50 Euros- shattering moments
From golden goals to tear gas, bum- wiping to sponsored pants, there’s been drama every time
1 LORD BENDTNER THROWS A PADDY ( 2012)
Nicklas Bendtner was never the shy and retiring type, so it wasn’t a huge surprise when the then- Arsenal striker got himself into trouble at Euro 2012 for divulging his drawers. The act of revealing his underwear – when celebrating a goal in Denmark’s 3- 2 defeat to Portugal – would probably have been forgiven, had his waistband not been adorned with the logo of bookmakers Paddy Power. UEFA fined Bendtner € 100,000, but his sponsors happily picked up the tab and the publicity baton, calling the punishment “hysterical and deeply cynical”. Nevertheless, the flamboyant frontman was banned for the first game of Denmark’s 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign as a result. Now that is pants.
2 DOMENECH’S INDECENT PROPOSAL ( 2008)
Shrugging enigmatically in the face of adversity is superbly French behaviour, and Bleus coach Raymond Domenech pulled off a humdinger after their defeat to Italy at Euro 2008. Asked live on national TV if he’d consider resignation after France’s shoddy finish at the bottom of Group C, he simply purred, “I have only one plan – to marry Estelle... and it is only this evening that I ask for her hand in marriage... I need her.” Touché, Raymond – the interviewer didn’t know whether to continue his grilling or offer hearty congratulations. Mademoiselle Estelle Denis was less impressed: although the two remain together – Domenech 69, Denis 44 – they still haven’t tied the knot.
3 RACE ROW TURNS ORANJE TO A PULP ( 1996)
A tabloid photo of black players and white players sitting apart at the lunch table sparked rumours of “racial cliques” within an already unsettled Dutch camp. The team’s listless displays – they were eliminated by France in the last eight when Suriname- born Clarence Seedorf missed a penalty and Edgar Davids was sent home by Guus Hiddink – added fuel to the fire. Davids and Seedorf both subsequently claimed it was a row about age against youth, with regards to pay. Whatever the specifics, it was clearly still a sore subject in 2010, when Davids refused to talk about it in an FFT interview.
4 PORTUGAL LOSE THEIR SHIRT ( 2000)
There’s no shame in being undone by Zinedine Zidane at the peak of his powers, but it was enough for Portugal to collectively lose the plot as they maniacally berated the officials in their Brussels semi- final. As Abel Xavier’s goal- line handball was spotted by the linesman and Zizou scored the golden- goal penalty, they embarked on a mass protest that resulted in Nuno Gomes being sent off and banned for eight months, Paulo Bento for six and Xavier himself for nine. Gomes later clarified: “I didn’t throw my shirt at the ref – I wanted to give it to him so that every time he looked at it, he’d remember what he did to our nation.” That’s all right then.
5 JIMMY JUMPS INTO LUIS FIGO’S BAD BOOKS ( 2004)
Serial event- ruiner Jimmy Jump may have become tiresome with his antics – over time, his ‘ highlights’ included splashing into a water polo pool, storming the Eurovision stage and, uh, invading a Hungarian weather forecast – but there was genuine shock and a certain artistry to the Catalan’s headline- making debut at the Euro 2004 Final in Lisbon, between Portugal and Greece. He tossed a Barça flag into the face of a miffed Luis Figo – who, years earlier, had left the Catalan club to join Real Madrid – and then emphatically scored a mazy ‘ human goal’ in his trademark red hat, before being roughly hauled off by security.
6 VAN BASTEN GOES FROM SUB TO SUPERSTAR ( 1988)
He finished it with perhaps the finest goal the tournament has ever seen: a perfect dipping volley from an acute angle as Arnold Muhren’s deep cross dropped from the heavens. What few will remember, though, is that Marco van Basten actually began Euro 88 warming the Dutch bench. But after the Netherlands lost their opening group game to the USSR – whom they later beat in the final – Van Basten destroyed England with a hat- trick in the next match and slid home an 88th- minute winner against hosts and bitter rivals West Germany in the semis. But, after Ruud Gullit’s headed opener, he saved his best for last.
7 LA ROJA SCARE ( 1960)
Spain had European glory in their sights in 1960, with Luis Suarez in their ranks alongside Alfredo Di Stefano ( representing his third different national team) and Laszlo Kubala ( ditto). Only the USSR stood in their way of reaching the inaugural tournament in France. What Spain didn’t expect was their own dictator, General Franco, pulling the plug. The Spanish Civil War had ended 21 years earlier but Franco was always one to hold a grudge, and he refused to let either his countrymen go to Moscow nor those pesky communists into Spain. Not that the Soviets cared, as they were handed a bye to join the Eastern Bloc party – the final four comprised themselves, the hosts, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia – before going on to win the thing. Gracias!
8 DENMARK’S UNLUCKY BREAK ( 1984)
They beat England in qualification, boasted genuine stars in Preben Elkjaer, Frank Arnesen and teenage sensation Michael Laudrup, and tormented Yugoslavia and Belgium in high- scoring group wins before being nudged out by Spain in the semis. So, imagine what might have been had the ‘ red and white Danish dynamite’ not lost Allan Simonsen to a broken leg in their opening defeat to France. As one key man, Michel Platini, inspired the hosts to glory, another could only ruminate on his misfortune.
