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European Championship Finals

Final Tournament (in Belgium)

Belgium

Manager: Raymond Goethals

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 GK Christian Piot 6 October 1947 (aged 24) 23  Standard Liège
2 DF Georges Heylens 8 August 1941 (aged 30) 60  Anderlecht
3 DF Léon Dolmans 6 April 1945 (aged 27) 5  Standard Liège
4 DF Jean Thissen 21 April 1946 (aged 26) 23  Standard Liège
5 MF Erwin Vandendaele 5 March 1945 (aged 27) 11  Club Brugge
6 FW Jean Dockx 24 May 1941 (aged 31) 20  Anderlecht
7 MF Leon Semmeling 4 January 1940 (aged 32) 28  Standard Liège
8 DF Maurice Martens 5 June 1947 (aged 25) 4  Molenbeek
9 FW Raoul Lambert 20 October 1944 (aged 27) 13  Club Brugge
10 FW Paul van Himst (captain) 2 October 1943 (aged 28) 65  Anderlecht
11 MF Jan Verheyen 9 July 1944 (aged 27) 15  Anderlecht
12 GK Luc Sanders 6 October 1945 (aged 26) 0  Club Brugge
13 DF Gilbert van Binst 5 July 1951 (aged 20) 0  Anderlecht
14 FW Odilon Polleunis 1 May 1943 (aged 29) 15  Sint-Truidense
15 FW Jacques Teugels 3 August 1946 (aged 25) 7  Molenbeek
16 MF John Thio 2 September 1944 (aged 27) 17  Club Brugge
21 FW Frans Janssens 25 September 1945 (aged 26) 6  Lierse

Hungary

Manager: Rudolf Illovszky

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 GK István Géczi 13 June 1944 (aged 28) 13  Ferencváros
2 DF Tibor Fábián 26 July 1946 (aged 25) 9  Vasas
3 DF Miklós Páncsics 4 February 1944 (aged 28) 28  Ferencváros
4 DF Péter Juhász 3 August 1948 (aged 23) 15  Újpesti Dózsa
5 FW Lajos Szűcs 10 December 1943 (aged 28) 28  Budapesti Honvéd
6 DF László Bálint 1 February 1948 (aged 24) 6  Ferencváros
7 MF István Szőke 13 February 1947 (aged 25) 8  Ferencváros
8 MF Lajos Kocsis 17 June 1947 (aged 24) 17  Budapesti Honvéd
9 FW Ferenc Bene (captain) 17 December 1944 (aged 27) 60  Újpesti Dózsa
10 MF Lajos Kű 5 July 1948 (aged 23) 3  Ferencváros
11 FW Sándor Zámbó 10 October 1944 (aged 27) 24  Újpesti Dózsa
12 MF István Juhász 17 July 1945 (aged 26) 13  Ferencváros
15 FW Antal Dunai 21 March 1943 (aged 29) 22  Újpesti Dózsa
16 MF József Kovács 8 April 1949 (aged 23) 3  Videoton
20 MF Mihály Kozma 1 November 1949 (aged 22) 5  Budapesti Honvéd
22 GK Imre Rapp 15 September 1937 (aged 34) 0  Pécsi MSC
24 MF Flórián Albert 15 September 1941 (aged 30) 72  Ferencváros

Soviet Union

Manager: Aleksandr Ponomarev

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 GK Yevhen Rudakov 2 January 1942 (aged 30) 23  Dynamo Kyiv
2 DF Revaz Dzodzuashvili 10 April 1945 (aged 27) 28  Dinamo Tbilisi
3 MF Murtaz Khurtsilava (captain) 5 January 1943 (aged 29) 52  Dinamo Tbilisi
4 DF Nikolay Abramov 5 January 1950 (aged 22) 2  Spartak Moscow
5 DF Viktor Matviyenko 9 November 1948 (aged 23) 6  Dynamo Kyiv
6 MF Viktor Kolotov 3 July 1949 (aged 22) 14  Dynamo Kyiv
7 DF Vladimir Troshkin 28 September 1947 (aged 24) 5  Dynamo Kyiv
8 MF Anatoly Baidachny 1 October 1952 (aged 19) 3  Dynamo Moscow
9 FW Anatoliy Banishevskiy 23 December 1946 (aged 25) 48  Neftchi Baku
10 MF Vladimir Muntyan 14 September 1946 (aged 25) 29  Dynamo Kyiv
11 MF Oleg Dolmatov 29 November 1948 (aged 23) 6  Dynamo Moscow
12 DF Vladimir Kaplichny 26 May 1944 (aged 28) 38  CSKA Moscow
13 DF Yuri Istomin 3 July 1944 (aged 27) 26  CSKA Moscow
14 MF Anatoliy Konkov 19 September 1949 (aged 22) 8  Shakhtar Donetsk
15 FW Eduard Kozynkevych 23 May 1949 (aged 23) 5  Karpaty Lviv
16 FW Givi Nodia 2 January 1948 (aged 24) 18  Dinamo Tbilisi
18 FW Volodymyr Onyshchenko 28 October 1949 (aged 22) 1  Zorya Voroshylovhrad
19 GK Vladimir Pilguy 26 January 1948 (aged 24) 1  Dynamo Moscow
20 GK Viktor Bannikov 28 April 1938 (aged 34) 12  Torpedo Moscow
21 DF Mykhailo Fomenko 19 September 1948 (aged 23) 0  Dynamo Kyiv
22 FW Levon Ishtoyan 3 September 1947 (aged 24) 6  Ararat Yerevan

