12th European football championship
This article is about the sporting event. For the video game based on this event, see UEFA 👏 Euro 2004 (video game)
UEFA Euro 2004 Campeonato Europeu de Futebol 2004
(in Portuguese) Vive O 2004! Tournament details Host country Portugal 👏 Dates 12 June – 4 July Teams 16 Venue(s) 10 (in 8 host cities) Final positions Champions Greece (1st title) 👏 Runners-up Portugal Tournament statistics Matches played 31 Goals scored 77 (2.48 per match) Attendance 1,160,802 (37,445 per match) Top scorer(s) 👏 Milan Baroš (5 goals) Best player(s) Theodoros Zagorakis 2000 2008 →
International football competition
The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred 👏 to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the 👏 men's national teams of UEFA member associations. The final tournament was hosted for the first time in Portugal, from 12 👏 June to 4 July 2004.[1][2] A total of 31 matches were played in ten venues across eight cities – Aveiro, 👏 Braga, Coimbra, Guimarães, Faro/Loulé, Leiria, Lisbon, and Porto.
As in 1996 and 2000, the final tournament was contested by 16 teams: 👏 the hosts plus the 15 teams that came through the qualifying tournament, which began in September 2002. Latvia secured their 👏 first participation in a major tournament after overcoming Turkey in the play-offs, while Greece returned to the European Championship after 👏 24 years.
The tournament was rich in surprises and upsets: Traditional powerhouses Germany, Spain, and Italy were eliminated in the group 👏 stage, while defending champions France were knocked out in the quarter-finals by Greece. Portugal recovered from an opening defeat against 👏 Greece to reach the final, eliminating England and the Netherlands along the way. For the first time in a major 👏 European football tournament, the last match featured the same teams as the opening match.[3] Portugal were again defeated by Greece 👏 with a goal from Angelos Charisteas.[4] Greece's triumph was unexpected, considering that they had only qualified for two other major 👏 tournaments: UEFA Euro 1980, at which they managed just one point, and the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where they lost 👏 all three matches. As winners, Greece earned the right to represent Europe at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup.
During the opening 👏 ceremony, one of the tableaux depicted a ship – symbolising the voyages of the Portuguese explorers – sailing through a 👏 sea that transformed into the flags of all competing countries.[5] In the closing ceremony, Portuguese-Canadian singer Nelly Furtado performed her 👏 single and official tournament theme song, "Força".
Bid process [ edit ]
Portugal were announced as hosts for UEFA Euro 2004 on 👏 12 October 1999, in Aachen, Germany, beating Spain and the joint bid of Austria and Hungary.[1]
Summary [ edit ]
Group A 👏 opened with a shock as Greece, ranked outsiders from start, defeated the hosts 2–1. Giorgos Karagounis put the Greeks ahead 👏 after only seven minutes and Angelos Basinas made it 2–0 from the penalty spot on 51 minutes. A stoppage-time goal 👏 by Cristiano Ronaldo proved no more than a consolation.[6] Greece then drew with Spain[7] before losing to Russia in their 👏 last group stage game.[8] Portugal recovered from their opening defeat by defeating Russia 2–0, who had their keeper Sergei Ovchinnikov 👏 sent off.[9] Nuno Gomes scored the winning goal against Spain,[10] which ensured Portugal finished top of Group A. Greece advanced 👏 to the quarter-finals as runners-up, ahead of Spain on goals scored.[11]
Opening ceremony at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto
Defending champions 👏 France scored twice in stoppage time to go from 1–0 down to beat England 2–1. Zinedine Zidane scored both goals; 👏 the second from the penalty spot.[12] England's other two games were memorable for the performances of their young star Wayne 👏 Rooney. Only 18 at the time, Rooney's goal-scoring ability proved instrumental in victories over Switzerland (3–0) and Croatia (4–2).[13][14] France 👏 and England qualified from the group as winners and runners-up respectively.[15]
