Azzuri

Germany diramalkan bakal beraksi di pentas akhir Euro 2012 tetapi hancur berkecai di peringkat separuh akhir. Nampaknya badi kalah setiap kali bertemu dengan pasukan Italy masih tidak dapat dibuang. Ada yang  berkata Germany terlalu yakin dapat atasi Italy dan ada juga yang berkata bergantung kepada nasib kerana sejarah sedia maklum Germany sentiasa kalah apabila bertemu Italy..
Saya turut sama berangan-angan untuk melihat Germany bergelar Juara Euro 2012 dan saya sememangnya tidak ingin melihat kegagalan Germany di tangan pasukan Italy pada peringkat separuh akhir. Walau bagaimanapun saya berpuas hati dengan setiap komitmen pasukan Germany sepanjang musim Euro 2012... Aksi persis Juara..Ya.. memang pun bergelar "Juara Kumpulan B" Euro 2012... dan sentiasa menjadi juara di hati penyokong setia pasukan Germany... :)

"Azzuri"

Saya yakin kawan saya si "Azzuri" tersenyum dan tidak sabar menantikan bakal juara Euro 2012 beraksi pada 2 Julai 2012.

Saat-saat menunggu final ni saya teringat pulak perbualan antara kami setelah selesai pertandingan peringkat kumpulan.. 

Azzuri : Agak-agak final nanti Germany & Italy?

Saya   : Harapannya begitu lah.. kita jumpa di final.

Azzuri : Rasanya Italy juara kan

Saya   : Bagi lah Germany jadi juara.. 

Azzuri :  Errr... Italy... dah lama tak jadi juara..

Saya   : Macam ni... Jangan bagi Spain jadi Juara.. Biar Germany atau Italy juara Euro 2012..

Azzuri : Ok...

Nampaknya harapan kini bergalas di bahu Italy. "Azzuri"... Germany tidak dapat berjuang hingga ke peringkat akhir sebab telah ditewaskan oleh "Italy"... Pastikan ITALY JUARA EURO 2012... Restoran Wau akan menjadi lokasi untuk jamuan setelah tamatnya musim Euro 2012 nanti.. 

Tahniah Italy.. GOOD LUCK! :)

I ♥ YOU SO..

KAULAH CINTAKU....

TUHAN Tolong Lembutkan HATI Dia....

2008 - SPAIN FOR THE SECOND TIME AFTER 44 YEARS

EURO 2008

SWITZERLAND & AUSTRIA

ERNST HAPPEL STADIUM, VIENNA

SPAIN 1-0 GERMANY

Croatia, Spain and the Netherlands all qualified with maximum points, while Austria and Switzerland were not expected to progress, despite the advantage of being the hosts.

In Group A, the Swiss lost their captain, Alexander Frei, to injury in their first game and became the first team to be eliminated from the tournament, after losing their first two matches.

Austria fared slightly better in Group B, managing to set up a decisive final game against Germany, dubbed "Austria's final".

However, they lost by one goal, making Euro 2008 the first European Championship not to have one of the host nations present in the knockout stage.

In an exciting final game in Group A, an injury- and suspension-hit Turkey came back from 2–0 down to beat the Czech Republic 3–2, after an uncharacteristic handling mistake by Petr Čech, in the last few minutes, left Nihat Kahveci with the simplest of finishes.

In the same game, goalkeeper Volkan Demirel was shown a red card for pushing Czech striker Jan Koller to the ground. The Turks joined Portugal as the qualifiers from Group A.

France were the high-profile victims of Group C, recording just one point from a goalless draw against Romania in their opening game. Italy beat the French, on the final day, to finish on four points and joining the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.

Finally, in Group D, Greece failed to reproduce the form of their shock 2004 win, and ended the tournament with no points. Russia qualified at the expense of Sweden, after beating them in a final game decider, joining Spain in the knockout stage.

In the quarter-finals, the Portuguese team was unable to give their coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, a fitting send-off – following the mid-tournament announcement that Scolari would be leaving to join English club Chelsea – losing in an exciting game against Germany.

Turkey continued their streak of last-gasp wins, equalising at the end of extra-time against Croatia and advancing on penalties.

