My favourite game: Netherlands v Czech Republic, Euro 2004

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This group game in Aveiro was the match of the tournament, a relentless thriller symbolic of a free-flowing era

The game of football is many things to many people. A cash cow, a community lifeline; an intermittent source of national pride. Like it or not, for millions of casual viewers football is also entertainment – but there are no guarantees. We have all sat and watched a match simply fail to happen. But when everything comes together, nothing else compares.

Euro 2004 sits at the heart of what may be football’s finest era for pure entertainment – a decade-long run of enthralling summer engagements from France ’98 to Euro 2008. Stupendously talented players were let off the leash, unburdened by tactical dogma. Tournaments were shorter, sharper, yet to sag under the weight of extra numbers and their own importance.

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from Football | The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/apr/30/my-favourite-game-netherlands-v-czech-republic-euro-2004

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