With the UEFA 2020 European Championships about to get underway, it feels an apt time as any to go back to an earlier edition of the competition and one that was incredibly memorable for one nation in particular, as well as a number of football enthusiasts.
Indeed, the 2004 UEFA European Championships pretty much had everything that a football fan could wish for, as the tournament in Portugal provided supporters with plenty of fun with most of the matches that were being watched.
Greece stole the headlines for much of the tournament as Otto Rehhagel led the nation to a truly surprising victory in the final after being incredibly conservative throughout the competition and even during the qualifying stages.
Of course, Angelos Charisteas’ header will go down in the annuls of history when thinking about iconic moments to have happened in the competition, with many looking out for My Betting Sites in order to try and find the best online betting sites in which they can get on a bet that they think will happen. Remember Eder’s goal in the last edition of the UEFA European Championships? It just goes to prove anything can happen!
With the goal from Charisteas, it was obviously a very unhappy night for all of those associated with Portugal, as the host nation witnessed one of the biggest shocks ever, especially when they were a team that was loaded with stars from veterans to those just breaking ground.
Luis Figo was one of those superstars that was on the pitch for Portugal and whilst the result will have disappointed/upset/angered (and any other emotion possibly felt at the time), he will have been left fuming with what had happened during the game.
One Twitter user recently posted a video that showed when the pitch was invaded and saw one individual decide to throw a FC Barcelona flag into the face of Figo. Whether it be because of the decision the winger made to leave Blaugrana for Real Madrid in 2000 or it was just pure coincidence remains unknown, although it seems quite likely.
Although the experienced winger was in no mood to laugh – and rightly given the whole entire situation – the streaker was followed on camera and see running and catapulting himself into the empty net before being literally carried away from Estadio da Luz pitch by several law enforcement officers.
It is not something we always see and is perhaps unlikely we will see at the upcoming edition of the UEFA European Championships, but it provided some entertainment, if you were not Figo or Portuguese, maybe.