On This Day - European Championships special

...in 1976
Anton Panenka shakes hands with teammate on 10 Retenmark bet that he'll chip a penalty right down the middle in a Euro '76 shootout. Panenka later admitted that he was unaware his kick had won the trophy, and his jubiliant celebrations were merely his way of gloating in the face of his teammate.

...in 1984
Michel Platini makes decision to shoot whenever, wherever he gets the ball, in a bid to score more goals. Teammates are unimpressed with the Frenchman's selfishness, but his approach is vindicated in 2001 when cod-salsa singing sensation Shakira releases a single praising his visionary tactics.

...in 1988
After Marco Van Basten humiliates a young Tony Adams by scoring a hat-trick in a comfortable 3-0 victory at Euro '88, Peter Beardsley tells Adams to forget about it and have a drink.

...in 1992
Insurance company CIS is surprisingly invited to send a team to Euro '92. A squad heavy on year-on-year returns for medium-term hedge fund investment strategies but light on tangible football talent crash out at the group stages, much to the disappointment of millions of eccentric Russians who had decided to back the team in the absence of the USSR in Sweden.

...in 2000
Championship Manager 2 fans across the globe claim 'a part of them has died inside' after it becomes clear that Belgium's Mbo Mpenza is not the free-scoring forward they believed him to be. The same fans exhibit genuine shock as it emerges Niclas Alexandersson cannot play in every position on the field.

...in 2004
David James looks to confuse Zinedine Zidane by diving ludicrously early for the Frenchman's penalty in England's 2-1 defeat to France, moving before the ball is even placed. When the tactic proves ultimately unsuccessful, the always magnanimous James admits in his broadsheet column the next day "I'll be honest - I got it wrong."