Euro 2012 Is Here And We Bring You Top 5 Haunting Penalty Misses In Past Euro Championships!

Euro 2012 is about to kick start from June 8. With the excitement mounting for the upcoming event, there are predictions about best players and best teams going on everywhere. So, it’s time to experiment something different. We bring you the collection of the most haunting penalty misses that have taken place in Euro Championships during the last five events. Have a look.

1 Marco Van Basten - Netherlands vs. Denmark Euro 1992

Image from: Equaliser Blog

European Champions of 1988, Netherlands entered the semi-final in 1992 against Denmark. Both teams drew 2-2 and game went onto penalties. It was Dutch legend and FIFA Player of the Year Marco Van Basten who went for the penalty in the second round which was stopped by Danish keeper Peter Schmeichel. The miss turned decisive when Denmark won 5-4 on penalties.

2 Gareth Southgate-England vs. Germany Euro 1996

Image from: Telegraph

After both teams were 1-1 match went onto penalties and at the sixth spot English defender Gareth Southgate was called. He took the penalty and it was stopped by Andreas Köpke, resulting in England’s elimination from the event.

3 Raul Gonzalez-Spain vs France Euro 2000

Spanish talisman Raul Gonzalez got the opportunity of scoring on penalty against France in the 89^th minute. But, it was some hard luck for the Spaniard when he failed to score. France was able to cruise into the semi-final with a 2-1 victory in this game. Check out the video for the penalty miss:

4 David Beckham-England vs Portugal Euro 2004

The golden boy of English football was losing his sheen. After failing to score on penalties in two consecutive matches against Turkey and France, former English captain had a chance for redemption against Portugal. But destiny wasn’t kind to him as his shot went far and high over the goalpost as England tumbled from the Championship race.

5 Adrian Mutu-Romania vs Italy Euro 2008

Following a 1-1 tie in the group stage encounter Adrian Mutu got the opportunity in the form of a penalty to take Romania into the quarterfinals of the event. But for the Romanian player it was not the lucky day as Italian goalie Buffon dived towards his left to make an excellent save. Mutu had to offer an apology to the nation for the debacle.