Euro 2000 Championships - Review & History
The 2000 UEFA European Championship, or Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship. The finals of Euro 2000 were co-hosted (the first time this happened) by Belgium and the Netherlands between June 10 and July 2, 2000. The final tournament was contested by 16 nations. With the exception of the national teams of the hosts, Belgium and the Netherlands, the finalists had to go through a qualifying round to reach the final stage.
Belgium, however, had a surprise exit in the group stage, winning the tournament's first game against Sweden but losing to Turkey and Italy. Italy also eliminated co-host and favourites Netherlands in the semi-finals, despite going down to ten men and facing two Penalty kicks. Francesco Toldo making two saves in the shootout to carry the Italians to the final.
One of the biggest surprises of the tournament was Portugal, winning their group with three wins, including a 3-0 win against Germany. They reached the semi-finals, when they lost in extra-time to France after Zinedine Zidane converted a penalty kick. Several Portuguese players challenged the awarding of the penalty for a handball and were given lengthy suspensions for shoving the referee.
The Euro 2000 winner was France, who defeated Italy 2-1 in the final after a golden goal strike by France's David Trezeguet. This win followed their World Cup triumph of 1998 and meant the French were World and European Football Champions at the same time!
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Euro 2000 Results (Held in France)
Semi-finals
France 2-1 Portugal (AET)
Italy 0-0 Holland (AET) Italy won 3-1 on penalties
FINAL
France 2-1 Italy (AET) - Golden Goal by David Trezeguet
TOP SCORERS Euro 2000
Patrick Kluivert (Holland) 5
Savo Milosevic (Yugoslavia) 5
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