Your Favourite Individual Performance In Euros History

[Satchmo Distel]

Van Basten v England is an obvious one but I can't see many rivals. I'm too young to remember Netzer 1972, which was technically a qualifier. Zidane had a stormer in Euro 2000 but he was playing in by far the best team - ditto Xavi, Iniesta and Senna later.

[ursus arctos]

Gazza against Holland in 96 was special

As was most all of Platini's 84

[Sporting]

Yes, the latter springs to mind.

[imp]

Dieter Mueller's hat-trick on his debut for West Germany in the 1976 semi-final - coming off the bench to score with his first touch against Yugoslavia at 1-2, then going on to score a hat-trick as the Germans ran out 4-2 winners in extra time. Played only 12 times (nine goals) for his country because of "differences of opinion" with Helmut Schoen.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Francesco Toldo, Euro 2000
Especially the Netherlands game, though he was brilliant throughout- saved penalties in normal time and shootout

[blameless]

Seconded on Toldo.

Andy Goram at Euro 96 (especially vs Holland)

Andrei Arshavin at Euro 2008 (again, especially against Holland - the Dutch seem to bring outstanding performances out of their opponents for some reason)

Henrik Larsson against Bulgaria at Euro 2004

Henrik Larsen (no, the Danish one) at Euro 92

[Jah Womble]

He may be a bit of a tool now, but Platini owned 1984: his nine-goal haul might one day be replicated, but bear in mind that Platini managed that in five games.

(David Villa sticking it to Russia in 2008 was impressive, but - as in other tournaments - he seemed to burn out very quickly.)

[Kevin S]

Andrea Pirlo v England, 2012. Dictated the pace and flow of the entire game, forcing England to play his game. And then crushing the cocky Joe Hart in the shootout with a Panenka. I don't really recall how trendy 'deep lying playmakers' were at the time? Was he also doing something that not many other players were doing?

Here's one of those 'every touch' videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI3EhWBAdZ0

[Kevin S]

It's amazing watching how much England have changed in these 9 years too. Look at how little, and how badly, they press Italy. Their focus when not in possession is entirely on 'keeping in shape.'

[RobW]

Jesus, I just watched the penalties again and Pirlo's panenka came when Italy were behind in it. Balls of steel that guy.

[E10 Rifle]

Zidane in all France's group stage matches in 2000 (I was at one of 'em, it was an absolute education)

Arshavin v Holland in 2008 is a good shout too.

[G-Man]

Dieter Mueller's hat-trick on his debut for West Germany in the 1976 semi-final - coming off the bench to score with his first touch against Yugoslavia at 1-2, then going on to score a hat-trick as the Germans ran out 4-2 winners in extra time. Played only 12 times (nine goals) for his country because of "differences of opinion" with Helmut Schoen.

Ah, scooped. He also scored in the 2-2 against Czechoslovakia in the final. He was a technically superb player, and when in form and the right space, one of the greatest strikers Germany has ever had. He still holds the record for most goals in a Bundesliga game (six in Koln's 7-2 against Werder in 1977).

[imp]

You have any idea what the problem was between him and Schoen? I just remember him being hailed as 'the new Gerd' and then in Britain we barely heard of him again.

[Gerontophile]

No idea. But my favourite goal was Trezeguet.

[jameswba]

I'll put in a word for Hamsik vs Russia at the last Euros.

In terms of one player over a whole tournament, Platini in '84 will never be bettered, though France were a magnificent team all-round.

[Sixmartletsandaseagull]

Schuster in 80, Platini 84, Van Basten 88, Zidane 2000. I really enjoyed Scirea 80 and Totti 2000 and Gazza 96 and Rooney 2004 from the Italy and England points of view. Obviously, I've forgotten (plain missed) a good many.

I also first became aware of still one of my very favourite players of all time, Alan Ball, watching England 1-3 West Germany 1972 QF 1st leg (so outside the more modern tournament set-up, but my first European Championship memory). I watched the game again during the first lockdown in 2020 and Ball was excellent first half, before West Germany started to put England to the sword.

[ursus arctos]

Ah, that has jogged my memory of Wilfried van Moer's magical 1980 tournament for Belgium when he was 34 or 35 and had been out of the side for four or five years.

[scratchmonkey]

Going with "favorite" over "best" in this case and nominating Nedved and Davids in Euro 2004, of course the two of them meeting in what is one of the best Euro games of all time, the Czech Republic coming back from two-nil to win 3-2 in the group stages in a game where neither team seem particularly interested in playing defense, with an incredible number of chances gone getting and the woodwork being hit at least three time. In any case, both of them were playing out of their skins at this tournament and were a delight to watch, especially in terms of long range shots (although Nedved's dark arts of winning free kicks and cards for the opposition without overselling it a la Neymar bears a mention as well).

Nedved having to go off injured in the semi-final is the real tragedy of 2004 for me (Portugal somehow conspiring to lose the final being the comedic apex) as that was the end of that team. I have a friend who grew up in Prague in the 80s and as a result they've been one of my sentimental favorites, somewhat marred by their complete shitting of the moral bed with the recent Slavia contretemps.

