Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers

UEFA Euro 2004 or merely Euro 2004 was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Football Championship, a quadrennial football competition played by the men's national teams of UEFA member countries.

The ultimate event was held in Portugal for the first time from June 12 to July 4, 2004, featuring one of the Euro Top Goal Scorers whom we’ll talk about later in this article.

Aveiro, Braga, Coimbra, Guimaraes, Faro/Loule, Leiria, Lisbon, and Porto featured in a total of 31 matches across ten venues in eight cities.

The final tournament, as in 1996 and 2000, included 16 teams: the hosts and the 15 teams who advanced through the qualification stage, which began in September 2002.

After defeating Turkey in the play-offs, Latvia qualified for their first major event, while Greece returned to the European Championship for the first time in 24 years.

Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers Making their Nations Proud

Germany, Spain, and Italy were beaten in the group stage while defending champions France were ousted in the quarter-finals by Greece.

Portugal came back from a first-round loss to Greece to advance to the final, defeating England and the Netherlands along the way. The final match included the same teams as the opening match for the first time in a major European football event.

With a goal by Angelos Charisteas, one of the Top goal scorers of Euro 2004, Greece overcame Portugal once more.

Greece's victory was surprising given that they had only qualified for two previous big competitions, the UEFA Euro 1980 and the FIFA World Cup 1994, both of which they failed to win a single match.

Greece gained the right to represent Europe at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup as the tournament's champion.

During the opening ceremony, one of the tableaux depicted a ship traveling over a sea that converted into the flags of all competing countries, representing the journeys of the Portuguese explorers.

Nelly Furtado, a Portuguese-Canadian singer, sang "Forca," her single and official tournament theme song, at the closing ceremony.

Now, let’s start to

Know the Top Scorers in UEFA Euro 2004.

Cristiano Ronaldo (2 Goals)

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro GOIH ComM (born 5 February 1985) captains the

and plays as a forward for Serie A club Juventus.

Ronaldo has won five Ballon d'Or trophies and four European Golden Shoes, both of which are unprecedented for a European player.

He is largely regarded as the best player in the world and widely acknowledged as one of the greatest players of all time. He is one of the Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers.

Ronaldo made his senior international debut for Portugal at the age of 18 in 2003 and has since gained over 170 caps, including appearances and goals in eleven major tournaments, to become Portugal's most capped player and best goalscorer of all time.

He made his international debut at Euro 2004, helping Portugal to the final, and was named full captain of the national squad in July 2008. The Portuguese Football Federation elected Ronaldo the best Portuguese player of all time in 2015.

The next year, he led Portugal to their first major tournament victory, winning Euro 2016, and earning the Silver Boot as the tournament's second-highest goalscorer.

In his seventh game for Portugal, he netted his first international goal in a 2–1 group stage loss to eventual champions Greece.

He also produced a second goal later in the tournament, making him one of the Euro Top Goal Scorers.

Antonio Cassano (2 Goals)

Antonio Cassano (born July 12, 1982) is a former Italian professional footballer who primarily played as a forward.

He was mainly used as a supporting forward, although he could also play as an attacking midfielder, winger, or striker.

He was a skilled and technically gifted player who was one of the Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers.

He was noted for his quick temper as well as his brilliance and ability on the pitch, earning the nicknames Il Gioiello di Bari Vecchia ("the jewel of Old Bari") and Fantantonio ("fantastic Antonio").

Cassano represented Italy's national football team on 39 occasions between 2003 and 2014, netting 10 goals; he competed in three UEFA European Championships and one FIFA World Cup, finishing runner-up at UEFA Euro 2012. With three goals, he is Italy's highest scorer in the UEFA European Championships, alongside

.

Cassano was included in Italy's team for the UEFA Euro 2004 tournament by manager Giovanni Trapattoni.

Cassano was expected to be a reserve player, but after Francesco Totti was suspended for spitting on Christian Poulsen in Italy's 0–0 tie with Denmark, Cassano was moved into the starting lineup for a 1–1 draw with Sweden, in which he produced the opening goal.

He was named man of the match in Italy's final group match, a 2–1 triumph against Bulgaria, after assisting on Simone Perrotta's equalizer and scoring the last-minute winner, making him one of the

Top goal scorers of Euro 2004.

