Euro 96 – star players

Patrick Kluivert   (Holland)

Despite being plagued by knee injury throughout Euro 96, he still was still good enough to be selected by his country for a major international competition when he was clearly not one hundred percent fit. He came on in the match against England to score what proved to be a crucial consolation goal in their 4-1 defeat, which passed the Dutch into the quarter finals.
Kluivert is arguably the most talented striker ever to come out of the club Ajax. In his debut season in the first team, the eighteen year old at the time scored the winner in the 1-0 European Super Cup victory. He then went on to play for Barcelona between the years 1998 – 2004, before moving to English side, Newcastle United and then to Valencia.

Christian Ziege  (Germany)

Christian Ziege is a proven international who was outstanding in England at Euro 96 and was a key part to their Euro 96 triumph. He made his international debut in 1993 and became a permanent fixture in the German national side. He also featured in the German Euro 200 team and participated in the 1994 and 1998 world cup finals. In total he gained 72 caps for Germany. As a player he won the German Bundesliga twice in 1993 and 1997 with Bayern Munich. He had a short spell playing in Italy for Ac Milan, before moving to Liverpool and then Tottenham Hotspur in England.

Peter Schmeichel  (Denmark)

Schmeichel went into Euro 96 widely recognized as the best goalkeeper during that time period. He mad a string of saves in the matches he played in Euro 96 and after the tournament he was named captain of the Danish national side. He met his match at Euro 96 when Davor Suker found a way to lift the ball over the big keeper to complete a resounding victory for Croatia. He was one of the most consistent goalkeepers to have played in the English Premiership; he won the treble in 1999 with Manchester United and then had short spells playing for Sporting Lisbon, Aston Villa and Manchester City. In total he was capped 129 times for Denmark, starting his international career in 1987.

David Seaman  (England)

David Seamen without doubt was the best goalkeeper in Euro 96; he made crucial saves in England’s quarter final and semi final matches against Spain and Germany. He said a decisive penalty in the group phase against Scotland and in the penalty shoot out against Spain. Seamen made his international debut in 1988, however between 1990 and 1994 Graham Taylor did not play him and he was second best to Chris Woods in the England goal. He has also participated in the 1998 and 2002 world cups and in Euro 2000 for England. His career at Arsenal spanned for over thirteen years. He played on 75 occasions for England and he rarely disappointed. He won the English football league with Arsenal on three occasions.

Karel Poborsky (Czech Republic)

Without doubt Poborsky scored the best goal of euro 96 against Portugal that helped the Czechs reach the final. He is one of the greatest football players to have participated in the European Championships; he played in three European championships including Euro 96, Euro 2000 and Euro 2004. He was a key member of the Manchester United team in the 1996 – 1997 season. He was also a member of the Czech Republics squad in the 2006 World Cup. To date he is the most capped Czech player of all time, playing 117 times for his country.

Alan Shearer  (England)

Shearer was outstanding during Euro 96; he began the tournament scoring against Switzerland and immediately followed that up with strikes against Scotland, Spain and Germany. He scored five goals during Euro 96 which won him the Golden Shoe. Shearer went back home to Newcastle from Blackburn after his outstanding performance in Euro 96 for £15m, which was a world record fee at that specific time. Shearer was awarded with the PFA player of the year in 1995. He also participated for England during Euro 2000, scoring twice against Germany and Romania. He also played a small part during Euro 92. Shearer retired from international football after Euro 2000. He spent ten years playing for Newcastle, achieving 395 appearances for his club. He retired from playing in May 2006.