Euro Cup 2004 was held in the country of Portugal. It was the 12th season of the tournament and was held from 12th June to 4th July, 2004. It started way back in 1960. The qualifiers of the tournament started their journey in the year 2002 and 16 teams advanced to the final rounds of the tournament. Matches were played across the country.
Eight important cities in Portugal hosted the matches at ten world class stadiums, which acted as the
Euro Cup 2004 venues. The various stadiums selected for the tournament were:
Algarve Stadium: Faro/Loule
Dr. Magalhaes Pessoa Stadium: Leiria
Jose Alvalade Stadium: Lisbon
Dragao Stadium: Porto
Braga Municipal Stadium: Braga
D. Afonso Henriques Stadium: Guimaraes
Coimbra Stadium: Coimbra
Luz Stadium: Lisbon
- Bessa Stadium: Porto
- Aveiro Stadium: Aveiro
The mascot chosen for the tournament was a boy, whose name was Kinas. He was in a red shirt and green shorts and playing with a football. The Euro Cup 2004 participating teams included major forces from 16 countries. They were:
- Croatia
- Czech Republic
- Sweden
- Denmark
- Portugal
- England
- France
- Netherlands
- Greece
- Latvia
- Italy
- Russia
- Bulgaria
- Germany
- Spain
- Switzerland
A total of 12 referees were chosen for the Euro Cup 2004. They were:
- Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez
- Markus Merk
- Kim Milton Nielsen
- Anders Frisk
- Pierluigi Collina
- Lubos Michel
- Terje Hauge
- Mike Riley
- Valentin Ivanov
- Gilles Veissiere
- Urs Meier
- Lucilio Batista
The beginning rounds of the tournament surprised the football lovers with title contenders Italy, Germany and others bowing out. Greece went on to defeat host Portugal in the final to lift the title of the Euro Cup 2004 Winners. Theodoros Zagorakis of Greece won the UEFA Player of the Tournament award. An average of 2.48 goals every match was scored in the tournament with Milan Baros of Czech Republic emerging as the Euro Cup 2004 top scorer with five goals to his name.
For more information on Euro Cup 2004, click on the following links:
