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he boom boom clap of the fans was deafening and in truth, The Three Lions of England did not stand a chance. A small nation of Vikings literally is what Iceland was when they stormed the 2016 Euros and rocked the tournament, writing one of the most incredible fairytale stories in Euros history.

A tournament that has produced such stories as a team ranked second-lowest winning and a team reaching the semi-finals with only 14 available players is one with a rich history of upsets and fairytales. We hope that we can have more of these stories from the 2021 edition but before that, here are four of the finest fairy tales to whet your appetite for what’s to come.

Russia 2008 – Semifinal
The Russian national team’s fairytale at the 2008 Euros had the same blueprints that another Russian fairytale that occurred barely a month before Euro 2008 started. In the months leading up to the Euros, Zenit St Petersburg beat Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, and Rangers to claim their first ever European trophy and the second in four years for a Russian team after CSKA Moscow’s 2005 win. Russia’s team at the Euros boasted 10 players from those two triumphs. Five each from CSKA and Zenit. These players ended up being the bedrock of the team that shocked Europe.

Their journey in the tournament started where it would eventually end. In a defeat to eventual champions Spain. Without their talisman and chief creator Andrey Arshavin who was serving a suspension, Russia crumbled to a 4-1 loss. In the game that followed against defending Champions Greece, still without Arshavin, Russia battled to a 1-0 win with Konstantin Zyryanov who had scored in Zenit’s final win over Rangers getting the winner.

They then faced Sweden in a straight duel for the second qualification spot in the group and with Russia needing to win, they were able to call on Arshavin who did not disappoint. He ran the Swedes ragged and after his run had helped Roman Pavlyuchenko open the scoring, he doubled Russia’s lead with a cute finish into the bottom corner.


Andrey Arshavin scores for Russia against Netherlands Euro 2008
Russia then had to do battle with the Netherlands who had topped a group that also included France and Italy where they finished top of the group with maximum points beating both Italy and France by three-goal margins.

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Gball:
he boom boom clap of the fans was deafening and in truth, The Three Lions of England did not stand a chance. A small nation of Vikings literally is what Iceland was when they stormed the 2016 Euros and rocked the tournament, writing one of the most incredible fairytale stories in Euros history.

A tournament that has produced such stories as a team ranked second-lowest winning and a team reaching the semi-finals with only 14 available players is one with a rich history of upsets and fairytales. We hope that we can have more of these stories from the 2021 edition but before that, here are four of the finest fairy tales to whet your appetite for what’s to come.

Russia 2008 – Semifinal
The Russian national team’s fairytale at the 2008 Euros had the same blueprints that another Russian fairytale that occurred barely a month before Euro 2008 started. In the months leading up to the Euros, Zenit St Petersburg beat Marseille, Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, and Rangers to claim their first ever European trophy and the second in four years for a Russian team after CSKA Moscow’s 2005 win. Russia’s team at the Euros boasted 10 players from those two triumphs. Five each from CSKA and Zenit. These players ended up being the bedrock of the team that shocked Europe.

Their journey in the tournament started where it would eventually end. In a defeat to eventual champions Spain. Without their talisman and chief creator Andrey Arshavin who was serving a suspension, Russia crumbled to a 4-1 loss. In the game that followed against defending Champions Greece, still without Arshavin, Russia battled to a 1-0 win with Konstantin Zyryanov who had scored in Zenit’s final win over Rangers getting the winner.

They then faced Sweden in a straight duel for the second qualification spot in the group and with Russia needing to win, they were able to call on Arshavin who did not disappoint. He ran the Swedes ragged and after his run had helped Roman Pavlyuchenko open the scoring, he doubled Russia’s lead with a cute finish into the bottom corner.


Andrey Arshavin scores for Russia against Netherlands Euro 2008
Russia then had to do battle with the Netherlands who had topped a group that also included France and Italy where they finished top of the group with maximum points beating both Italy and France by three-goal margins.

READ MORE

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