Denmark's players celebrate going 2-0 up in
the final against Germany.
Denmark's remarkable success in winning Euro 92 was as unexpected
as their actual participation in the tournament. The Danes only joined
in the party as a result of the political instability in Yugoslavia, which
had forced them to pull out. Denmark, having finished second in the qualifying
group to the Yugoslavs, were the team chosen by UEFA to stand in.
Early on they failed to impress and were lucky to survive unimpressive
performances against England (drawn 0-0) and Sweden (lost 1-0) before
managing to string their game together for the last group match against
France.
Larsen's early goal was cancelled out by the mercurial Jean-Pierre Papin
- outstanding throughout France's limited involvement - before Lars Elstrup
stretched out a leg to reach a Kim Vilfort cross to put the Danes 2-1
up.
Then, despite suffering numerous injuries, they took the lead twice in
their semi-final with a complacent Holland.
Henrik Larsen, enjoying a good spell of form, scored twice in the first
half only for his efforts to be cancelled out by first Dennis Bergkamp
and then, five minutes from time, Frank Rijkaard.
Holland, one of the favourites to win, failed to take the game by the
scruff of the neck and in the resultant penalty shoot- out, Dutch striker
Marco van Basten - the shining star of 1988 - had his penalty saved by
Peter Schmeichel.
Against Germany, Denmark showed skill, cunning and determination in abundance.
The Danish win in the Final was well merited and was built on frustrating
the Germans into resorting to questionable strong-arm tactics.
Arsenal-bound John Jensen scored a rare goal after 18 minutes, as the
Danes more than held their own in the first half. After the break, with
Germany becoming more and more desperate, Kim Vilfort capped a fairytale
fortnight with a goal twelve minutes from time.
Apart from the marvellous Danish story, the Championship was something
of a disappointment.
Scotland had managed to qualify for the first time in their history and
in all gave a good account of themselves, losing unluckily to both Germany
and Holland. They were fully deserving of winning their third match, where
they outplayed the CIS.
Before the tournament many observers had tipped Holland, the defending
champions, to do well again.
They looked controlled and stylish, with most of their heroes of 1988
still at the top of their game. In the group stage the Dutch did indeed
impress - Bergkamp gave the Dutch a narrow win over Scotland and was the
inspiration behind their stylish 3-1 win over Germany.
Despite missing their skipper Lothar Matthaus, the world champions still
went in as one of the favoured sides and despite losing that game against
Holland, they still felt confident of being able to go all the way.
At the Rasunda stadium in Stockholm, the Germans quickly took control
of their semi-final with Sweden through a Thomas Hassler goal on eleven
minutes. In truth, the Swedes never really recovered from such an early
set-back, despite playing the best football of their tournament.
When Riedle added a second on the hour mark, Sweden looked down and out.
But five minutes later, Tomas Brolin scored his third of the tournament
to bring the Swedes back into the match.
Riedle scored his second of the match to make it 3-1 with a couple of
minutes left but from the re-start, a hopeful cross into the box was misjudged
by Bodo Illgner and Andersson headed home.
It was too late though, the Germans won 3-2 and went into their fourth
European final. In what was a bruising match, Germany picked up injuries
to key defenders which only piled on the agony suffered by Rudi Voller's
earlier withdrawal in the group stages.
For England, Euro '92 was a massive disappointment. Graham Taylor was
confident of England's chances at the outset but those were soon dented
by the loss of key players such as Paul Gascoigne, John Barnes and Mark
Wright.
After playing poorly against Denmark, and with the hosts Sweden to come
in the third match, the game against France was crucial for the Three
Lions.
French defender Boli should have been sent off for head-butting Stuart
Pearce who earlier had crashed a wonderful free kick against the underside
of the French crossbar. The late introduction of Alan Shearer couldn't
prevent a second 0-0 draw for England, which meant having to beat the
Swedes to qualify for the semis.
A David Platt goal after just four minutes gave England the perfect start
and Andy Sinton and Tony Daley had further chances to extend England's
lead.
However, Sweden stepped up the pressure after the break and Jan Eriksson,
with a header from a left-wing corner, and Tomas Brolin, after a marvellous
one-two with Martin Dahlin, scored the goals which sent Taylor's men home.
1992 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
QUALIFYING
Sweden qualified as hosts. Group winners qualified for finals.
