.

Despite England’s efforts, it was a thoroughly entertaining tournament, with
Spain’s group match against Yugoslavia the highlight. Needing to win to
reach the quarter-finals, Spain trailed 3-2 at the start of stoppage time but
won 4-3. Yugoslavia still qualified, but they lost another seven-goal
encounter in the quarter-finals, this time 6-1 against Holland.

Belgium became the first hosts not to reach the last four when Turkey edged
them out in the race for the quarter-finals. In the last eight, though,
Turkey were no match for Portugal.

Predictably, Italy did not join in the celebration of attacking football.
Their tedious approach was epitomised by the goalless draw against Holland in
their semi-final, after which they won on penalties.

In the other semi-final, Zinedine Zidane produced one of the great individual
displays in helping France to beat Portugal, who disgraced themselves with
violent and groundless protests about the award of the golden-goal penalty.

Italy were slightly more enterprising in the final and would have won had
Sylvain Wiltord not equalised for France in stoppage time. David Trezeguet
completed the comeback by volleying the golden-goal winner to turn the World
Cup holders of 1998 into the European champions of 2000.



1996

HOSTS: England
WINNERS: Germany


FOOTBALL CAME HOME and headed straight to the bedroom for a snooze in a dull
tournament. Fortunately, its reputation was saved in this country by the fact
that England staged it and performed well.

An expansion to 16 teams meant that the top two in the four groups advanced
to the quarter-finals. England feared an early exit when they drew 1-1
against Switzerland but then, in a low-key and little-hyped game, they beat
Scotland 2-0 as David Seaman saved a penalty from Gary McAllister and Paul
Gascoigne scored a remarkable solo goal.

A 4-1 thrashing of Holland suggested that England might win the trophy and
they reached the last four by beating Spain on penalties after a goalless
draw. Then it was Italia 90 revisited: play brilliantly against the Germans
in the semi-final but lose on penalties after a 1-1 draw. This time Gareth
Southgate erred from the spot.

Scotland had drawn with Holland and beaten Switzerland but the Dutch edged
through to the last eight, where they lost to France on penalties after a
goalless draw. The Czech Republic surprisingly beat Italy to a place in the
quarter-finals, where they defeated Portugal 1-0 before also seeing off
France on penalties after a goalless draw (pattern becoming familiar?).

Germany’s 2-1 win over the Czech Republic had a logical and geographical
explanation: 1976 final, Czechoslovakia beat West Germany; 1996 final,
Czechoslovakia minus Slovakia lose to West Germany plus East Germany.

Oliver Bierhoff’s golden goal summed up the tournament. His deflected,
mis-hit shot was fumbled into the net by Petr Kouba, the goalkeeper. The
referee took a minute or so to consult a linesman who had flagged for
offside, by which time the pitch was swamped by celebrating Germans and to
disallow the goal would have been too complicated.



1992


HOSTS: Sweden
WINNERS: Denmark



ENGLAND MANAGED DRAWS WITH Denmark — the tournament winners — and France,
while losing narrowly against Sweden, the hosts. Respectable enough?
Unfortunately not, it seems. When deciding whether Graham Taylor was animal,
vegetable or mineral, The Sun ruled out animal and mineral.

It has been forgotten, though, that its headline, “Swedes 2, Turnips 1”,
implies the players were also allotment material, not just the manager, whose
head was superimposed on to a turnip. Thus Gary Lineker was effectively being
thrown on the compost heap when his last England appearance ended with his
being substituted by Alan Smith.

England’s goalless draw against France featured a headbutt by Basile Boli on
Stuart Pearce that drew blood and the latter’s refusal to kick up a fuss
hinted at a secret pact between the hard men of international football. The
opening match against Denmark had produced no goals and no blood.

The failure by England to provide style against Denmark might have been
caused by sand on the pitch. At least one would assume there was sand, given
that every report claimed Denmark’s holidaying players were dragged off the
beaches to compete at late notice when civil war prevented Yugoslavia’s
participation.

In the other group, Scotland beat the CIS, a new and temporary name for the
Soviet Union, but lost to Holland and Germany. While the Germans beat Sweden
3-2 in one semi-final, the other saw Denmark overcome the Dutch on penalties.

In the final, John Jensen deceived Arsenal fans into thinking he might score
regularly for them when he supplied the opening goal for Denmark against
Germany, before Kim Vilfort made it 2-0. Peter Schmeichel became a world star
and references to Danish fairytales and Hans Christian Andersen became
obligatory.