Coached by Dutchman Guus Hiddink, Russia eliminated the Netherlands with two extra-time goals. The last quarter-final match saw Spain defeat Italy on penalties, after a goalless draw in regular time.

Turkey's progress was halted by Germany at the semi-final stage. Turkey entered the game with nine of their squad members missing due to injury or suspension, but still scored the first goal. Later, they leveled the score at 2–2, before Germany scored the winning goal in the final minute.

The world television feed of the match was intermittently lost during the match, which prevented the broadcast of Germany's second goal. This was due to a thunderstorm at the broadcasting relay station in Austria, despite the game being played in Switzerland.

Spain won the second semi-final against Russia by three goals to nil, through second-half goals from Xavi, Dani Güiza and David Silva, earning Spain their first appearance in a major final for 24 years.

Spanish football team touring Madrid as championsIn the final, held at Vienna's Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Spain became European champions for the second time after Fernando Torres' first-half goal proved enough to defeat Germany.

Though Germany had a strong start, Spain started to look more dangerous after they had settled. After half an hour, Xavi played a pass in behind the Germany back line towards Torres, who outmuscled a hesitant Philipp Lahm and clipped the ball over the diving Jens Lehmann and just inside the far post.

That goal proved to be the only goal of the game which Spain dominated, despite Germany having the majority of the possession,and Spain were crowned UEFA Euro 2008 champions.

2004: OUTSTANDING GREECE

EURO 2004

PORTUGAL

ESTADIO DA LUZ, LISBON

GREECE 1-0 PORTUGAL

The twelfth edition of UEFA's quadriennial European Football Championship was held in Portugal, for the first time, between June 12 and July 4, 2004.

Like in the previous two editions, in England and Netherlands/Belgium, sixteen teams contested the final tournament after going through a qualification round which began in 2002.

The tournament took place in ten venues located in eight cities — Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Guimarães, Faro/Loulé, Leiria, Lisbon and Porto.

During the tournament there were several surprises: the German, Italian and Spanish national football teams all were knocked out during the group stage; the title-holders France were eliminated in the quarterfinals by unfancied Greece, and the Portuguese hosts managed a winning streak towards the final, following their opening defeat, by beating Spain, England and The Netherlands along the way.

For the first time, the final featured the same teams as the opening match, with the hosts losing both of them also for the first time. Portugal was beaten by Greece on both occasions.

Greece's triumph was even more outstanding considering that in their only other appearance, back in 1980, they did not win a single game.

2000: ZIZOU'S GOLDEN TOUCH

EURO 2000

BELGIUM & NETHERLANDS

FRANCE 2-1 ITALY

A fiercely competitive tournament where standards reached an all-time high; Euro 2000 was international football at its very pinnacle.

Belgium and the Netherlands played host to a fantastic roller-coaster ride of brilliance, drama and tension that kept fans enraptured right up to the final kick.

In the first phase, Group A heralded a changing of the guard as lumbering and technically-deficient England and Germany sides were eliminated by the nimble, clever Portuguese and Romanians.

Twice England threw away leads to lose 3-2, and their laboured 1-0 win over Germany, a match reminiscent of two aging drunks brawling in a car park, was the tournament's low-point.

Italy started their campaign in fine style, cruising through Group B as Francesco Totti came of age as an international player, while Turkey knocked out the despondent co-hosts Belgium.

Spain did things the hard way, as usual, mounting an astonishing comeback against Yugoslavia. A goal down in the 93rd minute, they needed two to stay in the competition, and got them. Mendieta's spot-kick and Alfonso's smartly taken winner sealed a scarcely believable 4-3 win.

Yugoslavia thought they were out until news of Norway's failure filtered through. The stunned Slavs had earned a reprieve.

Group D was a hard-luck story for the Czech Republic, unluckily beaten by the Netherlands, then by a French side inspired by a Zinedine Zidane at the peak of his powers. The two favourites progressed.

DUTCH CRUMBLE UNDER SPOTLIGHT

Italy continued their impressive progress in the last-eight; goals from Filippo Inzaghi and Totti despatched a shell-shocked Romanian side. Dino Zoff's side were looking like potential champions.

