58 CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY
shot, to seal the trophy for his nation with brilliant panache.
BELGIUM 1972 West Germany won their fi rst European Championship by defeating the Soviet Union at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels. The 3-0 fi nal defeat remains the heaviest in the history of the tournament. Gerd Müller, the legendary German striker, was the star of the tournament, netting four goals in his country’s two games. Nicknamed ‘The Bomber’, Müller – whose astonishing record for West Germany reads: played 62, scored 68 – scored twice in the 2-1 win over hosts Belgium in their fi rst game. He then netted a brace in the fi nal held in the Belgian capital, with Herbert Wimmer adding a third.
ITALY 1968 Like Spain four years earlier, Italy became the second host nation to win the tournament, which was fi rst called the European Championship, rather than the European Nations’ Cup, as it was labelled in the fi rst two competitions. The new title was
accompanied with a new format: the qualifi cation phase was changed to comprise qualifying groups instead of two-legged knockout ties, and led to a quarter-fi nal round featuring the eight group winners. Amazingly the Italians only made it through to the fi nal after playing out a goalless 120 minutes with the Soviet Union, and advanced thanks to a favourable coin toss. The Azzurri were promptly awarded a Rome showdown with Yugoslavia, who had Dragan Džajić’s goal to thank for overcoming ten- man England 1-0. Alan Mullery had become the fi rst senior England player to be sent off in that game and
was sidelined as his colleagues went on to take third place. With goals from Luigi Riva and Pietro
Anastasi in the 2-0 win for Italy over Yugoslavia, that success remains the only time Italy have won the European Championship.
SPAIN 1964 Spain, under the rule of General Franco, won their fi rst major silverware by defeating the Soviet Union, the reigning champions, on home soil, in front of more than 79,000 at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid. Marcelino Martínez became his
country’s hero, scoring the winner in the 2-1 victory with only six minutes of normal time remaining. Interestingly Spain had withdrawn from the fi rst tournament, in 1960, for political reasons as they did not want to take on the Soviet Union, but on this occasion General Franco allowed his team to play them. In the semi-fi nals, the Soviet Union
defeated Denmark 3-0 in Barcelona while the hosts beat Hungary 2–1 in extra- time in Madrid, the winning goal being scored by Amancio Amaro, who was nicknamed ‘The Witch’.
FRANCE 1960 The Soviet Union won the fi rst ever tournament, bettering Yugoslavia 2-1 in the fi nal, hosted at Parc des
Princes in Paris. The tournament was built around a format of knockout home-and-away games until the semi-fi nal stage. Hosts France were eliminated in a thrilling 5-4 loss to Yugoslavia, which remains the competition’s highest- scoring match. In the fi nal the Soviets defended heroically against the
dominant and free- scoring Yugoslavs, with goalkeeper Lev
Yashin thwarting numerous chances.
Milan Galić’s defl ected shot gave Yugoslavia the lead just before the break, but Slava Metreveli soon levelled after the interval, and in extra time Viktor Ponedelnik headed in the winning goal to claim Soviet Union’s fi rst and only trophy.
Above and left: Greece triumphs against Portugal in the 2004 fi nal
ITV GUIDE | EURO 2012
www.itv.com/sport/football FINAL
1960 (FRANCE) SOVIET UNION * 2 - 1 YUGOSLAVIA
1964 (SPAIN) SPAIN 2 - 1 SOVIET UNION
1968 (ITALY) ITALY 2 - 0 YUGOSLAVIA
1972 (BELGIUM) WEST GERMANY * 3 - 0 SOVIET UNION
1976 (YUGOSLAVIA) CZECHOSLOVAKIA* * 2 - 2 (5-3) WEST GERMANY
1980 (ITALY) WEST GERMANY 2 - 1 BELGIUM
1984 (FRANCE) FRANCE * 2 - 0 SPAIN
1988 (WEST GERMANY) HOLLAND 2 - 0 SOVIET UNION
1992 (SWEDEN) DENMARK 2 - 0 GERMANY
1996 (ENGLAND) GERMANY * * * 2 - 1 CZECH REPUBLIC
2000 (BELGIUM & HOLLAND) FRANCE * * * 2 - 1 ITALY
2004 (PORTUGAL) GREECE 1 - 0 PORTUGAL
2008 (AUSTRIA & SWITZERLAND) SPAIN 1 - 0 GERMANY
(HOST COUNTRY) * AFTER EXTRA TIME * * PENALTIES * * * GOLDEN GOAL
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