Histora.org newsletter June 21, 2000 The quarter-finals of the European Championship taking place in Belgium and The Netherlands are set after an incredible set of 1st round matches that saw a great deal of dramatic finishes, resulting in jubilation for some but heartbreak for others. The matches in this tournament have been of extraordinary quality thus far, the second round promises to be just as exciting! Here is a recap of the exciting first round action: ======================================================================= # Group A Pts GD P W D L GF GA Por Rom Eng Ger ======================================================================= 1 Portugal 9 +5 3 3 0 0 7 2 _____ 1 - 0 3 - 2 3 - 0 2 Romania 4 0 3 1 1 1 4 4 _____ _____ 3 - 2 1 - 1 3 England 3 -1 3 1 0 2 5 6 _____ _____ _____ 1 - 0 4 Germany 1 -4 3 0 1 2 1 5 _____ _____ _____ _____ ======================================================================= Group A featured defending champions Germany, England, Romania, and Portugal, these last two already having seen each other in qualifying. Germany were duly dethroned and sent home after an awful performance that saw them fortunate to pull out a draw against Romania, lose a sloppy match to England, and take a beating at the hands of the Portuguese reserves. Portugal were the class of the group, winning all three matches, including an impressive come from behind win against England, where they were down 2-0 but ended up winning 3-2! England needed only a draw in their final match against Romania, but alas, were eliminated in the final moments by a persistent Romanian side. England squandered leads against both Portugal and Romania and have only themselves to blame rather than their rowdy fans whose behaviour forced UEFA to threaten England with expulsion from the tournament. England did however manage to defeat Germany in a finals tournament for the first time since that glorious day in 1966, but alas it turned out to be meaningless. ======================================================================= # Group B Pts GD P W D L GF GA Ita Tur Bel Swe ======================================================================= 1 Italy 9 +4 3 3 0 0 6 2 _____ 2 - 1 2 - 0 2 - 1 2 Turkey 4 +1 3 1 1 1 3 2 _____ _____ 2 - 0 0 - 0 3 Belgium 3 -3 3 1 0 2 2 5 _____ _____ _____ 2 - 1 4 Sweden 1 -2 3 0 1 2 2 4 _____ _____ _____ _____ ======================================================================= Group B was perhaps the most uneventful group, with Italy coasting through on three rather routine victories. Co-hosts Belgium opened very strongly with a 2-1 win over Sweden, but were frustrated against Italy and then failed to capitalize against Turkey and were sadly eliminated. Turkey go through thanks to their win over Belgium and a 0-0 draw against a disappointing Swedish team. Italy will now play Romania in the quarter finals while Portugal will take on the surprising Turks. ======================================================================= # Group C Pts GD P W D L GF GA Esp Yug Nor Sln ======================================================================= 1 Spain 6 +1 3 2 0 1 6 5 _____ 4 - 3 0 - 1 2 - 1 2 Yugoslavia 4 0 3 1 1 1 7 7 _____ _____ 1 - 0 3 - 3 3 Norway 4 0 3 1 1 1 1 1 _____ _____ _____ 0 - 0 4 Slovenia 2 -1 3 0 2 1 4 5 _____ _____ _____ _____ ======================================================================= Group C was the craziest group, with a most dramatic finish. Needing a win against Yugoslavia in their final game to go through, Spain were down 3-2 in injury time. They were awarded a penalty in the 4th minute of injury time to level the score, and then scored a sensational goal with seconds to play to win 4-3 and secure their place in the quarter-finals! Yugoslavia advance in spite of the defeat, thanks to Slovenia who held Norway to a 0-0 draw. Slovenia had a courageous tournament in spite of finishing last in the group, as they began the tournament by shocking Yugoslavia going up 3-0 but eventually collapsed and allowed the Yugoslavs to take a point from the match. Spain made the drama necessary by losing its first match to Norway 1-0 and barely beating Slovenia 2-1 in its second. Yugoslavia go through thanks