They went through to face the Dutch, fresh from a 6-1 demolition of Yugoslavia in an epic semi-final in which the rampant Patrick Kluivert bagged a hat-trick.

In an epic tie, ten-man Italy repelled an almost constant barrage of Dutch pressure, but had to ride their luck; twice the men in Orange had the chance to score from the spot in normal time. First, Frank De Boer's weak kick was easily saved by the excellent Toldo.

"I remember that the first major incident in the match was a penalty taken by De Boer. I tried to anticipate the direction and I saved it very well. After that I remember a sequence of shots at my goal and a ball that obviously never wanted to go in," Toldo remembers.

"I realised it was going to be our lucky day."
Toldo's theory was put to the test when Kluivert stepped up for the second penalty and sent him the wrong way. The ball rebounded back off the post.

The match, inevitably, went to a penalty shootout. Psychologically battered, the Netherlands scored just two out of five and Italy were in the final.

France's path to the final was not without incident, much of it involving kicks from twelve yards. At 2-1 up against Spain Fabien Barthez needlessly hacked Abelardo for a 90th minute penalty. If Raul had been wearing the white of Real Madrid, the net would surely have bulged. He ballooned the kick over.




UNSTOPPABLE FRANCE

In the last four Portugal put up a sterling fight until the 114th minute, when Abel Xavier stopped a David Trezeguet shot with his hand.

Referee Günter Benkö awarded a hotly-dispute penalty and, after three minutes of vigorous Portuguese protests, Zinedine Zidane nervelessly smashed the ball into the top-left corner of Vitor Baia's net. Unstoppable, and so were France.

To the final in Rotterdam where France, looking to become the first World Champions to then win in Europe, appeared to lose their bottle.

Ten minutes after the break Marco Delvecchio gave Dino Zoff's men the lead, and the French bid for an historic double was petering tamely out. Alex Del Piero squandered two gilt-edged chances, but it seemed as though it would not matter.

Then, with the Italian bench poised for a triumphant pitch invasion, Silvain Wiltord's 94th minute shot bobbled through a sea of legs and into the far corner.

Italy were broken, there would be only one winner. Robert Pires turned Fabio Cannavaro and crossed for David Trezeguet to deliver a stunning knockout punch.

"It started with a great move by Robert Pires on the left. Pires dribbled around Cannavaro and got to the byline, then he put in the cross," Trezeguet remembers of his most famous goal.

"It was a fairly difficult cross, but I was on the penalty spot and I hit the ball as it dropped and it went in.

"It all happened so quickly, you don't have much time to think but it was enormously satisfying for all of us."

Trezeguet's thunderbolt of a volley elevated that French vintage to another level of greatness. The World Cup win on home soil had been no fluke.

Perhaps more significantly Euro 2000 proved that, in Zidane, France had a successor to Pele, Cruyff and Maradona: the world's finest player.

1996: GERMANY HAUNT HOSTS

EURO 1996

ENGLAND

GERMANY 2-1 CZECH REPUBLIC

Euro '96 was meant to be the tournament when England shook themselves out of the 30-year slump they had endured since the 1966 World Cup and again scooped silverware on home soil. It ended in painfully familiar style: defeat to Germany.

After opening draws, England and Scotland locked horns in a famous 'derby' at Wembley, in which David Seaman and Paul Gascoigne were England's heroes.

The former saved a Gary McAllister penalty; the latter scored a remarkable solo effort, capped off with a tabloid-mocking celebration that aped the infamous 'dentist's chair' incident that took place in a Hong Kong nightclub before the tournament.

Things went from good to better for the host nation when they race into a scarcely believable 4-0 lead over the Netherlands. Patrick Kluivert's late reply was more than a consolation: it sent the Dutch through at Scotland's expense.

Group B saw France and Spain progress at the expense of Romania and Bulgaria's East European flair, while Group C threw up a massive surprise.

SACCHI ITALIANS PAY FOR COMPLACENCY


After beating Russia, Italy boss Arrigo Sacchi rested several key players against the Czech Republic and paid the price.


