The Euro 1984 Football Tournament is a championship that has attracted a lot of attention for a number of different reasons. There you could see the “shot” newcomers, and an incredible hail of goals, but most often it is described as a benefit of the French team, which was also the hostess. So, if you are interested in this tournament, then this material is for you. Here you will find all the necessary information about Euro 1984 - which teams participated, who scored the most goals, who left the group and how they played in the playoffs, as well as much more.
Members
It is necessary to start the review of Euro 1984 with participants who qualified to participate in the final part of this tournament. At that time, after the qualification stage, a large proportion of the national teams were screened out, and then only those teams that took first places passed. There were seven groups in all, and the strongest teams came out of each of them - in 1984 they were: Belgium, Denmark, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Yugoslavia and West Germany. Thus, the competition in the final part promised to be very high, and many fans were looking forward to the tournament with great impatience. However, it was said about seven teams, and in fact eight teams took part in Euro 1984. What kind of team is this, which was not mentioned above and which, accordingly, did not take part in the qualification stage?
Mistress of the tournament
According to established tradition, the French team directly hit the final part of Euro 1984. The qualifying tournament was held for all teams except this one, since she was the hostess of the tournament. It was in France that year that the decision was made to host the European Championship, which meant that the French would not have to fight for a ticket to the final part of the tournament. They got a ticket there automatically - and at the same time, before the start of the championship, they were considered one of the favorites, because they had a rather strong roster of famous players. Moreover, as everyone is well aware, native walls always help a lot, and fans in their own stadium are a kind of twelfth player on the field. Therefore, many believed that the French could well win Euro 1984. The composition of the teams in the tournament were equal, but the twelfth player could have a direct impact on the outcome.
Debutants
Separately, it is worth paying attention to two teams, which until 1984 had never in history taken part in the final stage of the European Championship. These are the national teams of Portugal and Romania, which sensationally made their way to the final part of the tournament, but many experts believed that they would not even be able to leave the group, since they had to confront such football giants as Germany, Spain and Yugoslavia - what can we say about the French, the advantage of which was said earlier. The composition of the Portuguese national team at Euro 1984 was very different from what modern fans are used to seeing. Now many fans associate the Portuguese mainly with the figure of Cristiano Ronaldo, who today is one of the strongest players on the planet. Moreover, the Portuguese national team has other prominent football players, such as Nani or Pepe, as well as a number of rising stars, such as Renato Sanshes, João Maríu or Andre Gomes. At the same time, the Portuguese did not have particularly prominent world stars, so no one expected the team to show something impressive. And at the same time, the composition of the Portuguese national team at Euro 1984 was still better than the composition of the Romanians, who were generally considered the main outsiders.
Tournament format
As you can already understand, the format of the 1984 tournament was very different from what modern fans are used to. In 2012, there were four groups of four teams at the European Championships; two teams left each group, which made it to the quarter-finals. In 2016, the number of participating teams increased, the number of groups increased from four to six, and the playoffs did not start from the quarter-finals, like four years ago, but from the 1/8 finals. But in those days, the format was completely different - eight teams formed two groups, of which there were two teams, which then faced each other immediately in the semifinals. Thus, the tournament lasted much less than now. But Euro 1984 football was still remembered for its brightness and brilliance, and most importantly - for the incredible game that the French team demonstrated.
Group A
The first group turned out to be the so-called “death group”, which included almost all the strongest representatives of the Euro 1984 - France, Yugoslavia, Belgium and Denmark. The opening match took place between the national teams of France and Denmark, and he did not remember specifically the spectacle. Only one goal was scored - Michel Platini, the main character of this tournament, got his team victory in the end of the meeting. The Belgians defeated the Yugoslav national team a little more confidently - the goals were scored by Vanderberg and Grün. But the second round turned out to be a real scoring fiesta - both matches ended with a score of 5: 0. The French defeated the Belgians (Giress and Fernandez scored the ball, and Platini scored a hat-trick), and the Danes left the Yugoslav national team out of work (Berggren, Elker-Larsen and Lauridsen chalked up one exact shot, and Arnesen - just two) . The last round was decisive - the French had already secured a way out of the group, and the Danes and Belgians fought for second place in the full-time confrontation. France could again thank Platini for the victory, as he designed the next hat-trick, to which the Yugoslav national team was able to answer with only two goals of the six-member and Stojkovic. Well, in an extremely dramatic duel, the Danes were able to completely turn the tide of the meeting and secure their way out of the playoffs. Kulemans and Verkauteren, it would seem, already in the first half guaranteed their team a place in the semifinals, but Arnesen from the penalty spot right before the end of the first half reduced his advantage, and the second forty-five minutes became a real nightmare for the Belgian national team. First, Brill equalized, and five minutes before the end of the match, Elker-Larsen led the Danish national team forward, providing it with access to the semifinals. At Euro 1984, the line-ups, of course, were not equal, but practice has shown that not always big names can guarantee success. This is especially true of the second group, which will now be discussed.
