Summer of 92, it was the ninth European Football Championship hosted by Sweden between 10th and 26th June 1992., which is held every four years and traces Denmark, the underdog 1992 Euro Cup team, who replaced Yugoslavia which had been barred from international soccer after the United Nations passed sanctions against the war-torn country.
The Danes thought they would be experiencing the tournament from the comfort of their art deco sofas up until a week before the opening fixture.Then Yugoslavia were banned from participating So Denmark were given Yugoslavia’s spot and, after France and England failed to win any of their group games, found themselves in the semi-finals.
They shocked the continent when Peter Schmeichel saved Marco van Basten's penalty in the semi-final penalty shoot-out against the Netherlands, thus defeating the defending European champions.The shock was compounded when Denmark went on to defeat the reigning world champions Germany 2–0 to win the European title.
Klinsmann, Effenberg, Riedle and co must have fancied their chances of lifting the trophy. But goals from Kim Vilfort and John Jensen (whose performances earned him a move to Arsenal) shocked the Germans, and the rest of Europe for that matter, as Denmark won 2-0.
The side rose to triumph even as the players suffered personal tragedies.
This was the first major tournament at which the reunified Germany (who were beaten 2–0 by Denmark in the final) had competed. This was also the last tournament with only eight participants, the last to award the winner of a match with only two points, and the last tournament before the introduction of the back-pass rule, which was brought in immediately after the tournament was completed. When the next competition was held in 1996, 16 teams were involved and were awarded 3 points for a win
Stars Ulrich Thomsen, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Cyron Melville
Manager: Richard Møller-Nielsen
No. | Pos. | Player |
---|---|---|
1 | GK | Peter Schmeichel |
2 | DF | John Sivebæk |
3 | DF | Kent Nielsen |
4 | DF | Lars Olsen (captain) |
5 | MF | Henrik Andersen |
6 | DF | Kim Christofte |
7 | MF | John Jensen |
8 | MF | Johnny Mølby |
9 | FW | Flemming Povlsen |
10 | FW | Lars Elstrup |
11 | FW | Brian Laudrup |
12 | DF | Torben Piechnik |
13 | MF | Henrik Larsen |
14 | FW | Torben Frank |
15 | FW | Bent Christensen Arensøe |
16 | GK | Mogens Krogh |
17 | DF | Claus Christiansen |
18 | MF | Kim Vilfort |
19 | MF | Peter Nielsen |
20 | MF | Morten Bruun |