From World Cup runner up to first round loser again at Euro 2004.
Germany, three-time winner of both the World Cup and European Championship, is going home early again.
Germany squandered an early lead and fell 2-1 to all-conquering Czech Republic on Wednesday, allowing the Germans' bitter rival Netherlands to advance to the quarterfinal of Euro 2004.
PHOTO: AP
While the Dutch beat Latvia 3-0 in Braga, the Germans lost to what effectively was the Czech "B" team with Marek Heinz firing a long range free kick into the top corner and Milan Baros tapping in from close range for his third goal of the campaign.
"It's a huge disappointment," said coach Rudi Voeller, who took over after the Euro 2000 disaster where the Germans finished bottom of their group. "Two years ago we were so happy to have been World Cup runner-up, now we are out, that's bitter.
"Only in the second half we played the way I wanted, the only thing missing were the goals. We only managed to play good soccer here occasionally. We only scored two goals, that's too few."
PHOTO: AP
With the Czechs resting nine players for their quarterfinal meeting with Denmark, the result looks even worse for Voeller's team.
Wednesday's result meant that only the Latvians, who entered the competition as 500-1 outsider, finished below the Germans in Group D. Voeller's men managed only a 0-0 tie with the modest Baltic team having also been held 1-1 by the Dutch.
The Dutch, meanwhile, were celebrating and are now convinced they can capture another Euro title to go with their 1988 triumph in Munich.
Dutch captain Phillip Cocu said his team, leading 2-0 late in the second half, got a boost when the crowd cheered indicating the Czechs had gone ahead 2-1 in their game in Lisbon.
"It gave us an incredible shot of adrenaline," he said.
"You can see how we are growing in the championship. We are on our way now. If we continue to show the same kind of form, we have a good chance to advance further."
Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored twice in an eight minute spell in the first half and now is tied with England's Wayne Rooney as top scorer with four goals.
The quarterfinal lineup includes four teams who have won the title before -- France, Czech Republic (as Czechoslovakia), Denmark and the Netherlands -- while four former champions are catching early flights home.
Russia, Spain, Italy and Germany, the first three winners of the championship, are out.
In terms of fan support, the first matchup between Portugal and England at Lisbon's Stadium of Light on Thursday is worthy of the final itself.
The English have effectively made Portugal's biggest stadium their home and go to the new home of Benfica for the third time in four games. It's host Portugal's second visit.
The game has many individual matchups with Portugal's Brazilian coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, taking on England's Swedish manager Sven-Goran Eriksson. The last time they faced each other, Brazil knocked England out of World Cup 2002 -- also in the quarterfinal -- before Scolari's men went on to win a fifth title.
Real Madrid stars Luis Figo and David Beckham are rival captains while Portugal's rising star, Cristiano Ronaldo, will be marked by his Manchester United teammate Gary Neville.
Portugal has to find a way to stop the freescoring Rooney. The 18-year-old striker had netted four times in two games to become the biggest star of the championship so far.
A day later comes defending champion France against upstart Greece.
The French are nowhere near top form and take on a Greek side which beat Portugal 2-1 in the biggest opening game upset in the 44-year history of the championship and then held Spain 1-1.
Thierry Henry woke from a two-game slumber with two strikes in France's 3-1 beating of Switzerland. But France needed a free kick and a penalty in injury time from Zinedine Zidane against England to avoid losing its first game.
The Greeks lost their final Group A game 2-1 to already eliminated Russia so maybe they started fast and are now running out of gas.
The Czechs were the first team into the last eight with victories over the Latvians and Dutch and starred in easily the best game of this championship and one of the top all-time matches.
Karel Bruckner's team, which faces Denmark on Sunday, was 2-0 down to the Netherlands before hitting back to win 3-2 in Aveiro. The game had everything that was good about soccer with two attack-minded lineups.
Both goalkeepers made world class saves and, while the Dutch hit the post, the Czechs rattled the crossbar.
The Danes, surprise winners in 1992, made it to the last eight after a 2-2 tie with Sweden in their final group game.
The result put out powerhouse Italy even though the Italians won their final game 2-1 over Bulgaria and didn't lose a match. They were held to ties by both Scandinavian teams.
The semifinal matchups are France or Greece versus the Czech Republic or Denmark and Portugal or England versus Sweden or the Netherlands.
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