1988

HOSTS: West Germany
WINNERS: Holland


IT WAS ENGLAND’S OPENING MATCH of a finals campaign, so they must have been
playing Ireland — they also did so two years later at the World Cup. Sadly,
they were beaten by an early goal from Ray Houghton, an English-based Scot.
It was a big shock, as Bobby Robson’s team had strolled through the
qualifiers.

Matters deteriorated when they lost 3-1 to a Holland side for whom Marco van
Basten scored a hat-trick, including one goal where he eased past Tony Adams,
guaranteeing the Arsenal defender several years of donkey chants at English
stadiums. A 3-1 defeat by the Soviet Union finished off England.

Ireland, meanwhile, established a pattern for tournament finals under Jack
Charlton of achieving great results while providing almost no goals and
absolutely no entertainment. They drew 1-1 with the Soviets and lost 1-0 to
Holland, whose late goal eliminated the Irish.

The Dutch had built their best side since the 1970s, when they had been
runners-up in the 1974 World Cup in West Germany, and their return to the
country began badly when they lost 1-0 to the Soviet Union. But their double
dismissal of British Isles opposition set up a semi-final against the hosts
that they won 2-1, with a late goal by Van Basten.

The much-fancied Italy, for whom Gianluca Vialli became known to England
fans, beat Denmark and Spain in the group stages but lost to the Soviet Union
2-0 in the semi-finals.

Having started the tournament on the bench, Van Basten obviously felt the
need to prove himself at every opportunity and his spectacular goal in the
final, when he met a long ball by volleying home from a tight angle, gave him
immortality. Ruud Gullit had set Holland on the way to avenging their
opening-match defeat to the Soviets by scoring with a header.



1984


HOSTS: France
WINNERS: France


IN THE QUALIFYING MATCHES, England beat Luxembourg 9-0 with Luther Blissett
having several chances and scoring a hat-trick on his second international
appearance. The forward sat down proudly at the breakfast table the following
morning and read the headline “Luther Missett”.

The papers again showed generosity and shrewd judgment when England failed to
reach the finals, lambasting Bobby Robson, England’s buffoon of a manager.
Coincidentally, England must have appointed two different Bobby Robsons to
lead them in the 1980s, because the second one was acknowledged as being
among this country’s greatest managers.

In Spain’s final qualifying match, they led Malta 3-1 at half-time, still
needing nine more goals to make the finals. So they won 12-1, naturally, and
went on to play their part in one of the great international tournaments.

The finals again featured eight teams, but the Uefa doctrine that formats
should be changed as many times as possible was satisfied by the introduction
of semi-finals in preference to moving directly from the group phase to the
final.

Spain drew with Romania and Portugal before beating West Germany 1-0 in the
final group game with a last-minute header by Antonio Maceda, a result that
sent them through and the Germans out.

In the other section, France won all three games, including a 5-0 thrashing
of Belgium, before beating Portugal 3-2 in a semi-final classic in which John
Motson’s “Platini . . . goal!” reached a peak of hysteria that he has
never matched since.

Spain beat Denmark on penalties in the other semi-final but lost the final
2-0 to the hosts in Paris, despite the French having a man sent off.

The awesome midfield of the champions included Jean Tigana, the future Fulham
manager, who showed that he could handle top-class football without the aid
of his toothpick.




1982


HOSTS: Italy
WINNERS: West Germany


THE FINALS WERE EXPANDED TO EIGHT teams and Uefa did what they like doing
more than anything else: they introduced a group system. The tournament was
held in Italy, and the hosts gained automatic entry for the first time. Given
that their three games produced just one goal, it was just as well the
Italians were not allowed to spread tedium around Europe by taking part in a
qualifying group.

Many might also have wished England had not played in the finals. Crowd
trouble marred their match in Turin against Belgium, during which tear gas
was fired by police and the teams left the field for a while.

It was England’s first finals tournament in ten years, and they qualified in
style under Ron Greenwood, winning seven and drawing one of their eight
matches on the way. Ray Wilkins scored a fine goal in a 1-1 draw with
Belgium, but a 1-0 defeat to Italy meant their 2-1 win over Spain in their
last game was of no consequence. Trevor Brooking and Tony Woodcock were the
scorers.

