Euro Championship A to Z: From Antonin Penenka to Theo Zagarakis, your guide to tournaments gone by
Our A to Z of the Euros will whet your appetite for this summer's competition, which kicks off next week
EURO 2016 is nearly here.
The rain is somewhat abating, the beers are on ice and the inevitable penalty heartbreak is just round the corner.
SunSport is excited — and we’ve put together an A to Z of everything EURO to get you in the spirit.
A is for ANTONIN PANENKA
IT IS the penalty of choice for football’s fancy-dans these days but this is the man who did it first when he dinked Czechoslovakia to victory in a shootout in the 1976 final against West Germany.
Pele saw it and said Panenka was “either a genius or a madman.”
We prefer the former.
B is for BECKENBAUER
FRANZ ‘DER KAISER’ BECKENBAUER was the greatest German player of all time and the skipper of the West German team that breezed their way to glory in 1972.
That was just a year after he had taken over as captain.
In years to come, German legend Uli Hoeness would describe
Beckenbauer’s side as “the best German team ever” and when they added the World Cup title two years later, it was hard to disagree.
C is for CUP
THE NEW Henri Delaunay Cup was first awarded in 2008 when Spain won the title.
Made by Asprey, London, it’s bigger and heavier than its predecessor and weighs in at 8kg and stands 60cm tall. It’s also got a wider base to support the extra weight.
Shame Wayne Rooney’s never going to lift it.
D is for DENMARK
THE DANES were last-minute replacements for disqualified Yugoslavia in 1992 but against all the odds they went all the way to the final.
They beat the red-hot favourites Germany in the final, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from John Jensen and Kim Vilfort.
E is for EURO
IT WAS at the European Championships in England in 1996 that the abbreviated name ‘Euro’ was first used.
Euro 1996 was also the first tournament where 16 teams entered the finals, where three points were awarded for a win in the group stages and where a team of the tournament was announced during the event, rather than being compiled retrospectively.
F is for FRANCE
FRANCE are never stronger than when they’re on their own patch.
Famously, they won the World Cup on home soil in 1998 and now Didier Deschamps has assembled a squad of rare quality with the likes of Pogba, Griezmann, Payet, Matuidi and Varane all set to take Les Bleus a long way.
They’re not tournament favourites for nothing.
G is for GREECE
GREECE’s victory in the 2004 event was arguably the biggest ever shock in international tournament football.
What made it all the more remarkable was that they had only qualified for two major tournaments in their history but still beat the likes of France, the Czech Republic and the hosts Portugal in the final to become champions.
They also became the first team in Euros history to beat the holders France and the hosts in the same event.
H is for HENRI DELAUNAY
THE FOUNDING father of the European Championship and the man that the trophy is named after.
Delaunay actually came up with the idea for the tournament as far back as 1927 but it didn’t get off the ground until 1960 – five years after his death.
I is for ITALY
THEY MAY be the second most successful team in World Cup history but Italy have only ever won the European Championship once (in 1968) when they beat Yugoslavia in a replay.
They made the final four years ago, of course, but they were hammered 4-0 by Spain. They’ll be looking to put that right this time around.
J is for JOSE VILLALONGA
HAVING become the youngest coach to win the European Cup when he won it with Real Madrid in 1956, Llorente switched his attention to the national side.
He won the 1964 European Championship on home soil by beating the Soviet Union 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
K is for KAREL POBORSKY
NOT because of his unique hairstyle, that’s just a bonus.
But because of the ridiculous goal he scored for the Czech Republic against Portugal at Euro 1996 when he picked up the ball 40 yards out, beat a handful of players and then scooped the ball over advancing Victor Baia from just inside the area.
His performances at Euro 96 even won him a move to Manchester United but he never really hit the heights at Old Trafford and moved on to Benfica in 1998.
L is for LE CARRE MAGIGUE
OR ‘The Magic Square’.
This was the name given to France’s sensational midfield quartet of Luis Fernandez, Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana and the marvellous Michel Platini that swept Les Bleus to victory in 1984.
Midfields don’t get any better than this.