to their head-to-head result of 1-0 over Norway. ======================================================================= # Group D Pts GD P W D L GF GA Fra Ned Cze Den ======================================================================= 1 The Netherlands 9 +5 3 3 0 0 7 2 _____ 3 - 2 1 - 0 3 - 0 2 France 6 +3 3 2 0 1 7 4 _____ _____ 2 - 1 3 - 0 3 Czech Republic 3 0 3 1 0 2 3 3 _____ _____ _____ 2 - 0 4 Denmark 0 -8 3 0 0 3 0 8 _____ _____ _____ _____ ======================================================================= Group D looked to be the infamous "group of death" as it featured co-hosts and favourites The Netherlands, World Champions France, the Czech Republic who came into the tournament by winning all 10 of its qualifying matches, and 1992 Champions Denmark. The Czechs were unlucky not to get at least a point against the Dutch and were then eliminated by France, leaving them with a meaningless match against Denmark as both France and Holland assured their passage to the quarter finals after winning their first two matches. The final day then provided an entertaining match between France and Holland to determine who would win the group (and play the quarter final match in Holland against Yugoslavia) and who would finish second (and play in Belgium against Spain.) The Netherlands won 3-2 in a fun match that showed off the depth of both squads, and was perhaps, as many people believe, a preview of the final. The Czechs salvaged their pride with a 2-0 win over Denmark but were surely strong enough to go farther had they played in another group. Here are the previous winners of the European Championship first played in 1960: ===================================================== Year Winner Scores Runner-Up ===================================================== 1960 Soviet Union 2-1 Yugoslavia 1964 Spain 2-1 Soviet Union 1968 Italy 1-1,2-0 Yugoslavia 1972 West Germany 3-0 Soviet Union 1976 Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany 1980 West Germany 2-1 Belgium 1984 France 2-0 Spain 1988 The Netherlands 2-0 Soviet Union 1992 Denmark 2-0 Germany 1996 Germany 2-1 Czech Republic ===================================================== Here is a ranking which attempts to show who has been the most successful nation in the history of the European Championship. We can see that the powers of yesterday are not so today; however it would be foolish to doubt that Germany will once again be very strong someday, probably sooner than later if history is any indication: (Russia here is assumed to have inherited the old Soviet Unions' records, as is the Czech Republic for Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia for the old unified Yugoslavia) ================================================================= # Nation TPts Ap 1 2 3 4 P W D L GF GA ================================================================= 1. Germany 71 8 3 2 1 1 33 17 10 6 49 31 2. Russia 49 8 1 3 1 2 30 13 9 8 41 32 3. Spain 38 9 1 1 _ 6 32 14 9 9 49 36 4. Czech Republic 33 6 1 1 2 _ 25 10 7 8 41 30 5. France 32 7 1 _ 2 3 29 14 8 7 62 40 6. The Netherlands 31 7 1 _ 2 2 26 14 7 5 42 25 7. Italy 30 7 1 _ 2 1 24 11 8 5 30 17 8. Denmark 29 7 1 _ 2 1 27 9 8 11 43 45 9. Yugoslavia 27 7 _ 2 1 2 26 9 7 10 43 45 10. Belgium 17 6 _ 1 1 2 17 4 3 10 16 31 . England 17 8 _ _ 2 4 24 5 8 11 25 33 12. Hungary 11 4 _ _ 2 1 15 6 4 5 23 22 13. Portugal 10 5 _ _ 1 2 18 10 3 5 28 21 14. Romania 9 6 _ _ _ 3 18 3 4 11 17 31 15. Sweden 7 3 _ _ 1 1 13 4 5 4 16 16 16. Bulgaria 5 4 _ _ _ 1 12 5 2 5 14 18 ================================================================= TPts : Tournament Points earned (teams get 16 points for winning the title, 8 points for being the runner-up, 4 points for losing in the semi-finals, 2 points for losing in the quarter-finals, and 1 point for losing in the round of 16) Ap : Number of appearances in the European Championship finals. 