Zinedine Zidane (3 Goals)

Zinedine Yazid Zidane (born June 23, 1972), better known by his nickname Zizou, is a former French professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

He is one of the most accomplished coaches in the world, having recently coached Real Madrid. Zidane was a legendary playmaker known for his elegance, vision, passing, ball control, and technique.

He was widely recognized as one of the greatest players of all time and one of the Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers. As a player, he collected numerous awards, including FIFA World Player of the Year in 1998, 2000, and 2003, as well as the 1998 Ballon d'Or.

won Euro 2000, becoming the first team since West Germany in 1974 to win both the World Cup and the European Championship.

Zidane scored two goals in the final, a free-kick against Spain in the quarter-final and the golden goal with a penalty against Portugal in the semi-final. Zidane was selected Player of the Tournament by UEFA.

France won their group at Euro 2004 with victories against England and Switzerland but was knocked out in the quarter-finals by eventual champions Greece in a shocking 1–0 loss.

In the first match, Zidane scored a free-kick and a penalty in extra time to give France a 2–1 victory over England. Back then, he was one of the

Euro Top Goal Scorers.

Jon Dahl Tomasson (3 Goals)

Jon Dahl Tomasson (born August 29, 1976) is a former Danish football player and the current manager of Malmo FF in Sweden.

Formerly a forward, his most memorable runs in football were with Feyenoord, where he won the 2002 UEFA Cup, and Milan, where he won the 2003 UEFA Champions League and advanced to the final in 2005.

In both 2002 and 2004, he received the Danish Player of the Year award. He was also one of the

Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers.

He appeared in all three of Denmark's Euro 2000 matches but did not score as the team was eliminated in the group stage. Prior to joining Milan, he represented

at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, scoring four goals in as many games.

Tomasson represented Denmark at Euro 2004 and was named to the Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament after scoring three goals in four games.

Morten Olsen, Denmark's coach, stated on May 28, 2010, that the player would be part of the final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

On the 24th of June, he scored in a 3–1 loss against Japan, sending Denmark out of the competition.

He was named the best Danish player of the tournament by FIFA. Fans and the media, on the other hand, did not agree with FIFA's governing body. In any case, the fact is that he was one of the Top goal scorers of Euro 2004.

Henrik Larsson (3 Goals)

Edward Henrik Larsson (born September 20, 1971) is a former footballer and professional football coach from Sweden who currently works as an assistant manager at Barcelona. He was one of the Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers.

As Sweden failed to qualify for the 1998 World Cup, Edward scored one goal in four qualifying games.

Larsson scored three goals throughout the qualification matches to help Sweden qualify for Euro 2000. Despite having only recently recovered from a broken leg sustained while playing for Celtic, Larsson was named for the Sweden squad.

Larsson's announcement to retire from international football was widely panned in Sweden, with many calling for him to return for the team's Euro 2004 campaign in Portugal.

Despite originally refusing to return to the national team, he later accepted to do so for Euro 2004.

Larsson, who played up front alongside

, netted three goals in four games to help Sweden reach the quarter-finals, where they were eliminated by the Netherlands in a penalty shootout.

Larsson's diving header against Bulgaria was rated the tournament's greatest goal.

Continue reading to further Know the Top Scorers in UEFA Euro 2004.

Frank Lampard (3 Goals)

Frank James Lampard OBE (born June 20, 1978) is an English football manager and former player who most recently served as the head coach of Premier League club

.

He is widely regarded as one of Chelsea's finest players of all time, as well as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. He was also one of the Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers.

Lampard made his England debut in 1999 and went on to play 106 times for the national side.

He played in three FIFA World Cups, in 2006, 2010, and 2014, as well as UEFA Euro 2004, where he was named to the tournament's Team of the Tournament.

Lampard was named England Player of the Year in 2004 and 2005 after scoring 29 goals for his country.

He was left out of the Euro 2000 and 2002 World Cups and had to wait until Euro 2004 to compete in his first international tournament. Lampard scored three goals in four games to help England reach the quarter-finals.

In the group stages, he netted against France and Croatia, and in the quarter-finals, he equalized for England against Portugal in the 112th minute, bringing the score to 2–2, but England lost on penalties. UEFA named him to the tournament's best team.

Angelos Charisteas (3 Goals)

Angelos Charisteas (born February 9, 1980) is a retired Greek footballer who played as a forward. He is the Aris Thessaloniki's sporting director.

Charisteas made his senior international debut in February 2001, in a 3–3 draw against Russia, after being a regular for the Greek Under-21 team.