West Germany

Manager: Helmut Schön

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Club
1 GK Sepp Maier 28 February 1944 (aged 28) 40  Bayern Munich
2 DF Horst-Dieter Höttges 10 September 1943 (aged 28) 53  Werder Bremen
3 DF Paul Breitner 5 September 1951 (aged 20) 7  Bayern Munich
4 DF Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck 3 April 1948 (aged 24) 12  Bayern Munich
5 DF Franz Beckenbauer (captain) 11 September 1945 (aged 26) 61  Bayern Munich
6 MF Herbert Wimmer 9 November 1944 (aged 27) 16  Borussia Mönchengladbach
7 FW Jürgen Grabowski 7 July 1944 (aged 27) 26  Eintracht Frankfurt
8 FW Uli Hoeneß 5 January 1952 (aged 20) 10  Bayern Munich
9 FW Jupp Heynckes 9 May 1945 (aged 27) 17  Borussia Mönchengladbach
10 MF Günter Netzer 14 September 1944 (aged 27) 29  Borussia Mönchengladbach
11 FW Erwin Kremers 23 March 1949 (aged 23) 2  Schalke 04
13 FW Gerd Müller 3 November 1945 (aged 26) 40  Bayern Munich
14 DF Berti Vogts 30 December 1946 (aged 25) 42  Borussia Mönchengladbach
15 MF Rainer Bonhof 29 March 1952 (aged 20) 1  Borussia Mönchengladbach
16 DF Michael Bella 29 September 1945 (aged 26) 4  MSV Duisburg
17 FW Johannes Löhr 5 July 1942 (aged 29) 20  1. FC Köln
18 MF Horst Köppel 17 May 1948 (aged 24) 9  Borussia Mönchengladbach
22 GK Wolfgang Kleff 16 November 1946 (aged 25) 2  Borussia Mönchengladbach

 

SEMIFINALS

Antwerpen, June 14, Bosuil West Germany 2-1 Belgium [G.Müller 24, 71; Polleunis 83] [ref: Mullen (Scotland); att: 56,000]

West Germany: Maier, Höttges, Beckenbauer, Schwarzenbeck, Breitner, U.Hoeneß (Grabowski 58), Wimmer, Netzer, Heynckes, G.Müller, E.Kremers

Belgium: Piot, Heylens, Van den Daele, Thissen, Dolmans, Dockx, Verheyen, M.Martens (Polleunis 70), Semmeling, Van Himst, Lambert

Brussel, June 14, Astridpark Soviet Union 1-0 Hungary [Konkov 53] [missed penalty: Zámbö 85 (saved)] [ref: Glöckner (East Germany); att: 2,000]

Soviet Union: Rudakov, Dzodzuashvili, Kaplichny, Istomin, Khurtsilava, Kolotov, Troshkin, Baidachni, Banishevski (70 G.Nodia), Konkov, Onishenko

Hungary: Géczi, Fábián, Páncsics, Bálint, P.Juhász, I.Juhász, Kocsis (60 Albert), Kü, Szöke, Bene (60 A.Dunai), Zámbö

MATCH FOR THIRD PLACE Ličge, June 17, Stade Sclessin Belgium 2-1

Hungary [Lambert 24, Van Himst 28, Kü 53pen] [ref: Boström (Sweden); att: 9,000] Belgium: Piot, Heylens, Van den Daele, Thissen, Dolmans, Dockx, Verheyen, Polleunis, Semmeling, Van Himst, Lambert

