EURO STORIES: JOY AND TRAGEDY FOR KIM VILFORT

Kim Vilfort. A name the Danish public will never forget, whose heroics at the European Championships in 1992 played out alongside one of the deepest personal tragedies that anyone can ever experience.

Denmark were invited by UEFA to take part in the Euros in 1992 just ten days before the tournament was due to start, as UN sanctions against Yugoslavia prohibited the then war-ravaged nation from participating. The Danish players were called back from their holidays and a squad was rapidly assembled. A key member of that squad was Brondby midfielder Kim Vilfort, whose 7-year old daughter was tragically suffering from leukemia at the time.

Vilfort returned home after the first two group games - a 0-0 draw with England and a 1-0 defeat against the host nation Sweden - in order to be at his daughter's side in hospital in Denmark. She was in very poor health and Vilfort wanted to stay with her. Denmark beat France in their last group game to progress in the tournament however, and his family persuaded him to return to Sweden and continue to represent his country, who were now preparing for a unexpected semi-final against defending European Champions Holland.

The decision to return must have been an agonizingly difficult one to make, but it had a significant bearing on the destiny of the European Championship. The clash with the Dutch was an enthralling affair; Denmark twice took the lead but couldn't hold on to it, and the game ended 2-2 after extra-time. In the resulting penalty shootout the Danes scored all five of their spot-kicks - Vilfort confidently taking the fourth one - meaning that one miss by Marco Van Basten sent the Danes through to the Final. They were now building up to the biggest match in their history, which would be against the World Champions Germany. They were massive underdogs.

Following the semi-final Vilfort again returned to Denmark to be at his daughter's side. Again he was persuaded to return for the Final, and - in a fairy tale ending as good as any that Hans Christian Andersen ever wrote - Vilfort stole the moment of crowning glory. With 11 minutes left of the Final and Denmark leading 1-0, Vilfort latched on to a forward header 30 yards out, threaded his way between two defenders and unleashed a left-footed drive from the edge of the penalty area that found the back of the net via the post. Without that second goal, Germany may well have found enough in the tank to conjure up an equalizer. But this was a moment of fate for player and country; Vilfort and Denmark had achieved the impossible. Three weeks earlier Denmark had not even been on the guest list for the Euros; now, they were heading home as the Kings of European football.

Kim Vilfort's daughter had been terminally ill, and he knew that there would be no miracles off the pitch. Line Vilfort herself had pleaded with her father to return to the tournament and play for his country. He respected and trusted the tremendous courage of his daughter, and the rest is history.

COUNTRY FOCUS: ENGLAND

The 1966 World Cup winners have a very poor record in the European Championships. The tournament is considered by many to be a better indicator of a nation's standing in World football than the World Cup, given that the quality of teams that compete in the final tournament are much more evenly matched. On that basis, England are clearly lagging woefully behind the other giants of Europe who have also won the World Cup. On five of the eleven occasions that they entered the qualifying phase of the competition they failed to make it through to the Finals. That leaves six occasions where they did qualify, plus their appearance as hosts in 1996 when qualification wasn't required. In short, England have only appeared in just over half of the European Championship Finals (seven out of thirteen).

Euro Pedigree:

After not entering the inaugural tournament in 1960 and then failing to qualify in 1964 following a defeat by France over two legs, England proceeded to get through to the Finals in 1968 where they faced Yugoslavia in Florence in the semi-finals. World Champions at the time, England fell to a late goal by the wonderful Dragan Dzajic to miss out on a place in the Final. That was England's last match at the Finals for twelve years, when the tournament was again held in Italy. England were beaten 1-0 by the hosts in the group stage, and despite victory against Spain and a draw with Belgium, they only finished third in the group and were out.

England again missed out on the Finals in France in 1984, but started as one of the favourites to win the tournament four years later in Germany. A disastrous campaign saw England lose all three of their group matches to the Republic of Ireland and the two eventual finalists, Holland and the USSR. In 1992 England again fell at the group stage and were lambasted by the English Press for their unacceptable performances. Two goalless 'bore draws' with Denmark and France were followed by a defeat against hosts Sweden which put paid to hopes of progressing.

In 1996 on home soil England enjoyed their finest hour in the Euros, only being denied a place in the Final following a heartbreaking semi-final shootout defeat to old rivals Germany. Prior to that they had destroyed the Dutch 4-1 on a memorable night at Wembley, with Paul Gascoigne and the two strikers (Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham) oozing class and confidence. Victory over Spain in the quarter-finals on penalties set up the clash with Germany, and despite taking the lead with an Alan Shearer header after only two minutes the game finished 1-1. Extra-time saw the Germans have a goal disallowed and both Darren Anderton and Gascoigne come within an inch of the golden goal that would have taken England through, but it was not to be. Defender Gareth Southgate missed the crucial sixth kick in the shootout. In spite of the defeat, Euro 96 was a tournament that England could look back on with pride in the level of their performances.