Group C featured a three-way tie between Sweden, Denmark and 👏 Italy. All matches between the three sides had ended in draws and all three had beaten Bulgaria.[16][17][18] Italy were ultimately 👏 eliminated on the number of goals scored after Sweden and Denmark drew 2–2 and qualified as group winners and runners-up.[19][20] 👏 The Italians accused Sweden and Denmark of fixing their match,[21] as both sides knew that a 2–2 result would advance 👏 them both over Italy, but UEFA dismissed the complaint.[22]
The Czech Republic won Group D as the only team to win 👏 all three of their group matches. They defeated Latvia 2–1,[23] the Netherlands 3–2,[24] and Germany 2–1.[25] It was another disappointing 👏 European campaign for the Germans, who failed to advance from the group stage for the second consecutive time.[26] The Netherlands 👏 claimed a quarter-final berth as runners-up.[27]
Swedish striker Henrik Larsson taking a free kick against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals
In the 👏 first quarter-final between England and Portugal, the English opened the score after only two minutes through Michael Owen. Portugal's constant 👏 attacking pressure from then on resulted in Hélder Postiga's 83rd-minute equaliser. In the dying minutes, Owen hit the Portuguese crossbar 👏 and Sol Campbell headed in the rebound, but the goal was ruled out by referee Urs Meier for a foul 👏 on the Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo. The sides exchanged goals in extra-time, sending the match to a penalty shoot-out. Portugal won 👏 6–5, as Ricardo saved from Darius Vassell and then scored the winning goal himself.[28]
The Greeks, meanwhile, continued to stun everybody. 👏 Firm defensive play and an Angelos Charisteas goal on 65 minutes helped Greece defeat France 1–0 and progress to the 👏 semi-finals.[29] This victory made Greece the first team to defeat both the hosts and defending champions in the same tournament. 👏 Sweden and the Netherlands played out an exciting but goalless encounter, even after a dramatic period of extra-time in which 👏 Freddie Ljungberg hit the inside of the Dutch goalpost. The Dutch progressed after winning the penalty shoot-out 5–4, their first 👏 victory on penalties in a major tournament.[30] The last quarter-final match saw the Czechs dispatch Denmark, as a two-goal effort 👏 from Milan Baroš helped seal a 3–0 win.[31]
Angelos Charisteas (first from left with white shirt), scoring Greece's winner against Portugal 👏 in the final.
Portugal and the Netherlands faced each other in the first semi-final. Cristiano Ronaldo put the hosts in the 👏 lead from a corner kick midway through the first half, and just before the hour mark Maniche made it 2–0 👏 with a spectacular goal from the corner of the penalty area. An own goal from Jorge Andrade gave the Netherlands 👏 a glimmer of hope. The game ended 2–1 to Portugal and the hosts,[32] after their opening day failure, were through 👏 to the final of the European Championship for the first time. The Czech Republic looked likely candidates to face the 👏 hosts in the final. They were favourites to take the trophy, having won all four of their games. However, they 👏 would have to see off the upstart Greeks to do so. The Czechs had several chances, including a shot from 👏 Tomáš Rosický that struck the bar. The game remained goalless until the dying moments of the first half of extra 👏 time, when Traianos Dellas headed home the winner, the first and only silver goal in a European Championship.[33]
The final was 👏 a repeat of the opening game of the tournament and Portugal were hoping to avenge their defeat. Portugal attacked and 👏 dominated possession but once again, sturdy defending and goalkeeping from Greece kept the hosts off the scoreboard. Just before the 👏 hour mark, Greece earned a corner kick from which Angelos Charisteas scored. Portugal continued to press after the goal but 👏 even with five minutes of stoppage time, they could not find an equaliser. Greece won the match 1–0 and were 👏 crowned European champions,[34] a title that they were given a 150–1 chance of winning before the tournament.[35] All of Greece's 👏 wins in the knockout stage came in an identical manner: a 1–0 win, with the goal being a header off 👏 a cross from the right wing. Portugal became the first host nation to lose in a European Championship final.