Hungary: Géczi, Fábián, Páncsics, Bálint, P.Juhász, I.Juhász, Kü, Abert, Kozma, A.Dunai, Zámbö (46 Szücs)

FINAL Bruxelles, June 18, Stade Heysel West Germany 3-0 Soviet Union [G.Müller 27, 58, Wimmer 52] [ref: Marschall (Austria), att: 50,000]

West Germany: Maier, Höttges, Beckenbauer, Schwarzenbeck, Breitner, U.Hoeneß, Wimmer, Netzer, Heynckes, G.Müller, E.Kremers

Soviet Union: Rudakov, Dzodzuashvili, Kaplichny, Istomin, Khurtsilava, Kolotov, Troshkin, Baidachni, Banishevsky (66 Kozinkevich), Konkov (46 Dolmatov), Onishenko

Topscorer overall: G.Müller (West Germany) 11 goals

Topscorer final tournament: G.Müller (West Germany) 4 goals

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1971-72 Champions Cup 1/16 Finals

There were no surprises in the 1/16-finals – the favorites won. The weaker clubs were really weak. A sample: Bulgarian champion CSKA ‘Septemvriisko zname’ played against the Albanian champion – Partizani (Tirana). Hardly anything was known about Partizani, yet nobody worried: the Albanians were no opposition. The hewspapers presented them in somewhat curious, but correct way:

The centre-forward Pano often had to play behind his own goalkeeper, the observers said. The Albanians spent most time in desperate defense, involving everybody.

Yet, the goalie Muhedini had to fish out the ball from his net.

The Bulgarians were confident and rightly so:

They dominated the matches: on this occasion the left winger Marashliev did not reach the ball, but there are three Bulgarian players and only two Albanians.

And here the goalie is alone and desperate against two strikers. Clumsy too, Muhedini.

And Albanians down – Tzvetan Atanasov (in white) scores the first goal for CSKA.

Most early matches were like that, and the stronger teams did not sweat much. The favorites hardly played on the top of their abilities. CSKA won easily, if not beautifully, and advanced. Today, in 2008, a match between Bulgarian and Albanian team would not be sure thing, but rather equal and unpredictable – it was not so in the early 70s: the outsiders were truly outsiders. If I am showing Albanians here, it is because it was very rare to find Albanian players depicted. For many years these were the only photos of Albanian football I saw. True exotica – nobody photographs the lowliest losers, except for amusement. In the same time the football division in Europe was very clear and unflexible.

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European Championship 1/4 Finals

The European championship played in the original format: 8 preliminary groups, the winners going to ¼ finals in two legs, then the semi-finals, a match for third place and lastly the final – Belgium hosted the final round. The final games were played in Brussels (2 games including the final), Liege (the match for 3rd place), and Antwerpen (the semifinal Belgium-West Germany). Extra time and penalty shoot-out were introduced at the final stage, if necessary. Everything after the group stage was played in 1972 – in the spring, before the final 4 played in June.

European ¼ finals. 

[Apr 29, London]
England          1-3 West Germany
  [Lee 77; U.Hoeneß 26, Netzer 85pen, G.Müller 89]
[May 13, Berlin]
West Germany     0-0 England

[Apr 29, Milano]
Italy            0-0 Belgium
[May 13, Bruxelles]
Belgium          2-1 Italy
  [Van Moer 23, Van Himst 72; Riva 85pen]

[Apr 29, Budapest]
Hungary          1-1 Romania
  [Branikovits 11; Satmareanu 55]
[May 14, Bucuresti]
Romania          2-2 Hungary
  [Dobrin 14, Neagu 82; Szöke 5, Kocsis 35]
[May 17, Beograd]
Hungary          2-1 Romania  
  [Kocsis 27, 89; Neagu 34]
[Apr 30, Beograd]
Yugoslavia       0-0 Soviet Union
[May 13, Moskva]
Soviet Union     3-0 Yugoslavia
  [Kolotov 53, Banishevski 74, Kozinkevich 90]
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1972

1972

One may argue 1972 was the most significant year in world football history: the undoubtable establishment of total football. The impact paved the development of the sport to this very day. Debatable or not, it is very difficult to select the most important event of the year – it was the year of complete triumph of Ajax; the year of arguably the best ever (West) German national team; of the rise of Poland and more. Let say the Germans marked the year:

West Germany brilliantly won the European championship. Before that they eliminated England, beating the Brits at their hoem in one of best ever football clashes. The sheer magic of this squad will never be repeated and maybe only the team of 1980 came relatively close. It was not the selection as such, but the way they played. Total football at its best.