Goalless draws for Italy against Belgium and Spain meant it was the Belgians
who, as group winners, reached the final. In the other group, West Germany
won the decisive match against Holland, Klaus Allofs scoring a hat-trick. The
Germans also beat Czechoslovakia 1-0 to gain revenge for their defeat in the
1976 final, and their goalless draw with Greece, making a surprise appearance
at the finals, did not matter.

In the final, West Germany beat Belgium 2-1, with Horst Hrubesch scoring
early before Rene Vandereycken levelled for Belgium with a penalty.

Hrubesch then scored a late winner, ensuring there would be no chants of “
What a load of Hrubesch”.



1976


WALES WERE THE ONLY home nation to reach the quarter-finals, winning a group
that included Hungary, Austria and Luxembourg, before they remembered their
normal role of unlucky, gallant losers just in time.

Needing to beat Yugoslavia to reach the final stages, which would be hosted
by their opponents, they lost 2-0 in the away leg but missed a penalty in
drawing 1-1 in the return match in Cardiff.

Malcolm Macdonald scored all of the goals in England’s 5-0 win at home to
Cyprus but, sadly for Don Revie’s side, Kevin Keegan’s footballing life was
due a grumpy walkout, and it duly came mid-tournament. He was persuaded to
return for the match away to Czechoslovakia, but, perhaps lacking in team
spirit, England lost 2-1 and their conquerors progressed.

Holland hammered Belgium in the quarter-finals, a reminder of their Total
Football at the World Cup two years earlier, but their Total Fouls approach
in the semi-final against Czechoslovakia proved less effective. Two Dutchmen
were dismissed and they lost 3-1.

West Germany entered the tournament as world and European champions, while
Bayern Munich had won the past three European Cups, and they duly eased into
the semi-finals.

There, however, they trailed 2-0 at half-time to Yugoslavia before Dieter
Muller enjoyed a mildly satisfactory international debut by scoring a late
equaliser and going on to complete a hat-trick in extra time as his side won
4-2.

In the final, the Germans had again fallen 2-0 behind by half-time, but Bernd
Holzenbein levelled in the final minute. The score remained 2-2 throughout
extra time, and the first seven penalties of the shoot-out were successful
before Uli Hoeness missed for West Germany.

Antonin Panenka then chipped home the deciding kick for Czechoslovakia, one
of the most glorious sights in English football history.






1972



HOSTS: Belgium
WINNERS: West Germany


UNLIKE 1968, THE HOME International Championship was not used as a qualifying
group, so England had to see off Switzerland, Greece and Malta in their
group. At that point they were evicted from the competition, or rather, drawn
to face West Germany in the quarter-finals.

German dismay at losing the 1966 World Cup final to England launched a
30-year revenge mission, and their 3-1 win at Wembley in the first leg,
inspired by Günter Netzer, was sufficient, with the return in Berlin ending
goalless. None of the other three home nations progressed beyond the group
phase.

Holland scored 14 goals without reply in two qualifiers against Luxembourg,
but they were beaten to a place in the quarter-finals by Yugoslavia, who in
turn lost to the Soviet Union. It was the fourth European Championship
semi-final in four attempts for the Soviets, who then reached the final by
beating Hungary 1-0.

Italy, World Cup runners-up two years earlier, beat Ireland in both group
meetings on their way to the quarter-finals, where they met Belgium, who were
staging the semi-finals and final. A determination to attend their own party
had helped the host nation of every European Championship tournament so far
to reach the semi-finals, and Belgium were able to maintain this record,
beating the Italians 2-1 on aggregate.

However, West Germany outplayed Belgium in the last four, Gerd Müller
scoring twice in a 2-1 win. Müller maintained his form in the final, scoring
two in the 3-0 victory over the Soviet Union. In the 11 European
Championships played, this was the only time that the winning team did not
score two goals on their way to victory in the final, although Italy needed a
replay to beat Yugoslavia 2-0 in 1968 after the first game ended 1-1.


1968


HOSTS: Italy
WINNERS: Italy



THE QUALIFICATION TOURNAMENT began to resemble that of the World Cup, with 31
teams divided into eight groups, the winners of which competed in
home-and-away quarter-finals before the last four teams advanced to play in
Italy.

Two birds were killed with one stone when the Home International Championship
doubled up as a qualification group. Scotland beat England, the World Cup
holders, 3-2 at Wembley and claimed that they were therefore the real world
champions, in which case their subsequent defeat in Belfast meant that
Northern Ireland were the genuine world champions, a logical progression that
was not picked up on in Scotland.