Qualification [ 👏 edit ]
The draw for the qualifying round was held on 25 January 2002 at the Europarque Congress Centre, in Santa 👏 Maria da Feira, Portugal. Fifty teams were divided into ten groups of five and each team played two matches against 👏 all its opponents, on a home-and-away basis. Qualification matches took place from September 2002 to November 2003. The first-placed teams 👏 from each group qualified automatically to the final tournament, whereas the ten runners-up took part in a two-legged play-off to 👏 select the remaining five teams that would join the host nation in the final tournament.[36][37]
Qualified teams [ edit ]
Ten of 👏 the sixteen finalists participated in the previous tournament in 2000. Latvia made its first appearance in a major football competition, 👏 while Greece returned to the European Championship finals after a 24-year absence. Bulgaria, Croatia, Russia and Switzerland also took part 👏 in their second tournament finals since their debut in 1996.
As of 2024, this was the last time that Bulgaria qualified 👏 for the European Championship finals and also the last time Bulgaria qualified to a major tournament, the only time that 👏 Latvia qualified, as well as the last time that Poland failed to qualify.
Final draw [ edit ]
The group stage draw 👏 took place on 30 November 2003 at the Pavilhão Atlântico in Lisbon, Portugal, and was televised live: Euro 2004 Draw 👏 on BBC Sport.
The 16 qualified finalists were drawn from four seeded pots into four groups. The pot allocations were based 👏 on the 2003-edition of the UEFA national team coefficient ranking, which measured performance of teams in the 2002 FIFA World 👏 Cup qualifying and UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying. The coefficient was calculated by dividing the number of all points scored (three 👏 points for a win, one for a draw) by the number of all matches played. Results from the final tournaments, 👏 play-off matches and friendly games were all ignored.[38] As host country, Portugal were automatically placed in position A1, and would 👏 hereby play the opening match of the final tournament. The remaining 15 teams were split into four pots, with title-holders 👏 France seeded alongside Sweden and the Czech Republic in the first pot.[39][40]
Pot 1[a] Team [38] France (holders) [b] 3.000 1 👏 Sweden 2.389 3 Czech Republic 2.333 4 Pot 2 Team [38] Italy 2.313 5 Spain 2.313 6 England 2.313 7 👏 Germany 2.188 9 Pot 3 Team [38] Netherlands 2.167 10 Croatia 2.125 11 Russia 2.056 13 Denmark 2.056 14 Pot 👏 4 Team [38] Bulgaria 1.889 18 Switzerland 1.611 22 Greece 1.563 23 Latvia 1.250 32
Automatically selected as a top-seeded team 👏 into pot 1, irrespective of their ranking position.
^ Hosts Portugal (coefficient 2.400; rank 2nd) belonged to Pot 1 irrespective of 👏 their ranking position. Ahead of the draw, they were automatically assigned to group position A1, and consequently removed from pot 👏 1. ^ Defending champions France (coefficient 3.000; rank 1st) were automatically assigned to Pot 1 irrespective of their ranking position, 👏 and could be drawn into either Group B, C or D.