1,2,3,4 : Number of titles, times runners-up, times lost in the semis, and times lost in the quarters P,W,D,L,GF,GA : Matches played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, and goals against. So Spain, France, Holland, and Italy all have a chance to win their second European Championship, joining Germany as the only multiple winners. Should Portugal, Romania, Turkey, or Yugoslavia succeed, it would be their first. Here are the past records of the remaining teams in the European Championships: Portugal : ================================================== Year RA TPts Finishing round W D L GF GA ================================================== 1960 1 2 Quarter-Finals 3 0 1 8 8 1964 0 0 First Round 1 0 2 4 5 1984 1 4 Semi-Finals 1 2 1 4 4 1996 2 2 Quarter-Finals 2 1 1 5 2 ================================================== RA = number of rounds played through and advanced TPts = number of those "Tournament Points" earned for that ranking above. Turkey : ================================================== Year RA TPts Finishing round W D L GF GA ================================================== 1960 0 1 Second Round 1 0 1 2 3 1964 0 0 First Round 0 0 2 0 7 1996 0 1 First Round 0 0 3 0 5 ================================================== The Netherlands : ================================================== Year RA TPts Finishing round W D L GF GA ================================================== 1964 1 1 Second Round 1 2 1 6 5 1976 1 4 Semi-Finals 2 0 1 8 4 1980 0 2 Semi-Finals 1 1 1 4 4 1988 3 16 Winner 4 0 1 8 3 1992 2 4 Semi-Finals 2 2 0 6 3 1996 1 2 Quarter-Finals 1 2 1 3 4 ================================================== Yugoslavia : ================================================== Year RA TPts Finishing round W D L GF GA ================================================== 1960 3 8 Final 3 1 2 15 10 1964 1 1 Second Round 2 1 1 6 5 1968 2 8 Final 2 2 1 8 5 1972 0 2 Quarter-Finals 0 1 1 0 3 1976 1 4 Semi-Finals 1 1 1 5 5 1984 0 2 Quarter-Finals 0 0 3 2 10 ================================================== Italy : ================================================== Year RA TPts Finishing round W D L GF GA ================================================== 1964 1 1 Second Round 2 1 1 8 3 1968 3 16 Winner 2 2 1 7 4 1972 0 2 Quarter-Finals 0 1 1 1 2 1980 0 4 Semi-Finals 1 2 0 1 0 1988 1 4 Semi-Finals 2 1 1 4 3 1996 0 1 First Round 1 1 1 3 3 ================================================== Romania : ================================================== Year RA TPts Finishing round W D L GF GA ================================================== 1960 1 2 Quarter-Finals 1 0 3 3 7 1964 0 0 First Round 1 0 1 3 7 1972 0 2 Quarter-Finals 0 2 1 4 5 1984 0 2 Quarter-Finals 0 1 2 2 4 1996 0 1 First Round 0 0 3 1 4 ================================================== Spain : ================================================== Year RA TPts Finishing round W D L GF GA ================================================== 1960 1 2 Quarter-Finals 2 0 0 7 2 1964 5 16 Winner 6 1 1 20 7 1968 0 2 Quarter-Finals 1 0 1 2 2 1976 0 2 Quarter-Finals 0 1 1 1 3 1980 0 2 Semi-Finals 0 1 2 2 4 1984 3 8 Final 1 3 1 4 5 1988 0 2 Quarter-Finals 1 0 2 3 5 1996 1 2 Quarter-Finals 1 3 0 4 3 ================================================== France : ================================================== Year RA TPts Finishing round W D L GF GA ================================================== 1960 2 4 Semi-Finals 3 1 1 21 11 1964 2 2 Quarter-Finals 2 1 3 11 10 1968 0 2 Quarter-Finals 0 1 1 2 6 1984 4 16 Winner 5 0 0 14 4 1992 0 2 Quarter-Finals 0 2 1 2 3 1996 3 4 Semi-Finals 2 3 0 5 2 ================================================== Here are the prior meeting records between the quarter-finalists: Portugal vs Turkey: ------------------- 1966 European World Cup Qualifiers : Portugal 5-1, 1-0 Turkey 1996 European Championship (First Round) : Portugal 1-0 Turkey The Netherlands vs Yugoslavia: ------------------------------ 1972 European Championship Qualifiers : Holland 0-2, 1-1 Yugoslavia 1998 World Cup Finals (Second Round) : Holland 2-1 Yugoslavia Italy vs Romania: ----------------- 1968 European Championship Qualifiers : Italy 3-1, 1-0 Romania 1984 European Championship Qualifiers : Italy 0-1, 0-0 Romania Spain vs France: ---------------- 1984 European Championship (Final) : Spain 0-2 France 1992 European Championship Qualifiers : Spain 1-3, 1-2 France 1996 European Championship (First Round) : Spain 1-1 France May whatever team you support provide us all with entertaining matches!