Four years on and England were drawn with Germany again, this time in the group stages. Despite a 1-0 win, England went home early again as they lost their other two games against Portugal and Romania, both by a 3-2 scoreline. England led in both games, and an inability to defend a lead at vital stages is a recurring feature of England's international football history. On no occasion was this more evident than in their opening group match four years later against France at Euro 2004. England were leading 1-0 with the game virtually over, yet contrived to hand the French a free kick and a penalty in the time that remained, both of which were clinically dispatched by the brilliant Zinedine Zidane. To their credit England recovered to win their other two group games and qualify, but in the quarter-final against hosts Portugal they again surrendered a long-held lead and were beaten in a dramatic penalty shootout. Key defeats in qualifying for Euro 2008 - against Croatia (twice) and Russia - meant that England missed out again on a place at the Finals in Austria and Switzerland. Qualification for the 2012 tournament started well with wins against Bulgaria and Switzerland, but England seemed to be slipping into old habits earlier this month as they stuttered to a 0-0 draw at home to Montenegro.

Greatest Moment:

Surely the 4-1 destruction of Holland at Wembley in 1996 - one of England's finest performances ever - that confirmed their quarter-final berth.

Biggest Heartbreak:

Seven days on from the heroics against Holland, England were denied a place in the Final following more penalty pain against Germany.

CLASSIC EURO ENCOUNTERS

West Germany v Holland 1988 Semi-Final (Hamburg)

Never dull, matches between these two bitter rivals. In a repeat of the 1974 World Cup Final, both sides scored from the penalty spot. The Dutch had looked very impressive in their group fixtures and Marco Van Basten was in sensational form. It was they who made most of the running in the first half and created the better chances, but it was the host nation who took the lead in the 55th minute, Lothar Matthaus converting with typical ease from the spot after Jurgen Klinnsmann had been bundled off the ball by Frank Rikjaard. A few minutes later Klinnsmann shot narrowly wide following a great run by Matthaus, thus failing to secure the Germans passage to the Final. At 2-0 down even the Dutch would have struggled to find a way back. In the 74th minute, Van Basten tricked his way into the box and Jurgen Kohler challenged him. Van Basten went down and the referee pointed to the spot, although TV replays clearly showed that Kohler had played the ball. Ronald Koeman scored the resulting penalty and the watching world geared up for a grandstand finish.

With just seconds to go on the clock, Jan Wouters slid a perfectly weighted pass into the penalty area and Van Basten provided a gloriously instinctive first time finish to stun the home crowd and send Holland into the Final.

PLAYER FOCUS: JACK WILSHERE

With the European Championships a mere spot on the horizon there are literally hundreds of players in with a shot of reaching the final stages.

One player that seems to have almost secured a spot on the plane already (if England qualify) is Arsenal's wonder-teen Jack Wilshere. Despite his tender age of just 18 and so few caps he could actually wear them on his head and not look a fool making this achievement even more impressive.

Young Jack burst onto the scene last summer in the annual Emirates Cup tournament in pre-season. After being hailed for his skillful trickery there were some who called for him to go to the World Cup in South Africa but Fabio Capello opted against taking the youngster.

Now a regular in the Gunners' first team we've started to see more of the real Jack Wilshere. In his first appearance on our screens some 18 months ago he appeared as a flying winger, skinning players and making darting runs into the box from the flanks. However an injury prone Spaniard has left a hole in the middle of Arsenal's midfield and now we can see the player that Wilshere really is.

The teenager cuts a Scholes-like figure in the middle of the park, chasing back, stringing passes together and pushing forward into the box when needed.

The young gun may well give Mr. Capello the option he has been looking for in the middle of the park while giving England fans the replacement they've been searching for since a certain Manchester United midfielder retired some six years ago.

TOP FIVE EURO FINALS

Here are my top five European Championship Finals in ascending order:

5. 1960: USSR 2-1 Yugoslavia (Paris)

The first ever European Championships were held in France. The official title of the competition was the "European Nations' Cup" and the inaugural event was won by the Soviet Union - their one and only major international trophy. The Final was a closely fought affair which could have gone either way. Yugoslavia drew first blood with a scrappy goal just before half-time from ace striker Milan Galic but the lead was to be short-lived. Slava Metreveli levelled matters in the 49th minute. The Soviets then had legendary goalkeeper Lev Yashin to thank as he proceeded to make a string of great saves as the match wore on and took the Final to extra-time. The superior fitness of the Soviets began to tell, and Viktor Poneldelnik's strike seven minutes from the end sealed victory.

4. 1980: West Germany 2-1 Belgium (Rome)

German playmaker Bernd Schuster has an outstanding match that day in Rome to lead his country to a deserved second European Championship triumph. A spirited Belgium made a game of it and rallied in the second half to cancel out Horst Hrubesch's early goal with an equalizer from the penalty spot in the 75th minute. The Germans were not to be denied, however, and Hrubesch headed a dramatic winner with just two minutes left.