The Pot 1 teams were assigned to the first positions 👏 of their groups. For the purpose of determining the exact match schedules in each group, the 2nd/3rd/4th group positions were 👏 drawn separately for all other teams drawn from pot 2-4. The draw started by using pot 4 to draw one 👏 team to each of the four groups in alphabetic order from A to D. This same procedure was followed for 👏 pot 3 and pot 2. Finally the three remaining teams from pot 1 were drawn in alphabetic order into group 👏 B, C and D.[41]
The draw resulted in the following groups:[42][41]
Venues [ edit ]
The final tournament was played in ten venues 👏 located in eight different cities. Lisbon and Porto, the two biggest cities, had two venues each, while Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, 👏 Faro-Loulé, Guimarães and Leiria had one venue. In order to meet UEFA's requirements on venue capacity and infrastructure, seven new 👏 stadiums were built – Estádio Municipal de Aveiro (Aveiro),[43] Estádio Municipal de Braga (Braga),[44] Estádio Algarve (Faro-Loulé),[45] Estádio Dr. Magalhães 👏 Pessoa (Leiria),[46] Estádio da Luz (Lisbon),[47] Estádio José Alvalade (Lisbon),[48] and Estádio do Dragão (Porto)[49] – and three underwent renovation 👏 works – Estádio Cidade de Coimbra (Coimbra),[50] Estádio D. Afonso Henriques (Guimarães),[51] and Estádio do Bessa (Porto).[52] The Estádio da 👏 Luz was the largest stadium with a tournament capacity of 65,647 seats, and served as the venue for the final. 👏 The opening ceremony and match took place at the Estádio do Dragão.
This was the first European Championship where matches took 👏 place in more than eight venues since the tournament was expanded to 16 teams in 1996.[53]
The table below lists stadium 👏 capacity for the final tournament, which may not correspond to their effective maximum capacity.
Ticketing [ edit ]
A total of 1.2 👏 million tickets were available for the 31 matches of the final tournament,[54] of which 77% were to be sold to 👏 the general public, and the remainder reserved for sponsors and partners (13%), media (5%), and corporate hospitality (5%).[55] Public sales 👏 for an initial batch of 450,000 tickets (38%) were launched on 28 April 2003,[56] in a ceremony in Lisbon which 👏 gathered former European football stars Eusébio and Ruud Gullit.[57] Ticket prices were divided in three categories, ranging from €35 (group 👏 matches) to €270 (final).[55]
In a first phase lasting until 16 June 2003, supporters could apply for tickets via UEFA's tournament 👏 website or through forms available at the Portuguese Football Federation and match venues. Applicants could request a maximum of four 👏 tickets per match but were limited to one match per day. In parallel to individual match tickets, UEFA created a 👏 new category of tickets called "Follow My Team", which allowed supporters to see all the matches of their favourite team 👏 (group stage and, if qualified, knockout stage matches). If there were oversubscribed matches by the end of the first phase 👏 of sales, a match-specific draw would take place to select the successful applicants.[55]
Between 1 August and 24 November 2003, available 👏 tickets were placed again on sale in a first-come, first-served basis.[58] After the draw for the group stage on 30 👏 November, a third phase of public sales began on 9 December, which included a second batch of tickets (39%) that 👏 could be bought until March 2004 through the national associations of the finalist teams.[59] Every national association was awarded 20% 👏 of the venue capacity for each of their team's matches.[55] From 1 to 30 April 2004, surplus tickets from UEFA 👏 or national associations were made available to the public for the last time.[60] Ticket distribution began in May, after sales 👏 were officially closed.[55]
Team base camps [ edit ]
Each team was provided a base camp for residence and daily training between 👏 tournament matches. An initial list of 25 bases approved by the Portuguese Football Federation, following a selection process started in 👏 November 2001, was announced by the organisation on 5 February 2003.[61]
Squads [ edit ]
Each national team had to submit a 👏 squad of 23 players, three of whom must be goalkeepers, at least ten days before the opening match of the 👏 tournament. If a player became injured or ill severely enough to prevent his participation in the tournament before his team's 👏 first match, he would be replaced by another player.
Match officials [ edit ]
On 4 December 2003, UEFA revealed the twelve 👏 referees and four fourth officials.[62] Each refereeing team was composed by one main referee and two assistant referees from the 👏 same country. In April 2004, the UEFA Referees Committee replaced Russian assistant referee Gennady Krasyuk with Yuri Dupanov of Belarus.[63] 👏 The switch was made after Krasyuk incorrectly disallowed a second goal from Paul Scholes for offside in the Champions League 👏 round of 16 second leg between Manchester United and Porto.[64]
Group stage [ edit ]
UEFA Euro 2004 finalists and their result
UEFA 👏 announced the match schedule for the final tournament on 10 March 2003, in Porto, Portugal. In a change from the 👏 previous tournament schedule, where two quarter-final matches were played per day, over two days, the quarter-finals at the Euro 2004 👏 were to be played over four consecutive days, with one match per day.[65][66]
All times are local, WEST (UTC+1).