Goals from Pavel Kuka and Radek Bejbl, and a remarkable last-gasp miss by Pierluigi Casiraghi, handed the Czechs a shock 2-1 win.


A 90th-minute Vladimir Smicer equaliser helped Dusan Uhrin's unfancied side survive a Russian onslaught to salvage a 3-3 draw, and they joined Germany in the quarter-finals. Italy were out, and Sacchi paid with his job.

It was a fantastic achievement for a Czech Republic team playing its first tournament since splitting from Slovakia.


"We certainly had a magnificent group of players who were proud to wear the colours of our National team," reflects playmaker Pavel Nedved.

"That was the key: Pride - in representing our country. It was our performance against Italy that set us on the road towards the final."

DENMARK HIT BY SUKER PUNCH


Holders Denmark came undone in Nottingham, destroyed by the brilliance of Davor Suker who sealed a 3-0 victory with an extraordinary late chip over the bewildered Schmeichel. Croatia joined Portugal in the latter stages.

Croatia's reward was a quarter-final date with the favourites, in which they gave Germany a real fright. It took a vital header from the majestic Matthias Sammer to seal a narrow 2-1 victory.

"All together, I believe we showed in this game that we had the necessary calmness and that we knew that we were physically strong," said Sammer.

"And in the end... of course we won." Of course they won; they were Germany.

Karel Poborsky scored the goal of the tournament, and earned a move to Manchester United, with an astonishing lob for the Czech Republic against Portugal.

The 100-1 outsiders were in the last four, where they played France, conquerors on penalties of a disappointing Dutch outfit.


A dreary 120 minutes, and more spot kicks. Reynald Pedros saw his kick saved, and Kavalec put the Czech Republic, incredibly, into the final.

SPOT-KICK AGONY


Next was the small matter of yet another Anglo-German summit with England spurning classic red for controversial grey shirts. The shirts were the only dull thing about a pulsating game.

Alan Shearer headed the hosts ahead early on, before Stefan Kuntz lived up to his name by dashing English hopes of a normal-time triumph.

Then to 30 minutes of golden goal tension, and two fantastic opportunities for England to slay their nemesis; Anderton hit the post, Gascoigne's pace deserted him with the goal as his mercy, and it was penalties again.

Five expertly-taken kicks each, and England were running out of set-piece takers. Gareth Southgate stepped nervously up and scuffed into Andreas Köpke's arms. Andy Möller had no such trouble, and English hearts were broken again.

The suspended Matthias Sammer was happy to admit to the luck of the Germans: "We performed very well by achieving a score of 1-1 in normal time an then a goalless draw in extra time. A penalty shootout is always based on luck."

But was it lucky that David Seaman got nowhere near any of the six German kicks? "I have to hold my hands up that the penalties that the Germans took were really, really good penalties," conceded the England stopper.

An anti-climactic final saw the Czechs unable to pull off one final shock. Five minutes into golden goal extra time, Petr Kouba failed to hold Oliver Bierhoff's tame shot and looked on in horror as the ball spun in off the post.

The Queen gritted her teeth and presented Sammer with the trophy, but her mind was elsewhere. "Why on earth didn't Ince take that sixth penalty?" pondered Her Majesty. Two years later she would find out why.

1992: DANES CRASH PARTY

EURO 1992

SWEDEN

ULERI, GOTHENBURG

DENMARK 2-0 GERMANY

Euro 92 provided the biggest shock of this or any other international tournament, as the eventual winners were not even supposed to be there.

Yugoslavia beat the Danes by a single point in qualifying group four, but the Balkan civil war led to the country's expulsion just days before the tournament.

As group runners-up and the second-placed team with the best record, Denmark were an uncontroversial replacement.


The early stages showed little of what shocks were ahead. Having had minimal preparation, Richard Møller-Nielsen's men failed to score in their opening two group one matches - drawing 0-0 with England and going down 1-0 to host nation Sweden.

In the final group games Denmark would have to beat France and pray for an English defeat against Sweden. David Platt's fourth minute goal in Solna appeared to have set England on their way.

