UEFA Euro 1996 - Knockout Stage
Part 68 - Silence Is Golden
UEFA Euro 1996 - Knockout Stage
UEFA Euro 1996 - Knockout Stage
Germany and France kicked off the quarter-finals in a straightforward but entertaining affair. Le Bleus' goal early in the first half never saw a response. France were in the semi-finals.
The second quarter-final was a similar story. Although Spain's first goal was disallowed for offside, La Roja broke the deadlock shortly afterwards and successfully defended it for the remaining 90 minutes. The success was especially welcome given Spain's 1988 group stage exit on home soil and failure to qualify in 1992.
Somewhat embarrassingly, co-hosts the Netherlands played their first knockout match in Bruges, not Rotterdam, due to their failure to top Group D. Their opponents were Bohemia, who impressively won a tough group and had turned into a bit of a rival for the Dutch, following their recent battles at major tournaments. The Bohemians had most recently eliminated the Netherlands in the last 16 of the 1994 World Cup, but Oranje took the lead in Bruges. Despite not playing on their own soil, the Dutch enjoyed unofficial home advantage from the stands. But Bohemia was not discouraged. This was a top match between two solid teams and, accordingly, the Bohemians eventually levelled the score. Extra time didn't see any goals, despite the newly introduced golden goal rule [1]. The penalty shootout did, however, mostly from the accurate Bohemians. The hosts suffered a disappointing exit.
Portugal was the clearest remaining front-runner, given their emphatic group stage display. However, their lack of recent knockout stage experience showed, and the Soviet Union went in front early in the second half. The Portuguese woke up and grew into the game, but never found the equalizer. Instead, a last-minute counter-attack enabled the Soviets to make it 2-0.
In the first semi-final, a perfectly timed lob in the 31st minute granted Radek Drulak a one-on-one with the French goalkeeper. A composed finish put the Bohemians in front. France were pretty bleak, though not terrible, but failed to find the equalizer despite notably thundering a shot at the crossbar. Bohemia were in their maiden Euro final, and their first major tournament final since 1934 if you count them as the successor team of Czechoslovakia.
The second semi-final was in many ways a similar story, though Spain did equalize after the Soviet Union took the lead early on. Extra time didn't see a 'golden goal', but the penalty shootout did, along with a couple of great saves. The Soviet Union were in the final.
Despite winning the inaugural 1960 European Championship and reaching a lot of semi-finals early on, the Soviet Union had been labelled 'sleeping giants' by a fair few, though much more 'sleeping' than 'giants'. Their Euro 1988 semi-final run was preceded by three failed qualifying campaigns, and followed by a group stage exit, while they have not reached the final four of a World Cup since 1966. In many ways, Bohemia was the antithesis. Following years in isolation during the 'Nazi era' and decades of failed qualification attempts, Bohemia finally started reaping the benefits of their football development programme in the late 1980s. By 1996, they were one of the best teams in Europe. Football fans were hoping for a repeat of Bohemia's and the Soviets' spectacular 3-3 draw in the group stage. However, given it was a final, the stakes and nerves were naturally much more palpable. The first half was goalless, but Patrik Berger was given a golden opportunity to break the deadlock. He took it. Bohemia in front, but the Soviets never stopped playing and the seemingly inevitable equalizer did come after 15 minutes. For the first time since 1980, a Euro final reached extra time. Fittingly, a Soviet golden goal in the 110th minute decided the final, leaving the Bohemians silenced and devastated, while the Soviets finally won another major title.
Knockout stage of UEFA Euro 1996.
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[1] I toyed with the idea of removing the golden goal rule, but decided against it since FIFA's misguided incentives to add the rule are still present ITTL (to produce more attacking play during extra time and reduce the number of penalty shootouts). It was comically proven to not work at OTL's Euro 1996, where four of seven knockout stage matches went to penalties (three of which even finished 0-0), but I digress. The negative tactics used during OTL's Italia '90 likely played a role in FIFA's decision to add the rule (keep in mind that it was first introduced in 1993, despite not being implemented at the 1994 World Cup). Although TTL's 1990 World Cup in Germany saw 0.18 more goals per match, I don't think that's enough for FIFA to not implement the golden goal rule.
Credit to @jycee for getting the most knockout stage predictions right.
Stay tuned for the prelude to the 1998 FIFA World Cup!
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