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    Classic Euro matches

    On another thread Etienne called Hungary vs Portugal a classic Euro match. I'd include it in my Top 20 classics, alongside Belgium v Wales and England vs Iceland. But here's my top 10 (not necessarily in that order):

    1976: Czechoslovakia vs West Germany 2-2 aet
    In the final, Czechoslovakia go 2-0 up in 20 minutes. What could possibly go wrong? In the 90th minute, Hölzenbein equalises. In the penalty shoot-out the first eight players soire. Then Hoeness skies the ball and Antonin Panenka steps up.

    2000: Yugoslavia vs Spain 3-4
    An insane game, with Spain scoring two in injury time to win and avoid elimination (at the expense of poor Norway).

    1976: Yugoslavia v West Germany 2-4 aet
    West Germany are 2-0 down until the 65th minute, when Flohe pulls one back. In the 79th they bring on sub Dieter Müller on debut. A minute later he scores. And in extra-time twice more to knock out the the host. A great game.

    2000: Netherlands v Italy 0-0 aet
    Rarely has a national side provided as much comedy as penalty-phobic Holland.

    2008: Germany v Turkey 3-2
    A bit of a ding-dong battle with a late minute winner against a side that had specialised in dramatic last-minute winners themselves. Plus: TV breakdown.

    1984: France vs Portugal 3-2 aet
    Where Platini pops up at the end to win it for the hosts.

    1996: Czech Rep vs Russia 3-3
    The Czechs are 2-0 up after 20 minutes; what could possibly go wrong against the already eliminated Russians. Three goals in the second half put Russia ahead by the 86th minute. Then Smicer equalises in the last minute. The Czechs begin their run through to the final, Italy go out instead.

    2008: Croatia v Turkey 1-1 aet
    A dire game until the last minute of extra-time. Then Croatia went through with a goal by Klasnic. Hurrah! Until with seconds on the clock goalie Rüstü punts the ball high upfield, finds Sentürk who scores from an angle. In the penalty shoot-out Croatia go on to miss two penalties.

    2004: France vs England 2-1
    England cruises to a victory in their opening match. Until Zidane's double-slam in the 90th minute.

    2008: Turkey v Czech Rep 3-2
    On the hour mark the Czechs take a 2-0 lead. What could possibly go wrong? Then Altintop sets up the 1-2 in the 75th, and the 2-2 in the 85th. And the 3-2 with a minute to go (echoes of the water battle against Switzerland the previous game). Then Koller in the 90th minute is about to score but gets fouled by goalie Demirel. Demirel is sent off. Turkey hold on and go into the next round. With Rüstü in for Demirel.

    #2
    Classic Euro matches

    1988 England 0-1 Republic of Ireland

    England go to the finals with burning confidence. A team that finally includes a fit Bryan Robson, Barnes, Beardsley, Gary Lineker up front. First game up are the Republic of Ireland, "England B", only out there to have a drink and a laugh while Jack Charlton goes fishing. The rest - especially Lineker's extraordinary catalogue of misses in the second half - is legendary.

    2000 Italy 1-2 France (AET)

    World Champions France are 1-0 down going into injury time against a dogged Italian side who have survived everything thrown at them. One final chance falls to Wiltord who rams it home, and France go on to win the trophy with a golden goal.

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      #3
      Classic Euro matches

      Maybe you had to be there but I thought Italy v Spain this tournament was a classic too, especially for Italophiles.

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        #4
        Classic Euro matches

        I hated the outcome of the Italy vs France game in 2000 so much, I have suppressed the memory of it.

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          #5
          Classic Euro matches

          Czech Republic v Netherlands 2004 was incredible. It had everything except maybe a missed penalty and a dog running onto the pitch.

          I actually fell asleep watching Croatia v Turkey 2008, but woke up shortly before all the mad shit at the end.

          Some more:

          Yugoslavia v France 1960
          Netherlands v Yugoslavia 1976
          West Germany v Netherlands 1980
          Denmark v Belgium 1984
          Spain v West Germany 1984
          Spain v Denmark 1984
          Netherlands v England 1988
          Netherlands v Germany 1992
          Czech Republic v Italy 1996
          England v Germany 1996
          France v Spain 2000
          Russia v Netherlands 2008
          Italy v Spain 2012 (first round)
          Italy v Germany 2012

          And a few that maybe weren't the greatest on a technical level, but were still very eventful:

          Spain v Denmark 1988
          Germany v Scotland 1992
          Belgium v Sweden 2000
          Slovenia v Yugoslavia 2000
          Greece v Portugal 2004 (the opening game)
          Austria v Poland 2008
          Poland v Greece 2012

          The 1980 final, between West Germany and Belgium, was a really good match but tends to be mistakenly perceived nowadays as a non-event, simply because the rest of the tournament was shit as well.

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            #6
            Classic Euro matches

            G-Man wrote: 2008: Turkey v Czech Rep 3-2
            On the hour mark the Czechs take a 2-0 lead. What could possibly go wrong? Then Altintop sets up the 1-2 in the 75th, and the 2-2 in the 85th. And the 3-2 with a minute to go (echoes of the water battle against Switzerland the previous game). Then Koller in the 90th minute is about to score but gets fouled by goalie Demirel. Demirel is sent off. Turkey hold on and go into the next round. With Rüstü in for Demirel.
            Both teams needed to win this game; a draw would have meant they were dead level on all tie-breakers, and a group game would have required a penalty shoot-out for the first time ever.
            Altintop didn't exactly set up the second Turkish goal. What he did was put as cross in much too close to Petr Cech. Which Cech, completely unaccountably, dropped directly onto Nihat's toe.
            Oh, and Koller wasn't about to score when the Turkish 'keeper fouled him. It was an off-the-ball incident with the ball out of play. Hence the red card, but no penalty accompanying it.

            Utterly gutting game, that one.

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