In any case, England won the group and then beat Spain in the quarter-finals
to set up a last-four meeting with Yugoslavia. Sadly, England lost 1-0 and
Alan Mullery managed to become the first England player to be sent off, no
mean feat in the days when stabbing an opponent with the corner flag would
normally warrant only a stern talking-to from the referee.

West Germany, still smarting from Geoff Hurst’s hat-trick at Wembley,
finally played in their first European Championship, but it was all over in
the group stages when Albania held them to a goalless draw that allowed
Yugoslavia to advance.

Italy made it to the final by the toss of a coin after a goalless draw
against the Soviet Union. This method of splitting teams may have seemed
bizarre to the losers, but to Italy, a footballing nation renowned for
bribery, it was no big deal to advance thanks to the use of cash behind the
scenes.

Yugoslavia took the lead in the final, but Italy made the final score 1-1
before winning a replay 2-0.





1964



HOSTS: Spain
WINNERS: Spain



ENTRY ROSE FROM 17 TO 28 TEAMS and England deigned to take part, but they
were promptly thrashed by France in the first round. They lost the second leg
away from home 5-2, a sure sign that the new manager, Alf Ramsey, was not up
to running an international team.

Scotland were still snubbing the tournament, but Northern Ireland beat Poland
before losing to Spain only by the odd goal on aggregate, while Wales were
knocked out by Hungary. Ireland defeated Iceland, but in the quarter-finals
they were eliminated by Spain.

Greece pulled out after being drawn against Albania, with whom they had
officially been at war for 50 years. Since both teams had officially been
poor for 50 years, it made little difference to the tournament.

West Germany again refused to take part, but Italy joined in, only to be
beaten by the Soviet Union in the second round. The fact that Holland were
yet to establish themselves as a force was illustrated by their elimination
by Luxembourg, 3-2 on aggregate, both games being played in Holland. Given
the propensity for unrest in the Dutch camp, imagine the infighting after
those results.

Denmark needed three games to overcome Luxembourg in the quarter-finals and
were predictably crushed 3-0 by the Soviets in the semi-final in Barcelona.
In the other semi-final, Hungary equalised with six minutes left against
Spain only to lose 2-1 in extra time.

Thus the final pitted Spain, the hosts, against the USSR, who had the perfect
opportunity to repay the Spanish for their snub of four years earlier.
However, the Kremlin must have been too wrapped up with the space race to
notice what was happening on Earth and it missed the chance to score
political points by withdrawing. The lapse was punished as Spain won 2-1.




1960


HOSTS: France
WINNERS: Soviet Union



ENGLAND, AS ALWAYS BRAVELY AT the forefront of innovation and experiment,
declined to enter — mirroring their scepticism in the early days of the
World Cup and European Cup — while the other three home nations, Italy and
West Germany also refused to take part.

Ireland did join in but lost to Czechoslovakia in a preliminary match that
reduced the 17-strong field to


16, at which point the knockout competition began. Ties in the first two
rounds were decided over two legs, home and away, before the one-off
semi-finals and final were held in France, who had come up with the idea of
the European Nations Cup, as it was known at first.

Despite hosting the final stages, France still had to endure the
inconvenience of qualifying, which they did easily by beating Greece and
Austria. Czechoslovakia reached the last four by seeing off Denmark and
Romania, while Yugoslavia’s path featured wins over Bulgaria and Portugal.

The Soviet Union beat Hungary in the first round and had a bye in the
quarter-finals; Spain refused to play them on political grounds, with General
Franco no doubt wanting to take a moral stand against Moscow’s lack of
democracy.

Without Just Fontaine, leading goalscorer at the 1958 World Cup finals,
France still managed to lead Yugoslavia 4-2 with 15 minutes left, but their
opponents recovered to win 5-4. In Marseilles, the Soviet Union, inspired by
Lev Yashin, their goalkeeper, beat Czechoslovakia 3-0.

With France out, fewer than 18,000 people bothered to attend the final, in
which Yugoslavia took an early lead over the Soviets but conceded an
equaliser. A match controlled by Arthur Ellis, referee on It’s a Knockout,
went to extra time before the Soviet Union doubled their goal tally to attain
a 2-1 winning lead on the last blast of Ellis’s whistle.
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