The Euro 2020 is currently in full flow all around Europe. The international tournament is always responsible for some iconic moments over the years. From Mario Balotelli's shirtless Celebration Vs Germany to Paul Gascoigne goal and celebration against Scotland the European cup never disappoints.
England have been a part of a lot of these Iconic moments but on the disappointing end more often than not. The three lions have never won the coveted trophy. Their best performances at the finals were a third-place finish in Italy in 1968, when only four teams competed in the finals tournament, and a semi-final on home soil in 1996. England have been on the receiving end of some disappointing and embarrassing moments in the tournament. Gareth Southgate's missed penalty in the shootout against Germany in 1996; getting knocked out by Iceland in the 2016 Round of 16; England fans have seen it all.
The most unexpected moment of it all happened in the 2004 edition of the tournament when England played Portugal in the Quarterfinals in Lisbon. Micheal Owen gave England the lead after just 3 minutes. England looked set to advance to the Semi-Final before Hugo Postiga equalised in the 85th minute. Rui Costa scored in the 110th minute during extra time. Chelsea duo John Terry and Frank Lampard combined during a Corner to bring the game back on level terms with 5 minutes left.
In classic fashion, England ended up losing the match in the penalty shootout. But it was Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo who took the world by shock by his actions. The shoot-out was level on 5-5, David Beckham and Rui Costa were the only players to miss after blazing their kicks over the bar. Aston Villa winger Darius Vassell stepped up to take the 6th penalty.
Ricardo shocked the whole world by taking off his goalkeeping gloves and then dived the right way to save the penalty. The goalkeeper wasn't done there as he stepped up to take the penalty and won the game for Portugal.
Talking about the incident Ricardo said "We had practiced for penalties in training, and I had watched some DVDs looking at where England players had taken their penalties," Ricardo said. "But when I saw Darius Vassell coming toward me, I thought, 'Hang on! I have seen every player score a penalty on this DVD but not this guy. Nothing! Has he even taken one before?' "
"I looked at my hands, I have to do something. I ripped off my gloves, just took them off. Vassell looked at me, and he looked at the referee, who said, 'That's fine.' To this day I still don't know why I did that. I have never done it before, or since, but I felt I needed to do something."
"I saw Vassell was very nervous and he did not want to be there. I knew I was next up to kick and said to myself, 'I will save this one and score the next.'"
The decision of removing the gloves was instinctive and didn't have a particular reason. But it certainly disrupted Vassell's concentration after the young winger was already nervous. To this day it remains one of the most bizarre things to have happened on the football field. Portugal made it all the way to the final but fell short to underdogs Greece who were crowned champions.
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