LINEKER BOWS OUT


But Jan Eriksson levelled the score and Graham Taylor famously withdrew Gary Lineker as his side searched for a winner. It was a sad end to a sparkling international career; even sadder when Thomas Brolin stuck away a fantastic winner eight minutes from time.

Henrik Larsen got Denmark off to a flier in Malmö with an eighth-minute opener, only for the exceptional Jean-Pierre Papin to restore parity on the hour mark. With time running out Lars Elstrup notched the Danish winner, and it was a Scandinavian party as France and England were unceremoniously dumped out.

The Netherlands and Germany were in confident form in group two, but with the former-Soviet CIS also in contention it fell to lowly Scotland to play a deciding role.

Already eliminated, the Scots pulled out a miraculous performance to thrash the CIS 3-0 thanks to goals from McStay, McClair and McAllister.

DUTCH REASSERT DOMINANCE


Meanwhile the Dutch were continuing their red-hot rivalry with Germany. Victors in 1988, Holland got their comeuppance in the 1990 World Cup, This time the men in orange powered to a 3-1 win to seize cross-border bragging rights.

The last four was a bridge too far for the hosts. Against the star-studded Germans, Sweden went behind to a Thomas Hässler free kick that completely wrong-footed the hapless Thomas Ravelli.

"The game before [Hässler] scored against Russia. He had a good shot to the left of the goalkeeper. I thought he would shoot the same shot against me. He put it over the wall - and I didn't see the ball before it was too late," reflected a rueful Swedish custodian.

Karl-Heinz Riedle made it two just before the hour, and despite a late flurry of goals Berti Vogts's men held on for a 3-2 win.

GERMAN OVERCONFIDENCE

Striker Jürgen Klinsmann came into the side at the injured Rudi Völler's expense, and recounts how both he and the German squad grew in confidence:

"From game to game I had more and more fun. Pass by pass I made progress.
"By the time we got to the semi-final against Sweden I was convinced that we could do it. And before the final we had a lot of self-confidence - maybe too much self-confidence."

The Netherlands, never short of self-confidence themselves, went into their semi-final against Denmark as huge favourites, but got an equally massive shock in the opening minutes, when Henrik Larsen converted Brian Laudrup's cross for the opening goal.

A young Dennis Bergkamp hit back on 23 minutes, but once again the Danes showed enormous spirit, Larsen once again van Breukelen just after the half hour.

Holland weren't finished. Frank Rijkaard swooping to level as time ran out to take the match into a goalless extra period and penalties.

SCHMEICHEL SAVES DANISH BACON

It came down to Europe's best striker against a man soon to be recognised as the continent's best goalkeeper - van Basten against Schmeichel. The Dane saved to set up a dream final.

Ruud Gullit was certainly impressed by Schmeichel's presence: "A very powerful guy. Charismatic also. You had a feeling that there was somebody there in the goal that makes you already very strong as a team."

The final was not a classic game, but certainly provided a classic result. After twenty minutes of unbroken German onslaught - with Schmeichel once more saving the Danish bacon - the underdogs broke.
The ball fell to the unlikely figure of John Jensen and the normally goal-shy midfileder struck firmly past the unsighted Illgner.

Again Schmeichel denied Klinsmann before, with twelve minutes remaining, Kim Vilfort to seal a remarkable 2-0 win.

"A lot of people, after we actually won that trophy, said that we were probably not the best team in the tournament," playmaker Laudrup remembers.

"But I think: Do not underestimate a team like that. Maybe we were not playing the most fantastic football in all the games. But I think if you beat teams like Germany and Holland, obviously you deserve to get the title."

And deserve it they did; a thoroughly remarkable football success

1988 VAN BASTEN

WEST GERMANY
NETHERLANDS 2-0 USSR


West Germany won the right to host the 1988 UEFA Euro Championship receiving five votes to defeat a joint bid from Norway, Sweden and Denmark, who gained one vote, and a bid from England who also received only one vote

The German FA then went and started selecting the eight venues they would use for the finals: Munich's Olympiastadion, Gelsenkirchen's Parkstadion, the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Waldstadion (Frankfurt), Rheinstadion (Dusseldorf), Stuttgart's Neckarstadion and the Mungersdorfer Stadion in Cologne.