[My Name Is Ian]

I'm going to go for John Motson for the BBC, France vs Portugal in 1984.

I've banged on about this match before. My school was pretty free and easy about holidays. If the parents dropped in and said, "we're hoiking him out for a week", there was no fuss kicked up, they just let them get on with it, so we ended up staying with a family just outside Paris for the week of the semi-finals. I ended up watching it in the kitchen of a house surrounded by men with big plastic bottles of red wine and a heavy fog of Gitane smoke in the air.

I didn't know anything about the lack of coverage at home for years afterwards, but when the BBC put on its Goal TV night in 1994 they showed brief highlights and I thought Motson was wonderful, so I ended up rooting out a torrent of the full BBC coverage (highlights only - I've still got them on a DVD somewhere, though I don't know whether it would actually work in a machine now).

The real moment comes with the winning goal. "Tigana... Tigana... TIGANA... PLATINI... GOAL FOR FRANCE! IN THE LAST MINUTE!" (several seconds pregnant pause) "I've not seen a match like this for years."

I'm not a Motson fan. He went some way beyond becoming a parody in his later years and I've never been a one for stats nerdery. But that moment, that pause... I'm about 70% certain that he orgasmed. He certainly sounded post-coital. It was the voice of someone who really, really loves football, and who's just seen the denouement of an incredible game.

(If this is limited to players only, then Wayne Rooney against Croatia in 2004. Just about unplayable.)

[Nesta]

Rooney's first for England that night was cue for another memorable Motson moment: "ROONEY!! Is there nothing he can do?... except... score... goals like that for England"

[Jah Womble]

"At...eighteen..." was the tailpiece, IIRC.

I'm going to go for John Motson for the BBC, France vs Portugal in 1984.

I've banged on about this match before. My school was pretty free and easy about holidays. If the parents dropped in and said, "we're hoiking him out for a week", there was no fuss kicked up, they just let them get on with it, so we ended up staying with a family just outside Paris for the week of the semi-finals. I ended up watching it in the kitchen of a house surrounded by men with big plastic bottles of red wine and a heavy fog of Gitane smoke in the air.

I didn't know anything about the lack of coverage at home for years afterwards, but when the BBC put on its Goal TV night in 1994 they showed brief highlights and I thought Motson was wonderful, so I ended up rooting out a torrent of the full BBC coverage (highlights only - I've still got them on a DVD somewhere, though I don't know whether it would actually work in a machine now).

The real moment comes with the winning goal. "Tigana... Tigana... TIGANA... PLATINI... GOAL FOR FRANCE! IN THE LAST MINUTE!" (several seconds pregnant pause) "I've not seen a match like this for years."

I'm not a Motson fan. He went some way beyond becoming a parody in his later years and I've never been a one for stats nerdery. But that moment, that pause... I'm about 70% certain that he orgasmed. He certainly sounded post-coital. It was the voice of someone who really, really loves football, and who's just seen the denouement of an incredible game.

(If this is limited to players only, then Wayne Rooney against Croatia in 2004. Just about unplayable.)

Yep - because England didn't qualify for Euro '84, there was minimal TV coverage in the UK. There were highlights packages on the BBC, but just one live match (W Germany vs Spain) ahead of the final itself.

That semi-final was one hell of a game, though.

[Jobi1]

Pat Bonner v. England in 1988. He was absolutely immense and I was utterly captivated, and this undoubtedly triggered my lifelong nerdy obsession with goalkeeping (and proclivity for supporting Irish national teams). No coincidence at all, I'm sure, that this was about the first match I remember sitting and watching with my (Irish, former Sunday league goalkeeper) father.

[jwdd27]

I remember Motson banging in about it being Platini's birthday, and then getting very excited when he scored a great goal... "ON HIS BIRTHDAY!!!".

Motson was always rubbish, IMO.

In 2002, having seemingly discovered time zones, he kept going on about everyone watching the games around their breakfast tables. Mate, we were in the pub, they opened at 7am. And if we weren't in the pub, we were on the sofa. Breakfast tables indeed.

[Jah Womble]

Motson was no Barry Davies. He could move effortlessly from stern headmaster to fascinated schoolboy within moments...

"If England wish to progress any further in this competition, then they cannot afford to make crass defensive errors like that!"
(Five or six minutes into England's 1986 World Cup group match vs Poland which would, within ten minutes of this, cement Gary Lineker's career.)

"Such energy, such optimism, such FUN!"
(As South Korea mounted a brave but ultimately forlorn fightback against Germany at USA '94.)

"You have to ask yourself, just what the hell is Roy Keane doing now?"
(During the first half of Ireland's opening match with Cameroon at the 2002 tournament - for which Keane had obviously stayed home.)

[Satchmo Distel]

Davies disappointed me with how biased he was in the 1986 QF. No attempt at objectivity and just said nothing about Maradona being hacked down and elbowed. OTOH seek out his dignified coverage of Heysel, where I thought he was top class, unlike the studio pundits going on about the cane and national service.

Was Motson even in the ground in 1984 or was it a studio job?