The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly called EURO 2004, was held in Portugal between 12 June and 4 July2004. The UEFA European Championship is a quadrennial football competition between national teams organised by UEFA, the sports governing body in Europe. This was the first time that the competition was held in Portugal.
Qualifying for EURO 2004 took place from September 2002 to November 2003. Fifty teams were divided into ten groups and each team played the others in their group twice, once at home and once away. The top teams automatically qualified for EURO 2004, and the ten group runners-up took part in play-offs to determine another five teams. Together with the host nation of Portugal, who did not need to go through the qualifying process (as is usual), 16 nations competed in EURO 2004.
The final was played on July 4, and was almost a replay of the opening game: the host Portugal versus Greece. Greece won 1-0 with a single goal from a corner via Angelos Charisteas' head on the 57th minute. The success of Greece, who had never won a single match in their previous appearances in any finals tournament, was totally unexpected (Bloomberg reports that UK bookmakers gave them 100-1 odds at winning prior to the tournament), but their organisation and solid defensive play took their opponents and the rest of the football world by surprise.
The 2004UEFA European Football Championship, commonly called EURO2004, was held in Portugal between 12 June and 4 July2004.
The top teams automatically qualified for EURO2004, and the ten group runners-up took part in play-offs to determine another five teams.
Such was the enthusiasm that overtook the Greek fans, that the ship became the symbol of the Greek victory, as Greeks where chanting for the 'Pirate Ship', as the Greek National Team was instantly named, into the early morning hours.
The primary mode of play in UEFAEuro2004 is the tournament itself, which allows you to assume control of any of the 51 European teams that start their campaigns to qualify for one of 16 places in the tournament finals around two years before they're actually held.
UEFAEuro 2004's player morale system, which is represented by colored bars of varying lengths next to players' names, allows you to easily determine which of your players are in top form (because their morale is affected by their performances on the pitch) so that you can take action when necessary.
The Euro2004 gameplay mode is the only one that employs the player morale system, but other modes available include friendly games, home and away matches, practice sessions, penalty shoot-outs, custom tournaments, situations, and fantasy teams.
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