International finals aren't typically the most high-octane of occasions. In fact, teams will often play their most introverted football on the biggest stage, when the world expects a show-stopping performance.

It's the moment you stand on the edge of eternity, look your opponent in the eye and think: 'Oh, it's just you and me now.' That is bound to lead to fixtures which are less Ali vs. Frazier and more Fischer vs. Kasparov.

But there are exceptions when two teams put on a full-throttle show befitting of the occasion, soundtracked by the jangling of nerves and the wringing of hands.

There have been 14 finals in the history of the Euros.

Here are five of the best.

5. Denmark 2-0 West Germany | Euro 1992

Denmark 2-0 West Germany | Euro 1992

Denmark 2-0 Germany, a match that pulled football up by its roots and re-potted it in a different paradigm.

There was a political context to this, one of the most remarkable stories in the history of the international game. It should have been Germany's first title after reunification, but the Danish had other ideas.

Denmark’s was a tournament victory made all the more staggering owing to the fact that they weren't really meant to be playing in it.

The Yugoslav Wars, a direct consequence of the fall of the Berlin Wall and dissolution of the Soviet Union, led to Yugoslavia being disqualified prior to the start of the competition in Sweden.

That opened the window of opportunity just wide enough for the Danes to slip through having finished second behind Yugoslavia in the qualification phase.

Peter Schmeichel's name jumped off the teamsheet, as did Brian Laudrup's, but there was no doubt that the Germans went into the final as favourites.

But after John Jensen's rocket, Kim Vilfort's chop, shot and goal, Denmark back-passed their way towards a stunning victory.

4. Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany | Euro 1976

Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany | Euro 1976

Einsteinium, the Dyson vac, the Panenka. You generally have to do something pretty special to have something named after you...

In the 1976 final in Belgrade, Czechoslovakia went 2-0 up before the half-hour mark through goals from Jan Svehlik Karol Dobias.

West Germany pulled one back quickly through Dieter Muller and the scores stayed that way until the 89th minute when, with the light just about to leave the defending champions' eyes, Bernd Holzenbein nodded in the equaliser from a corner.

After a goalless period of extra-time, penalties. Uli Hoeness spooned West Germany's fourth spot-kick over the bar and up stepped Antonin Panenka, a tidy but unremarkable 28-year-old playmaker.

Panenka, in a fit of brilliance and hubris, clipped the ball dead down the centre of the goal, right into the spot that Sepp Maier had just vacated, sending champagne corks flying in Belgrade.

3. Portugal 0-1 Greece | Euro 2004

Portugal 0-1 Greece | Euro 2004

There is perhaps no better tournament for throwing up shocks than the European Championship. And Greece's stunning victory in 2004 is top of the pile.

It was the second time Portugal and Greece had met in the tournament and, it transpired, the second time the Greeks would end up on top. Perhaps that gave them a psychological edge. Either way, they went into the final as outsiders.

Otto Rehhagel's side needed to turn the match into a battle, and they did exactly that. They played with dogma and discipline, putting out fires wherever they saw them and starting a few of their own in the process.

When the goal came, it was no oil painting. A header from a corner which Portugal goalkeeper Ricardo really ought to have claimed. But its impact was seismic, securing an underdog victory arguably more remarkable than Denmark's triumph 12 years before it.

2. Netherlands 2-0 Soviet Union | Euro 1988

Netherlands 2-0 Soviet Union | Euro 1988

Marco van Basten had one of the all-time great tournaments in West Germany in '88.

He netted a hat-trick against England in the group stages and a late winner against the hosts in the semi-final. But those strikes are but a footnote next to his goal in the final in Munich against the Soviet Union.

As the ball dropped out of the stratosphere and Van Basten fired a cosmic volley beyond the Soviet goalkeeper, the Dutchman made all sorts of history.

It was the finest goal in the history of the Championships, it was also the one that sealed the Netherlands' first international honour.

The geometry of the shot was utterly wondrous, Van Basten booming the ball in from a scandalously tight angle.

Ruud Gullit had given the Netherlands the lead with a more rudimentary finish before half-time.

The Netherlands went on to lift the trophy and in so doing laid to rest the ghosts of 1974, when Rinus Michels, Johan Cruyff and Total Football were vanquished in the same stadium.

1. Spain 4-0 Italy | Euro 2012

Spain 4-0 Italy | Euro 2012

Spain’s beauty was cultivated by Luis Aragones in 2008 before being brought into full flower by Vicente del Bosque over the next four years. He won the World Cup in 2010 before leading his footballing cosmonauts to the European Championship in Ukraine two years later.

Spain didn't saunter to the final in Kyiv as they had in previous tournaments. Their pass maps still looked like a Jackson Pollock painting, they still played with the same heat and desire, but there were one or two signs that they might be approaching the end of their all-conquering cycle. They did, however, save the best until last with this decimation of Italy.

David Silva opened the scoring with a rare header after Cesc Fabregas' exploratory surge and cross. The young Jordi Alba then performed an eye-popping give-and-go with Xavi, scorching the earth as he covered the length of the Italy half before finishing past Gianluigi Buffon.

Things then went quiet for a little while, Spain content to let their opponents chase the ball, the drip-drip of passes like Chinese water torture to the Italians.

With five minutes remaining, Fernando Torres slipped home the third. The same man squared it for Juan Mata moments later. He made it four and the savagery was complete. It was the perfect way to bookend a riotous, incomparable era of success.