Euro 2004 is not remembered fondly. In the cannon of European Championships, it will still be better than whatever is happening with the 2020 edition being played in 2021, but that’s not saying much. It’s pretty easy to beat a competition that feels like a series of organized friendlies with games in Azerbaijan.
Greece pulled off one of the greatest upsets in soccer history by winning Euro 2004, overcoming the likes of Spain, France and Portugal to hoist the Henri Delaunay Trophy. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a major international tournament without England losing on penalties or Zinedine Zidane doing outlandish things.
However, there is a lot about Euro 2004 that has been forgotten about over time. Let’s take a look at five thing you probably don’t remember about the tournament. We promise it won’t be as boring as the actual games from that year.
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Things you may not remember about Euro 2004
The into was a banger
It’s a shame Euro 2004 wasn’t as good as the intro for it. I remember being so hyped for the tournament when I first saw this. The package remains exciting even now.
It was freaking bright
The group stages of Euro 2004 had games kick off at 5pm local time in Portugal. Holy shit, these matches were bright. It looked like they were being played in heaven. Here are the highlights from a 1-1 draw between Spain and Greece that could best be described as blinding.
Perhaps the most notable example of the situation was the 0-0 stalemate between Italy and Denmark. It appeared to have been taking place on the sun. This match was absolutely brutal to watch, and the players clearly didn’t want to be out there. Francesco Totti was so annoyed by the proceedings that he spit in the face of Christian Poulsen and was suspended for the rest of the tournament.
A stadium in a quarry
Euro 2004 gave us Estádio Municipal de Braga, one of soccer’s coolest stadiums. It was raised on the site of a former quarry with one end being carved into a mountain face. They also put a videoboard on this side of the stadium which is pretty impressive. It would only be natural for UEFA to want to showcase this beautiful venue, right? Nope, Braga only hosted two group stage games.
Bad year for big teams
Germany, Italy and Spain failed to make it past the group stage of Euro 2004 despite all three being in relatively easy groups. Italy was undone by goal difference as three teams in Group C finished on five points. Spain tied with Greece as runner-up in Group A. However, they missed out due to having scored less goals. Germany was just flat out bad, mustering only two points with one of those being a draw against Latvia.
Milan Baros wins the Golden Boot
In a tournament with so much attacking talent, there is something unsettling about Milan Baros winning the Golden Boot. The Czech Republic advanced to the semifinals of Euro 2014 thanks in large part to the scoring prowess of the then Liverpool striker. He found the back of the net in four games and finished with five goals. Euro 2004 was Baros’ crowning achievement in what was a fairly middling career.
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