SOCCER - EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
EURO 1996 - ENGLAND
FINALS
Group A - England (1) v (1) Switzerland - England got their tournament off to a nervy start with a tight draw at Wembley. England opened the scoring with an Alan Shearer goal after 23 minutes but England failed to push on for a 2nd goal and Switzerland earned a draw with a penalty goal from Kübilay Türkyilmaz with 7 minutes left (2 versions : 9, 2020 re-broadcast - Full Game, 2 Discs, ITV - Moore/Keegan, PAL / 9, 46 minutes hi-lites, 1 Disc, ITV - Moore/Keegan, PAL)
Group A - England (2) v (0) Scotland - England got their 1st win of the tournament with a sensational 2nd half against their big rivals. After a scoreless 1st half, the game livened up with a 53rd minute goal from Alan Shearer. The game then changed in a pivotal minute in the 78th minute. Scotland won a penalty that England keeper David Seaman saved. Within 60 seconds, England surged upfield where Paul Gascoigne turned Colin Hendry inside out and slotted home the game-clincher before celebrating with the "Dentists Chair" (2 versions : 9, Full Game - 2016 Re-Broadcast, 2 Discs, BBC - Motson/Brooking, PAL / 9, 46 minutes hi-lites, 1 Disc, ITV - Moore/Keegan, PAL)
Group A - England (4) v (1) Netherlands - With England only needing a draw to qualify for the knockout round top of the group, England turned in a huge 2nd half performance to dominate the Dutch and comfortably win the game. Both teams were evenly matched in the 1st half and England went in at the break with a slim 1-0 lead. But the 2nd half was a different story. England won the game with 3 goals in a 12 minute span at the start of the 2nd half and even a late consolation goal from the Dutch couldn't ruin the party mood. The England goals came from Alan Shearer (2) and Teddy Sheringham (2). The Dutch goal came from Patrick Kluivert (3 versions : 9, 2020 re-broadcast - Full Game, 2 Discs, BBC - Davies/Pleat, PAL / 9, 2020 re-broadcast - Full Game, 2 Discs, ITV - Moore/Keegan, PAL / 10, Official DVD with commentary by Martin Tyler, 1 Disc, PAL)
Group D - Croatia (3) v (0) Denmark - Croatia booked their place in the knockout stages with a comprehensive win over the reigning Champions at Hillsborough. After a nervy 1st half that ended 0-0, Croatia started to play with more attacking confidence in the 2nd half and they were rewarded with a penalty after 54 minutes. Denmark huffed and puffed in search of an equaliser but Croatia sealed the win with 2 goals in the final 9 minutes. The Croatia goals came from captain Zvonimir Boban and 2 from man-of-the-match Davor Suker. His 2nd goal in the 90th minute was the goal of the tournament as he chipped Danish goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel from the edge of the penalty area. Croatia also featured Robert Prosinecki, Slaven Bilic and Aljoša Asanovic. Denmark also featured Brian Laudrup, Michael Laudrup, Henrik Larsen and Marc Rieper (9, 2020 re-broadcast - Full Game but no half-time or post-game, 2 Discs, ITV - Brackley/St.John, PAL)
Quarter Final - England (0) v (0) Spain - England qualified for their first ever European Championships Semi-Final with a penalty shootout win at Wembley Stadium. In a tight, defensive game of few chances, both teams fought through to the penalty shootout where England converted all 4 of their kicks while Spain had 2 saved. The heroes for England were goalkeeper David Seaman and defender Stuart Pearce, who shook off a penalty shootout miss in the 1990 World Cup Semi-Final to score his kick. England also featured Alan Shearer, David Platt, Paul Gascoigne and Tony Adams. Spain featured Fernando Hierro, Javier Manjarín and Sergi (9, 2020 re-broadcast - Full Game but no half-time, 2 Discs, ITV - Moore/Atkinson, PAL)
