Memorable EURO goalkeeping displays: Casillas, Toldo, Seaman

Ivo Viktor (Czechoslovakia 2-2 West Germany, Czechoslovakia won 5-3 on penalties, 1976)

Viktor, then 34, showed he was in the form of his life when he tipped wide a Rainer Bonhof free-kick, a standout moment in a terrific display in Belgrade. However, his incongruously "terrible mistake" then enabled Bernd Hölzenbein to cancel out Czechoslovakia's lead – which had been 2-0 – at the death and herald an ultimately fruitless extra-time period.

Consequently this EURO final became the first to be settled by a shoot-out, and because it is now remembered for Antonín Panenka's insouciant chip, Viktor insisted his "blunder" made his team-mate "eternally famous".

Joël Bats (France 3-2 Portugal, AET, 1984)

With the charismatic Bats between the sticks, Les Bleus had gone ten matches without conceding until their final group game against Yugoslavia. But it was the Marseille semi-final triumph where the Auxerre shot-stopper truly shone.

Amid a string of magnificent saves, Bats stayed on his feet to see off Fernando Gomes's close-range snapshot in normal time, then leapt backwards to turn over Nené's mighty extra-time header. Smothering another Nené effort late on, he sparked France's comeback as they struck twice in overtime to proceed to the final.

David Seaman (Scotland 0-2 England, 1996)

The England keeper's heroics earned him man of the match status from the Wembley group game. At 1-0 and with Scotland growing in confidence, Gordon Durie's header forced Seaman into action and he "clawed it out", colliding with a post in the process. The Scots then won a penalty. "I don’t really know where he's going," Seaman recalled of Gary McAllister stepping up to take it.

After diverting the ensuing effort over by throwing back an elbow mid-dive, Seaman received a "massive kiss" from the grateful, penalty-conceding Tony Adams. Minutes later, in a sudden momentum change, the No1 launched a ball upfield, picking out Teddy Sheringham and causing a swift combination sealed by Paul Gascoigne's audacious finish.

Francesco Toldo (Italy 0-0 Netherlands, Italy won 3-1 on penalties, 2000)

On a hunch that penalties would settle Italy's semi against the Dutch, Toldo had used "the floppy disks in [his] PC" and "studied their spot-kick specialists" the night before. His dedication paid dividends as he guessed right, flinging himself low to thwart Frank de Boer's first-half penalty – a sign of things to come. In the climactic Amsterdam shoot-out, the man of the match denied De Boer's second attempt, this time with a solid leg, before getting a hand to Paul Bosvelt's kick, sending Italy into the showpiece.

Iker Casillas (Spain 0-0 Italy, Spain won 4-2 on penalties, 2008)

Casillas sparkled in the Vienna quarter-final. On the hour mark, as chaos reigned in his area, the Spanish custodian pinged away Mauro Camoranesi's effort; later he palmed over Antonio Di Natale's extra-time header.

Such exploits meant a goalless 120 minutes and led to his becoming the shoot-out hero who helped to banish Spain's "inner doubts". Indeed, his two-handed stop from Daniele De Rossi, and subsequent foiling of Di Natale (again), allowed Cesc Fàbregas to fire La Roja into the last four. "That was the moment when everything Spain needed to end our run of not winning tournaments just clicked," he emphasised.