The Shining Understudies in EURO History

 

The stars in the UEFA Euro Championship have not always been the mainstay but also the secondary players in the pecking order. 

The summer tournament is coming soon. More and more teams have announced their squads, either provisional or final. Some teams have even held their friendly games as a team warm-up as well as a final stage for squad selection. 

During this crucial time, some players might be injured due to the fixture congestion at the club level, which has been a common issue in the past few seasons. Consequently, they can be left out since they are likely to recover in time, or if they are still included in the final squad, those players would not be able to be in form on D-day. Should that happen, another name will take over their place on the team. 

This week, England and Scotland have been concerned over the injuries of some key men. The Three Lions are likely to exclude their left back, who scored in the last edition final, Luke Shaw, while The Tartan Army might not have the best version of their frontman, Lyndon Dykes, due to picking up a knock recently.

Gareth Southgate and Steve Clarke must be prepared for the backup plan, meaning new or less expected figures could steal the spotlight. Here are some understudies who managed to shine in the EURO final round, despite the fact that most of them became merely one-edition wonders instead of thriving consistently in the other major tournaments.

Ole Qvist (Denmark)

He was only a backup goalkeeper for the Danish national team. Qvist was named in the squad for EURO 1984, Denmark’s first EURO. At first, the former KB man was not considered to be in the starting XI in the final round as he was only the second choice in the team. Ole Kjaer was Sepp Piontek’s main man. However, he had been below par in the friendly match against the Netherlands prior to the tournament. The former Ejsberg goalie conceded six times and had a poor display between the sticks.

Such led to the promotion of Qvist in the line-up, despite being 34 years old already. He played in all four games in France in 1984 and even helped Morten Olsen and Co. go through the semifinals before losing to Spain on penalties. It was Qvist's only performance as the first choice. In the 1986 FIFA World Cup, he was still included in the team but returned to the second man in the pecking order.

Henrik Larsen (Denmark)

He was an underrated star at EURO 1992. Henrik Larsen (not Sweden’s Henrik Larsson) was not always the first choice in Denmark’s line-up in the EURO 1992 qualifiers. The former Pisa man was not even fielded in the opener versus England and played less than 30 minutes in the second game versus Sweden. Larsen suddenly stole the spotlight in the next three games. The midfielder scored a brace, which helped the Danish Dynamite beat Michel Platini’s France 2-1 and advance to the semifinal. He added his tally in the last four when they knocked out the reigning champions, the Netherlands, on penalties after sharing spoils in a 2-2 draw. Larsen was in form too in the final, as they crushed Germany 2-0. He finally lifted his first and only international trophy and even awarded the top scorer with three goals alongside the other more well-known names, Germany’s Karl Heinz-Reidl, the Netherlands' star Dennis Bergkamp, and the host’s most famous player, Tomas Brolin.

After EURO 1992, the midfielder with 39 international caps still made the cut in EURO 1996, despite not participating in the qualifiers. Sadly, he was unable to replicate his form in Sweden in 1992. Larsen got a nod in all three games, but he was scoreless without making any assists either.

Oliver Bierhoff (Germany)

The towering striker just made his international debut in March 1996, or three months before the EURO 1996 kickoff. Bierhoff was not a well-known forward compared to Jurgen Klinsmann or Stefan Kuntz, the main duo frontmen under Bertie Vogts in the tournament. The former Udinese and AC Milan man played only two games in the first two fixtures against Czechia and Russia.

However, Die Mannschaft owed him gratitude as he was the one who scored the winning goal in the final. Previously, Bierhoff only contributed one assist as Germany trashed Russia 3-0. In the summit, he came off the bench in the 69^th minute when Bertie Vogts’ men were one goal down. He found the back of the net in the 73^rd minute and the golden goal in the 105th minute.

Due to his peak form in England 1996, he became the first choice for the next major tournament, the 1998 FIFA World Cup. Bierhoff was Klinsmann’s duet upfront, and both bagged the winning goals in the match against Iran and Mexico. He was still named in Rudi Voeller’s squad for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, when he netted once in an 8-0 rout against Saudi Arabia.

Francesco Toldo (Italy)

Toldo was always Gianluigi Buffon’s understudy during his playing years. He was unlikely to get a nod in the lineup of Gli Azzurri for the major tournament. However, only a few days before EURO 2000, Buffon broke his hand in the warm-up match versus Norway and had to miss the tournament, meaning Italy boss at that time, Dino Zoff, had to turn to other names for the one between the sticks.

It turned out that the former Fiorentina and Inter Milan players were chosen instead of Francesco Antonioli and Christian Abbiati. Toldo paid off Zoff’s trust well as he kept a clean sheet in three games against the two hosts, Belgium and the Netherlands, plus Romania in the final round to reach the summit. His most notable contribution was in the semifinal, as he denied one penalty in normal time and saved twice in the shootout.

Unfortunately, he returned to be Buffon’s understudy again in the 2004 and 2002 FIFA World Cups. Toldo eventually retired in 2010 after being part of Jose Mourinho’s squad while winning a treble.