Semi-Final - Germany (1) v (1) England - The 2 old adversaries met for the 2nd time in 6 years in a semi-final and the result ended up the same, as the Germans knocked out England on penalties to reach their 2nd consecutive European Championship Final. England opended the scoring with an Alan Shearer goal after 3 minutes but Germany equalised in the 16th minute with a goal from Stefan Kuntz. Both teams tried for a game-winner in normal and extra-time but the game ended up in a peanlty shootout. After 5 successful kicks each, Gareth Southgate had his saved and Andreas Moller scored his to send Germany through to the Final (3 versions : 9, 2016 Re-Broadcast, 3 Discs, BBC - Davies/Brooking, PAL / 9, Transfer from official VHS with commentary from Martin Tyler, 3 Discs, PAL / 9, 46 minutes hi-lites, 1 Disc, ITV - Moore/Keegan, PAL)
Final - Czech Republic (1) v (2) Germany - Germany won their first European Championship since unification with a sensational "Golden Goal" win in extra-time. After a nervy goal-less 1st half, the Czech's opened the scoring with a 59th minute penalty from Patrick Berger. The game changed in Germany's favour in the 69th minute when substitute Oliver Bierhoff came on and he scored 4 minutes later to send the game to extra-time. In the 5th minute of extra-time, Bierhoff again scored and this won the game as the "Golden Goal" rule had been implemented before the tournament. Germany also featured Jurgen Klinsmann, Matthias Sammer and Thomas Häßler. The Czech Republic also featured Karel Poborsky, Pavel Nedved and Vladimír Šmicer (9, 2020 re-broadcast, 2 Discs, ITV - Moore/Atkinson, PAL)
Hi-Lites - (9, 2016 Re-Broadcasts - 46 minutes hi-lites unless stated otherwise, 16 Discs, ITV, PAL)
Disc 1
Group A - England (1) v (1) Switzerland - England go their tournament off to a nervy start with a tight draw at Wembley. England opened the scoring with an Alan Shearer goal after 23 minutes but England failed to push on for a 2nd goal and Switzerland earned a draw with a penalty goal from Kübilay Türkyilmaz with 7 minutes left (9, ITV - Moore/Keegan, PAL)
Group A - Holland (0) v (0) Scotland - Scotland and Holland fought to a goal-less draw at Villa Park. Holland had the better of the chances and the possession but failed to convert any of it into goals as Scotland used a great defensive scheme to keep the Dutch at bay. Holland featured Dennis Bergkamp, Clarence Seedorf and Edgar Davids (9, ITV - Parry/Atkinson, PAL)
Disc 2
Group A - Switzerland (0) v (2) Holland - Holland went top of Group A with a strong 2nd half display against the Swiss. After a scoreless 1st half, Holland put pressure on in the 2nd half and secured the win with goals from Jordi Cruyff (his 1st for Holland) and Dennis Bergkamp (9, ITV - Moore/St.John, PAL)
Group A - Scotland (0) v (2) England - England got their 1st win of the tournament with a sensational 2nd half against their big rivals. After a scoreless 1st half, the game livened up with a goal 53rd minute from Alan Shearer. The game then changed in a pivotal minute in the 78th minute. Scotland won a penalty that England keeper David Seaman saved. Within 60 seconds, England surged upfield where Paul Gascoigne turned Colin Hendry inside out and slotted home the game-clincher before celebrating with the "Dentists Chair" (9, ITV - Moore/Keegan, PAL)
Disc 3
Group A - Scotland (1) v (0) Switzerland - Scotland knew that they needed to win the game to have any chance of progressing in the tournament and responded with a passionate display of attacking football. Ally McCoist scored the only goal in the 36th minute but had 2 other golden chances to score that he missed. Despite the win, Scotland were eliminated on goal difference (9, ITV - Parry/St.John, PAL)