Qualifying

England had stormed through qualifying and possessed a world-class striker in 1978 and 1979 European Footballer of the Year, Kevin Keegan. The Hamburger SV ace was unable to find the target, however, and after opening with a 1-1 draw against Belgium, England’s ambitions evaporated with a 1-0 loss to Italy. Italy had kicked off with a goalless draw against Spain, and they too crashed out after being held to the same scoreline by Belgium, who were suddenly through to their first major final thanks to an impressive squad and an excellent coach in Guy Thys.

Group Stages

The opening game in Group A saw West Germany play Italy with neither side being able to out do the other and the score finished 1-1 with Andreas Brehme equalizing Roberto Mancini’s strike, the other two teams in Group A were Spain and Denmark with Spain claiming a 3-2 victory when the sides faced each other.

Denmark lost every single match in the group stages and failed to gain any points from it, Spain’s only points were from the victory over Denmark whilst West Germany and Italy finished on equal points with West Germany topping the group on goal difference and Italy finishing second which saw both teams through to the semi finals.

England’s qualifying campaign was more difficult then the other nations as they had to appeal for the right to compete after the Heysel Stadium Disaster in 1985 but luckily for England the UEFA Board allowed them to play.

After a successful qualifying campaign Bobby Robson’s squad looked strong going into the finals, but sadly, looks were deceiving as England failed to win a match and emulated Denmark’s sorrows. With a string of defeats coming against the Republic Of Ireland, the Netherlands and the Soviet Union, England’s campaign was over.

For the Republic Of Ireland the only points they received out of the competition were the points from the victory over England in their first match and a with the Soviet Union, which was not enough to put them through to the semi finals of the competition.

USSR topped the group after beating England and the Netherlands and drawing with the Republic of Ireland, whilst the Netherlands finished second leaving both teams to qualify for the semi finals.

Semi Finals

West Germany vs Netherlands
The Dutch set out to get revenge after losing to West Germany in the 1974 world cup final.

West Germany were the first to score after being awarded a penalty in the 55th minute of the match and Lothar Matthaus took the spot kick to give West Germany a 1-0 lead, Netherlands managed to equalize 20 minutes after West Germanys goal with a penalty of their own. Ronald Koeman placed the penalty to make the scores even at 1-1, but Van Basten managed to get the winning goal 2 minutes before time to knock the hosts out of the competition whilst the Netherlands head for the final.

Soviet Union (USSR) vs Italy

In the second semi final the USSR played the Italians, both teams looked strong coming into the match with neither team losing a game in the group stages.

The USSR proved to be the stronger out of the two in Stuttgart, goals scored by Gennadiy Litovchenko and Oleg Protasov and Italy’s inability to get through the Soviet Unions defense helped ease the Soviets to their fourth final since the competition started in 1960.

The Final

Netherlands scored two phenomenal goals through Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten. An outstanding save from the penalty spot by Hans van Breukelen helped the Netherlands finally win the championship they had been looking for.

It was defiantly a successful tournament for the Dutch, getting revenge after their defeat to Germany in the 1974 world cup and only losing once boosted the Dutch’s confidence sky high as they went home with the UEFA Euro Championship.

Munich’s Olympic Stadium was filled with orange shirts celebrating. Coach Rinus Michels witnessed his newly built Netherlands squad play through the astonishing talents of Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Van Basten.

A corner on 32nd minute is what broke the deadlock as Van Basten headed Erwin Koeman’s cross back to Milan team-mate Gullit to perfectly place a header past the Soviet keeper Rinat Dassayev.

Minutes after half time Netherlands claimed their second goal, Arnold Muhren’s deep cross into the USSR’s territoy was placed in the Soviet’s goal with an amazing volley by Van Basten and flew spectacularly past a stunned Dassayev from the tightest of angles.

After conceding a second goal the USSR did go straight on the attack but to no avail, after just three minutes an Igor Belanov effort wrattled the woodwork, and Van Breukelen conceded a penalty. But the keeper made amends by saving the spot kick from Belanov, and the Dutch carried on to win their first Euro championship.

