Humble beginnings: Euro 1960 to Euro 1968

The European Championships is barely a fortnight away. Of course, some may say hype may not come very close to that of the FIFA World Cup. The South Americans might choose to refrain from it… instead awaiting the Copa America. But then some may obviously say that this is harder than the World Cup, with the creme de la creme of European football nations vying to be crowned champions. We walk down memory lane, giving you a glimpse of how the first five European Championships, or the ‘Euros’ you may call it, panned out. [caption id=“attachment_326107” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“In this file photo, Zoff makes a diving save. Getty Images”] [/caption] EURO 1960 You may not believe it, but the first five Euros had only four teams in the main tournament (hosted by France). 16 tried to qualify from which, after a complicated round of games, four teams were finalised and went straight to the semis. It was called the European Nations’ Cup. Interesting facts: Spain refused to travel to the Soviet Union for their quarter-final, thus handing the USSR a walkover victory. The tournament was initially almost cancelled after teams refused to participate. Henry Delaunay, who proposed the idea to FIFA, passed away before he could see the first tournament. Top scorer: In fact, since there were only four games, five players scored two goals each. There was no standout goalscorer. Winners: Soviet Union 2-1 vs Yugoslavia EURO 1964 Spain and the Soviet Union finally met after four years… and this time, it was in a proper competition. Spain managed to win the trophy after 29 teams went through qualifying. Marcelino was the hero for Spain, scoring the winner in the 84th minute. Interesting facts: This was Spain’s first international title. Right now, they are world conquerors. Top Scorer: Again, three players scored two goals each- Ferenc Bene and Dezso Novak from Hungary and Jesus Maria Pereda of Spain. Winners: Spain 2-1 vs Soviet Union EURO 1968 Big names like Italy and England participated for the first time in the finals of the tournament, with Yugoslavia and Soviet Union continuing their participation. England came into the tournament as World Champions and exited in the semi-finals after being defeated 1-0 by Yugoslavia. That is probably another indication of how hard this tournament was already getting. Interesting facts: As with Spain in the earlier tournament, Italy hosted and won the title. From this tournament onwards, the name European Nations Cup was changed to European Championships. The legend of goalkeeper Dino Zoff began here. The final could not be decided in the first match and went into a replay. The first final was witnessed by 85,000 people, but interestingly the replay saw only 55,000 fans in spite of the game being played in the same stadium. Top Scorer: Dragan Dzajic of Yugoslavia with two goals. Winners: Italy 2-0 Yugoslavia In our next series, we see how the stature of the tournament increased— with teams more eager to play in it and participate in a long qualifying season throughout the year.