Group A - England (4) v (1) Holland - In arguably England's best ever game, the hosts thrashed Holland to finish top of Group A. Both teams were evenly matched in the 1st half with England holding a small 1-0 lead at the break. But in the 2nd half, England went up through the gears and scored 3 goals in the openign 20 minutes to take the win. Holland did score a late goal but the result was never in doubt. The England goals came from Alan Shearer (2) and Teddy Sherigham (2). The Holland goal came from Patrick Kluivert (9, ITV - Moore/Keegan, PAL)
Disc 4
Group B - Spain (1) V (1) Bulgaria - Spain and Bulgaria shared the points in their opening Group game at Elland Road. Bulgaria scored 1st in the 65th minute with a penalty goal from Hristo Stoichkov but, after they were reduced to 10 men, Spain fought back to tie with a 74th minute goal from Alfonso Perez. Spain were also reduce to 10 men shortly after and the game petered out to a draw (9, ITV - Parry/St.John, PAL)
Group B - Romania (0) v (1) France - France went top of Group B with a tight win over the Romanians at St.James's Park. A goal in the 25th minute from Christophe Dugarry was enough for France as the kept Romania at bay the rest of the way. The game also marked the first European Championships for Zinedine Zidane (9, ITV - Helm/Keegan, PAL)
Disc 5
Group B - Bulgaria (1) v (0) Romania - Bulgaria knocked Romania out of the tournament with a tight win at St.James's Park. A 3rd minute goal from Hristo Stoichkov did the damage and, despite pressure from Romania, the Bulgarians held on for the win (9, ITV - Parry/Keegan, PAL)
Group B - France (1) v (1) Spain - Both teams kept their unbeaten runs going with a tight draw at Elland Road. After a scoreless 1st half, France took the lead early in the 2nd half with a goal from Youri Djorkaeff. Spain pushed for the equaliser and got their reward with 5 minutes to go with a goal from José Caminero. The draw kept both teams in the hunt for the knockout round with 1 game to go (9, 23 minutes, ITV - Parry/St.John, PAL)
Disc 6
Group B - France (3) v (1) Bulgaria - France put in their best performance of the tournament to easliy beat Bulgaria and book a place in the Quarter Finals. Goals from Laurent Blanc, Patrice Loko and an own-goal did the damage. The lone Bulgarian reply came from Hristo Stoichkov. With the loss, Bulgaria were eliminated (9, ITV - Brackley, PAL)
Group B - Romania (1) v (2) Spain - Spain sensationally booked their place in the Quarter Finals with a late winner at Elland Road. Spain knew they needed a win to progress and started well with a goal from Javier Manjarín after 11 minutes. But Romania fought back to equalise after 29 minutes with a Florin Raducioiu goal. With the game winding down, Spain looked out but, in the 84th minute, Amor stooped to head in the game-winner (9, ITV - Helm, PAL)
Disc 7
Group C - Germany (2) v (0) Czech Republic - Germany opened the group with an easy win against the Czech's. 2 goals in the opening 32 minutes did the damage. The goals came from Christian Ziege and Andreas Möller. Germany were missing captain Jurgen Klinsmann to suspension (9, ITV - Brackley/Atkinson, PAL)
Group C - Italy (2) v (1) Russia - Italy started their campaign with a win at Anfield. Lazio striker Pierluigi Casiraghi was the hero with 2 goals, including the game winner in the 52nd minute. The Russia goal came from Ilya Tsymbalar. Italy also featured Roberto Donadoni, Paolo Maldini and Gianfranco Zola. Russia also featured Valeri Karpin, Viktor Onopko and Andrei Kanchelskis (9, ITV - Brackley, PAL)
Disc 8
Group C - Czech Republic (2) v (1) Italy - The Czech Republic earned their 1st points with a shock win against the Italians. A Pavel Nedved goal gave the Czech's a dream start after 5 minutes but the Italians equalised after 18 minutes with a goal from Enrico Chiesa. The game turned on the 30th minute when Italy went down to 10 men. The Czech's quickly capitalised with the game-winning goal in the 35th minute from Radek Bejbl and then, despite heavy pressure from Italy, defended the lead to the end (9, ITV - Moore/Atkinson, PAL)
