Football rules: Denmark toyed with Germany at Euro 1992 before key change

Denmark shocked the world when they became champions of Europe in 1992.

Last Sunday marked exactly 30 years since the Danes pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the history of international football, going all the way in a European Championship they weren’t even meant to be attending.

Having only been summoned to the tournament due to the disqualification of Yugoslavia, the Scandinavian nation – without even star player Michael Laudrup – conquered the continent in remarkable style.

Opening up with a 0-0 draw against England and 1-0 defeat to hosts Sweden, the Danes snook through to the knockout rounds courtesy of an unexpected 2-1 win over France.

Then, they made it all the way to the final by defeating the reigning champions, the Netherlands, who boasted a star-studded team including Marco van Basten, Ronaldo Koeman, Dennis Bergkamp and Frank Rijkaard in the final four.

On that occasion, Peter Schmeichel was the hero in the penalty shootout and the legendary Manchester United shot-stopper proved to be just as crucial during the final itself against Germany.

That’s because Schmeichel, along with his Danish comrades, leant into the lack of the back-pass rule to help secure a historic 2-0 victory in which John Jensen and Kim Vilfort scored either side of half-time.

This was a time where goalkeepers were indeed allowed to pick up the ball when receiving a pass from their teammates and that allowed Denmark to make the final an incredibly cagey affair.

While, of course, there was much, much more to Denmark’s victory than playing back-passes, footage from the final certainly goes to show that it helped them to suck the life out of Germany’s hopes of winning.

In clips that frankly look crazy through the eyes of a modern