Group B
The second group included teams from West Germany, Spain, Portugal and Romania. Many believed that this would be a real scoring extravaganza, as the Spaniards and Germans simply had to destroy the Portuguese and Romanians, playing the first and second places among themselves. But in reality, everything turned out quite differently. Already in the first match, the Germans could not defeat the Portuguese, and the Spaniards also tied with the Romanians. In the second round, the German national team corrected itself by defeating the Romanian national team with a score of 2: 1 and reaching the first place, since in the second match the Spaniards again could not win. It was enough for the Germans to play a draw with the Spaniards, but they did not want to give up so quickly - and in the 90th minute there was a sensation. Maseda scored a goal, which deprived the Germans of their place in the semifinals, as the Portuguese defeated the Romanians in a parallel match. As a result, the Spaniards left the first place, and the Portuguese made a sensation and made it to the semifinals from the second.
First semifinal
So, the teams of Spain, France, Denmark and Portugal left their groups in the semifinals. Euro 1984 is a tournament that did not bring any special surprises at the playoff stage. In the first match, the hosts of the championship and the surprise team played among themselves. Unfortunately, the dream of the Portuguese ended at this stage. In the first half, Domerg put the hosts ahead, but in the second half, Jorda equalized, transferring the match to overtime. There, already at 98 minutes, he was able to take his team forward, giving all the Portuguese hope. But Domerga and Platini had their own plans - it was they who scored two goals in the last five minutes of overtime, which knocked out the Portuguese national team from the tournament, and the French were secured a place in the final.
Second semifinal
The second semifinal match was no less dramatic - while in it the outcome was not decided even in overtime. Almost immediately after the starting whistle, the Danes of Lerby opened an account, but after an hour the Spaniards were still able to recoup - they scored the same Maseda, who buried the West German national team. As a result, the rest of the match went without goals, as did overtime. The time came for a penalty, and here the only player made a mistake - the very Elker-Larsen, who actually brought the Danes to the semifinals, scoring the decisive ball in the third round against the Belgians. As a result, the Spaniards won the penalty shootout, thereby achieving a very impressive result at Euro 1984 football. The final between the national teams of France and Spain promised to be very interesting, as the two favorites met.
The final
On June 27, nearly fifty thousand people gathered at the main stadium of the country, “Park de Prens”, to see the incredible football of Euro 1984 - the final of this tournament. The first half of the match went without goals, but the second began immediately very cheerfully. At 57 minutes, Platini did an incredible thing - he scored a very important goal, but the most important thing is that this match was the fifth in a tournament in which Michel celebrated an effective action. Until the last minute, the Spaniards hoped to score the return ball and put the game into overtime, but their dreams were not destined to come true. Bellon put the point in the match, scoring just before the final whistle. France won the European Football Championship, showing just an incredible game.
Bronze medal
As you know, the silver medal of the tournament was taken away by the Spanish national team, but who got the bronze? Until 1984, a match for third place was always held in the framework of the European Championship, which determined which of the teams that lost in the semifinals would receive a medal. But it was precisely this tournament that it was decided not to hold more matches for third place. Thus, the Danes and the Portuguese immediately got bronze medals . The Portuguese national team surprised everyone no less than the French - in her debut tournament, she was able to win a bronze medal, albeit shared with the Danes.
Golden boot
We should also talk about the award to the best scorer, as well as about the main character of this championship. The striker of the French national team Michel Platini broke all records and hit the whole world with his game, which he demonstrated at Euro 1984. As mentioned above, he scored in each of the five matches in which he took part, while distinguishing himself twice with hat-tricks. Thus, it was Platini who became the top scorer, having chalked up nine goals in five matches - the absolute record of the European Championship, which no player has been able to beat to date. Especially this result stands out against the background of the closest pursuer of Platini, Dane Frank Arnesen, who scored only three goals, and two of them were from the penalty spot. What the Frenchman showed at European Championship was skill and art, and he was remembered forever in many respects due to this tournament.
Championship Team
As after every major tournament, after the 1984 European Championships, experts identified eleven players who formed the “symbolic European team”. It included the best players in their positions. German Harald Schumacher was recognized as the best goalkeeper, two Germans, Karl-Heinz Ferster and Andreas Breme, as well as Portuguese Juan Pinto and Dane Morten Olsen made up the defense line. There were five people in midfield at once, three of whom were French: Alain Giresse, Jean Tigana and, of course, Michel Platini. He was made up of the company by the Portuguese Fernando Chalan and Dane Frank Arnesen. The best forward of the tournament was recognized by German Rudi Feller.