5 of the Best Goals, & 5 of the Best Own Goals in Euros History

After weeks of anticipation, nerves and excitement, Euro 2016 is finally underway.

The Euros are a chance to watch some of the world’s best players battle it out for European supremacy. The tournament is also a chance for good players to become ‘greats’ and unknowns to become legends.

The fastest route to glory is goals.

We’re only a few days into Euro 2016, and already we’ve seen some crackers.

France’s Dimitri Payet’s stunner against Romania was a deserved match-winner.

Gareth Bale’s fantastic free-kick put Wales in the lead against Slovakia, before Hal Robson-Kanu cancelled out Ondrej Duda’s equaliser to clinch victory.

Eric Dier’s classy free-kick gave England a deserved lead against Russia (before England threw two points away) and Croatia’s Luka Modric capped a superb performance against Turkey with a stunning match-winning volley.

But are any of them good enough to beat Van Basten’s audacious 1988 chip against USSR? Or more recently Ibrahimovic’s special scorpion kick circa 2004? We think not.

So here are our picks for the top 5 goals ever scored at the Euros:

5. Maniche (2004) – Portugal’s star midfielder took his team to the final with this wonderful curling strike from the edge of the Dutch penalty area in 2004.

4. Once upon a time (1988), the Republic of Ireland were a real force to be reckoned with in the European Championships. Hopefully they can reclaim that status in the years to come, but in the meantime, enjoy Ronnie Whelan’s wonder strike against Russian goalkeeping legend Rinat Dasaev. Yes he hit it with his shin, and it may not have been entirely intentional, but nonetheless, it’s pure poetry.

3. Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2004) – Not all the best goals are match-winners, sometimes they come in 1-1 draws. And such it was with our third choice, Ibrahimovic’s scorpion kick in Sweden’s 2004 1-1 draw with Italy. This goal is usually lower on many people’s lists, but you could watch it forever. There’s a goalmouth scramble, he’s in the middle, and with a quick flick, the ball is in the net. The confidence is incredible, the composure admirable and the technique flawless. It’s genius, it’s athletic, it’s pure Zlatan!

2. Paul Gascoigne (1996) – These days if Gazza makesthe headlines, it’s not good news. But at Euro 1996 he showed his true class, perhaps for the last time, with this spectacular volley against Scotland. David Seaman has just saved a penalty from Gary McAllister. There’s a goal kick, a few touches and the ball comes to Gazza, who’s already running. He takes a touch to loop the ball over Colin Hendry’s head, then smashes it into the bottom corner – brilliant!

1. Taking the number one spot is the aforementioned wonderfully ridiculous tight-angle volley which Marco van Basten looped over Rinat Dasaev (yes, him again) in the 1988 final. There have been countless goals scored in the Euros since The Flying Dutchman broke Russian hearts with this almost impossible goal, but we’ve yet to see it bettered.

Not everyone does their best work on such a big stage, sometimes you score a great goal, but forget which net you’re aiming for…

With that in mind here are five of the worst/best own goals ever scored in the European qualifiers and warm-ups:

5. Straight in at number 5 – Robin van Persie, 2015 Euros qualifier v Czech Republic – This is actually a beautifully-controlled header. The problem is the Dutchman nodded it into his own net. Worse still the Netherlands lost 3-2 and crashed out of the Euro 2016 play-offs.

4. David Alaba (2016) – even more recently (last month), Austrian ace David Alaba seriously misjudged his goalkeeper’s position and sent the ball sliding over the goal-line against Malta. In fairness, it was a friendly, and Austria hung on for a 2-1 win. Alaba saw the funny side, even tweeting “Good win last night to pick up match practice. Let’s just forget about the 87^th minute ;) ” – Yes, he included a winky face.

3. Gerard Pique (2010) – Pique is something of a repeat offender, with own goals at just about every level, both for club and country. But it is his own goal which took Scotland level with Spain in the Euro 2012 qualifier which we’re concerned with. It was a lovely goal, Morrison crossed the ball for Fletcher, and Pique slid in and stroked the ball into the net. Except it was the wrong net, and Morrison and Fletcher were the opposition. Inexplicable. The Scots celebrated as only they can, until Spanish substitute Llorente spared Pique’s blushes with a nice side-foot home in the 79^th minute, for a 3-2 victory.

2 &1. Aldo and Davide Simoncini

Bit of a cheat here, as it’s not really the quality of the own goals that makes these two memorable, it’s the fact that both were scored in the same Euro 2012 qualifier, by twin brothers Aldo and Davide Simoncini. The unfortunate duo both contributed to Sweden’s 6-0 thumping of San Marino in 2010. Just to rub salt into the wound, they were beaten by 10 men after Olof Mellberg was sent off for a reckless tackle in only the 34^th minute. Oh, and two of the other goals came from a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

So there you have it, world-class technique and the crème de la crème of poor judgement.

Because the Euros tend to throw up a fair few own goals, Betfred are offering a safeguard. Own goals won’t count with regards to first goalscorer betting, so you don’t have to worry!