1996 European football championships

 

Germany’s brilliant organization earned them their third European Championship when they became the first side in Euro 96 to come from behind and win a match with out the decisive penalty shoot out. A German victory in the final was always the most likely outcome after they disposed of England in the semi- finals.
The Czechs first match in the competition was against the Germans and they were blown away 2 -0. However the Czechs surprised everybody by beating Italy 2 -1. The Czechs faced Russia in their final group match and they drew the encounter 3-3 which was enough to see them and Germany through the group at the expense of the much fancied Italians. Italy’s elimination in the first round was considered the shock of the tournament. The Czechs had learnt the lessons of survival after they scraped through the ‘group of death,’ strangling everything that fell in their path. The Czech republic met Portugal in the quarter finals and Portugal feel apart when a wonderfully scooped goal from Karel Poborsky in the second half left the Portuguese goalkeeper flat footed and forlorn. The Semi final match between the Czech Republic and France was considered by many as the most dire match of the competition, but the Czechs won 6-5 on penalties to meet Germany in the final.
England started the tournament off slowly as usual when they drew 1-1 against Switzerland. England’s performance in their following match, against Scotland was a more exciting match. The Scots had done remarkably well in their opening match, holding Holland 0-0, however the game against England was considered to be the big one. With only twelve minutes remaining and 1-0 down, Scotland were awarded a penalty. A fantastic save by David Seamen from Gary Mcalister not only dashed the Scots hopes, but within few seconds, Paul Gascoigne had scored a brilliant goal to complete Scotland’s misery. England followed up the victory against Scotland by thrashing Holland 4-1.  Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham scoring twice for England. Unfortunately for Scotland, the late goal that England conceded in the 78th minute meant that Scotland was edged out of the quarter finals by the Dutch on goal difference.
England managed to beat Spain in the penalty shoot out in the quarter finals, David Seamen saving the decisive penalty.
The semi final against Germany was arguably the best match of Euro 96; England drew first blood within three minutes of the match with Shearer’s fifth goal of Euro 96. Stefan Kuntz equalized thirteen minutes later. Both teams battled for the remaining minutes of the match with neither side giving any inch. The opening ten minutes of extra time were some of the most extraordinary to have ever happened in a football match. Darren Anderton hit the post, David Seamen made a fantastic save from an Andreas Moller shot, Stefan Kuntz had a goal disallowed; and Paul Gascoigne was a toe away from scoring the winner. The Drama increased as the dreaded nightmare of penalties dawned. Gareth Southgate had his penalty saved and Moller scored his penalty for Germany. The Germans were through to the final expecting to meet the Czechs at Wembley Stadium.
Other impressive teams that featured in Euro 96 included Croatia and Spain, the surprising team to qualify for Euro 96 was Turkey, however they had a dismal tournament losing all three of their matches.
The final was a repeat of the 1976 European Championships where the Czechs had beaten the Germans in a decisive penalty shoot out to win the European championships. The Czechs played a canny game, taking the lead on the hour mark by a penalty scored by Patrick Berger. Berti Vogts made an inspired substitution by bringing on Oliver Bierhoff. With just over a quarter of an hour remaining he rose at the far post to level the core line. In the fifth minute of extra time, Bierhoff latched on to a ball from Jurgen klinsmann, turned, and struck a powerful shot. The ball took a slight deflection off Michael Hornak’s heel and the Czech goalkeeper, Petr Kouba, could only parry the ball into the back of the net. This was the first golden goal of the tournament and was the most decisive goal to this day in European Championship history.