Portugal 2004.
 Euro 2004 -- The Finals Tournament |
Monday, 14th June:
Denmark -- Italy (0-0)
Denmark and Italy can both thank their goalkeepers for
keeping this game goaless.
Sweden -- Bulgaria (5-0)
Bulgaria proved they could still play attractive
football and only Freddie Ljungberg's easy tap-in seperated the two sides at half-time.
After Henrik Larsson netted two goals in two
minutes, early in the second-half, Bulgaria's thoughts must have drifted to their next
opponents. An Ibrahimovic penalty made it four-nil and Marcus Alback added salt to the
wounds with a last minute fifth.
The scoreline suggests Bulgaria were well and
truly thrashed and Sweden ruled the roost.
A win against Denmark and Bulgaria are back in
with a chance, especially if Sweden get at least a point off Italy.
Friday, 18th June:
Bulgaria -- Denmark (0-2)
0-1 (Jon Dahl Tomasson 44)
0-2 (Jesper Gronkjaer 90)
Goals from Jon Dahl Tomasson and Jesper
Gronkjaer ensured that Bulgaria would play no part in the quarter-finals.
Italy -- Sweden (1-1)
1-0 (Antonio Cassano 37)
1-1 (Zlatan Ibrahimovic 85)
With Totti serving a three-match ban for
spitting at Christian Poulsen in the Denmark game, Antonio Cassano (his replacement) put
Italy ahead in the game they needed to win. Zlatan Ibrahimovic equalised for the Swedes
late in the second-half to keep the group open for discussion.
Tuesday, 22nd June:
Denmark -- Sweden (2-2)
1-0 (Jon Dahl Tomasson 28)
1-1 (Henrik Larsson 47pen)
2-1 (Jon Dahl Tomasson 66)
2-2 (Mattias Jonson 89)
The Scandinavians got the result the Italians
dreaded and if it was a fix the world is flat.
Jon Dahl Tomasson took the lead with a
stunning goal from 25 yards and it took 20 minutes for the Swedes to equalise through
Henrik Larrsson's penalty -- after Thomas Sorensen's dive at the Swedish striker's feet
brought him down.
Jon Dahl Tomasson gave Denmark the lead again
with an opportunist goal after Thomas Gravesen's fierce drive cannoned off Swedish legs
and bounced invitingly for him. Then Mattias Jonson sealed off an entertaining evening
with the equaliser that Italy dreaded, just before the final whistle.
Italy -- Bulgaria (2-1)
0-1 (Martin Petrov 45pen)
1-1 (Simone Perrotta 48)
2-1 (Antonio Cassano 90)
Martin Petrov's penalty just before half-time
was an early sign the Italian ship was sinking, although Simone Perrotta equalised shortly
into the second-half to make it look as though they were trying to bail out the water.
Antonio Cassano's last minute winner came too
late to save Italy, as the Scandinavians already had the 2-2 draw they needed
to eliminate the Italians, no matter how many they won by.
Group A
-- Group B -- Group C -- Group D
Quarter-finals
Saturday, 26th June
Sweden -- Holland (0-0aet
4-5pens)
Despite both sides coming close in extra-time
the game never came up to expectations and we were left with penalties to decide who would
join Portugal in the semi-final.
Van der Sar's penalty save (from Olof
Mellberg) the deciding factor, after Ibrahimovic and Coco both missed.
Sunday, 27th June: Match 28
Czech Republic -- Denmark (3-0)
1-0 (Jan Koller 49)
2-0 (Milan Baros 63)
3-0 (Milan Baros 65)
After a slow and unexciting first-half, this
game stepped up a gear in the second half when Jan Koller headed home a Karel Poborsky
corner.
Poborsky then had a hand in Milan Baros' first
goal with Pavel Nedved setting the Liverpool player on the way for his second and the
Czech Repuclic's third of the night.
Semi-finals
Wednesday, 30th June: Match 29
Portugal vs. Holland (2-1)
1-0 (Cristiano Ronaldo 26)
2-0 (Nuno Maniche 58)
2-1 (Jorge Andrade, own goal, 63)
A Jorge Andrade own-goal, in the 63rd minute,
wasn't enough to get Holland back into this game and the Portuguese defender was thankful
that his team held onto their lead.
Cristiano Ronaldo headed in a Deco corner in
the first half and Nuno Maniche scored one of the goals of the tournament, four minutes
before Jorge Andrade flicked the ball over his own keeper's head, to take the hosts into
the final and Scolari into the history books.
Thursday, 1st July: Match 30
Greece vs. Czech Republic (1-0)
1-0 (Traianos Dellas 105)
A silver goal from Greek defender Traianos Dellas, in the last second of the first period
of extra time, was enough to enough to put Greece into the final of Euro 2004.
Dellas headed home the only goal of the game,
from a corner by substitute Vassilis Tsartas, to set the fireworks off early in Athens.
Euro 2004 Final
Sunday, 4th July:
Portugal -- Greece (0-1)
0-1 (Angelos Charisteas 57)
Germany's Otto Rehhagel became the first
foreign trainer to win a major tournament for another country, as Greece proved that their
opening day win against Portugal was indeed no fluke.
Angelos Charisteas rose to head in a 57th
minute corner from Angelos Basinas as Ricardo tried to stumble into a Greek player, far
away from the goal-scoring action..... but the German referee, Markus Merk, was not as
gullible as Urs Maier.
| European Football History |
Euro 2000:
Looking back to the European Championship in Belgium and Holland.
World Cup 2002:
How did the UEFA teams perform in Korea and Japan?
|