Tiebreakers [ edit 👏 ]
If two or more teams were equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following tie-breaking criteria were 👏 applied:[67][68]
Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question; Superior goal difference resulting from the 👏 matches played between the teams in question; Higher number of goals scored in the matches played between the teams in 👏 question; Superior goal difference in all group matches; Higher number of goals scored in all group matches; If on the 👏 last round of the group stage, two teams are facing each other and each has the same number of points, 👏 as well as the same number of goals scored and conceded, and the score finishes level in their match, their 👏 ranking is determined by a penalty shoot-out. (This criterion is not used if more than two teams have the same 👏 number of points.); Higher coefficient derived from 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying and UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying (points obtained divided 👏 by number of matches played); Fair play conduct of the team in the final tournament; Drawing of lots.
Euro 2004 marked 👏 the introduction of the penalty shoot-out as a tiebreaker between two teams in the group stage, although no match required 👏 the use of this procedure. The same procedure was used in future European Championship tournaments.
Group A [ edit ]
Pos Team 👏 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 Portugal (H) 3 2 0 1 4 2 +2 6 👏 Advance to knockout stage 2 Greece 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4[a] 3 Spain 3 1 1 1 👏 2 2 0 4[a] 4 Russia 3 1 0 2 2 4 −2 3
a b Tied on head-to-head result (Greece 👏 1–1 Spain) and overall goal difference (0). Overall goals for was used as the tiebreaker.
Group B [ edit ]
Pos Team 👏 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 France 3 2 1 0 7 4 +3 7 Advance 👏 to knockout stage 2 England 3 2 0 1 8 4 +4 6 3 Croatia 3 0 2 1 4 👏 6 −2 2 4 Switzerland 3 0 1 2 1 6 −5 1
Group C [ edit ]
Pos Team Pld W 👏 D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 Sweden 3 1 2 0 8 3 +5 5[a] Advance to knockout 👏 stage 2 Denmark 3 1 2 0 4 2 +2 5[a] 3 Italy 3 1 2 0 3 2 +1 👏 5[a] 4 Bulgaria 3 0 0 3 1 9 −8 0
a b c [69] Tied on head-to-head points (2) and 👏 goal difference (0). Head-to-head goals for: Sweden 3, Denmark 2, Italy 1.
Group D [ edit ]
Pos Team Pld W D 👏 L GF GA GD Pts Qualification 1 Czech Republic 3 3 0 0 7 4 +3 9 Advance to knockout 👏 stage 2 Netherlands 3 1 1 1 6 4 +2 4 3 Germany 3 0 2 1 2 3 −1 👏 2 4 Latvia 3 0 1 2 1 5 −4 1
Knockout stage [ edit ]
The Greece national team at the 👏 trophy ceremony.
The knockout stage was a single-elimination tournament involving the eight teams that advanced from the group stage. There were 👏 three rounds of matches, with each round eliminating half of the teams entering that round, culminating in the final to 👏 decide the champions. Any game in the knockout stage that was not decided by the end of the regular 90 👏 minutes was followed by up to 30 minutes of extra time (two 15-minute halves).
For the first time in an international 👏 football tournament, the silver goal system was applied, whereby the team that led the game at the half-time break during 👏 the extra time period would be declared the winner.[70] If the scores were still level after the initial 15 minutes 👏 of extra time, play would continue for a further 15 minutes. If the teams could still not be separated after 👏 the extra time, there would be a penalty shoot-out (at least five penalties each) to determine which team progressed to 👏 the next round.[70] The silver goal replaced the golden goal from the previous two championships and was used in the 👏 semi-final between Greece and the Czech Republic.