M is for MICHEL PLATINI
THE STANDOUT player at the 1984 tournament, French skipper Michel Platini became the first player in the history of the European Championships to score in each and every game of France’s victorious campaign.
He scored nine goals in five games that year – a record that still stands to this day.
N is for NINE-GOAL THRILLER
IT WAS the semi-final in the 1960 tournament and it defied belief.
Hosts France had roared into a 4-2 lead by the 62 nd minute and seemed set fair for the final but a 75 th minute goal by Tomislav Knez and last-gasp brace from Drazan Jerkovic snatched the game for the outsiders and stunned the home nation.
The best game in the history of the European Championship? Quite possibly.
O is for OTTO REHHAGEL
THE FIRST foreign coach of a European Championship winning nation.
German coach Rehhagel left behind his managerial career in the Bundesliga and, after coaching Dortmund, Werder Bremen, Bayern Munich and Kaiserslauten, tried his luck with Greece.
Safe to say it worked.
P is for PENALTIES
LOVE ‘em or (as England do) loath ‘em, shoot-outs have become commonplace in the European Championship.
But UEFA did try and reduce the number of them by introducing the ‘Golden Goal’ rule in 1996, which happened to be what Oliver Bierhoff scored in the final for Germany.
Four years later, David Trezeguet also scored a Golden Goal as France defeated Italy to win Euro 2000.
Then they got rid of it and brought back penalties.
Q is for QUALIFICATION
EURO 2016 will be the first time in the event’s history that 24 teams, rather than 16, will participate in the tournament.
And still Scotland couldn’t qualify.
R is for ROGER LEMERRE
LEMERRE assisted Aime Jacquet when the latter’s French side won the World Cup on home soil in 1998.
And he stepped up to the plate in 2002 as France added the European title to their CV and, in doing so, became the first country in history to win the Euros straight after winning the World Cup.
S is for SOUTHGATE
POOR Gareth.
Despite an excellent Euro 96 at the heart of England’s defence, he’ll go down in history as the man who missed the crucial penalty in the Three Lions’ heart-breaking semi-final defeat to Germany.
They went on to win the title. Southgate got a pizza advert.
T is for TOSSING
A COIN, that is.
When Italy and Russia’s 1968 semi-final ended goalless after extra-time they didn’t settle the tie by going to penalties. Oh no.
They just tossed a coin. Italy skipper Giacinto Facchetti guess right, Italy went on the to win the title and the Russians became a footnote in Euros history.
It was the first and last time this method was used to decide a result in a major tournament.
U is for USSR
THOUGH they won the inaugural European Championships in 1960, the Soviet Union has been the runner-up on three occasions (1964, 1972 and 1988 and came fourth in 1968).
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, though, they’ve been well, pants.
V is for VAN BASTEN
AND, as luck would have it, for ‘volley’ too.
Which is precisely what Dutch legend Marco Van Basten scored for Holland in the 2-0 win over Russia in the 1988 final.
Power, accuracy and sublime technique from the most acute of angles, it’s quite possibly the greatest goal the Euros has ever witnessed.
W is for WINNERS
SINCE the tournament started in 1960 there have been 14 European Championship finals and nine different winners.
Germany and Spain lead the way with three wins apiece while France have two and the Soviet Union
But England got to the semi-final in 1996.
Get in.
X is for X-RATED
THERE have been a total of 36 red cards issued during the history of the European Championship finals, with a record 10 issued during the 2000 event in Belgium and Holland.
Incidentally, the very first one to be issued was to England’s Alan Mullery when he got his marching orders against Yugoslavia in 1968.
Fills you with kiss-the- badge pride, doesn’t it?
Y is for YASHIN
ARGUABLY the greatest goalkeeper the game has ever seen.
Lev Yashin played in three European Championship finals and was the brick wall that helped the USSR win the first European Tournament in 1960 and helped the so-called ‘Black Spider’ take the Player of the Tournament award too.
Z is for ZAGARAKIS
THEO ZAGARAKIS was the captain and heartbeat of the Greece side that shocked the world and won the 2004 European Championships.
Not only did he get to lift the Henry Delaunay Trophy but he was also named Player of the Tournament by UEFA.
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