UEFA Euro 1992 - Denmark Triumph

The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship ( Euro 92 ) was the ninth European Football Championship. The competition took place over two weeks in June, from the 10 th to the 26 th. Euro 1992 was hosted by Sweden and supported by UEFA. It was the first major football competition in which the players had their names printed on their backs. The official anthem of the tournament was More Than a Game. The competition continued the use of the two group format. The games were played in the following stadiums:

• Nya Ullevi, Göteborg – Capacity: 44,000
• Rasundastadion, Solna – Capacity: 40,000
• Malmö Stadion, Malmö – Capacity: 30,000
• Idrottsparken, Norrköping – Capacity: 23,000

The European finals, the last comprising only eight teams, took place at a time of great political changes. Yugoslavia, having qualified and been in their preparation for the finals, were excluded because of the war crimes committed by its government in Belgrade. Denmark, the runners-up in their qualifying group, were invited to take their place. It was the beginning of a Danish summer fairy tale. The Soviet Union entered under the new name CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) after dissolution in 1991. CIS included eleven former Soviet Republics: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan discontinued permanent membership as of August 26, 2005, and is now an associate member. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were not members of CIS, and therefore did not send their players. Sweden qualified automatically as hosts of the event. As a result the following teams participated in the final tournament:

• CIS (replaced former USSR )
• Denmark (replaced Yugoslavia )
• England
• France
• Germany
• Netherlands
• Scotland (first appearance)
• Sweden (hosts, first appearance)

The biggest surprise in this competition was an early exit of France. Coached by Michel Platini with great talents Eric Cantona and Jean-Pierre Papin, France had been considered as the favorites of Group 1, but they left without winning one match. It was yet another disappointing tournament for England and especially Graham Taylor who was heavily criticised for his decision to substitute Gary Lineker at a crucial stage when England were losing to hosts Sweden.

The semi-finalists were a united Germany, defending champions the Netherlands, the hosts Sweden, and Denmark. Sweden played Germany in the first semi final at the Råsundastadion in Solna in front of almost 30,000 fans. For Germany, this was the first international competition they took part in after unification. Sweden with Tomas Brolin fought bravely, but lost to Germany 3-2. The match between Denmark and Netherlands was a close affair with a 2-2 draw followed by a penalty shoot-out. Denmark won 5-4 to reach the final.

Never has a team come from further behind to claim the European Championships than Denmark did for this tournament. The Danes weren't even supposed to make it to Sweden, as they finished behind Yugoslavia in their qualifying group. However, the tragic events of the war that erupted in the Balkan states in 1991 led to Yugoslavia being banned from Euro '92, with Denmark being chosen by UEFA to take their place in the finals.

The Danes' unlikely road to victory continued in the group stages as they stumbled through to a semi final match up against defending champions the Netherlands after recording a draw against England, a loss against Sweden, and a win against a Jean-Pierre Papin inspired French team.

Midfielder Henrik Larsen was to finish joint top scorer, Peter Schmeichel's penalty saving heroics were to set him on the way to being proclaimed as the finest goalkeeper of his generation, whilst Brian Laudrup emerged out of the shadow cast by his absent brother Michael to provide the creative spark that was needed to edge past their more heralded opponents.

The final had a bigger surprise in store. In front of a capacity crowd of 38,000, Denmark provided goal after 18 minutes due to John Jensen. They had nothing to lose, and showed it, holding Germany out and reaching half time with a surprise lead. However, just as it seemed a matter of time before Germany took the lead, a questionable challenge from Danish midfielder Kim Vilfort began a move that was finished in the most surprising of styles by the perennially goal shy John Jensen to give Denmark a 1-0 lead.

This strike knocked the wind out of the sails of Berti Vogts' German team, and from here on in the plucky determination and belief that was coursing through the veins of the Danish players shone through as they successfully frustrated their illustrious opponents.

The excellent performance of the Danish side was further rewarded in the 78th minute as Vilfort was once again in the thick of the action as he drove a low shot past the reach of Bodo Illgner to make the score 2-0, thus sealing Denmark's name on the Henri Delaunay trophy.

As such, Euro '92 remains the distinct bright spot in the history of Danish football, whilst also providing a shining example that with hard work and team spirit surprises can happen in the European Championships.

Brian Laudrup, goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, and their colleagues with a brilliant performance won their first European Championship, although they had been invited to the tournament on a very short notice.

Denmark: Peter Schmeichel, John Sivebæk (66 mins Claus Christiansen), Kent Nielsen, Lars Olsen, Kim Christofte, John Jensen, Flemming Povlsen, Brian Laudrup, Torben Piechnik, Henrik Larsen, Kim Vilfort

Germany: Bodo Illgner, Stefan Reuter, Andreas Brehme, Jürgen Kohler, Guido Buchwald, Thomas Häßler, Karl-Heinz Riedle, Thomas Helmer, Matthias Sammer (46 mins Thomas Doll), Stefan Effenberg (80 mins Andreas Thom), Jürgen Klinsmann

Goals: 1-0 John Jensen (18), 2-0 Kim Vilfort (78)