As with every tournament since UEFA Euro 1984, there was no third place play-off.
All 👏 times are local, WEST (UTC+1).
Bracket [ edit ]
Final [ edit ]
Statistics [ edit ]
Goalscorers [ edit ]
There were 77 goals 👏 scored in 31 matches, for an average of 2.48 goals per match.
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal
Source: UEFA[71][72]
Awards 👏 [ edit ]
UEFA Team of the Tournament
The UEFA Technical Team was charged with naming a squad composed of the 23 👏 best players over the course of the tournament.[73][74] The group of eight analysts watched every game at the tournament before 👏 making their decision after the final. Five players from the winning Greek team were named to the team of the 👏 tournament. Michael Ballack and Gianluca Zambrotta were the only players to be included whose teams were knocked out in the 👏 group stage.[74][75]
Theodoros Zagorakis, UEFA Player of the Tournament
Golden Boot
The Golden Boot was awarded to Milan Baroš, who scored all five 👏 of his goals in three group stage matches and in the quarter-finals against Denmark.
UEFA Player of the Tournament
Prize money [ 👏 edit ]
Overall, CHF200 million was awarded to the 16 teams, a boost from the CHF120 million in the previous event.[78] 👏 Below is a complete list of the allocations:[79]
Prize for participating: CHF7.5 million
Extra payment based on teams performance:
Winner: CHF10 million
Runner-up: CHF6 👏 million
Semi-finals: CHF4 million
Quarter-finals: CHF3 million
Group stage (per match): Win: CHF1 million Draw: CHF500,000
Discipline [ edit ]
If a player was shown 👏 a red card – whether as a result of two bookable offences or a straight red – he would become 👏 suspended from playing in his team's next match. A player would also become suspended for one match for picking up 👏 two yellow cards in separate matches. However, any yellow cards accumulated would be cancelled once a team was eliminated from 👏 the tournament or reached the semi-finals. In extreme cases of ill-discipline, UEFA could choose to have a disciplinary panel examine 👏 the incident in order to determine whether or not further suspension would be required.
The following players were suspended for one 👏 or more games as a result of red cards or yellow card accumulation:
Marketing [ edit ]
Logo, mascot and official song 👏 [ edit ]
UEFA Euro 2004 mascot, Kinas
The official tournament logo was created by Euro RSCG Wnek Gosper agency and unveiled 👏 on 13 May 2002 at a ceremony held in Lisbon's Belém Cultural Center.[80] It represents a football in the centre 👏 of a heart, surrounded by seven green dots. The football – displaying typical Portuguese folk artistic motifs on its panels 👏 – and the heart – shaped in the traditional style of the filigree art from Viana do Castelo – conveyed 👏 the football passion of the host country. The seven dots represent significant Portuguese elements and achievements, such as the number 👏 of castles in the national coat of arms or the conquest of the seven seas during the Age of Discoveries. 👏 The logo's colour palette was based on the Portuguese flag and its warm tones recall the light and sun associated 👏 with the Portuguese landscape and climate.[81][82] The competition slogan used was "Vive O 2004!" (English: Live 2004!).[83][84]
The official mascot was 👏 a boy named Kinas – derived from quinas (English: inescutcheons), one of the symbols of the Portuguese coat of arms[85] 👏 – who wore a football kit with the Portuguese colours (red shirt and green shorts) and was constantly playing with 👏 a football. He possessed the knowledge and talent of generations of highly gifted football players, and embodied the energy and 👏 passion of football.[86] Created by Warner Bros., Kinas was officially unveiled on 29 March 2003 at the Casa de Serralves, 👏 in Porto, Portugal.[85]
