Which players from EURA 2004 are still active?

EURO 2004 brought many great stories, successes, but unfortunately also disappointments. Especially for the Czech national team. The tournament featured many star players, experienced players and promising youngsters. Who of them hasn’t finished their career yet?

Of all the players who made an impact at the 2004 European Championships, only 7 are still playing professional football. One of them is even playing at the Euros this year.

That is, of course, none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. The then nineteen year old talent made an appearance at the EURO after his debut season at Manchester United.

He scored his first national team goal during the group game against Greece, then added a second in the semi-final. However, Greece rejoiced in the final, so Ronaldo had to wait until 2016 to find success with the national team.

Another player is Bulgarian striker Valeri Bojinov. He was the youngest player in the tournament, just 18 years old. At the time, he was a Lecce player and later played for Fiorentina, Juventus and Manchester City.

Now he is a big traveller – since 2010 he has changed 16 clubs, currently he is with Levski Sofia.

Arjen Robben did not have an easy time in 2004, hampered mainly by injuries. However, he did not miss out on the Euro. The then 20-year-old talent also featured against the Czech Republic, the Dutch coach was later criticised for his substitution.

In the quarter-finals, he converted the decisive penalty against Sweden and helped his team advance. In 2010 and 2014, Robben took the Netherlands to the final and semi-finals of the World Cup respectively. He recently resumed his career, working in Groningen.

Joaquín was considered a huge talent in Spanish football, even playing at the 2002 World Cup, where he missed a penalty in the quarter-finals in a controversial match against South Korea. The EURO 2 years later was even worse for the Spaniards, they didn’t even make it out of the group.

Joaquín was subsequently linked with Real Madrid, for example, but remained loyal to Real Betis. Later he played for Valencia, Malaga or Fiorentina before returning to Betis. He will be 40 years old next season.

Lukas Podolski scored 10 goals for Cologne in his first season in the Bundesliga, which earned him an invitation to the EURO. However, the Germans, like the Spanish, said goodbye after the group stage, with Podolski himself only playing the second half in the defeat to the Czech Republic.

10 years later, in Brazil, he enjoyed a World Cup triumph. He said goodbye to his national career 2 years later, scoring the winning goal against England in his last match. He is now a free agent after leaving Antalyspor.

All the players mentioned so far were youngsters in 2004, but not Ginaluigi Buffon. The Italian football icon was 26 years old at the time and had already captained the Azzurri to qualification for Euro 2000 and World Cup 2002. 2004 was a disappointing year, however, as Italy failed to advance out of the group either.

However, the legendary goalkeeper made up for it 2 years later when he contributed to the World Cup win. He won countless trophies at club level, winning the league title 11 times. Now he is preparing to return to Parma, where he started his career.

For a long time, it looked like Swedish veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic would also appear at this year’s European Championships, but he was eventually ruled out by injury. He was 22 years old at Euro 2004, but he was already one of the team’s driving forces. He scored two goals in the group stage, but in the quarter-finals he missed a penalty during the shootout and the Netherlands went through.

Ibrahimović played for Juventus, Barcelona, Inter Milan, PSG, Manchester United and AC Milan in the following years and won everything he could. In the 20/21 season, he helped AC Milan return to the Champions League with 15 goals.

Source: Planet Football