Euro Championships have always produced several surprise performers in the tournaments. Iceland are one of the biggest examples of fairy tale teams as before Euro 2016, the Icelandic national team had never ever participated in a major tournament prior.
It is quite an incredible feat considering the fact that the country has a total population of 330,000 people, showing how crazy their victory over England in the Round of 16 is. The team faced opponents like Portugal and Hungary on their way to the quarter-finals, where they were finally beaten 5-2 by France.
Their fans welcomed the Iceland team with utmost grandeur as thousands of fans turned up to cheer their heroes. Their campaign was truly a magnificent one, as the team which was not expected to qualify for the knockout phases not only reached the quarter-finals, but also managed to win the hearts of football fans worldwide.
Following are the five teams that had fairy tale runs in the Euro Championships:
1) Wales in Euro 2016
Wales had an amazing run in the Euro 2016 campaign as they reached the semi-final stage at a major competition for the first time in their history, losing to Portugal, who had not won a single game prior to this match in normal time.
What’s interesting is that the Wales team was not tipped to go ahead of the round of 16, but through sheer determination of all the players and the individual brilliance of players like Aaron Ramsey and Gareth Bale took the team to the semi-finals.
The tactical mastermind of coach Chris Coleman cannot be undermined as his strategies and team talks helped Wales through the tournament. They were losing in the quarter-finals against Belgium when an inspired Wales team scored three to seal the game and progress to their first ever semis clash.
Their hard work although immense, wasn’t enough and they lost to a well drilled Portuguese side as they took control after Cristiano Ronaldo leapt highest to power a header past the Welsh keeper Wayne Hennessey, before the Real Madrid talisman turned provider for Nani.
What was proved by the entire Wales performance was that a determined team will always have a greater chance of winning and who knows if Wales had Aaron Ramsey for the semis, they might have actually secured a victory.
2) Turkey in Euro 2008
Euro 2008 was an iconic championship, as it kick-started the Spanish revolution with their first trophy in the tiki-taka era. But the Euros of that year was not only great for Spain, it was also for Turkey. The Turkish national team reached the Euros ranked 15th in the ranking table, with only Russia below.
They were in a table that consisted the likes of Portugal and the Czech Republic, which should have been extremely tough for them but they showed great strength in powering their way to the quarter-finals of the championship, where they beat Croatia on penalties.
The Turkish team met Germany in the semi-finals of the Championship, but could not continue their superb winning form and they were brought back to reality when the Germans beat the Turkish 3-2, courtesy a 90th-minute winner from Philipp Lahm. The Turkish team had to play the game with just 14 outfield players as the rest were suspended or injured.
What was even more heartbreaking was that Turkey had taken the lead through Ugur Boral, but was soon equalised by Bastian Schweinsteiger. Their fairy tale had to end in a disappointing fashion, but it was still quite an achievement as the Turkish team had never reached the semi-finals of a major tournament before.
3) Czech Republic in Euro 1996
The Czech Republic had their most memorable run in the Euro 1996 was when they had reached the finals of the championship. They had to face a lot of obstacles on their way to the finals as they had to face a group that consisted the likes of Germany, Italy and Russia, with most predicting that the Czechs would finish fourth in the group.
But they beat Italy and drew with Russia to stay above them, thus qualifying for the knock-out stage. They faced another top team in the quarters as they took on Portugal, whom they beat to progress to the semi-finals.
They faced France in the semis, where they won the game in a penalty shoot-out to claim a spot in the finals against Germany, to whom they had lost in the group stages. This showed that despite having a thorny road to success, the Czechs never stopped to believe in themselves and reached the finals against all odds.
Although after having such a tough road to the finals, the Czechs continued to believe in themselves, but their happiness was short-lived as Germany emerged victorious in the finals at extra time.
4) Greece in Euro 2004
Greece were given a 150-1 chance of being crowned as champions before the tournament began. This was rightly so because the last Euro that they had been a part of was in 1980. No one in their right mind would have tipped the Greeks to lift the trophy, but they defied all odds on their way to greatness.
Greece were put in a group that consisted the likes of Portugal, Spain and Russia, but they managed to finish second in the group. Their road to the finals was not an easy one as they had to face France in the quarter-finals, beating them with a solitary goal.
They faced the Czech Republic in the semi-finals, which too they won by a solitary goal, although it was scored in extra time. They met Portugal again in the finals, who were tipped as favourites to lift the trophy as they consisted the likes of rising star Cristiano Ronaldo and other Portuguese legends like Deco and Luis Figo.
But as fate would have it, Greece scored a late goal against Portugal when Greece scored from a corner through Angelos Charisteas. Portugal continued to push for an equaliser and even though they had five minutes of injury time, they could not score. This night was the biggest night in the history of Greece and their fairy tale ended with a happy ending.
5) Denmark in Euro 1992
Heading into the Euro 1992, Denmark really had a poor team. They were so poor that they could not qualify for the Euros on their own merit. They went into the tournament because Yugoslavia, who were originally intended to go through were forced to withdraw their names due to the Yugoslav wars.
Entering the tournament, they were least expected to qualify for the knockout phase, let alone win the tournament. They were placed in a group that consisted the likes of France, England and Sweden, but they somehow found themselves in the Semi-finals of the Euros.
Denmark faced holders Netherlands, who were expected to crush the Danish side, but they could not as the game had gone down to penalties, where Manchester United legend Peter Schmeichel saved Marco van Basten’s penalty to effectively put the holders out of the cup.
They faced reigning World Champions Germany in the finals and were expected to be slaughtered by the Germans, but they somehow magically held on and scored two goals without a reply to win their first ever international trophy. This story deserves a place in the top 10 fairy tale stories published by Disney! Although some would say that they won the Euros in 1992 because lord Nicklas Bendtner started his youth career in the same year!