The official song, called "Força" (English: Strength), was written and performed by Portuguese-Canadian singer Nelly Furtado.[87] The song 👏 was taken from her second studio album, Folklore, and released as its third single, soon after the start of the 👏 tournament. Furtado was selected to sing the official song of the tournament, because of her familial connection to the host 👏 country (her parents are both Portuguese from the Azores).[88] She wrote "Força" with "the passion the Portuguese people have for 👏 football" in mind.[88] The song was played at every match, and performed live by Furtado at the closing ceremony prior 👏 to the final.[89][90]
Match ball [ edit ]
The official match ball was presented during the final draw ceremony on 30 November 👏 2003 in Lisbon.[91][92] It was produced by Adidas and named Adidas Roteiro, after the logbook (Portuguese: roteiro) used by Portuguese 👏 maritime explorers such as Vasco da Gama.[91] Roteiro was the first official tournament football to employ the new thermal-bonding technique 👏 in its production, which resulted in a seamless surface and a more homogeneous design.[91] Portuguese Football Federation president Gilberto Madaíl 👏 praised the ball, stating: "Adidas has delivered a stunning, modern and state-of the-art Portuguese football. This is very much how 👏 we envisage the UEFA Euro 2004 event to be".[91] Roteiro was also used at the 2004 AFC Asian Cup,[93] and 👏 during the mid-season of the 2004–05 German Bundesliga.[94]
The new ball received mixed reactions from players and technical staffs. England midfielder 👏 David Beckham, who was asked by Adidas to test it, was pleased with Roteiro's performance, particularly in free-kicks.[91] France midfielder 👏 Zinedine Zidane believed the ball would "improve the game".[94] Several Spanish players, however, regarded it as "horrible, difficult to control 👏 and to pass", with Real Madrid footballer Iván Helguera describing it as a "beach ball".[95] Notable players of the Italy 👏 national team, such as Francesco Totti, Andrea Pirlo and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon also voiced criticisms.[96]
Trophy tour [ edit ]
During the 👏 two months ahead of the tournament, the Henri Delaunay Trophy travelled across Portugal to promote the European Championship finals in 👏 the host country. The tour began on 8 April 2004 at the Praça do Comércio in Lisbon, where the launching 👏 ceremony took place with the presence of Portuguese football legend and tournament ambassador Eusébio.[97] A total of twenty towns and 👏 cities were visited by the trophy tour caravan, including the ten that would host matches.[98]
Merchandise and memorabilia [ edit ]
In 👏 November 2002, UEFA appointed Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) as the tournament's exclusive worldwide licensing agent.[99] As the global licensing 👏 rights owner, WBCP was responsible for negotiating product licence contracts with third parties on the behalf of UEFA and delineate 👏 product sales strategies across the host country. Other tasks included setting up and managing marketing plans, product distribution and prices, 👏 and prevent illegal use of trademarks and product sales.[100] Over 2,000 merchandise items were developed by the 28 licencees chosen 👏 by WBCP, and were distributed not only within Portugal but also in major European and Asian markets.[101]
To celebrate Portugal's hosting 👏 of the Euro 2004 finals, commemorative coin and stamp collections were issued by the Imprensa Nacional-Casa da Moeda, the Portuguese 👏 national mint and printing house,[102] and CTT, the national postal service.[103]
UEFA distinguishes between global sponsors and national sponsors. Global Euro 👏 sponsors can come from any country and have together exclusive worldwide sponsorship rights for a UEFA European Football Championship. National 👏 sponsors come from the host country and do only have sponsorship rights within that country. Eight sponsors were announced by 👏 UEFA in December 2002.[105]
Broadcasting [ edit ]
Nineteen cameras were used in each of the ten venues to broadcast the live 👏 matches, with three additional cameras in the opening and knockout stage matches.[123][124]
See also [ edit ]
Vive O 2004! , the 👏 official album for UEFA Euro 2004
, the official album for UEFA Euro 2004 UEFA Euro 2004, the official video game 👏 for UEFA Euro 2004