3. 1992: Denmark 2-0 Germany (Gothenburg)

This was one of the truly great football stories. Denmark hadn't even qualified for the tournament, but stepped in as last-minute replacements for war-ravaged Yugoslavia. World Champions Germany were huge favourites ahead of the Final, in spite of the fact that the Danes had seen off the defending European Champions Holland in a thrilling semi-final. The fairytale ending became reality when superb strikes from John Jensen and Kim Vilfort sealed a truly memorable and extraordinary triumph.

2. 2000: France 2-1 Italy (Rotterdam)

Unlike Germany in 1992, France did succeed in adding the European Championship Title to their World Title in Rotterdam in 2000 - in dramatic circumstances. For long periods of the match Italy were comfortably in control, and appeared to be cruising to victory following a Marco Delvecchio goal early in the second half. Substitute Alessandro del Piero missed two gilt-edged opportunities to extend the lead though, and the Azzurri were made to pay. A late, late equalizer from Sylvain Wiltord dealt the Italians a savage blow, and it was left to David Trezeguet to smash home a golden goal winner 13 minutes into extra-time.



1. 1976: Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany (Belgrade)

A thrilling Final, full of direct, attacking football and tremendous goalkeeping from both Ivo Viktor and Sepp Maier. The Czechs built up a deserved two-goal lead inside 25 minutes, but the West Germans halved the deficit almost immediately following a goal by Dieter Muller, who punished the Eastern European nation for slack defending. Both teams continued to play on the offense and several chances to score went begging at both ends. In the last attack of the match the Germans won a corner, and Bernd Holzenbein rose above everybody to head his side level. The frenetic pace continued in extra-time as both teams sought - but failed - to find a winning goal. With the score in the penalty shootout locked at 3-3, up stepped Uli Hoeness to blast his shot over the bar and leave Czechoslovakia one penalty away from winning their first major Title. What followed was an audacious demonstration of supreme confidence by Antonin Panenka, who dinked the ball over Maier in what is probably the most famous penalty ever scored.

TRIVIA ANSWERS

ANSWERS TO YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA

1. EURO 2012 will be the 14th European Championships held. The first tournament was staged in 1960, and they have been held every four years since then.

2. Nine different nations have won the Euros - The Soviet Union, Spain, Italy, (West) Germany, Czechoslovakia, France, Holland, Denmark and Greece.

3. 1996 in England. Four groups of four teams played a round robin format, with the top two going through to the last eight where straight knock-out football took over. This format has been used ever since then and will be used in Poland/Ukraine in two years time. However, plans to expand the following tournament in France in 2016 to 24 teams have been approved by UEFA.

4. The first European Championships Finals were held in France in 1960. Only four nations participated - France, The Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.

5. Denmark had not qualified for the European Championships in neighbouring Sweden in 1992 after finishing runners-up to Yugoslavia in their qualifying group. When the severity of the Yugoslav wars caused the Eastern Europeans to have to withdraw from the tournament, UEFA awarded the Danes their place. The rest is history, as Denmark negociated a difficult group before defeating defending champions Holland in the semi-final and Germany in the Final to complete a fairytale victory.

6. England. The 1966 World Champions have a poor European Championship record, their best result being beaten semi-finalists in 1968 and again on home turf in 1996.

7. (West) Germany have a fantastic record in the European Championships, having reached the Final on no fewer than six occasions. They have been victorious three times, in 1972, 1980 and 1996, and finished runners-up in 1976, 1992 and 2008.

8. Incredibly, the semi-final of a major international tournament was decided by the toss of a coin. For the record, Albert Shesternyov - the captain of the USSR - called it incorrectly and Italy went through to the Final.

9. The opening match and the Final were contested by the same two teams, Greece and hosts Portugal. The Greeks won both games, 2-1 and 1-0 respectively.

10. Dino Zoff, donning glasses and a serious expression led Italy to the brink of glory at Euro 2000 only to be dramatically denied by the French. Eighteen years previously he had captained his country to a World Cup triumph at Espana 82.

EURO TRIVIA

TEN QUESTIONS ON .... THE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS

1. Euro 2012, to be held in Poland and the Ukraine, will complete how many Euro tournaments that have taken place?

2. How many different winners of the Euros have there been?

3. In which year did 16 teams take part in the Finals for the first time?

4. Which country held the first ever European Championships and how many teams took part in the final tournament?

5. Which is the only Scandinavian side to be crowned European Champions and what was remarkable about their victory?

6. Of the five European sides who have won the World Cup, which is the only one never to have won the Euros?

7. How many times have Germany played in a European Championship Final?

8. Following a 0-0 draw between hosts Italy and the Soviet Union in the 1968 semi-final, how was the outcome of the game determined?

9. What was unique about the opening match and the Final of Euro 2004?

10. Which former World Cup winning captain led Italy - as manager - to the Final of Euro 2000?