9 WORLD, MEET WAZZA ( 2004)
Before 2002, nobody knew what a metatarsal was. Soon, they were dashing English dreams. After David Beckham hurt one ahead of the World Cup, it was Wayne Rooney’s turn two years later – this, after the 18- year- old looked as if he was going to fire the Three Lions to success almost single- handedly. He ran France ragged in the opening game before Zinedine Zidane’s late show, then scored twice against Switzerland and twice against Croatia, and was just starting to put Figo, Ronaldo & Co to the sword in the quarter- finals when the dreaded fracture struck. Wazza went off, England lost on penalties... but an international star had been born.
10 ENGLAND’S OTHER TEARS IN TURIN ( 1980)
While England and Belgium fought out a 1- 1 draw on the pitch – Ray Wilkins’ delightful lob was cancelled out three minutes later by a Jan Ceulemans half- volley – the real action was taking place on the terraces. Trouble erupted in the Stadio Comunale between English hooligans and Italian supporters who cheered Belgium’s equaliser, leading to Italian police firing tear gas into the crowd. It held up play for five minutes and temporarily blinded England keeper Ray Clemence. The match proved to be an accurate barometer of the nation’s state: ‘ the English disease’ would spread across Europe over the next decade, and Ron Greenwood’s men were eliminated in the group stage.
11 THE GREATEST TEAM THAT NEVER WAS ( 1992)
It was May 30, 1992 when UN Security Council Resolution 757 officially banned Yugoslavia from Euro 92, but the writing had been on the wall for the Plavi once civil war broke out in 1991. Ivica Osim’s team had romped to qualification, and with the their 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship- winning side providing the bulk of the team, Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinecki, Dejan Savicevic, Predrag Mijatovic, Darko Pancev and the rest were tipped for big things in ’ 92. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Their place was taken by Denmark, who rather made the most of it.
12 CRUYFF’S ORANJE SEE A LOT OF RED ( 1976)
The European Championship in 1976 would be Johan Cruyff’s last international tournament, but he couldn’t sign off in style. The semi- final against Czechoslovakia looked to be there for the taking when the Dutch were level at 1- 1 with an extra man, yet they somehow contrived to lose. First, Johan Neeskens was sent off, then a booking for Cruyff meant he would miss the final. So, when the Czechs scored in extra time after one of a million( ish) fouls on Cruyff went unnoticed, midfielder Wim van Hanegem refused to take the restart and won a red card for his troubles.
13 RONNIE’S ROCKET NOT ENOUGH ( 1988)
“It was stupendous,” barked Jack Charlton. Even the normally modest Ronnie Whelan, scorer of an Exocet volley against the Soviet Union,
admitted that his 25- yard missile was “pretty damned good”. The legions of green- clad
Ireland fans had partied long and hard after Ray Houghton’s header beat
England, and now they looked on with pride as Charlton’s men grabbed a 1- 1 draw with the much- fancied Soviets. Hearts were broken a few days later by a late Wim Kieft header but, unlike their larger neighbours from across the Irish Sea, at least they made was a glorious exit.
14
“I was delighted to meet such an important man,” said Oliver Bierhoff without a shred of Teutonic irony after being rewarded for scoring the European Championship’s first golden goal – in the 1996 Final – by getting to shake the hand of, er, John Major. The Chelsea- supporting Prime Minister almost witnessed an upset at Wembley after the Czech Republic – who were comfortably beaten by the Germans in their opening group game – took the lead through Patrik Berger’s
59th- minute penalty. But Bierhoff, reportedly named in Germany’s squad on the recommendation of coach Berti Vogts’ wife, headed home the equaliser just minutes after coming on as a substitute, then squeezed home the sudden- death winner in extra time.
Franco = booooo; hooligans = hiss; tear gas = ow; Paul = yum; Italy’s Facchetti = lucky Trust Pep to always be on top of things And so Slavisa Jokanovic’s game against Spain ended about as well as his Fulham reign did Bierhoff: Major fan 15
How did a cephalopod cause such a kerfuffle? The psychic powers of the Oberhausen- based critter have never been explained, but the facts remain: Paul the Octopus correctly predicted four of Germany’s six Euro 2008 results by strategically eating a mussel ( he then scored – appropriately for an octopus – a perfect eight in South Africa at odds of 256- 1, ensuring Spain weren’t alone in winning both tournaments). He passed away in October 2010, but his legacy remains: Slovenia’s Eurovision judge performed a Paul pastiche, he inspired
BIERHOFF’S GOLDEN HANDSHAKE ( 1996)
OCTOPUS RINGS TRUE ( 2008)
17 HEADS YOU LOSE ( 1968)
The next time you hear penalties being called “a lottery”, tell that cliché- spouting simpleton about the 1968 semi- final between Italy and the Soviet Union. Extra time played, the score still 0- 0 – how else to settle things than with a coin toss? “The two captains went down to the dressing rooms, the referee pulled out an old coin and I called tails,” recalled Giacinto Facchetti, skipper of an Italian side that finished “with nine and a half men” due to injuries. The call being right – tails never fails – Facchetti ran back onto the pitch to tell a waiting 70,000- strong crowd which country would be in the final of a major international tournament, which must have been a really satisfying conclusion for the Soviet supporters. Penalty shootouts were introduced not long after – scant comfort for the losers, left to rue their failure to bring a double- headed coin.