Group C - Russia (0) v (3) Germany - Germany all but booked their place in the knockout stages with a 2nd straight win in the group. After a scoreless 1st half, the game opened up in the 2nd half with goals from Matthias Sammer and Jurgen Klinsmann (2) doing the damage. The game was Klinsmann's 1st game in the tournament after serving a suspension. With the loss, Russia were knocked out of the tournament (9, 23 minutes, ITV - Parry/Atkinson, PAL)
Disc 9
Group C - Russia (3) v (3) Czech Republic - The Czech Republic booked their place in the Quarter Finals with a shootout draw at Anfield. The Czech's started the better and held a 2-0 lead after 19 minutes. But the Russians scored 3 unanswered goals to lead 3-2 after 85 minutes. On the brink of elimination, Vladimir Smicer popped up in the 88th minute to score the equaliser that sent the Czech's through. The other Czech Republic goals came from Jan Suchopárek and Pavel Kuka. The Russian goals came from Aleksandr Mostovoi, Omari Tetradze and Vladimir Beschastnykh (9, ITV - Brackley, PAL)
Group C - Italy (0) v (0) Germany - 2 years after making the World Cup Final, Italy were dumped out of the Euros in the Group stage. Despite facing a 10-man Germany team for over 30 minutes of the game, the Italians failed to take the goal-scoring opportunities presented and crashed out. Italy also missed a 9th minute penalty (9, ITV - Moore/St.John, PAL)
Disc 10
Group D - Denmark (1) v (1) Portugal - The reigning champions Denmark started their campaign with a draw, holding on against a good Portugal team at Hillsborough. Portugal dominated the game, but Denmark scored on their only shot on goal in the 1st half to go in 1-0 up at the half. Portugal re-asserted their dominance in the 2nd half and scored with a 53rd minute goal. Neither team could find the winner the rest of the way and the game petered out to a draw. The Portugal goal came from Sa Pinto. The Denmark goal came from Brian Laudrup (9, ITV - Helm, PAL)
Group D - Turkey (0) v (1) Croatia - In their opening game, Croatia used a late goal to go to the top of the group. Both teams were evenly matched with Croatia's big names failing to shine while Turkey lacked the playmaker to create chances. The game was settled in the 86th minute when Goran Vlaovic showed the one bit of class in the game, racing clear of the Defense to round the 'keeper and score the winning goal (9, ITV - Moore/Atkinson, PAL)
Disc 11
Group D - Portugal (1) v (0) Turkey - Portugal knocked out Turkey with a tight win at the City Ground in Nottingham. Portugal dominated possession and chances but had to rely on a 66th minute goal from defender Fernando Couto to claim the win and top spot in the group (9, ITV - Helm, PAL)
Group D - Croatia (3) v (0) Denmark - Croatia finally fulfilled their potential by knocking out the holders at the Hillsborough Stadium. The star for Croatia was Davor Šuker who scored 2 goals and set up a 3rd goal for Zvonimir Boban, all in the 2nd half. Šuker's 2nd goal was the best of the lot as he chipped Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel from the edge of the penalty area, then performed a salute to the crowd (9, 23 minutes, ITV - Brackley/St.John)
Disc 12
Group D - Croatia (0) v (3) Portugal - Both teams had a chance to progress as Group champions but Croatia decided to rest key players and Portugal took advantage with a big win at Anfield. Goals from Luis Figo, Joao Pinto and Domingos did the damage with Luis Figo having a big influence on the match (9, ITV - Parry/Atkinson, PAL)
Group D - Turkey (0) v (3) Denmark - Denmark's reign as Champions ended with an impressive show at Hillsborough. After a scoreless 1st half, Denmark put Turkey to the sword with goals from Brian Laudrup (2) and Allan Nielsen. The game proved to be the final European Championships for Michael and Brian Laudrup (9, ITV - Helm, PAL)
