The history of EURO finals has witnessed many surprises created by weak teams.
EURO 1988 witnessed a shock when the Republic of Ireland won 1-0 against England. “Three Lions” at that time had famous names such as striker Gary Lineker, who won the 1986 World Cup golden shoe, midfielder Bryan Robson – captain of Man Utd – Arsenal midfielder Tony Adams or the star of Arsenal. Liverpool is John Barnes… Leading the “Three Lions” is Sir Bobby Robson. However, Ray Houghton’s 6th minute goal helped Ireland win. Because of this defeat, the England team received fierce criticism in the Mist country.
Once again, England suffered a shocking defeat in the EURO group stage, this time against Sweden in the 1992 tournament. David Platt scored to help England open the scoring in the 4th minute, but after that, Jan Eriksson and Tomas Brolin scored in the 51st and 82nd minutes to bring victory to Sweden. This reverse defeat caused England to be eliminated from the group stage with a disappointing record of not having any victory at EURO 1992.
The Danish team failed to qualify for EURO 1992, but they participated in the tournament after Yugoslavia was banned from participating. After that, “Lead Soldiers” wrote a fairy tale at EURO 1992. Falling into a group with France, England and Sweden, Denmark still continued as second in the group. In the semi-finals, Denmark defeated the powerful Dutch team with Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit, Dennis Bergkamp… in the penalty shootout with a score of 5-4.
In the final, Denmark won 2-0 against the German team including stars such as Jurgen Klinsmann, Stefan Effenberg, Matthias Sammer, Jurgen Kohler, Andreas Brehme… Contributing to Denmark’s magical journey was goalkeeper Peter. Schmeichel, who performed excellently throughout the tournament.
EURO 1996 witnessed a shock when two goals from Pavel Nedved and Radek Bejbl helped the Czech Republic defeat a very strong team at that time, Italy, with a score of 2-1. The blue team at that time was the World Cup runner-up, led by coach Arrigo Sacchi and possessing stars Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta, Demetrio Albertini, Enrico Chiesa, Gianfranco Zola… The defeat against the Czech Republic contributed to Italy’s elimination. from the group stage of EURO 1996.
Latvia has never been considered an excellent team in Europe. However, they surprised everyone by winning tickets to the EURO 2004 finals after ranking above Poland in the qualifying round. In the opening match, Latvia lost 1-2 to the Czech Republic. However, after that, they created a big surprise when they drew 0-0 against Germany. The 2002 World Cup runner-up at that time had notable names such as Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose, Philipp Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger… However, the “Tank” could not penetrate Latvia’s goal for 90 minutes.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s tears when he was just 19 years old and the Greek national team’s celebration are two contrasting images in the EURO 2004 final that are still mentioned until now. At that time, Ronaldo and Portugal were faced with the opportunity to win the EURO championship right at home. However, the Greek team with scientific defense tactics neutralized stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Deco, Rui Costa… Angelos Charisteas’ goal in the 57th minute helped the Greek team win the EURO for the first time in 2019. history.
England lost in shock to an opponent considered underdog, Iceland in the 1/8 round of EURO 2016. Although Wayne Rooney scored in the 4th minute, the “Three Lions” lost. In the next 14 minutes, Iceland scored 2 goals thanks to Ragnar Sigurdsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson to win tickets to the next round. “They thought it would be an easy match,” said Sigurdsson, who scored the 1-1 goal in the sixth minute. But England was completely wrong.
In the 1/8 round of EURO 2020, the Netherlands suddenly lost 0-2 to the Czechs. Striker Patrick Schick said after the match: “Things couldn’t have gone more smoothly. No one expected us to go this far in EURO.” Second-half goals from Tomas Holes and Patrik Schick helped the Czech Republic win. The Dutch team includes notable names such as Georginio Wijnaldum, Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Memphis Depay… After this defeat, coach Frank de Boer of the Dutch team was fired.