He made an immediate impression, scoring two of Greece's goals on the same day. His goal-scoring prowess persisted, and he eventually helped his country qualify for Euro 2004.

On the 4th of July, Charisteas scores for

in the Euro 2004 final versus Portugal.

One of the

Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers

, Charisteas scored three goals during the successful Euro 2004 campaign:

One in the group stage against Spain, one in the quarterfinals against France, and the winning goal in the final against Portugal.

He was named to the Euro 2004 All-Star Team and was eligible for the 2004 Ballon d'Or award, where he ended 11th in votes.

In a January 2007 interview with Dutch football magazine Voetbal International, Charisteas said that winning Euro 2004 was an incredible experience that he would not trade for anything in the world:

"Even in 50 years time, everybody will remember that I scored the goal which made Greece the champions of Europe. We wrote history and my life changed completely at that point."

Getting to the final players of this list, stay tuned to Know the Top Scorers in UEFA Euro 2004.

Ruud van Nistelrooy (4 Goals)

Rutgerus Johannes Martinus van Nistelrooij (born 1 July 1976) is a retired Dutch football player and coach. He is now the coach of PSV Eindhoven's under-19s team and the Netherlands' assistant manager.

Van Nistelrooy, a former striker, is widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his era. With 56 goals, he is the sixth-highest goalscorer in the history of the UEFA Champions League.

He has been the top scorer in three different UEFA Champions League seasons. He has also topped in three separate European domestic leagues in scoring.

Van Nistelrooy appeared in 70 games for the

and netted 35 goals. On November 18, 1998, he made his national team debut against Germany in a friendly match.

However, the cruciate ligament injury that delayed his transfer to Manchester United also prevented Van Nistelrooy from competing in Euro 2000.

Van Nistelrooy did not make his tournament debut for the Netherlands until Euro 2004, where he and Czech Republic's Milan Baros were the only players to score in all three group stage matches, making him one of the Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers with 4 goals.

The Netherlands advanced to the semi-finals before being defeated 2–1 by hosts Portugal. Van Nistelrooy made the tournament's all-star team.

Wayne Rooney (4 Goals)

Wayne Mark Rooney (born October 24, 1985) is the manager of the Championship club Derby County, where he previously served as interim player-manager.

He played forward for the majority of his career, but he also played in several midfield positions.

Rooney is the record goalscorer for both the

and Manchester United. He is widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation.

Through his Irish paternal grandparents, Rooney was eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland.

He claimed in 2015 that he had turned down an offer from Ireland when he was 16, characterizing himself as "English through and through."

He became England's youngest player when he equalized in a 2–1 away win against Macedonia in a UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying match on September 6, 2003, at the age of 17 years and 317 days.

His first tournament appearance was at UEFA Euro 2004, where he became the competition's youngest scorer on 17 June 2004, when he netted twice in England's 3–0 win over Switzerland in their second group encounter; however, this record was surpassed four days later by Swiss midfielder Johan Vonlanthen.

One of the Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers, Rooney scored two more goals in the competition in England's last group encounter, a 4–2 victory over Croatia on June 21, but he was injured in the quarter-final match against hosts Portugal on June 24, and England was eliminated on penalties.

Rooney was nominated to UEFA's Team of the Tournament after scoring four goals in four games.

Milan Baros (5 Goals)

Milan Baros (born October 28, 1981) is a striker for the

. Currently, he plays for FK Vigantice on the amateur level.

On April 25, 2001, Baros made his senior national team debut in a friendly match against Belgium, scoring on his debut.

In a November 2001 qualification match for the following year's World Cup, Baros and national teammate Pavel Nedved were both issued red cards as the Czech Republic was eliminated by Belgium.

Baros scored the first goal for the Czech Republic in their opening game of the 2004 UEFA Euros, a 2–1 comeback triumph over Latvia.

With the goal, he became the Czech Republic's youngest goalscorer at the European Championships.

His second goal of the tournament came against the Netherlands, who had established a two-goal lead over the Czechs before Jan Koller scored off a Baros assist.

The Czechs won the game 3–2 thanks to Baros's goal and Vladimir Smicer's assist. The Czech Republic made nine changes to their starting lineup for the third group match, despite having already qualified for the quarter-finals.

As Germany failed to proceed to the following round of the competition, Baros came on as a substitute and scored the game-winning goal, eventually making him one of the

Euro 2004 Top Goal Scorers

.

Read More:

Follow 

 for the