1984: OOH-LA-LA

UEFA EURO 1984 FINAL
FRANCE
PARC DES PRINCES, PARIS
FRANCE 2-0 SPAIN

Hosts nation France strode majestically to their European championship, with Michel Platini standing astride the tournament as its undoubted star.

Take a trip back with Eurosport.com's Time Machine as we see how the French took the title playing stunning attacking football which had the whole continent cooing 'ooh-la-la's of admiration.

Juventus star Platini was at the height of his powers, orchestrating a talented French line-up through the group stages, scoring all his team's goals in the final group game to rescue les Bleus and beat Yugoslavia 3-1 as the hosts went through as Group A winners.

Denmark overcame Belgium - the unlucky finalists of the 1980 edition - to advance to the semi-finals as group runners-up, as UEFA again changed the rules with the top two in each group going into semi-finals.
The talented but temperamental Portuguese awaited the hosts after they finished runners-up to neighbours Spain in Group B.

In one of the Euro's classic encounters, full of fast-flowing football, Domergue put France 1-0 up, a lead they held until deep into the second half when Jordao rose above Michel Hidalgo's defence to head past Joel Bats and take the game into extra-time.

As both sides pushed for the win, it was the Iberians who seized the advantage, Jordao again the executioner, though his badly mis-hit shot was lucky to find the net.

But with time running out, the magical French midfield of Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana and Luis Fernandez, coupled with Platini fashioned a revival.

Tigana caused panic with a surging run deep into Portuguese territory, the chaos allowing Domergue to strike his second of the game and bring France level, before Platini himself proved the ultimate saviour, delivering the hosts with a right-foot drive to win 3-2.

If the France - Portugal was to go down as an eternally glorious page in Euro history, the Spain - Denmark encounter in the other semi was instantly forgettable.

With both sides cancelling each other out - Lerby struck for Denmark with Maceda replying for Spain - the game trundled to an almost inevitable penalty shoot-out - Spain edging through 5-4.

It was the French who took the lead in front of the Parisian crowd, but it was Spain keeper Luis Arconada who they had to thank for a gift of a goal.

France were awarded a fairly dubious free-kick on the edge of the Spanish box. Platini, inevitably, was behind the set-piece and though his shot lacked power, the ball squirmed underneath the prostrate Arconada and trundled over the line to give the French star his ninth goal of the tournament.

1980: HORST POWER!

UEFA EURO 1980 FINAL

ITALY

WEST GERMANY 2-1 BELGIUM

Belgium were the surprise package of the 1980 European Championships, but their in-form side had to bow to the might of Germany who took the title for a second time.

Before hostilities commenced, UEFA gave the tournament a face-lift, doubling the number of countries in the finals, shaping it into an eight-team two-group competition which served as the forerunner of today's full-blown event.

European football's ruling body decided each group winner would advance to the final, with the two runners-up playing off for third place.

In a tough Group A, it was the then-West Germans who took control with a 1-0 win over Czechoslovakia - thus gaining revenge for their 1976 final defeat - before seeing off eternal rivals Holland 3-2 in a thrilling encounter. A 0-0 draw with Greece secured the Germans place in the final for the third successive tournament.

This set up a Czechoslovakia v Holland clash for runners-up spot in the group, with the defending champions squeezing through after the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

England - one of the fancied teams pre-tournament - were paired with Belgium, host nation Italy and Spain in what promised to be a tight group.

After finishing with the best record in qualifying, England were unable to recapture the form which had seen them through to the finals and stuttered to a 1-1 draw with Belgium in their opening game - Jan Cuelemans cancelling out a Ray Wilkins opener.

The Belgians - boosted by their performance against the English - then beat Spain 2-1 before securing their place in the final with a 0-0 draw against Italy.

The final could hardly have started in a worse manner for the Belgians, Horst Hrubesch popping up with a goal after only ten minutes to put the Germans into the driving seat.

But just as time appeared to be running out, the Belgians got themselves back into the game, Rene Vandereycken holding his nerve to bury a 72nd minute penalty.

With both sides holding out, extra-time looked to be on the cards, but Hrubesch dramatically snatched a winner just two minutes from time to break Belgian hearts