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WATCH: On This Day In 2000, Francesco Totti Made Van Der Sar Look Silly

WATCH: On This Day In 2000, Francesco Totti Made Van Der Sar Look Silly

The Euro 2000 semi-final went from one extreme to the other

Joe Baiamonte

Joe Baiamonte

That the Netherlands and Italy should conjure up one of the most memorably ludicrous sets of penalties should have come as no surprise to anyone watching the two nations battle it out for a place in the Euro 2000 final, 17 years ago today.

Ahead of the two countries' European Championship semi-final at the Amsterdam Arena on 29th June, 2000, neither the Oranje or the Azzurri had particularly fond memories of penalty shoot-outs in major international tournaments.

The Italians had lost three shoot-outs during the '90s; vs Argentina in the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, vs Brazil in the 1994 final and vs France in the quarter-finals of the 1998 tournament.


Baggio
Baggio

Roberto Baggio sends his spot-kick over the bar to hand the 1994 World Cup to Brazil. Image: PA

The Netherlands hadn't exactly fared better, either, with Brazil eliminating them from the 1998 World Cup via spot kicks in the semi-final, which followed unsuccessful shoot-outs against France at Euro '96 and Denmark at the 1992 championships.

Netherlands
Netherlands

Philip Cocu walks dejectedly back to his teammates after missing his spot-kick during the 1998 World Cup semi-final. Image: PA

In fact, during the 2000 clash between Frank Rijkaard and Dino Zoff's men, the Netherlands didn't even bother waiting for the shoot-out to start missing from 12 yards, with Frank de Boer and Patrick Kluivert both being denied, first by Francesco Toldo and then the post, in regular time.

Even after Gianluca Zambrotta received his second yellow card in 34th minute, the Netherlands couldn't find a way past Toldo and when the final whistle was blown at the end of extra time, one atrocious record from 12 yards would have to give.

De Boer repeated his trick from normal time by missing another effort before Jaap Stam thundered a ball clean out of the Earth's orbit. Luigi Di Biagio and Gianluca Pessotto had no such problems, however, successfully dispatching their respective penalties.


As Di Biagio wondered back to his teammates in the centre-circle, with Italy leading 2-0, Totti told him "Mo je faccio er cucchiaio." which translates as "Now I will do the spoon."

Overhearing this, Italy captain Paolo Maldini exclaimed "Is he crazy? There's a final on the line!"

Maldini needn't have worried, as Roma's Il Capitano stayed true to his word, making Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van Der Sar, one of the finest 'keepers of his generation, look utterly helpless as the ball glided past him and into the net, to all but secure Italy's passage to the final.


Ironically enough, Maldini would miss his spot-kick, but Paul Bosvelt's following miss ended the Azzurri's spot-kick hoodoo, which was then extended to successes in the 2006 World Cup final against France and 2012 European Championships against England (surprise, surprise).

"To take a penalty like that you must be crazy or very good," Totti explained after the match, "and I don't think I'm crazy."

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Football, Netherlands, Italy, Francesco Totti