1972 European Championship
"The bomber strikes again"
With Yugoslavia becoming the European champions of 1968, Henri Delaunay's competition had thus far seen three Eastern-European countries winning the cup, with the only exceptions being Scotland and Austria's Wunderteam all the way back in 1932. Certainly, the tournament had grown a lot since those baby steps of 1932, and now it was about to reach its 40th anniversary! As such, there was a push by the French members within UEFA to bring the European Championship back to the place of its origin. However, Belgium was chosen instead. The small Benelux country was seemingly entering a bit of a golden age in footballing terms, having qualified for the 1970 World Cup, and it didn't help that by the time the host was being chosen for the event, France was in the middle of an economic crisis, especially following the "May 68" events.
The 1972 edition would see the return of the Hungarians, following their odd dissapearance back in 1968. The Magyars were expected to make a good showcase as always, having outqualified France and Bulgaria in their group, although the latter were recovering after the unfortunate death of their starman Georgi Asparuhov. Romania was making its debut in the European stage, but perhaps the most notable absence in the tournament was Scotland! For the first time since its entry in the 1950 World Cup, Scotland had failed to qualify for a major Football tournament, having suffered a disastrous loss to Denmark in its group that endedn up costing them the entry in the competition. Along with Romania, Belgium was making its debut via the hosting honors, and hopes were high that the Red Devils could make a splash.
As it had been the case in 1968, four venues were chosen for the tournament, two for each group. Most notably, the Heysel stadium was expanded to feature an athletic track, along with a floodlight system in order to hold the games at evenings. Having already seen finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup and Champions' Cup four times, the Heysel would now expand its stature as one of the great European stadiums with the hosting of the Euro finals. Anotherchange occured within the European Championship. Unlike in the previous iteration, which had the group winners face off in a final, the knockout stage would see a proper return this year with the first two teams facing off in the semi-finals.
Group 1
In the opening match, held on a packed Heysel stadium, Belgium played against fellow debutants Romania in what was a Paul van Himst masterclass. A header in the 20th minute and a penalty in the 85th, Belgium's 2-1 victory against the Tricolors marked a perfect start to the tournament for the hosts, aided by a scoreless draw between Germany and Italy. While Germany was busy beating Romania 2-0 thanks to Overath and Muller, Belgiums dream start only got better. Italy, who were seen as the favourites prior to the match, were in for a shock when Wilfried van Moer stunned the runnners-up in the the 23rd minute. From then on, the Azzurri played catch up, which only got worse when in the 71st minute, van Himst made it 2-0 for Belgium, sending the Anderlecht stadium into ecstacy! Gigi Riva was only able to score a consulation goal in the dying minutes of the game, and that marked the end. Belgium had won against Italy, and the Red Devils had their ticket for the semis.
Come the final day of the group stage, Italy needed to win against Romania and for Belgium to win against Germany in order to advance. Pierino Prati's two goals in a span of a minute made it an immediate 2-0 for Italy before the first half was even over, with Flavius Domide slimming down the scoring in the second half. However, Franco Causio made it into 3-1 for Italy, with Iuliu Hajnal only scoring a consulation goal in the last minute to make the scoring slightly more acceptable. Italy had won, but Gerd Muller turned once more into a hero of the Mannschaft, scoring two crucial goals in order to send Germany into the semis, followed only by the hosts. Italy's implosion against Belgium had costed this generation of the Azzurri dearly, and that "Game of the century" from two years ago looked very distant.
Jean Dockx fighting his way past Franco Causio
Group 2
The "Group of death" was as political as it could get. Hungary, Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union - all of these countries had some history behind them in the recent years, with the Hungarians especially seeing their encounter with the Soviets as a Must-win endeavour. The reigning European champions, Yugoslavia, also had some history with England, having won that famous "Battle of Florence" back in 1968 under controversial circumstances. Yugoslavia's campaign though was a shambles, as was Hungarys. The two teams pulled off a draw in which neither played all that well. Vujadin Boškov's Blues in particular looked like no matter the result, they were constantly defending, while Hungary's clumsy defense led them being beaten by the Soviets 1-0, only for England to make things more miserable for them thanks to Geoff Hurst, Franny Lee and Martin Chivers.
Having tied twice, Yugoslavia now needed a win against the Soviet Union in order to go through. The Reds had lost to England thanks to a squeaky 2-1 loss in which an own goal decided the affair, but Yugoslavias' ineffective attack meant that many questions were brought up if the viewers were going to see a highly defensive match. Well, they didn't. While the first half saw a draw, the Soviets broke through the Yugoslav defense in the 53rd minute, as Viktor Kolotov made it 1-0 for the Soviets. Not even 20 minutes later, Anatoliy Banishevsky made it 2-0, and then Eduard Kozinkevich finally sealed the deal in the 90th minute to make it a 3-0 victory for the Soviet Union. England was on top with an unbeaten streak, while the Soviet Union was entering its fourth consecutive appearance in the knockout stage of the Euros.
England's players before their match with the USSR
The following matches for the semi-finals:
Germany v Soviet Union
England v Belgium