Disc 13
Quarter Final - Spain (0) v (0) England - England used the momentum of the group wins and the raucous crowd at Wembley to beat the Spanish in a penalty shootout and advance to their 1st ever European Championship Semi-Final. A stout Spanish defense kept the England attack at bay while England 'keeper David Seaman thwarted the Spanish attack. Neither team could find the winner in Normal and Extra-Time so the game went to Penalties. David Seaman stopped 2 Spanish kicks and the English claimed the win (9, ITV - Moore/Atkinson, PAL)
Quarter Final - France (0) v (0) Holland - France extended their unbeaten streak to 27 games with a penalty shootout win at Anfield. Both teams were unable to make headway against 2 strong defenses in Normal and Extra-Time so the game went to penalties, and France held their nerve to win 5-4 (9, ITV - Parry/Keegan, PAL)
Disc 14
Quarter Final - Germany (2) v (1) Croatia - Germany had to come back from a 1-0 deficit to book a place in the Semi-Finals for the 6th time. Germany scored first with a penalty goal from Jurgen Klinsmann but Croatia equalised in the 51st minute with a goal from Davor Suker. The game then changed in the 57th minute when key defender Igor Štimac was sent off and, 2 minutes later, European Footballer of the Year Matthias Sammer scored the game-winner to book their place in the Semi-Final (9, ITV - Moore/Atkinson, PAL)
Quarter Final - Czech Republic (1) v (0) Portugal - The Czech Republic continued their run in the Championships with a shock win against the Portuguese. The game was settled by the goal-of-the-tournament from Karel Poborsky who lobbed the Portugal 'keeper Vítor Baía to score the game-winning goal in the 53rd minute. The Czech's then used a strong defensive effort to keep Portugal at bay and saw out the game for the win and a place in the Semi-Final (9, ITV - Parry/St.John, PAL)
Disc 15
Semi-Final - France (0) v (0) Czech Republic - The Czech Republic boooked a place in their 2nd European Championship final with a penalty shootout win over the French. The under-manned Czech's were missing 4 starters to suspension and relied on a defensive set-up to get through the game. France hit the bar with an effort but neither team could find the goal needed to win and the game went to penalties where the Czech's prevailed 6-5 (9, ITV - Parry/Atkinson, PAL)
Semi-Final - Germany (1) v (1) England - The 2 old adversaries met for the 2nd time in 6 years in a semi-final and the result ended up the same, as the Germans knocked out England on penalties to reach their 2nd consecutive European Championship Final. England opended the scoring with an Alan Shearer goal after 3 minutes but Germany equalised in the 16th minute with a goal from Stefan Kuntz. Both teams tried for a game-winner in normal and extra-time but the game ended up in a peanlty shootout. After 5 successful kicks each, Gareth Southgate had his saved and Andreas Moller scored his to send Germany through to the Final (9, ITV - Moore/Keegan, PAL)
Disc 16
Final - Czech Republic (1) v (2) Germany - Germany won their 3rd European Championship, and their 1st major title as a unified Germany, with a sensational "Golden Goal" extra-time win. After a scoreless 1st half, the Czech Republic took the lead in the 59th minute. With the game slipping away from the Germans, they brought on substitute Oliver Bierhoff and turned the game around. He scored the equaliser in the 73rd minute then, in the 5th minute of extra-time, he scored the winner. Germany also featured Matthias Sammer, Jurgen Klinsmann and Thomas Hassler. The Czech Republic featured Pavel Nedved, Miroslav Kadlec, Karel Poborsky and Patrick Berger (9, ITV - Moore/Atkinson, PAL)
Euro 96 Review - A review of the 1996 tournament held in England (7, 1 hour, 1 Disc, BBC, PAL)